4 Ways Your Small Business Can Generate Leads Through Content Marketing

Content is the foundation of your lead generation and lead nurturing efforts. Businesses of all sizes have come to rely on some form of intentional content to engage prospects and customers in today’s buyer landscape, but to do so, your content must be created with some very specific objectives in mind.

Lead generation over the years, like most every other aspect of marketing, has been impacted dramatically by the Internet, access to abundant information and a prospect’s ability to block uninvited messages.

The idea behind all of this content every organization is being asked to create is to use it to build the business in the long term – to get more quality leads that generate sales.

But how does one actually generate leads through content marketing?

Content marketing is a vast field, comprising dozens of tactics. Here are the 4 ways your small business can generate leads through content marketing:

Find a topic that will appeal to your marketing segment, and plan a webinar on the topic. Webinars aren’t for selling your product. They are for informing your audience about something that they are already interested in. A webinar is a relatively low-cost way to get your message in front of a huge audience, and to ideally attract a lot of leads.

As a researcher, I’m constantly making use of ebooks, whitepapers and reports to gain information for my articles. I know how valuable these can be. They are also an incredible source of lead generation. Publishing free packaged content is a great way to invite a flood of connections from great leads.

There’s no question that videos are the content with the most viral potential and popular appeal. YouTube is, of course, the world’s 2nd largest search engine. If you neglect videos, you are neglecting one of the largest sources of lead-generating content available.

The best form of content is the blog. A blog, as long as you do it right, is more likely to appear in search results than any other form of content. In order to dominate search engine results, improve your stature in the industry, and gain recognition from those who matter, you need a blog. It’s just that simple.

All of these content marketing tactics work together in some combination. For example, you can publish some of the results of a research report on your blog. You can publish a video extract from your webinar. You can announce your webinar on your blog. All of these methods should be used in tandem with one another.

More small businesses are using content marketing than ever before. It is one of the most effective forms of marketing. The best forms of content are hosting webinars, publishing research reports, producing videos, and keeping a blog.