Sometimes when I hear companies talking about creating a "machine" for their lead-generation efforts, I think about Dr. Seuss. Specifically, I think about all the fantastical and imaginative machines he created in his 46 children's books--like the Super-Axe-Hacker, the Utterly Sputter and (my favorite) the Eight-Nozzled Elephant-Toted Boom Blitz, a mighty machine that rapidly fires explosive sour-cherry stones.
Of course in real life, businesses can't flip the switch on a Triple-Sling Jigger to instantly produce prospects. But what if you could create a kind of machine for lead generation on your own company blog, allowing it to help you continuously fill that sales funnel?
Blogs are a great way to increase your digital presence, making you more visible and "findable" via Google, Bing and the like. They can also be a great way to generate leads. Your blog can function as a kind of triage for your sales team, fielding and answering questions organically via the content you produce there. However, it can perform that function only if you effectively create momentum with visitors who are likely to buy, turning them from mere passersby into something more.
Here's a 10-step prescription to increase your visibility and attract more qualified folks to your site. It may not shoot cherry pits, but it will help you convert your traffic into leads.
1. Make your blog an extension of your main website. A visitor's first experience with your company might be through a blog page. He or she might never land on your main site's homepage, so link your blog visually (mirroring the navigation and design of your main site) as well as technically. Maintain the blog as a subdomain of your main domain (something like blog.website.com) versus putting it on a separate domain entirely. Blogging on the same domain that hosts your company site ensures that all inbound links to blog pages also juice up the search mojo of your main site.
2. Solve or share, don't shill. Your blog should focus on your customers. It should either solve their problems or share your resources. Don't shill your stuff. This may sound obvious, but too many business blogs seem to be a repository for press releases, regurgitated marketing-speak and other pablum. News about your company and its products and services might be fascinating to you, but it's not what will ultimately attract and engage prospects. Write about what they care about.
How can you determine what to write about? Use inquires or "Frequently Asked Questions" as fuel for blog posts. Ask your frontline folks: What problems do our customers ask about? What advice do they need? What problems do our products or services solve? Also, check your search logs: See what keywords people use when they land on your site to get a sense of what problems they have and what words they use to describe them. (Of course, questions your customers don't ask but you wish they did--or Frequently Unasked Questions--also are great blog post fodder!)
3. Show up. Half of blogging is consistency, or just showing up on a regular basis. (Naturally, the other half is producing great stuff!) You don't have to blog every day, but you do have to create a schedule that's sustainable for you. Hiring a freelancer or a staff writer or editor can help keep you on track with regular content, especially if you are a reluctant writer. But if you can't afford that, use an editorial calendar to plan a posting schedule (and stick to it). An editorial calendar, by the way, is simply that: a calendar on which you plan what post will be published when.
Showing up also applies to the ongoing care and feeding of the community you're creating through your blog. Encourage conversation and engagement by responding to comments (even negative ones). Be part of the conversation, not above it.
4. Avoid War and Peace posts. The best blog posts are punchy and concise, focusing on a single idea. Think short paragraphs or bullet points. And don't bury the important information. Open with a declarative sentence that sets up the key idea. Framing blog posts this way not only respects your reader's busy schedule, but also helps address the anxiety a lot of us feel about writing. A blog post can also be a graphic, image, video or even an embedded PowerPoint presentation.
5. Pen a killer headline. I sometimes spend more time writing a headline for a blog post than I do writing the entire post. Why? Because every blog post creates a new page on your site, and every new page creates another opportunity to boost your ranking for one of your targeted keyword phrases in Google or Bing or other search engines. Your blog post title becomes your web page title, so titles matter!
An intriguing headline, or title, is also critical to attracting actual humans to read your post. The title of an article is not merely a promise to the reader (an idea of what's in store), it's also the pitchman for the entire post: It entices people to either click or … not.
6. Link to other resources. Throughout a post, link specific words or phrases to other resources on your site. You can link keywords to resource pages you've built around those words, or you can link to specific landing pages where you've posted related offers, like the ability for visitors to sign up for a companion webinar, request a white paper or get a free trial.
7. Embed companion calls to action. In addition to linking within the post itself, remember the real estate around the post. There are a few areas prime for calls to action on any blog page, including the "leaderboard" spot at the top of your blog, the sidebar on either side of the post and the often-ignored space immediately following a blog post.
The first two spots are great for banners or buttons. But the space under the post is key: Assuming readers get through the entire post, they should always be given an opportunity to learn more with either a companion offer or related piece of content. (Hint: This is also a good place from which to link to landing pages that require e-mail registration.)
8. Offer subscription services. Allow your visitors to subscribe to get regular updates to your blog via e-mail and RSS. Essentially, every time you publish a post, a subscriber is notified to check it out. Plug-ins to allow subscription options are likely available for your blogging platform of choice (most e-mail marketing providers offer plug-ins that can be integrated into WordPress and other blogging platforms to turn your blog into a comprehensive list-building system). There are also a number of third-party services that can collect names and contact info for you. FeedBlitz and Google FeedBurner are both free services.
9. Trick out with social bling. The more traffic you attract, the more opportunities you'll have for generating leads. So be sure to outfit your blog with social-sharing icons, particularly the big three: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Doing so subtly encourages your visitors to share your content and allows you to reach your network's network, which is a key attribute of social media. Of course, this assumes that you are actively participating in social media, i.e., engaging in conversation, and not just broadcasting headlines.
10. Remember one final thing. Fundamentally, a blog is an opportunity: It's a way to connect with customers in a real-time, accessible way. But your blog needs to be part of your business, and part of your lead-gen efforts. Talk it up in e-mail newsletters, in print collateral and on packaging materials. A blog won't magically drive business without active and ongoing promotion and participation--no matter how much inspiration Dr. Seuss imparts.
This article was originally published in the September 2011 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: The Customer Capture Contraption.
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Comments:
Excellent post for anybody looking to get more leads through blogging
Great list, short and concise. An opt-in form is also a great way to generate leads. If you use your blog to share some tips and show your expertise in a particular area, readers will be more included to opt-in (sign up) to the ebook or full guide to learn more, providing you with a warm lead for follow-up. Thanks! Sally O'Connor
This is only cheap talk...We can talk all the time about how to find your niche, or how to post only original articles, but there is only one true...There are only few blogs in the world who earns enough money to live :)
You might also be able to point out some of the reasons why insurance is helpful, include stories (with permission) of people who have been saved from ruin by having had insurance, or explain aspects of it that are confusing to potential purchasers. K. Olson, author of Cape or Cloak: How To Do Better In The Business Of Business
Why not focus on wellness tips or finanacial tips to let yor prospects know that you care about them. www.esignlife.com
reasonable!
Great article, I have written down several ideas already. Thank you! I loved linking to other resources. Thank you for the post!
Great post. I have quite a bit of blogging experience, except I think what I need to do more of is offer more resources, freebies, and/or press releases. On another note, one thing I often see people doing (especially in our web design industry) is blogging about industry standards, best practices, etc. and not enough about what clients would be interested in. These types of blog posts may attract others for networking purposes, but no clients directly. That's why, for example, we've tried to create more blog posts that help out small businesses or startups since that's our niche market, rather than posts on web design or development just because that's what we do.
Very good post here. I recently wrote an article about how to get blog readers that keep coming back. Its at: http://online-money-today.com/transforming-blog-traffic-visitors-frequently-return/ The cool thing is that if you keep your visitors coming back for more there is more of a chance they will opt in if they haven't already the first time. This will muttiply your success with getting opt ins on your blog. Remember people need at least 7 exposures to an offer before they take action so consistancy is everything. Hope this helps. Matthew Hell Online-money-today.com
Hi Handley! The above mentioned 10 ways are really helpful in turning our blog into lead generation machine. Including the above points, it is also very important to concentrate on the content of the blog. The content must be readable, very clear and effective.
Totaly love it, great post
Short and packs a punch. Using the subscription feature is the next step for me.
Ann, if your product is dull and boring how do you blog about that. Something dull and boring like insurance?
Anne, I have a question, if your product is a dry, dull and boring product how to do blog about that? Lets say something like Insurance?
I understood that part of the value of answering FAQs in blogs is that it makes your site attractive to prospective customers searching for solutions to problems they face. In other words, well qualified leads. I think you imply that in this great post, but perhaps it's worth being explicit. Also, what's the best way to capture the contact details of your blog readers, so you can begin the sales process? A form that's as easy to complete as possible, I think.
Blogging can indeed bring in sales leads or business leads. However, b2b lead generation can still benefit greatly from outsourced telemarketing services. For instance, software leads generation can be better outsourced to professional telemarketers that have already amassed the knowledge, understanding, and experience in speaking with potential clients for software companies.
wow great. This information was very useful to me. i'm really very glad to this site. Thanks for sharing this information.
Just the content that I am looking for. We have been using content distribution through blogs across the Internet and it works perfectly for our business. But lead generation efforts should not only end on content distribution, best if it is backed- up with other lead generation campaigns such as telemarketing to follow up on the leads generated from content distribution or online marketing campaign through our lead generation campaign workflow http://www.callboxinc.com/leadgeneration-callcampaignflow
Thanks for the great article. It further backs up what I just read in this piece http://www.leadtomarket.com/blog-writing-generates-leads/ on the Lead to Market website. I am now going to dedicate the time to creating a blog that can work for my company and hopefully this will bring me more business.
This is a great article, especially for those who are not sure how to get started with blogging. I tell my clients all the time that your blog is an opportunity to get people to know, like, and trust you. Glad to see that was highlighted in this article. Also the tips were spot on.
I use my blog to generate leads and business. I penned it around following my journey as a pop up store. This has helped my business grown and we did our very first Emmy After Party Red Carpet an VIP bag - http://www.wilbeautyskincare.wordpress.com
Great post! Very helpful for me in getting my fitness business going. What are your thoughts on linking Facebook, Twitter, Linked In etc. so that I can post on one and it automatically updates all? Redundant or efficient?
Thanks, friend!! Nice to see you here. ; )
Absolutely agree. It's perfect for B2B companies.
Best of luck to you. And thanks for stopping by over here.
Good additions, Nancy. Thanks!
Awesome! That's how to do it... talk about what matters to your audience, not just what matters to you.
Thanks for chiming in Daniel -- will check out what you are doing.
Thanks Ann, Several clients have followed the good rule of matching their Online Store with their Blog. Specially using Blogger which you can really tweak to match perfectly. An easy transition between the Blog and the Online Store is crucial. That way people enter through the Blog and then get directed to the Shop. We are doing exactly what you suggested; subdomain the Blog to the Store and now that Google confirmed that the subdomain is seen as content of the main domain, it's even better. So much to talk about... -Daniel O. eCommerce Developer http://www.ShoppingCartsForWebsites.com
So true. My latest legal/business http://kendricklaw.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/firesomeoneoverfbpost/ talks about the recent NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) ruling on social media and its relationship with employers and their ability to fire. I place this blog on all print, cross promote it with my Twitter, FB, and LinkedIn, etc.
Well...I am about to open up my own Internet based e-commerce business...This makes all the sense in the world...tks
Great tips. I especially like #2.
Good tips. I published an email newsletter last month "Sail your way to better blogging" where I shared some similar advice. A couple of items that you did not mention -- using your website analytics to identify keywords that resonate with your readers, and using credible and relevant guest bloggers to help maintain your cadence.
Thanks for these tips on marketing a blog. All you tips are spot on. I have tried to implement most of the tips you gave and some I am still working to implement
I am in the same boat as most new bloggers. How much traffic is good? I have started a blog on my process of starting an upcycle company and writing books. It is all how helping others do the same!! People need a place without the nay sayers of the world hateing on ideas. Come and get some modivational steriods!! http://davevsthemachine.wordpress.com/
Consistency is the key to success and every blog should have a purpose (like: to promote product, to capture email, to find new followers etc.) Though it is a slow process, it works well for the long term. Thanks.
Great tips on blogging. I think a blog is a great social tool that can be useful for lead-generation, especially for B2B companies.
Thanks for more inspiration, Ann! Just added a never-ending, repeating event on my "editorial calendar" to blog weekly... BTW, love the expression "Frequently Unasked Questions".
Twitter, Facebook, Technorati, Del.icio.us, Google plus to name a few are all viable platforms through which you can reach out to people and advertise your blog.
Great ideas here. I especially like companion calls to action and subscriptions! Thanks for the tips :)
For a new blog, what would you consider to be good for daily views? I've been watching my stats like a hawk, but I have no idea if the views I'm getting are good (about 100 per day) or not. Not getting any commenters, but I know or hope that will build in time. Does anyone have any insight about what one should realistically expect from a new blog? http://ablogwithinablog.blogspot.com/
Nice post! A friend of mine says that content should be compelling (not just creative). In addition to a great headline and compelling content, quoting and/or linking to an industry expert that supports your position helps as well.