Astute B2B marketers know that content lead generation is an important goal for their marketing programs. In fact, 83% of B2B marketers surveyed by the Content Marketing Institute cite lead generation as an important marketing goal, second only to brand awareness (84%). So it’s a good thing that content marketing is a particularly good way to feed the top of the marketing funnel and create traffic that will eventually become leads.
When it comes to lead generation, the content marketing concept is pretty straightforward—it’s about the numbers. More traffic equals more leads. Relevant content, and lots of it, is one of the most powerful tools out there to generate interest in your company or brand. Potential buyers are intrigued by your content, visit your website, share their information, and fill your database with their names and contact information.
Of course, if it were just that simple, everyone would be excelling at it. Instead, only 38% of the B2B marketers in the survey reporting feeling that their organization is effective or very effective at content marketing. So how exactly do the best-in-class do it?
They mix and match content marketing tactics to find those that work best for their audience. They create valuable and relevant content to attract attention. Formulate a clear call to action to encourage users to share their information. Then they send that content out into the world.
Let’s look at three types of content proven to attract attention and bring more visitors to your website.
Proven Content Lead Generation Tactics
The power of blogging
More and more, the data points to blogging at one of the best drivers of inbound traffic. According to Hubspot’s State of Inbound Marketing 2014 report, blog content brings the greatest return on investment.
Some more delightful statistics courtesy of Hubspot for those who use blogging to drive traffic to their website:
- Companies that blog just 1 to 2 times a month generate 70% more leads than companies without blogs. (Click to Tweet)
- Companies that increase blogging from 3 to 5 posts per month to 6 to 8 posts double the number of leads they bring in. (Click to Tweet)
- Companies that blog 15 times or more per month get five times more traffic than companies who don’t blog at all. (Click to Tweet)
Mobile matters
But, content marketing is not only about creating useful and relevant content. It also requires that brands use their always limited resources in the most efficient and effective way possible. And that means giving your audience access to the content they want, in the place they want it, using the device they want to use. These days…that means mobile.
According to the Walker Sands mobile traffic report, in the fourth quarter of 2014 almost one-third (31.2%) of all website traffic comes from users on mobile devices. How are users finding the websites they visit on their mobile devices? More than half of all visits to mobile websites come from organic search. If there were ever any doubt about the power of search to drive traffic, this fact alone should disintegrate it. Keywords anyone?
The power of the tried and true
In addition, Walker Sands reports that a third of all visits to mobile websites comes from direct sources such as email or social media apps. Email especially remains a valuable tool for reaching audiences and driving traffic. In part, because it is an entrenched technology that a lot of people use—there are 2.5 billion email users worldwide, according to the market research firm The Radicati Group.
Mix the tried and true of email with the upstart of mobile devices, and you have content lead generating gold. Because according to Hubspot, a company that knows a thing or two about email marketing, almost two-thirds of all email gets opened first on a mobile device.
Content marketing isn’t magic exactly. But for all marketers, especially in B2B, it remains one of the most powerful ways to drive interest in a brand. Which is one of the most persuasive ways to get people to visit a website. Which is the best method of generating leads. Which is one of the most valuable ways to get customers. Which is, after all, the end game.
