3 Ways Blogging Can Generate Leads for Your Company

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In a recent post entitled Why the economics of blogging are diminishing on Mark Schaefer’s popular blog, author Mars Dorian explains why he feels that blogging doesn’t yield the same level of return it did in the good old days (around 5 years go!). Referring to his own blogging he says,

Back in 2009, it was a useful marketing tool to attract new clients, nowadays, it’s a personal diary to build a stronger connection with my existing follower base.

So the question is, should you be expending resources on blogging in the hope of generating leads?

As a content marketer my answer is pretty obvious: absolutely!

Here are a few reasons why B2B’s benefit from blogging:

1. SEO

Your potential customers are searching for answers to their questions relating to your product or service on Google and other search engines. If you can answer those questions you’ve got a decent shot at showing up at the top of their search results. You answer those questions in your blog posts. Sure, there are many other factors that will determine your position in those search engine results, but you’d be surprised how well an effective blog post that addresses a specific issue will rank.

For example, we wrote a blog post entitled 5 Reasons Why Men Stay Single for a dating site client’s blog. The site (Jzoog.com) ranks only on page 3 of Google for the keywords “Jewish dating sites”, but it is first on page 1 for the long tailed keyword phrase “why do guys remain single” , and in the top 3 for related queries.

seo google

We also wrote some other posts for the site targeting long tailed dating related keywords that all rank towards the top of page 1 on Google and drive a significant amount of traffic to the site.

Effective blogging helps get you ranked by Google. That leads to click thrus and, hopefully, new leads.

2. Build Authority

Your blog is your personal platform for showing off your expertise to the world, especially to your target customers. It’s your chance to discuss specific topics and address the specific problems you know your target customers are facing. By sharing those posts you give those potential customers the opportunity to learn from you. They see that you know your stuff. They start viewing you as an expert, someone who can solve their problems. They want to do business with you.

Linkedin is the perfect platform for you to publish your blog posts. And people do read posts on Linkedin. Good posts that is. I published my first Linkedin post a little over 2 months ago. It got over 520 views and 76 likes. I’ve published 14 posts in total (not including this one) which have netted over 1000 followers and hundreds of likes. I’m NOT writing this to brag. There are Linkedin publishers with thousands and tens of thousands of followers. But from my perspective, over 1000 professionals that I don’t know found my content valuable enough to want to follow my posts and continue learning from them. I’ve already gotten a few leads from those posts, and I’m hoping to get lots more as I continue to publish.

Are your blog post going to bring in thousands of leads? Probably not. But most B2B’s who’s average client or customer is worth tens of thousands of dollars will be thrilled to convert leads in the double digits.

Think about your own business. Would you be happy with 10 new customers or clients? Then blogging can give you a pretty good shot at getting them.

3. Increase Exposure

Beyond displaying your expertise and building your authority in your field, blogging gives you the opportunity to extend your reach and increase your exposure. The guy reading your blog post might not be a customer himself, but he might run into someone who is and, guess what? If he likes what you write he’ll probably pass that along and recommend you.

At the end of his post Mars Dorian gives some great tips about how to blog which I totally agree with. I’ve added some of my own:

1. People don’t like to read super long posts, so keep them short.
I find between 500 and 750 words to be my sweet spot. It’s ok to write a longer “epic” post occasionally, but for the most part you should be able to make your point in around 500 words.

2. Focus on a single topic.
That’ll definitely keep your post from going too long. It will also give you the chance to write multiple posts instead of just one HUGE one.

3. Write in your own voice.
Make it interesting, and personal. If people just want the facts they can go to Wikipedia. And make sure that your voice is the right one for the audience your trying to reach.

The most important thing to remember is to write content that answers the questions that your target customers or clients are asking. Show them that you’ve got solutions to their problems and they’ll bring you their business.

The Biggest Content Marketing Mistake B2B Tech Companies Make

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Before you write a single word of content…STOP!!

The whole idea behind content marketing is to use content as a lead generation and sales tool. And in order to market or sell, you need to know who your target customer is.

The only way your content is going to have a positive effect on your target customer is if that customer connects with it. Your content needs to speak to your target customer in a language and voice he understands and relates to.

The biggest content marketing mistake B2B companies, particularly in tech related fields, make is that they don’t identify their target customer before writing their content. They write their content in their own voice, which might or might not resonate with their target customer. For tech companies, that voice is usually technical.

Let’s use 2 fictional companies as examples (I made up the names. Sorry if I got lucky and named your company!). ProtectoNet makes network security software for corporate networks. AppBuilders is an app development company primarily targeting small businesses.

ProtectoNet’s website content and blog posts are super technical. They often contain detailed information relating to network security issues and are way too complicated for anyone who isn’t a network administrator to understand. Their average blog post is guaranteed to cure even the worst insomnia cases for non-techies who dare attempt reading it.

Is ProtectoNet’s content marketing strategy on target?

Purchasing a sophisticated tech product like network security software is usually in the domain of the network or IT manager, since they’re usually the only one’s who can understand the problem and solution. So in ProtectoNet’s case, by writing complex technical content they are addressing their target customer and speaking their language.

AppBuilder’s website content and blog posts are also primarily technical in nature. They discuss the advanced programming techniques they use. They talk about databases, operating systems, coding issues and server maintenance. Interesting and engaging stuff if you’re a programmer. But are their target customers programmers?

Think about it. What small business is going to require the services of an app development firm? The chances are that their target customer is going to be a company looking to increase business by launching a mobile app or an entrepreneur attempting to launch a new app based business. There’s a good chance that person making the purchasing decisions is a business person, not a techie.

Of course it depends on the particular business, but unless the company is a tech startup the odds are overwhelming in favor of a non-tech customer looking for a way to improve business in some form. Technically oriented content is not what’s going to attract and engage this customer. What they want to know is how AppBuilder can help them increase revenue, expand their business and save money and time in the process. They couldn’t care less about how that happens. They don’t want to hear about the tech stuff. It’s not their thing.

Instead of writing about “how to structure database tables” or “the pros and cons of PHP vs. Python”, AppBuilder should be addressing “how to cost effectively build a mobile app” or “the pros and cons of outsourcing app development”. AppBuilder’s content should be appealing to entrepreneurs and business owners, who are the ones looking for the solution they’re offering.

Creating content that addresses your target customer isn’t confined to tech companies. It applies to any company using content marketing to attract and engage potential customers. For example, accounting firms or law firms need to determine whether they should post articles related to technical issues and problems they deal with that will appeal to other accountants or lawyers, or whether they need to address business owners with content related to cutting costs, managing liability and increasing efficiency.

Before you create your content ask yourself the question: who am I trying to attract and engage. Once you answer that question you’ll be able to create the type of content that will speak to your target customers.

Why Should I Sign Up for Your Newsletter?

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Congratulations, you got me to come to your site. I don’t recall how I got there. It might have been via a link you posted on a social media platform, or maybe because your blog post answered the question that I typed into Google search.

However it happened, you deserve a pat on the back. You succeeded in driving traffic to your website, which is the hardest and most highly prized objective that everyone is shooting (praying?) for.

So now I’m on your site reading your blog post. I liked it. It was well written and taught me something new. Now I’m ready to move on, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. But wait, you hit me with a “Sign up for our newsletter” box (or something like that).

Now you’ve got me thinking. Do I want to give you my email address and start a relationship that will add more clutter to my inbox? If you’re someone I’ve heard of before and you’ve built up a reputation for expertise in your field, then I might do it. If you’re not but I really liked your blog, I might bookmark it — but you’re not getting my email. Why should I, when I can just come back and read when I feel like it?

In order to get my email address (and first name?) you need to give me a good reason other than getting your updates or newsletter. You need to offer me something that I value enough to be willing to trade my info for. That can be an ebook, whitepaper, special report — it really doesn’t matter what you call it, as long as it is something that I consider valuable.

Without an offer you’re letting most of your visitors slip away … forever. That’s potential revenue lost. Painful.

Why should you care so much about getting email addresses?

1. You can nurture them into potential sales with an automated email workflow.

2. You can personally reach out to them to try and make a sale.

3. By using a service like FullContant you can get an incredible amount of information about the person behind the email such as their social media profile, the websites they are associated with and their interests. You can then connect with them in different ways to build a relationship which could eventually lead to a sale.

If you already have you’re “sign up for updates” box in place, you don’t need to get rid of it. Some people do actually sign up. But you should definitely add at least one offer that you can present to your visitors in exchange for their email addresses. You can then add those emails to your lead list and automated email workflow — or simply reach out to them directly — to move them through your sales funnel and hopefully to a completed sale.

If you’re interested in learning how we at Onrush do just that, download our free ebook The Digital Marketing Blueprint.

Why Digital Marketing is Vital to a Successful B2B Sales Process

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When you think of traditional business to business (B2B) selling, you probably think of salespeople making cold calls to dig up leads and convince them to try their product or service. While tradition sales prospecting techniques still have their place in the sales process, the latest research points in a different direction.

Research shows that up to 60-90% of decision-making in B2B is made before the decision-maker approaches the supplier:

“A CEB (Corporate Executive Board) study of more than 1,400 B2B customers found that those customers completed, on average, nearly 60% of a typical purchasing decision – researching solutions, ranking options, setting requirements, benchmarking pricing, and so on – before even having a conversation with a supplier.”

“SiriusDecisions reports that 70% of the buying process in a complex sale is already complete before prospects are willing to engage with a live salesperson”

“Two-thirds to 90% of the buying cycle is completed before a B2B buyer ever speaks with a sales rep.” – Forrester

“Business buyers spend just 21% of buying cycle in conversations with salespeople, instead spending 23% of the time in conversations with peers and colleagues and 56% of the buying cycle searching for and engaging with content” – IDG Connect

At the extreme, a buyer will get 90% of the way towards making a final decision on whether to purchase your product or service before speaking with a sales rep.

That’s great news for companies with effective digital marketing strategies. The more informative content you can give the potential buyer, the better your chance of making the sale before you even speak with him or her.

But you need great content, and you need your potential buyer to be able to find it. To do that you need your digital marketing to include:

1. Creating the right content that will inform and engage.

2. SEO – Optimizing that content for search engines to find.

3. Sharing that content on relevant social media platforms.

There’s still a role for a great salesperson who can build relationships and close deals. But the process of generating those leads has changed. Consumers want as much information as they can get to base their decisions on. And there’s plenty of information out there in the digital sphere for them to use.

To be successful, B2B companies need effective digital marketing strategies to create superior content and get it in front of their potential customers.