How to Generate Leads with Content Marketing

Microsoft founder Bill Gates once said that “Content is King”. With 91% of B2B and 86% of B2C marketers using content marketing as a marketing tool, creating good and relevant content can help boost search engine optimisation and create sustainable long-term results. So, what exactly is content marketing?  

Content marketing is a strategy for engaging an audience and generating leads by developing relevant and quality content. With good content marketing strategies, some benefits would be having higher visibility in search engines, increased leads and improved brand awareness. Valuable and attractive content helps businesses stand out from the competition.  

Types of Content Marketing 

Content marketing is usually the foundation and complements the rest of the digital marketing strategies. The list below shows our recommendations on the different types of content marketing and tips to help generate leads. 

1. Social Media Content Marketing 

With over 3.6 billion social media users worldwide, businesses now invest more time and effort in social media marketing. Social media is pervasive; almost everyone now uses at least one social media platform. Because Viewers now have a brief attention span, providing the target audience with relevant content is always essential. They are likely to ignore content that is too overly complicated. 

Popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube allow creators/users to upload content in many forms. Marketers now have the flexibility of sharing content through Posts, Reels, Stories, Live Videos, and many more!   

Here are some ways to generate more leads from social media content marketing: 

Host Contests:  

Social media contests can create buzz and hype when promoting products or services. An online contest with an attractive prize reward can help increase online engagement, and statistics have shown that having a contest can help generate 34% of new leads while achieving a conversion rate of up to 30%!

Provide Free Tools:

Providing free tools is an effective marketing strategy, especially for the B2B industry. Identify problems that the customer has and offer free tools to help them. Promote the company’s free tools on social media with a landing page where they can submit their information to access the tool. This would allow the customers to understand more about the company’s solution. If the tool is helpful, it opens an opportunity for them to want to learn more about the other solutions that the company offer and can help with.

Clickable Content:

Attention spans are very short and will continue shrinking. Therefore to best attract the audience’s attention, images must be vivid, and the copy must be compelling enough. It is best practice to have a section for people to click on to get more information, so each post should always include a clear link and an appealing call to action.These are some ways to incorporate clickable content to generate leads on social media platforms:

• Tag your products on Facebook/Instagram shop
• Use the ‘Swipe Up’ function on Instagram stories
• Include links on your Facebook/LinkedIn posts
• YouTube Cards and end screens that direct people to your website

2. Blog Content Marketing

Blogs are an effective form of inbound content as it provides a platform to educate, inspire and entertain readers. A blog section on the website can help viewers understand and learn more about the company’s products or solutions. With all good content, it can help to increase the business’s visibility online in search engine page rankings.

The first thing in writing a blog post is deciding and choosing the topic. Marketing

keyword research can help to understand what readers are looking for. Link internal and external content and add social share buttons and product links to give the readers options to navigate around if they want to find out more information on certain blog sections.

The blog post can also end with a call to action where it gives the reader the option to contact the business they are interested to find out more after reading.

3. Video Content Marketing

72% of viewers prefer watching a video to reading a text or image when learning more about a product or service. Video marketing has been gaining popularity over recent years and has been shown to engage audiences effectively.

More individuals are turning to online platforms for knowledge and entertainment to learn because videos are fun and interactive compared to reading. We know that videos are used for many purposes. Video marketing aims to use videos to share and promote a product or service and increase engagement or education.

By giving the audience relevant information that can help with their problems, video marketing can help to increase branding and generate leads. Let’s have a look at some examples of marketing videos:

Explainer Videos:

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Explainer videos are commonly used for promoting a product or service. Such a strategy aims to bring a topic or process to the spotlight by presenting it clearly and concisely. They are usually done by visuals, accompanied by narration or texts.

Product Demo Videos:

Apple’s big news in 108 seconds. Apple

A demo video highlights a product’s and service’s best features within the initial few seconds using visual aids such as screenshots, photos, and text. If what your viewers see piques their curiosity, they may be persuaded to find out more!

Live Videos:

Live videos garner more attention as they occur in real-time. It enhances the chances of attracting new potential customers quickly in real-time, getting likes and comments during the live stream. The live interactions can help build relationships with the customers with minimal cost.

4. Paid Ad Content Marketing

Paid ad content marketing is a good approach for a new, emerging, or rebranded business to generate leads and increase brand awareness. They are especially effective when combined with inbound marketing. Paid ads can be placed on social media, landing pages, banners, and sponsored content.

They can help boost a company’s visibility on search engines and increase the number of visitors to the website. Research and customise the paid search ads to target prospects interested in purchasing based on the keywords with a call to action.