As a business owner, you’re always looking for ways to generate leads and grow your customer base. And one of the most effective methods is content marketing.
Content marketing allows you to convert blog traffic into leads.
If you’re not utilizing content to generate quality leads, the bottom line is that you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.
We will get to that in a moment but first, let’s understand why lead is a vital cog in your business growth strategy.
Why Is Blog Lead Generation Necessary for Business Growth?
Getting blog traffic is the foundation of the content marketing strategy. So it is essential you get this step right from the onset.
And the thing is, blog traffic is organic traffic, which is the best kind of traffic you can get in the lead generation process.
Organic traffic is free, it’s targeted, and it converts well. And as you can see below, organic search commands a huge percentage of website visitors.
Paid traffic, on the other hand, is expensive, and it doesn’t always convert as well as organic traffic.
Therefore, if you want nurtured leads that can grow your business, you need to focus on getting more organic traffic to your blog.
And the best way to do that is through blog post writing. Taking time to produce a high converting writing piece, allows you to attract new readers to your blog and then convert them into leads.
And from a statistical point of view, conversion rates for leads who come from content marketing are typically higher than those who come from other sources.
For example, a 2019 study by Hubspot on lead generation from blog posts, found that ” Companies that prioritized creating blog content were almost 13X more likely to see positive ROI.” than those who blog 0-1 times per month.”
In another study by Content Marketing Institute, they found that “62% of B2B marketers say their organization is effective at content marketing, up from just 38% in 2015.”
This all underscores the value of blog lead conversion in your business strategy.
It’s an essential part of any business growth strategy because it allows you to:
Nurture Potential Customers With Targeted Content.
You can do this by offering them helpful, valuable, and relevant content that speaks to their specific needs and interests.
For example, if you sell software that helps businesses with accounting, you would want to create blog posts that discuss topics like, “10 accounting tips for small businesses” or “How to choose the right accounting software for your business.”
You can see how Freshbook goes about with eye-catching headlines.
By providing helpful and targeted content, you nurture your target audience and position yourself as a trusted resource in your industry.
Build Trust and Credibility
When you provide website visitors with helpful information, you’re also building trust and credibility with them.
And this is essential if you want to convert them into leads and eventually customers.
Stay Top of Mind.
If you can provide blog post readers with helpful information on a regular basis, you’ll stay top of mind when they’re ready to make a purchase.
Generate Leads at a Lower Cost
Blog content is a more affordable way to generate quality leads than other paid methods like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
Increase Your Revenue
You can do this by creating blog content that helps move website visitors further down the customer journey.
For example, if you have an ebook that’s relevant to your business, you can use a blog post to promote it and generate blog traffic.
Improve Brand Visibility
When you create helpful and targeted content, it helps improve your brand’s visibility online. This is essential for any business that wants to grow its reach and attract new customers.
Boost SEO Rankings
Another benefit is that it can help improve your website’s SEO (search engine optimization).
This is because when you create a highly converting blog post or other forms of content, it helps Google and other search engines see your website as an authoritative source of information.
And when you have a higher SEO ranking, it means you’re more likely to show up on the first page of Google search results.
Get More Social Media Shares
If you create a blog post that’s interesting, it’s more likely to get shared on social media. And when this happens, it helps to increase your reach and visibility online and generate quality leads.
Connect With Influencers
When you create quality content, you also have the opportunity to connect with influencers in your industry. This can help to grow your reach even further and attract even more leads.
Below is a perfect example of influencer marketing in lead generation. It shows young pro golfer Michelle Wie West’s partnership with sportswear maker Nike
Differentiate Your Business
A blogging strategy can help you to differentiate your business from your competitors.
If you can position yourself as a thought leader in your industry, you’ll be more likely to attract new customers.
Common Effective Lead Magnets for Blogs
There is no shortage of excellent lead magnets generating leads. Here are a few examples.
E-books, Reports, and Templates
These are great lead generation methods for businesses that want to attract new customers who are looking for helpful information.
By offering an ebook, report, or template, you can show your target audience you’re an expert in your field, and that you’re willing to share your knowledge with them.
You can use the template below to create a converting ebook.
Free Trials
If you offer a product or service, you can use free trials as lead magnets. This is an effective way to convert blog readers because it allows website visitors to try out your product or service before they commit to buying it.
Webinars
A webinar is another high quality lead because it allows you to show off your expertise and connect with the target audience on a personal level.
Discounts
If you want to increase leads fast, you can offer a discount on your product or service.
This is an effective way to increase leads because it entices web visitors who are on the fence about buying from you.
Cheatsheets
A cheat sheet is also excellent for businesses that want to attract new customers who are looking for helpful information.
By offering a cheat sheet, you can show your target audience that you’re an expert in your field, and that you’re willing to share your knowledge with them.
How to Formulate an Effective Blog Lead Generation Plan
Generating leads from your blog is not as difficult as it may seem.
With the right content strategy, you can start generating leads from your blog almost immediately. Here are a few things to do.
Step 1: Create Content That Attracts Your Ideal Customer
The first step to generating leads from your blog is to create content that attracts your ideal customer.
This means providing valuable information that touches on their needs, pain points, and interests.
It’s also important to ensure that your content is optimized for search engines so that your blog lead can easily find it.
Also, you’ll want to make sure that your blog design is clean and user-friendly so that readers can easily navigate and consume your content.
Step 2: Use Lead Magnets to Capture Contact Information
The next step is to use lead magnets to capture contact information from the readers.
The key is to make sure that your lead magnet is relevant to your ideal customer and that it provides them with value.
Once you have a lead magnet in place, you’ll need to create a landing page where site visitors can sign up to receive it.
This page should be optimized for conversion and should include a strong call-to-action.
Step 3: Nurture Your Leads With Targeted Content
Once you have captured contact information from new leads, it’s time to start nurturing them with targeted content. This is where email marketing comes in.
Email marketing allows you to send targeted and personalized messages directly to your leads’ inboxes.
This allows you to continue providing them with valuable content that will help move them further down the sales funnel.
It’s also important to segment your email list so that you can send more targeted and relevant messages to different groups of people.
For example, you might have a segment for leads who have shown an interest in your products or services, and another one for others depending on their stage in the marketing funnel.
This allows you to send more relevant and targeted content to each group, which will help improve your conversion prospects.
Step 4: Convert Your Leads Into Customers
The final step is to convert your leads into customers. There are a few different ways to do this, but the most common is through sales calls or emails.
Sales calls or emails are a great way to provide readers with more information about your products, or services and answer any questions they might have.
They’re also an opportunity to offer discounts or other incentives that will encourage leads to make a purchase.
9 Fool-Proof Methods of Generating Blog Leads
Now that we’ve covered the basics of the role of lead generation in business growth, let’s now take a look at how you can actually convert readers into leads.
1. Use Call-To-Action in Your Blog Posts
One of the best ways to convert readers into leads from your blog is by using calls-to-action (CTAs).
A CTA is simply an instruction that prompts the reader to take a specific action. This action could be anything from newsletter signups, contacting you, or free download of an e-book among others.
When used correctly, CTAs can be extremely effective in converting readers into leads. The key is to make sure that your CTAs are relevant to the content and that they stand out so that readers can’t miss them.
That said, where you place it is also quite important. Several strategic places to place it include the following:
- At the top of the page
- At the post end
- Fix it within the post
- Sliding pop up
- full-screen overlay etc
With an urge to, “find the plan for you” this Dropbox CTAs is clear and compelling to the prospective customer.
2. Use a Hello Bar
Another great way of getting new leads for your blog is to use a Hello bar. This is a small strip that appears at the top of your blog and contains a CTA, usually in the form of a sign-up button.
They are great for generating high quality leads, because they’re impossible to miss, and they do not interrupt the users’ experience.
Furthermore, they’re easily recognizable and they can capture the attention of the reader whether they decide to exit the site.
The prominently placed American Eagle hello bar exemplifies how effective one should be.
No way you can miss checking out the unmistakable 20% promotion of jeans and joggers.
3. Use an Exit Pop-ups
A pop-up is a small window that appears on your blog when a reader tries to leave. It contains a CTA, usually in the form of a sign-up button or an offer.
Pop-ups are effective due to their visual nature, yet being non-disruptive to the readers.
Also, they are an excellent way for new site owners to boost their brand loyalty faster, from new followers, who wish to have more of your content.
It could be as simple as a pop-up form, a free download offer, or just a discount.
However, you’ve got to be careful as they can be annoying which hurts the user experience.
But as shown by Maybell below it is possible to tone down the possible annoyance with playful and mild images.
4. Focus on Buyer Personas
When you’re creating content, it’s important to focus on your target audience. One way to do this is by creating buyer personas.
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional character that represents your ideal customer.
Once you’ve created your buyer persona, it’s important to write for them.
This means creating content that appeals to their needs, wants, and interests. Creating a buyer persona is a fairly straightforward process, but can be challenging to some people.
With tools such as Make my persona from Hubspot, the process can be easier.
5. Use Retargeting Ads
Retargeting ads are ads that are shown to people who have already visited your website.
The visitors may leave for whatever reason. For example, they may not have got what they were looking for, or they were just short of time.
It works through codes called pixels, which then track your browsing habits via cookies. They’re effective because they allow you to stay in front of your target audience even after they’ve left your website.
In other words, retargeting offers you another chance to win back the prospect. You might consider seeking professional help from service providers such as ReTargetter or SharpSpring if you find it hard to do it yourself.
A content upgrade is an incentive that you offer in exchange for a reader’s contact information. It could be anything from an e-book to a coupon code.
6. Use Content Upgrades to Capture Leads
Content upgrade offers the reader higher value than that he has already acquired on your site. For example, you could invite them for an upcoming free webinar, to improve on what they have already learned.
Another example is if you are offering a recipe, you could include a content upgrade that offers more in-depth tips on cooking the dish.
7. Create Urgency to Capture Leads
Urgency is a powerful way to convert blog traffic that you can use to encourage readers to take action.
For example, you could add a countdown timer to your opt-in forms or landing pages. This creates a sense of urgency and encourages people to sign up before it’s too late.
This makes use of the human nature of fearing missing out on something that is only available for a limited time. It is called the fear of missing out, also known as “FOMO”.
This unreal scarcity creates a compelling urgency making the prospective customer take your desired action. For example, you could offer a discount that is only available for a limited time.
The best example of this lead-generating technique is the “stock left”, used by most companies. You can see below how Apple is making maximum use of it in marketing the iPhone 6.
8. Use Social Proof to Increase Conversion Rates
Social proof is another powerful blog traffic conversion tactic that you can use for more blog leads.
It essentially means using other people’s testimonials, reviews, or social media posts to show that your product or service is good.
One way is to add a testimonial from a satisfied customer to your opt-in form or landing page.
This helps to increase conversion rates because it shows potential buyers that other people have had success with your product or service.
Few other companies know how to exploit this strategy than the online marketplace giant Amazon.
9. Make Use of Chatbots
Chatbots are computer programs that mimic human conversation. They can be used to answer questions, provide customer support, or even promote products and services.
For example, you could add a chatbot to your blog that asks readers if they’re interested in learning more about your product or service.
If interested, the chatbot could then provide them with more information, or even offer a discount.
This is another excellent lead generation method because it allows you to interact with potential customers in a more personal way.
Lyft uses chatbots extensively to connect potential customers with drivers.
Final Thoughts
The techniques mentioned above are some of the best ways to generate leads from your blog. However, it’s important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
What works for one company might not work for another. So, it’s important to experiment with different tactics and see what works best for your business.
If you’re not sure where to start, why not try one of the techniques mentioned above and see how it goes? You might be surprised at the results.
