Blogging may not be the newest strategy for lead creation and marketing, but that doesn’t make it any less effective.
Blogs can result in a 434% increase of indexed pages with the search engines. Plus, companies with their own blogs can generate up to 67% more leads per month.
Further studies show that marketers who put blogging at the head of their advertising strategy are about 13 times more likely to see positive ROI.
Of course, companies need to know how to effectively manage their blogging strategy if they want to achieve the best outcomes.
A blog requires careful planning and implementation to generate not just leads but also revenue and brand growth.
So how do you turn your blogging strategy into something that generates measurable results for your company? Here are some top tips to get you started.
Create Lead Generating Magnets
Lead magnets are essentially pieces of content that convince your audience to part with their personal information.
You offer your customers something valuable, like an eBook or white paper, and in return, they give you their email address and other valuable contact information.
Lead magnets are an incredible way to turn potential leads into potential customers. Since studies show that it takes an average of 8 touches with a customer to create a sale, lead magnets ensure that you maintain a connection with your audience even after they leave your site.
Once they’ve handed over their email address, you’re free to send messages that nurture leads into dedicated customers.
The key to success is ensuring you know which lead magnets will appeal most to your clients. Make sure you offer something valuable and track how your customers respond to each offer.
You’ll begin to notice if some lead magnets are more likely to generate conversions than others.
Check out this blog for help getting started.
Include Newsletter Subscription Forms
Sometimes, you don’t even need a lead magnet to convince someone that they want to hear more from you.
Certain customers will read your blog posts or check out your products and decide that they’d like to learn more.
You can also increase the chances of newsletter subscriptions by offering deals and discounts in pop-up forms and slide-in subrequests.
Whenever your customer is browsing your website, make sure that they can always see an option to sign up for your newsletter.
It might be a good idea to reassure your audience that they won’t receive any spam from you and that they’ll have the option to “unsubscribe” at any time.
To keep your customers committed to your newsletter, consider giving them the option to choose which content they receive as part of a preferences page on their profile.
You should also pay close attention to metrics like open rate and engagement to figure out what kind of content your customers like the most.
Leverage Relevant CTAs
The Call to Action is one of the most powerful buttons or links on your website.
With a CTA, you encourage visitors to do something valuable, like signing up for your newsletter, checking out a product demo, or asking for an appointment with a professional.
CTAs are great for showing your customers what they should do next if they’re interested in your company.
Your CTAs need to be relevant and well-designed to drive the best results.
For instance, if you’re writing a blog about the best free courses for online marketers, then the CTA in that article might link out to a webinar or learning experience that your business offers.
If CTAs at the bottom of your blogs aren’t making the right impact, consider using a slide-in CTA instead. These are dynamic popups that jump into the page when your customer is in the middle of browsing through your blog.
Although using these CTAs too often can be annoying, they are also a useful way to grab customer attention.
Create Exclusive Subscriber Content
If your customers love the blog content that you produce, you may be able to take your relationship with them to the next level by offering “content upgrades.”
Essentially, this means including certain blog posts and articles that you only offer to exclusive members of your website.
You might even have different subscription levels, each offering different benefits to your customers.
Remember, to convince your customers that they should sign up for exclusive content, you’re going to have to offer some significant value.
Start by showcasing your thought leadership and authority in the free blog posts and articles you produce online.
Once you have a solid readership, discover what kind of content your customers find most useful and build on that, creating videos, walk-throughs, webinars, and even advanced eBooks based on trending topics and subjects.
Retarget To Reconnect
As mentioned above, a blog is an excellent way to generate profits for your business. Around 90% of businesses use content marketing tactics today. And considering the potential ROI you could achieve, it’s easy to see why.
However, your customers may need to read more than one blog before they’re ready to buy something from you.
Retargeting is how you can connect with customers who have already been on your website, with valuable information and offers relevant to them.
When a customer arrives on your website, a retargeting cookie will appear on their browser, collecting information about the products and pages they viewed. You can then deliver ads across a variety of environments, including social media and Google Ads, to reconnect with customers.
Reminding your clients what they’ve already shown interest in can give you a better chance of conversions.
Create Content That Generates Better Rankings
Content isn’t just a great way to showcase your knowledge and thought leadership. A good blogging strategy can also be an excellent opportunity to attract new customers.
The more you write valuable content, the more your marketing strategy will evolve. Learning how to create content that improves your website performance could give you access to endless monetization opportunities.
Videos, infographics, and case studies where you share unique statistics and information can all provide valuable content to your customers.
Just remember: Blogging is about providing your customers with helpful content, not keywords stuffing. A good human-focused content strategy often delivers better results than an SEO strategy.
Making The Most Of Your Business Blog
A business blog is a powerful tool for companies in search of better brand growth and awareness. However, there’s more to blogging than a lot of companies realize.
A good blogging strategy allows you to earn your target customers’ attention at crucial points in their purchasing journey. As a result, you’ll be opening the door to new leads and sales.
Blogs can even be a vital part of the strategy you use to attract the right leads to your website in the first place.
With the tips above, you’ll be able to turn even a basic business blog into a lead generation solution in no time.
Joe Peters is a Baltimore-based freelance writer and an ultimate techie. When he is not working his magic as a marketing consultant, this incurable tech junkie devours the news on the latest gadgets and binge-watches his favorite TV shows. Follow him on @bmorepeters.
Don’t Just Create Content. Create a Content Marketing System.
All the blogs in the world won’t help you grow your business if you don’t have a successful marketing system in place. And that’s exactly what the team at ROI Online helps you do!
With the ROI QuickStart, our team of marketing experts will create a marketing machine using the four crucial components of the Business GrowthStack (as laid out in the best-selling book The Golden Toilet). We work with you to create 5 website pages, a lead generating magnet, lead nurturing email series, and sales support to help you get an ROI from your hard work.
Or, if you’re a DIY-er on a tight budget, give our ROI PitStop a try. In this program, you get an expert business co-driver who walks you through the process of creating a marketing machine. You’ll get one-on-one coaching customized to your business needs.
Schedule a strategy session to learn more!
