A wise man once said content ain’t easy. (That wise man was actually a woman, and actually me, right now in this blog post, but I digress). And it’s true. No matter how well you write, how grammatically astute you are, and how much you understand what you’re selling and who you’re selling to, implementing a content strategy is tough. The best strategies are backed by data proven tactics and demonstrate the ability to not only draw leads in, but convert them into customers. Content ain’t easy, but it doesn’t have to be that hard.
A few months ago, Ashley, CallRail’s Demand Generation Manager, and I hosted a webinar on strategies that can change your marketing approach. The webinar was based on our own experiences at CallRail and focused on how we successfully implemented strategies to impact the business. I wrote an eBook that goes into more detail on how that process occurred, and the data behind it. If you what the ‘too long didn’t read version’ here are the cliff notes on what you can do today to create content that converts:
- Create Content with a Purpose: According to the Content Marketing Institute 93% of b2b marketers use content marketing, but only 42% are comfortable saying they’re effective at it. What we have here is a large amount of marketers creating content for the sake of having content but with no way of measuring or optimizing their content strategy. Being able to measure whether or not your content is driving conversions is the only way to optimize your content strategy.Being able to measure whether or not your content is driving conversions is the only way to optimize your content strategy. Be clear on your goal. Do you want to build awareness? Do you want to readers to sign up for a trial, a demo, download a white paper, etc? Not only will knowing the end goal make it easy for you to track if your content is converting, it will also help you tailor your message to the appropriate audience while also clarifying your calls to actions.
- Focus on Your Goals: Setting up goals in Google Analytics will change your life. I know that sounds dramatic but it’s true. At CallRail we have goals set up based on our company wide metrics. With goals, your able to track what on your website led to key actions like trial signups, free trial sign ups, webinar signups and even eBook downloads. When I visit my content dashboard (also created in Google Analytics) I can view landing pages and how many goals are connected to that landing page. Meaning I can see how many signups can be attributed to a specific blog post, article, or landing page. Viewing what’s converting gives you invaluable insights, and shows you what information potential customers are interested in and more importantly what drives them to convert. Here’s a great guide from Kissmetrics on the goals that are critical to your business, and how to set them up in Google Analytics.
- Generate and Nurture Prospects: If you’re willing to take on the challenge of creating valuable content, you can use that content to capture leads. By using a simple survey creation tool like wufoo, or a form builder, you can gate valuable content behind a form. The value of the content is important, since you want to make sure that the person downloading the eBook, webinar, or white paper finds it worth exchanging their information for. Once leads fill out the form to access your content, you can use those leads in nurture campaigns. If you captured information like phone numbers and email addresses, you can provide that information to your sales team so they can reach out to leads quickly. This shortens the lead response time, making it more likely that leads will convert.
- Analyze Content effectiveness: The most important aspect of creating content is your knowledge on whether or not that content is actually converting. At CallRail, this is where we practice what we preach. Being data-driven means tracking, measuring, and optimizing. Here are some great tools that can help you make that happen:
- Google Analytics: View which landing pages receive the most traffic and set up goals to see which content is converting.
- Marketing Automation Software: Understand how leads become customers and set up landing pages and email campaigns to drive conversions.
- UTM parameters: View content, source, and campaigns that drive traffic to your site.
- Creating and tracking your own KPIs: Understand your individual KPIs and how they impact your companies overall goals.
Making a few small changes can have a huge impact on your content marketing. Start converting leads with a more informed content strategy.
What content strategies have you successfully implemented for your business or your clients? Let us know in the comments!
