Lead generation through content marketing is like going to Siberia. Everyone knows where it is but only a few manage to get there and even less survive. This said, content marketing is the ‘in thing’ among Business to Business (B2B) marketers as they scramble to develop a comprehensive digital marketing plan for their business. A good quality plan helps a business establish two things:
- A strategic business overview
- An action plan to generate qualified business leads
In this article, I am exploring point 2; how to generate business leads through high quality content marketing. But first a quick look at what content marketing is all about for the uninitiated. Content marketing is sourcing and communicating information that your prospects would like to read, view or share with others and that which they would value. This information must deliver benefit and value to the reader if it is to be taken seriously and consistently. The higher the perceived value of your content, the stronger your market position will be , and consequently the higher the likelihood of generating good quality business leads. By having a clear strategic business plan, which includes a Content Calendar to help you plan for and prepare your content in a measured way, you establish the best platform to consistently communicate the content most likely to deliver real opportunities. So what is the best approach? Let’s take a look at the 3 rules that we follow at BSA Marketing and what it does for us.
Rule 1: Set your objectives clearly.
We began our content marketing with two objectives- first, establish a position as the experts who understand and deliver practical joined-up marketing built on a platform of e-newsletters and second, to develop quality leads that could be converted into clients for our marketplace. The second objective that we laid out was that our content marketing efforts should result in generating business leads either through people directly contacting us or referring us to others.
Rule 2: Create content that has value
To ensure that your content is appreciated, it has to have value. Value can be established by the number of people who read or view your content and the follow through action that they take. The follow through action could be in terms of a) subscribing to your content b) commenting on your content c) sharing your content on their social media network. Determining value of content calls for understanding who the recipient of your content should be and designing content for that person. Our target prospect for our content marketing is the SME business owner who we felt would want to gain knowledge on all aspects of marketing in a straightforward and practical manner. Our research had indicated that most people while having skills in one or two disciplines of marketing were fairly un-skilled in other marketing areas. Our Marketing Matters blog is aimed at improving their knowledge levels by equipping our prospects with a series of articles, white papers etc. that help them gain knowledge and through this establish ourselves as a recognised knowledge partner.
Rule 3: Get your content out there
You can have the greatest article or blog on earth but it would fail if no one knows about it. Promoting your content is as critical as creating it. A good content marketing agency can help in both areas. Of course promoting anything costs time and/or money. When we took on the task of promoting our content, we took a conscious call not to promote our content using advertising money. Instead we use e-newsletters and social media to help promote our content. Here’s what we did:-
- We send our Marketing Matters to our database showcasing our regular content updates.
- We actively use LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter.
- We have our content carried by third party publishers (both on and offline). Yes, good content will be carried by others!
- We use our extensive content archive on a case by case basis to answer specific questions raised by key individuals interested in our services.
Results
By applying the fundamentals of marketing and using the process I set out above, as part of a clear, joined-up process, we have achieved significant progress:
- Our reach has grown by actively engaging with our target audience – our Twitter followers have increased by 200% in less than a year, yet we are very selective in who we follow
- Regular exposure in the press and 3rd party online publications
- An average of 1.5 new clients each month over the past 12 months
- Turnover growth of over 30% in the past 12 months
If you are a B2B SME and you don’t have a content marketing plan as of yet for your business, it’s time to start thinking of developing and implementing one. BSA Marketing helps businesses power their marketing for business growth. We can help you structure, plan and implement a content marketing initiative for your business. Call me on 01457 851111 or contact us.
