This post is not about how valuable content is for your business. I feel I’ve made that point pretty consistently the last couple of years, here, here, here, and here just for starters.
Instead I want to address the second most common question I get – what type of content is the BEST when it comes to generating new leads?
Even if you’re 100% on board with branding through inbound marketing and content creation, you’re smart about it and want to keep things as profitable as possible. I don’t blame you. So do I.
Here’s how we do it.
Finding the Magic Touch Points
One small caveat before we start – every single business and audience is different. So what works for Joe’s Plumbing might not do a lick of good for John’s Chiropractic. There are a lot of things that DO work consistently across the board, but it’s not black and white.
So the vast majority of my job ends up being testing to ensure the content we create DOES get the results we’ve not only promised, but that I personally feel are possible for a client.
That means finding the magic touch points for that particular audience. Easiest way to do that? See what people are already reading:
- Visit other blogs and industry sites to see what freebies they offer
- Look for highest engagement rates on Facebook Pages and top posts
- Engage with commenters to determine what drove them to interact
- Ask for feedback from every one of your customers and prospects
There’s an ocean of data out there to draw from – we are constantly dragging the nets to get as much info as we can before producing any content for our clients.
What Type of Content Works Best
That said, I can tell you this – there are certain types of content that work fantastic for generating new leads and building an audience. The following are the ones that we’ve seen the best results of in terms of overall ROI.
- Short Videos – Video as content is one of the highest perceived value things you can put out there. A decent web cam and a solid smile can win you a number of fans. Get creative and you can go viral.
- Interviews – Interviews are not only extremely effective, conferring the expertise of the person you interview (or are interviewed by) to yourself and your company, but they’re fairly easy. A bit of prep is needed, but 1-2 hours of time invested is a bargain for the exposure these can gain you.
- White Papers – White papers sound boring but they are extremely powerful, providing useful information and research in your field while positioning you as the expert who can provide that information.
- Press Releases – Online press releases get coverage most of the time, generate backlinks and lead to new prospects on your site – free press releases are more work but they can still pay off.
- Facebook Posts – A single Facebook post, well written, carefully targeted and pushed to the right audience can have a big impact. Add even just a small $5-$10 investment and it can reach a HUGE audience.
- Guest Posts – Again, like an interview, guest posts confer the expertise of the other blog to you, creating a connection that helps you stand out and drives traffic and readers to your site.
There’s a lot of other stuff not listed above. Does that mean it isn’t effective? No. It just means we’ve seen the best results from the things above. These are strong branding tools and when performed consistently over time, that kind of exposure is bound to get results.
Want to learn more about guest posting, Facebook post creation, or generating high quality white papers for your brand? Connect with Great Leap Studios and we can discuss all of the best options for your brand.
