How to Create Lead Generation Content that Converts: 18 Key Steps

As a marketer, you know that creating high-quality content is key to achieving your goals. 

Your end objective can be anything:

• Driving traffic to your website
• Raising brand awareness
• Increasing engagement

But what you really want is to turn your audience into loyal customers. Unfortunately, in today's oversaturated market, standing out can be tough.

Here's the good news: according to recent studies, content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less. 

Hence, if you can master creating content that converts, you're already ahead of the game.

So, how can you write content that grabs your audience's attention and convinces them to take action?

How can you turn casual readers into loyal customers? 

And how can you ensure a positive ROI from your content marketing efforts?

We've got you covered. This blog post will share 18 tips to help you write high-quality lead-generation content. So, get ready to take your content marketing strategy to the next level!

How to Create Content That Converts?

Let’s explore 18 of the most effective strategies – to unleash the power of content to drive meaningful engagement and conversions.

1. Understand Your Content Goals

Before designing your lead generation content strategy, you MUST understand the possible goals. Such as: 

1. Brand Awareness: You can amplify your brand's presence and expand your reach through social media advertising, influencer collaborations, and email campaigns. These approaches proactively promote your brand and increase brand awareness. 

You can strategically craft and syndicate content to reach your target audience directly. Hence, you can effectively enhance your brand's visibility and drive significant brand recognition.

2. Lead Generation and Nurturing: Create content that builds trust with your audience, such as case studies and whitepapers.

3. Lead Conversions: Finally, the ultimate goal of content is to drive conversions. It means creating bottom-of-the-funnel (BoFu) content – product demos and customer stories – that encourage your nurtured leads to become paying customers.

In short, you can create various types of content to reach your end goals. By understanding these objectives, you can design resources that engage your audience, drive conversions, and ultimately grow your business.

2. Identify Key Content Elements

Your content comprises multiple elements for lead generation, including:

• Content types
• Publishing frequency
• Post length
• SEO
• Budget
• Introduction

Let’s check them out in greater detail:

1. Content Types

A significant chunk of marketers creates content focused on direct response. The primary goal of this content is to educate the reader. As such, here are the major types of response-oriented content:

• Blog Posts: Regularly published articles that provide information, insights, and opinions on various topics, typically aimed at engaging and educating the audience.
• Whitepapers: Authoritative documents offering comprehensive research, analysis, and solutions on a specific subject, establishing expertise and influencing the target audience.
• Thought Leadership Articles: Insightful pieces showcasing unique perspectives, innovative ideas, and industry expertise to position as an authority and attract potential leads.
• Case Studies: In-depth analyses of situations, products, or services demonstrating problem-solving and success stories to prospective clients.
• Lead Magnet Marketing Guides: Comprehensive resources offered in exchange for contact information to educate potential customers and generate leads.
• Bottom-of-the-Funnel (BoFu) Content: Content to convert leads into customers, including demos, pricing pages, and testimonials.
• Checklists and Templates: Tools simplifying complex tasks to generate leads, build authority, and nurture relationships.
• Cheat Sheets: Concise summaries aiding quick understanding and application of critical concepts, often used as reference tools or lead magnets.
• Reports and Worksheets: Comprehensive documents offering detailed analysis, data, and insights to educate the audience.
• Courses: Structured educational resources teaching specific skills or subjects, used as high-value lead magnets or revenue-generating products.
• Infographics: Visual representations that simplify complex information to educate and entertain the audience.
• Videos and Podcasts: Rich media content that engages the audience through storytelling, entertainment, and education to build trust and authority.
• Webcasts and Webinars: Online events that offer valuable information, insights, and audience interaction to generate leads, build authority, and promote products/services.

2. Publishing Frequency

Regarding website content, our experts suggest publishing blogs once a week. But more frequent posting is possible with ample resources. However, determining the optimal posting frequency for social media is a trial-and-error process. 

Factors like audience size, location, and content type play a significant role in performance. Experiment with posting times and quantities to find what works best for you. Continuously test, learn, and adapt to optimize your strategy.

3. Length

According to HubSpot data, the ideal blog post length for SEO is recommended to be between 2,100-2,400 words. On the other hand, for lead generation, longer content of around 2,500 words is more effective in establishing authority. 

To rank well on Google, it is advised to follow SEO best practices such as proper backlinking, adding alt-text, and incorporating media-rich content.

4. SEO 

Keyword research is crucial for content marketing strategies, and we recommend allocating at least 30 minutes for this task. To measure the impact of your SEO efforts:

• Track keyword rankings
• Monitor organic traffic
• Assess the backlinks' number and quality
• Check conversion rates
• Analyze bounce rates
• Observe engagement metrics
• Calculate the ROI of your SEO activities

5. Introduction

The introduction is the opening section of your content that should capture the reader's attention and introduce the topic you will cover. A good introduction should be engaging, relevant, and informative. Plus, it must convey the purpose of the content.

6. Body

The body of your content is where you provide the primary information, details, and supporting evidence for your topic. 

The body should be well-organized, with clear subheadings and transitions between sections. It should also be easy to read and understand, with clear explanations and examples.

7. Visuals

Visual elements can enhance your content and make it more engaging and memorable. These may include images, videos, infographics, or charts. Visuals should be relevant to the topic and add value to the content. They should also be high-quality and well-designed.

8. Formatting and Tonality

The formatting and tonality of your content are necessary for readability and engagement. Therefore, maintain a consistent and easy-to-follow format. 

• Use headings, bullet points, and other elements to break up the text and make it more scannable. 
• Keep the tonality appropriate for the topic and the audience. Be consistent throughout the content. 
• You can use various tones, such as – conversational, professional, informative, or entertaining, depending on the goals of the content.

3. Decide The Type of Content Framework

Understanding the primary types of content frameworks helps you craft compelling resources that resonate with the target audience. As such, it enables you to achieve the desired outcomes. 

Using our frameworks below, you can structure your content to capture the audience's attention, keep them engaged, and motivate them to take action.

1. AIDA Principle

This framework stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. It suggests that content should:

• Grab the audience's attention
• Build interest
• Create a desire for the product/service
• Encourage readers to take action

2. KISS Principle

KISS stands for "Keep it simple, stupid." This framework suggests that content should be easy to understand and avoid unnecessary complexity.

3. Direct Response Copies

This framework emphasizes creating content that prompts an immediate response from the audience, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.

4. Action-oriented Posts

This framework focuses on creating content that inspires the audience to take a specific action, such as signing up for a newsletter or attending an event.

5. The LIFT model

This framework emphasizes creating content that addresses the six conversion factors: value proposition, relevance, clarity, anxiety, distraction, and urgency.

4. Structure Your Content to Boost Readability

Improving online content isn't just about providing valuable information; it's also about ensuring it's easy to read and keeps the reader engaged. 

Here are some tips to make your content more readable and increase the chances of your audience reading it through:

• Start With a Relatable Introduction: Explain the content and what the reader will get from it. Then, show empathy and connect with their problems.
• Use Short Sentences, Paragraphs, Bullets, and Lists: People are usually reading on small screens, on the go, and often distracted. So, make it easy for them to skim through. 
• Break Down Your Content With Subheadings: It helps readers quickly scan through and find the necessary information. Also, it makes your content look more organized and professional.
• Use Visuals: Visual content, such as screenshots, photos, videos, and GIFs, breaks up the text and makes it more appealing to readers. However, make sure the visuals are relevant and support your message.
• Avoid Using Jargon: Use language that your audience will understand. Technical jargon can make it difficult for readers to understand and might turn them off.

5. Focus on Relevancy

"Write for your reader" is a crucial aspect of driving conversions. To connect effectively, segment your audience based on interests or experiences. Create sector-specific eBooks or write articles for different experience levels. In addition, make the content relevant to real-life experiences to increase engagement and trust, boosting conversion chances.

6. Enhance Clarity | Reduce Anxiety

To effectively write for your audience and convert readers into leads, follow these steps:

• Clearly introduce your topic.
• Explain it in easy-to-understand language.
• Highlight how it affects your reader.
• Provide recommendations to approach or benefit from the issue.
• Discuss the future impact on your reader.
• Offer relevant email-gated content as a call to action.

Reducing reader anxiety is crucial. Build trust by sharing personal experiences, featuring a headshot or author bio, and maintaining your content persona. Remember, clear and straightforward copy communicates value and generates leads and customers for your business.

7. Answer Customer Objections

Answering customer objections is crucial to creating lead-conversion content. When crafting pieces that aim to persuade the audience to take a particular action, anticipate and address any complaints or concerns that may prevent them from converting.

You can help your prospects overcome their hesitations and build trust with your audience by answering customer objections to your content. It shows that you understand their concerns and are willing to address them. As such, it can increase their confidence in your brand.

• Research common concerns or questions to effectively answer customer objections through interviews, surveys, and polls.
• Use this information to create content that addresses those concerns and provides solutions. 
• It could be in the form of a thought leadership post, video, or social media post.

As a result, you’ll remove any potential barriers to conversion and increase the likelihood of your audience taking the desired action.

8. Focus on Your Headlines

You may have heard it before, but it bears repeating: headlines are critical to the success of your content. If your headline doesn't grab readers' attention, they won't click on your content. Thus, you'll miss out on the opportunity to increase your conversions.

Here are some tips to help you create headlines for lead generation that convert:

• Use Clear Language that Accurately Conveys the Topic of your Content: It will help readers determine if your content is relevant to their interests and needs.

For example, instead of "Boost Your Productivity," use "10 Effective Strategies to Boost Your Daily Productivity" to clearly indicate the content's focus.

• Incorporate Numbers into Your Headlines Whenever Possible: Research shows that headlines with numbers perform better than those without.

For instance, instead of "Ways to Improve Your Sales," use "7 Proven Ways to Boost Your Sales and Increase Revenue" to grab attention and provide a specific benefit.

• Consider Using Emotional Language: Emotional headlines can effectively generate engagement. It’s especially beneficial when discussing topics that elicit strong emotions such as joy, sadness, or anger.

For example, instead of "Tips for Better Time Management," use "Master Your Time and Unleash Your Productivity Potential" to evoke a sense of empowerment and motivation.

• Focus on Addressing Your Audience's Specific Needs and Problems: Tailoring your headlines to your audience's interests and pain points will help them feel your content is relevant and valuable.

For instance, instead of "Maximize Your Fitness Routine," use "Unlock Your Fitness Goals: Tailored Strategies for Busy Professionals" to highlight the specific target audience and address their unique challenges.

9. Address Prospects’ Pain Points

Here’s a technique that could work wonders for your content marketing: Use your target audience’s pain points to your advantage. Yes, it may sound a bit ruthless. But if you do it right, it can be highly effective.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you’re trying to market a social media analytics tool. You could create content that addresses the pain point of measuring social media ROI. For instance, you could ask your readers questions like:

• Are you struggling to measure the ROI of your social media campaigns?
• Are you unsure how much time and resources to devote to social media?
• Are you paying a social media manager a lot but not seeing any tangible results?

These are the questions that your target audience may be avoiding asking themselves. By highlighting their pain points and offering a solution, you can capture their interest and increase their desire to find a solution.

10. Collaborate With Industry Experts

Collaborating with industry experts is essential to creating lead conversion content. Here are some reasons why collaborating with experts is crucial:

• Access to Expertise: Industry experts bring unique perspectives and specialized knowledge to create valuable content when collaborating with them.
• Increased Credibility: Such collaborations help establish your credibility. It helps build trust with your audience – which is critical to converting leads into customers.
• Expanded Reach: Experts have a large following on social media and can share your content with their followers, exposing your business to a broader audience.
• Diverse Perspectives: Industry leaders offer diverse perspectives on your content. It helps create well-rounded, engaging, and relevant content for your audience.

To collaborate with industry experts, you can contact them via email or social media, attend industry conferences or events, or join online communities related to your niche. Working with industry experts can help you create compelling content – converting leads into customers.

11. Determine Distribution Channels

One of the most important aspects of content marketing is determining how you'll distribute your content to reach your target audience. After all, even the best content won't generate leads or conversions if the right people are not seeing it.

Consider the channels that are most relevant to your audience and goals to get started: 

• Social Media: It is an excellent platform to amplify your content's reach and drive traffic to your website. However, you must tailor your content to each forum and engage with your followers to maximize your impact.
• Email Marketing: It is another effective distribution channel, allowing you to nurture leads and promote new content directly to your subscribers. 
• Paid Advertising: It is also an option to increase your content's visibility. However, ensuring you're targeting the right audience and using compelling ad copy and visuals is vital.
• Repurposing: Revamping your content in multiple mediums, such as turning a blog post into a video or infographic, can maximize your distribution and reach a wider audience. 
• Content Syndication: Finally, consider using content syndication. It involves publishing your content on third-party websites to reach new audiences and increase your brand's visibility.

12. Conduct a Content Audit

Conducting a content audit is critical in any content marketing strategy. It involves thoroughly analyzing your existing content to identify what’s working, what’s not, and what can be improved. Here are the steps to conducting a content audit:

• Analyze Your Existing Content’s Performance: Review metrics such as page views, time on page, bounce rate, social shares, and conversions to identify which content is performing well and which is not. 

In addition, it can help you determine what topics, formats, and channels to focus on in the future.

• Evaluate How Well Your Content Aligns With Your Goals and Audience Needs: Your content should align with your business goals and audience’s needs. 

For example, review your buyer personas and customer journey maps to ensure your content addresses your audience’s pain points and provides value to them.

• Ensure your Content Aligns With Your Brand Voice: Your content should reflect your brand’s tone and messaging. Review your brand guidelines and ensure your content is consistent with your tone, style, and messaging.

By conducting a content audit, you can identify gaps in your content and opportunities for improvement. As such, it ensures your content aligns with your goals and resonates with your audience.

13. Determine Content Creators and Managers

Designating content creators and managers is essential to create content that converts. In addition, it allows for clear accountability and responsibility for the different stages of the content creation process.

• Content creators produce content, whether writing blog posts, creating videos, or designing infographics. They bring organizational ideas to life.
• Content managers oversee content creation, from ideation to distribution. They ensure the content is aligned with the brand's messaging and goals and distributed effectively.

Assigning clear roles and responsibilities to content creators and managers efficiently ensures high-quality content – which is engaging and relevant to the target audience. As such, it leads to higher conversions. 

Why? Your content is more likely to resonate with and appeal to the audience, driving them to take the desired action.

14. Use Emotions to Drive Readers

Simply using emotions in your content writing is cliche. So, let’s focus on a more specific goal – to motivate your audience to desire something. The key is to elicit desire, not just any emotion – if you want to write content that converts.

A few approaches work particularly well:

• Peer Pressure: You can use social proof in your content by showcasing the number of subscribers, followers, or customers you have or featuring testimonials from satisfied customers. 

Doing so creates a sense of belonging and trustworthiness that motivates your audience to engage with your brand.

• Self-improvement: To motivate your audience to take action, you can frame your content to appeal to their desire for self-improvement. 

For example, you can offer a free guide on "10 Simple Hacks to Boost Your Productivity" or "5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Health and Wellbeing". 

By providing actionable tips to help your audience improve their lives, you create a sense of value that motivates them to return for more.

• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): One of the most powerful motivators in marketing is the FOMO. You can tap into this by offering limited-time promotions or exclusive content only available to a select group. 

For example, you can offer a discount code that expires in 24 hours or a free e-book only available to the first 50 people who sign up. Creating a sense of urgency and scarcity motivates your audience to take action before it's too late.

15. Optimize Your Content for Conversions

Optimizing your content for conversions means writing informative, valuable, and relevant content that can lead to actual results. The outcomes can be anything: email sign-ups, downloads, purchases, or any other desired action. 

Here are some tips to help you optimize your content for conversions:

• Use Eye-catching Thumbnails and CTAs for Videos: Videos are becoming an increasingly popular way to promote products and services. However, you can increase your video content effectiveness by using eye-catching thumbnails and CTAs. Place them at the end of your video content to capture the leads’ attention.
• Strategically Place CTAs: Don't just rely on a single CTA at the end of your post. Instead, place CTAs at different points throughout your post to encourage readers to act while still engaged.
• Align Your CTAs: Ensure your CTAs are relevant to the content readers consume. 
  For example, if they're reading a post about social media marketing, include a CTA that offers a free guide to social media marketing.
• Offer Gated Content: Gated content requires users to provide their email addresses to access. It could be in the form of templates, spreadsheets, or e-books. Offering this type of content can help you capture leads and build your email list.
• Use Bold and Attention-grabbing Elements for CTAs: Make your CTAs stand out using bold design elements such as highlighted text, large buttons, or contrasting colors.
• Measure the Performance: Use analytics tools to track the performance of your CTAs and gated content. It will help you refine and improve your conversion strategy over time.

16. Focus on Industry-recommended Best Practices

Keeping up with industry best practices is vital in any field. And content creation is no exception. You can ensure your content is relevant and practical by staying informed about what works and what doesn't.

That being said, let’s check out some best practices following across B2B industries:

1. Provide an Easy Way for Readers to Contact You

Encouraging your readers to contact you is vital to building a relationship with them. Including contact information in each post makes it easy for them to reach you and start a conversation.

2. Answer Most Searched Questions on Google

One of the most effective ways to create content that resonates with your audience is to answer the questions they are asking. 

By researching and finding out what people are searching for on Google, you can create content that meets their needs and provides the information they want.

3. Provide Tips to Demonstrate Expertise

Offering tips and tricks related to your expertise can help establish you as an authority in your field. In addition, you can build trust and credibility by sharing your knowledge and providing value to your readers.

4. Give Solid References

Referencing high authority sources like Forbes, BBC, etc., in your content boosts credibility, establishes your site as a valuable resource, and can improve search engine rankings by signaling to search engines that your content is reliable, trustworthy, and of high quality.

5. Keep Backup Data

Creating and publishing content can be time-consuming, and losing your work due to a technical issue can be frustrating. By keeping backup copies of your content, you can avoid losing your hard work and ensure your content is always available when needed.

6. Add a Second Voice

Including quotes or endorsements from other experts in your field can add credibility to your content and increase its value to readers. In addition, by showcasing the opinions and experiences of others, you provide a more comprehensive view of the topic at hand.

7. Focus on Advice, Not Pitches

The goal of content creation is to provide value to your readers, not to sell to them. So, focus on providing advice and information rather than pushing your products or services. Then, you can build trust and establish a long-term relationship with your audience.

17. Continually Upgrade and Update

You can supercharge your lead-generation efforts with focused content upgrades. Plus, you can drive email list growth and generate valuable leads by including highly-targeted lead magnets in your blog posts or content.

For instance, imagine you've crafted a blog post on launching a successful online business. Offer a downloadable checklist of essential steps as a content upgrade, giving readers a tangible tool to act upon your advice.

Here are more effective content upgrade ideas to amplify lead generation:

• Provide a PDF version of your blog post for easy saving and printing.
• Offer a complimentary template or worksheet that enhances the information in your post.
• Create a cheat sheet that condenses key content information into a quick reference guide.
• Showcase a compelling case study featuring real-world examples of how your advice delivers results.
• Craft an infographic that visually summarizes your content's main points.

By incorporating these content upgrades, you deliver added value to readers and significantly boost your chances of converting them into loyal subscribers. Experience accelerated growth as your email list expands and valuable leads pour in.

18. Track and Analyze

Monitor and analyze your content marketing results to make the most out of your content. Doing so lets you understand what types of content generate the most conversions and what's not working. 

Here are some things to consider when tracking your content marketing results:

• Identify the content that generates the most conversions - blog posts, videos, or infographics, and determine what's working best for your audience.
• Determine the types of content that generate the most conversions. Different content types can work better for different audiences. So, it's essential to track what works best for you.
• Look for commonalities between your best-performing content - topics, length, style, or other elements that resonate well with your audience.
• Analyze which headlines get the most clicks and traffic. Your headline is the first thing your audience sees. Hence, knowing what's driving traffic to your site is essential.
• Set up conversion goals in your analytics tool - whether Google Analytics or another - and ensure you track the right metrics and goals that matter to your business.

Once you have set up your conversion goals, you can easily track which content is generating conversions and which isn't. It allows you to make data-driven decisions to improve your content and increase conversions.

Crafting High-Value Lead-gen Content for Better Results

Ready to rev up your lead generation? Incorporate these powerful lead-gen content tips into your strategy and watch your email list and leads soar. 

Don't miss out on the opportunity to supercharge your growth. Start implementing these upgrades today and unlock the potential for increased conversions and loyal subscribers. 

Take action now and drive your lead generation efforts to new heights with Revnew! Visit our website or contact us to learn more and get started.