Your business thrives when it generates leads! You probably have a team or team member dedicated to strategically increasing leads and conversions. Leads might come in as a result of paid search, SEO, word-of-mouth strategies, or content marketing efforts; to put any of these strategies into motion correctly, it takes time and know-how. Learning how to write content that generates leads for your company is straightforward and intuitive. Jump right in and get started!
What Are Leads?
Put simply, a lead is when you make contact with a potential client who is interested in what you are selling. Inorganic leads result from your company coming into direct contact with leads—whether they seek you out or vice versa.
Organic leads come in when prospective customers find your company by searching for a product, service, or question. They will be looking for what you offer instead of your specific company. This is why creating and posting engaging content is so important! After they find their way to your website, then it’s up to you to turn that visit into a lead.
How to Write Content that Generates Leads for Your Company
Give Away Free Info
Offer relevant, informative content. This is probably what people were searching for that led them to your website in the first place! Nothing is more frustrating than clicking on a link and not finding the information you thought you’d find.
Equally as discouraging is being hit with a sales pitch when all you want is to do some light reading. Show your potential clients that you know what you’re doing, and give them an idea of what they’ll get by buying your product or service. Give ideas, inspiration, tips and tricks, or just some good old education surrounding what you are offering.
Investopedia produces straightforward, informative content that answers potentially complex questions their target audience is looking for. Their comprehensive guide to 401k plans is just the tip of the iceberg. They don’t ask for anything in return, and users flock to their website. Read more about their content strategy for inspiration.
Original Research
Don’t post rewrites of generic content that’s already been posted in a hundred other places on the internet. Providing original research is a great way of proving that you care about what you have to offer, and make it clear that you put a unique spin on what you do that potential customers can’t find anywhere else. And, becoming your own primary source paves the way for others to link to your content.
A study done by BuzzSumo and Mantis Research in 2019 showed that 9 out of 10 companies who carry out original research felt it was a success. It brings immeasurable value to your content and can ultimately improve click through rates,
Building Trust
Give potential clients a reason to trust you before you even make a sale. Chances are they don’t have experience with your brand yet, and you want your first impression to be a good one. If you use clickbait titles to fool people into visiting your site, you can damage relationships. If you constantly recycle content from other sites, you might not establish yourself as an authority in your industry.
Provide genuine content that will help users create a connection with your brand. Ask yourself, “What are my potential customers searching for online? What questions can I answer for them?” and let this dictate what you write. Find ways to add value to your audience’s quest for information. This is the kind of content that generates leads!
Brands like Whole Foods have archived years of informative blog content, tips, ideas, and recipes to help customers realize the Whole Foods mission of properly nourishing themselves with quality foods. This is the content their consumers want, and this cycle of purchase-learn- purchase, and so on, helps establish loyalty.
Style of Writing
The days of untouchable, professional brands are coming to an end. As you market your content towards a modern audience, focusing on professionalism will likely result in an absence of personality that won’t strike a chord with your audience. Successful companies have perfected their voice to be relatable while still maintaining their expert status.
Decide what characteristics you want to define your brand: young, fun, skilled, modern, concise, educated, etc. Focus on these traits and your target audience! There is no one-size-fits-all solution for establishing a style of writing except to make an intentional choice and to stick with it. Consistency is just as important as how you decide to define your writing style.
Makeup brand Glossier has established a strong, persistent voice on its company blog and its social media platforms. Their content is written to evoke emotion, not to impress. They remain centered on their company values and clearly understand what their audience wants to read.
Calls To Action
Always put a call to action (CTA) in your content. A CTA is the most reliable way to turn a random site visit into a satisfied, paying customer. Your informative, well-written piece primes potential clients to click on the CTA strategically placed in your content.
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- Focus on the goal of your CTA. Do you want your audience to “learn more?” “Schedule a consultation?” “Request a free demo?” Make your CTA specific so that your customers will do what you want them to.
- Tell your audience what’s in it for them. Why should they click? Be descriptive about the value of what you’re pushing, and make it clear what level of commitment you’re looking for. Visit you competitors’ sites and ask yourself, “How would I respond to their CTAs? Why?” and adjust your content accordingly.
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- Place multiple CTAs throughout your content. Think about your online reading habits. Chances are you don’t read every word of every page you visit. Placing multiple CTAs, at the beginning in the text, a button at the end, slide-ins or pop-ups, in an image, etc. ensures your audience will find them, no matter how much they read.