The online buying process has evolved significantly over the past decade. Inbound marketing has become a cornerstone of digital strategy for marketers everywhere. Rather than targeting potential consumers with generic advertisements or emails, marketers have turned their focus to developing strategies that build relationships with customers. The increased sophistication of marketing tools and technologies has allowed marketing techniques to be personalized down to the level of each individual lead. The result has been an added emphasis on new lead generation techniques, specifically those that earn the attention of your audience instead of simply selling to them.
We’ve talked about the importance of creating interesting content in the past. Providing useful, relevant, and informative content is absolutely vital when it comes to revamping your lead gen practices. Mixing up your offerings to include a variety of insightful information or tools is necessary as well, especially when attempting to position your business as an industry thought leader. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of content, too. It’s an excellent opportunity to reach a larger audience and possibly generate leads you otherwise would have missed out on.
It also increases your chances of capturing information from your site visitors, ideally a working email address. This is no small task as consumers have grown increasingly weary when it comes to handing over personal information. To counter this, you can require less information from your customers in forms. In many cases, a name and an email address are sufficient information. But most importantly, you must ensure that the content you are offering in exchange for their email or other contact information is valuable enough to make them overcome their reservations. Yes, yet again, it all comes down to content.
These specific pieces of content that entice users to share information are called lead magnets. Though they come in all shapes and sizes, the goal of every one should be to offer value to visitors, cultivate a new lead for your site, and receive permission to follow up with the user. There are dozens of viable options out there that provide a range of value to your potential leads.
eBooks
eBooks are one of the most common lead magnets around because of their multifaceted benefits. In addition to encouraging new leads, they are an excellent tool for educating potential customers and highlighting your industry expertise. They are also easily shared across social media platforms. Unfortunately, it can take time to create an eBook that truly offers value to users. This is a two month project, not a two week project. Because of this, carefully choosing a topic that will encourage the most downloads is a crucial first step. Afterward, use a variety of channels to promote the ebook and make sure this lead magnet is serving your larger digital strategy.
Podcasts
Using a company podcast for lead generation is a relatively recent development that is continuing to pick up steam. Podcasts can be an entertaining and cost effective method to build your brand, connect with customers, and show off your expertise all while developing qualified leads. One of the best ways to encourage repeat visits is to offer your podcast in the form of a “latest news subscription,” providing your audience valuable information and industry news with each episode. If you plan on launching a podcast, you will need to build a campaign that advertising your podcast on your own social media and on external sites.
Whitepapers
Whitepapers serve a very similar purpose as eBooks in that they are educational and provide a perspective from within your industry. The tone is generally different than that of an eBook, however. Where eBooks are usually casual in voice, whitepapers tend to be more academic, providing solutions to problems or presenting particular case studies to prove a point. They are well-researched and sourced. Users won’t download whitepapers expecting to be entertained, but will expect a certain level of detail, information, and insight. B2B companies or businesses in highly technical industries may benefit from Whitepapers, as their audiences tend to expect a higher level of quality in the content they consume.
Guides
Offering guides to your users is great if you’re looking to deliver step-by-step instructions or provide explanations for a complicated process. There is no limit to how long or how short a guide can be. You can create condensed pocket guides or detailed ultimate guides that feature graphs, diagrams, or other visual aids. The choice is yours, just be sure to stay on message if you opt for a longer guide.
Cheat Sheets
Cheat sheets are essentially smaller guides that provide users information they might keep or consult for future reference. They are usually short pieces of content that explain terms, instructions, symbols, or any other industry related information you can think of. Don’t try to cram too much information into your cheat sheet, though. Instead, opt for a simple, easy to read layout that incorporates visual aids if possible. The conciseness and clarity of your content is key when making cheat sheets.
Free Trials
Free trials are incredibly effective when growing your customer base. By allowing prospects to test your product free of charge, you can prove the value of your product or service and gain valuable contact information from users at the same time. Rather than trying to sell to everyone, you can focus on those that might be interested in trying your product and receive product insights you wouldn’t have otherwise.
No matter what lead magnet you choose, make sure your strategy is well-planned. An essential part in the process of creating a lead magnet piece is crafting the marketing strategy that will support it. Your lead magnet piece needs both a promotional strategy and also a plan for measuring success. Each piece of content should fit within your larger digital strategy. If it’s well researched, well planned, and well executed, you can create a number of new and valuable leads.
