Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or just starting out, you’ve probably heard of the term “lead generation.” This is the process of getting leads (potential customers) to take an action (such as making a purchase or signing up for a free trial) after viewing your marketing content.

What types of content work best for generating leads? What forms do people prefer to use? How do you measure the success of your lead generation efforts?

Keep reading for answers to these questions, as well as details on how to generate leads using various digital marketing platforms.

The Benefits Of Online Lead Generation

Thanks to the rise of digital marketing, content creators now have the ability to target and engage potential customers (also known as leads) online through various channels.

The key benefits of online lead generation are as follows:

• Increased exposure. Since leads can read and view content online, you can target them with your SEO and content marketing efforts.
• Cost-effectiveness. Compared to traditional methods of lead generation, such as advertising, search engine optimization, and referral marketing, online lead generation is much cheaper. You’ll only pay for content that is actually viewed by the potential customer.
• Flexibility. With online lead generation, you can continue to produce and curate content regardless of whether you have a traditional marketing department or an inhouse team of content marketers. If you have a small budget, you can take advantage of online tools that allow you to scale and replicate content on a budget.
• Speed. With the increasing speed of the Internet, people have become desensitized to slower load times and more frustrating interfaces. If you want to generate leads, you have to keep up with the pace of contemporary marketing and continue to provide a seamless customer experience.
• Tracking. With a little know-how, you can track the progress of your lead generation efforts and the performance of each individual campaign to better optimize future efforts. Marketing automation tools, such as HubSpot, provide you with all the data you need to know about each individual lead so that you can continue to improve the customer experience and increase your conversion rates.

The Types Of Content That Work Best For Lead Generation

Based on the research conducted at HubSpot, the two most efficient ways to generate leads are as follows:

• Product reviews. Customers like to learn more about the products that they are interested in buying, so reviewing other people’s experiences with those products can help you generate leads.
• Video content. According to HubSpot’s research, customers prefer to watch videos about products rather than read text-based content. This is why you’ll often see online lead generation platforms create and distribute short video clips about products or services.

Although you should certainly take these results with a grain of salt, as they are primarily based on web behavior rather than actual customer preference, they do highlight the importance of video content in lead generation.

How To Generate Leads Using SEO And Content Marketing

Since search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing are two of the four pillars of digital marketing, you’ll often see online lead generation platforms integrated with these technologies.

You can integrate SEO with content marketing by using a tool that allows for automated content creation from a keyword list, such as HubSpot’s Content Plus.

With this tool, you can upload a list of keywords and get automated content, such as blogs and websites, to populate in your marketing channels. This can help you easily build and grow your SEO campaign, whether you’re just starting out or you already have a sizable backlist.

By using SEO and content marketing to generate leads, you’ll want to focus on the following:

• Building awareness. When people are searching for your keywords inside your niche, you can assume that they’re either already familiar with your brand or at least somewhat interested in your products. From there, you can move them toward becoming a lead or customer via content such as product reviews and guides that help them make the most of their purchase.
• Increasing accessibility. If people can’t find your website, blog, or social media profiles via organic searches, you’re losing potential customers. Make sure that your website is optimized for usability and that your social profiles are available on platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn.
• Establishing authority. Having a large number of high-quality articles and authoritative content that is regularly updated serves as a great foundation from which you can build your online presence.
• Credibility. Ideally, people will come to know, respect, and value your opinions and suggestions, which can be verified via multiple platforms (such as CrunchBase). When you establish credibility and trust with potential customers, you’re able to gain their confidence when presenting new ideas or products.
• Building a community. One of the best things that you can do for your SEO campaign is to establish and grow a community of engaged individuals who are interested in your products. Whether you have a blog or not, you can use your social platforms to cultivate relationships with people in your niche.

The Rise Of Video In Marketing

As discussed above, video content is essential for lead generation. However, video isn’t the be-all-end-all of content marketing. There are several different forms that video can take, and not all of them will lead to website traffic and conversion. But if you want to generate leads, you should definitely consider creating video content.

Thanks to platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, it is now much easier to quickly and easily create video content.

When people are browsing social media, they are typically already in the habit of consuming video content. According to HubSpot’s 2019 State of Marketing Report, video content is growing at a rapid pace, and it will continue to dominate the landscape, with 98% of marketers planning on using video content in marketing.

If you want to quickly and easily create video content, you can use platforms like TikTok – which is one of the most popular social media platforms globally – to quickly produce engaging content.

Since the majority of people are using these platforms to consume content, it makes perfect sense to get your content there too. When other content creators see that you’re consistently creating high-quality content on TikTok, they will likely follow your lead and use the platform to promote their products too. And since you’re already producing content for one of the most popular platforms in the world, why not continue to use it for marketing purposes?

Traditional Versus Digital Marketing

If you’re new to marketing or feel like you’ve been doing it for life, you might be wondering how to effectively combine online and traditional marketing.

While it’s always a good idea to integrate the two, you should keep in mind the different strategies and mindsets of each group.

Marketing managers and strategists at digital marketing agencies must consider the analytics and objectives of a campaign when planning a mix of digital and traditional marketing efforts. For instance, you might want to start with a series of engaging blog posts about a certain product, then follow that up with billboards and sponsored Instagram posts focused on the same topic.

According to HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report, 79% of marketers use both types of marketing, with 31% using mostly digital and 48% using mostly traditional. However, the differences between the two are growing. In 2017, only 16% of marketers used mostly digital and 84% used mostly traditional. While it’s still common for marketers to be versed in both, it’s clear that digital and traditional marketing complement each other.

Whether you’ve been doing it for years or are just getting started, you’re likely familiar with the term “lead generation.” This is the process of getting leads (potential customers) to take an action (such as making a purchase or signing up for a free trial) after viewing your marketing content.

What types of content work best for generating leads? What forms do people prefer to use? How do you measure the success of your lead generation efforts?

Keep reading for answers to these questions, as well as details on how to generate leads using various digital marketing platforms.