As a small business ourselves, we know how important lead generation is for keeping a business surviving and thriving. But you may find that your tried and tested approaches aren’t quite cutting the mustard anymore. Enter content marketing. With the ability to create tailored user experiences, generate highly qualified leads and offer something of value to your end user, content marketing is a valuable marketing strategy for generating leads.
In this post, we talk you through how to generate leads for your small business with content marketing. These seven strategies are either tactics we’ve tried ourselves and seen great success with, or they’re tactics we’ve seen that have had success for other brands.
If at the end of this article you’re excited by the idea of trying content marketing out, but you aren’t sure where to begin, get in touch with our team who can help you generate leads for your small business with our content marketing packages.
1. Create high performing landing pages
To drive an action you want from your ideal customer, make sure your landing pages are working as hard as possible. Our social media services landing page is a good example of how a high performing page is laid out.
2. Host a purchase-driven webinar
Host a webinar with the aim to sell your product or services whilst educating your audience at the same time. By adding value and solving their problem, your audience is more likely to receive your message willingly. Plus, you’ll be able to capture their data for targeting them with messages later.
3. Utilise product or service explainer videos
One-third of online activity is spent watching video. People are more likely to engage with your product or service if there is a video explaining how it works and the benefit it adds to their lives. By using video you’re making it easier for your customer to make a purchase decision.
4. Create email nurture campaigns
Just 7% of SMEs use email as a brand-building tool. There is a huge opportunity to build brand awareness for your SME which in turn will help to drive leads. By carrying out nurture campaigns, you’ll be able to nudge your customer to complete a desired action. There are lots of great examples of this out in the wild, no doubt you’ve been subject to them before. HubSpot, in particular, are excellent at email nurture campaigns, driving you to carry out a desired action. Sign up to their newsletter to see what we mean.
5. Carry out social media competitions
Social media competitions offer a great opportunity to capture the data of your ideal customer. Offer them something shareable as a prize and you’ll be increasing your brand reach as well. We’ve yet to try this tactic – but we’ve seen other brands do this brilliantly. Just like this one from Liz Harry design on Instagram:
6. Answer customer problems with long-tail search queries
The more targeted your content marketing is, the greater your chances for finding the customer you desire. Long-tail search queries tend to be problem based – offer a solution and that customer is more likely to buy from you in the future. Just like our Digital Marketing Basics series, which aims to clarify common digital marketing concepts for those at the beginning of their journey with digital marketing.
7. Write in-depth How-To guides
Just like your other problem-solving content, it’s important to create content with depth. By building a sense of trust with your customers, you’re more likely to earn repeat business. We created our Beginner’s Guide to Content Marketing, which has seen many downloads with those eager to improve their skills.
Enjoyed this post? Follow us for more!
We love it when you guys follow us on social media – so be sure to check us out @heymatchstick on Twitter.
