Content marketing is more than just an activity for attracting organic website traffic.
Yes, it can be amazing when used to put your business on the map.
However, great content can be just as effective at engaging and (more importantly) converting your target audience.
Still not convinced that content is worth the investment?
Data from the 2023 State of Content Marketing Global Report reveals that 42-47% of marketers who invested in content managed to boost social media and website engagement. Moreover, 33% increased conversions. And 16-20% managed to build a subscriber base, expand their community, and earn their audience’s trust.
So, if you’re looking for ways to up your prospecting game (and ensure better results), content marketing might be worth the investment.
Without further ado, here’s everything you need to know about leveraging content marketing for effective prospecting.
Impressive ROIs Start with In-Depth Research
Finding qualified leads for your business is not something you do on a whim.
Yes, a “spray and pray” digital marketing strategy can yield good results if you rely on intuition. However, it’s much more likely to deliver a solid ROI if you base it on data. That’s why it’s important to begin your content marketing journey with in-depth research.
So, what is it that you need to find out?
First and foremost, you identify your ideal prospects. Who are the people who need your solutions? Pinpoint their demographic data (age, gender, location, interests, etc.) and shopping behaviors.
Secondly, identify your prospects’ pain points, aspirations, and priorities.
By understanding what needs your buyer personas want you to solve (and how they want you to do it), you can optimize your content marketing strategy to grab their attention and convince them of your brand’s competence to solve their needs.
Thirdly, identify any brand characteristics your ideal customers seek. For instance, research shows that 82% of consumers want to shop with brands whose values align with their own.
Comprehending these values is crucial, not just because you want to attract new customers. More importantly, you want to form strong relationships with your prospects, which is key for ensuring customer loyalty and maximizing long-term business success.
Outperform Your Competitors
Once you know who you’re producing content for, it’s time to ensure you’re doing it better than anyone else in your niche.
You see, people don’t just buy from the first brand they come across. Instead, they go through a multi-step buyer’s journey, which includes in-depth solution evaluation phases.
According to prospecting research, a brand will require an average of eight touches to secure an initial meeting with a qualified lead. Furthermore, consumers will easily spend hours (if not days, weeks, or months) researching potential solutions — especially for B2B products or big-ticket items.
With this in mind, the content you use to attract and convert leads needs to paint your brand and products/services in the best possible light. Moreover, it needs to offer more value than anything your competitors are publishing.
And, of course, it’s vital that your content addresses and resolves your prospects’ niche questions and pain points.
In fact, don’t be afraid of going into exhaustive details.
A resource similar to the Real Estate Skills Wholesale Real Estate in California guide stands out for several reasons. First and foremost, it touches on every possible aspect of the highly specific topic it covers.
Secondly, in addition to the industry insights, it also delivers a marvelous UX through visuals and video. Finally, the article strongly prioritizes user value, making it one of the best articles of its kind currently online.
For prospecting (and ranking on SERPs, for that matter), that’s essential, as it’s the best possible way to attract quality leads, engage, and hopefully convert them with content.
Align Content With Your Prospects’ Position in the Buyer’s Journey
The only way to effectively leverage content marketing for prospecting is to serve your audience with resources that are relevant to them and their position in the sales cycle.
That’s why you need to invest in content that aligns with different user needs/wants.
When targeting people who aren’t yet aware of your solutions, you want to produce content for the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey. These buyers will typically experience a pain point, and their goal will be to remove it.
So, they’ll look for informational resources to help them comprehend and identify their specific needs.
For instance, if you look at the SMS Customer Service Software article from DialMyCalls, you’ll see it’s fully optimized to attract and engage people in the top stages of the sales funnel. The resource helps readers understand how SMS benefits customer service. It gives examples of possible implementation options.
Finally, it gently directs readers toward the mid and low stages of the funnel by inviting them to further explore the company’s business texting solutions or start their free trial.
Next, you’ll want to invest in content optimized for the evaluation phase of the customer journey.
A resource similar to Aura’s Inventory Lab guide is an excellent example, as it presents readers with all the insights they need to make an informed buying decision.
What’s so impressive about this piece of content is that it’s the perfect mechanism for engaging mid-stage buyers. It targets search terms used by people not yet aware of Aura’s repricer tool.
So, by presenting these consumers with a valuable resource, the brand doesn’t just call potential customers’ attention to its solution. It also gives practical advice on using the two SaaS products together to boost Amazon sales and solve all of the readers’ pain points with a well-integrated solution.
As your prospects move into the purchase stage of the buyer’s journey and get closer to a purchase, actively present them with more conversion-oriented content. Think of instances of social proof or resources removing common conversion obstacles.
For instance, Artknit Studios presents shoppers with multiple examples of purchase-inspiring content on its product pages.
In addition to the FAQs, which cover shipping, payment, and care, the brand also includes sizing charts and digital product passports, using these micro-sized bits of info to encourage web visitors to convert.
Finally, when looking to use content marketing for prospecting, don’t forget that most buyers consider the expected quality of CX before deciding whether to interact with and buy from a brand.
From this perspective, it’s hugely beneficial to have a rich post-purchase content library on hand. It can testify to your organization’s dedication to putting customer needs first.
Plus, future customers might explore these resources prior to converting to determine whether your brand is credible, trustworthy, and benevolent enough to earn their trust and business.
Enhance Content With Attractive Lead-Generation Mechanisms
Content value and relevance are essential when trying to reach and engage your target audience.
However, one of the biggest mistakes businesses make when investing in content for prospecting is that they forget to incorporate their content strategies with their lead-generation activities.
For a piece of content to deliver an impressive ROI, it has to play a direct role in your sales funnel.
That is, you need to enhance your resources with attractive lead-generation mechanisms that will guide web visitors’ attention toward high-value CTAs and make the benefits of interacting with your brand crystal clear.
For inspiration, check out the Salary Guide from Somewhere. This is a great piece of content for attracting awareness-stage prospects to the brand’s site — it’s relevant, unique, and well-made.
However, what works about this piece of content is that the brand put it behind a sign-up wall.
This effectively transforms the piece into a lead magnet, which allows Somewhere to capture new prospects and then nurture them with additional high-quality content through email marketing or retargeting strategies.
Optimize Distribution Channels and Invest in SEO
If you want to leverage content marketing for effective prospecting, there’s one step you can’t skip. You need to ensure that your target audience actually discovers your resources.
You’ll do that by creating a strategic plan for the distribution process, which is just as (if not more) important as production.
Generally, there are two main tactics for accomplishing satisfactory organic reach.
One is to optimize each resource for search rankings. This is especially important considering the vast difference in clickthrough rates between position #1 and position #10 on Google.
For instance, if you check out the Mass Gainer vs. Whey Protein article on Transparent Labs, you’ll see that it targets the right keywords, but that’s not all.
It’s fully optimized to rank high on Google, which it does by demonstrating experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, allowing the business to win position #1 and outperform its competitors.
The second tactic is to actively distribute content on relevant social media networks used by your target audience. The key to social media prospecting is to prioritize follower value over conversions, actively engage with followers, and utilize the platforms as community-building tools to develop meaningful relationships with potential clients.
Go Above and Beyond With Engaging Formats and Personalization
Lastly, as you explore methods for leveraging content marketing for effective prospecting, remember that the only way to reach your goals is to make your resources irresistible to your target audience.
Ultimately, people won’t interact with content that’s plain or boring. Instead, they want a fun and engaging experience that effectively addresses and resolves their unique pain points.
With this in mind, it’s a good idea to make interactive content and personalization a big part of your content marketing strategy.
Bumble and Bumble do both with their Hair Goals Quiz, which helps prospects find an ideal hair care routine to address their specific needs. It also allows the brand to collect relevant user information.
It can then employ this information to present potential customers with personalized content (and offers) that will have a much higher chance of resulting in conversion over a generic email or social media post.
Ready to Invest in Content for Effective Prospecting?
The tactics mentioned above are all excellent ways to attract and engage potential customers. Nonetheless, an effective prospecting strategy for your business might require a more expert approach.
At Salesbread we specialize in LinkedIn outreach that guarantees 1 qualified sales lead per day. If you would like to use both content marketing and outbound lead generation, reach out to us for a free 15-minute strategy session, where we can help you with the outbound side of marketing.
For a list of marketing agencies, go here.