When it comes to content the top goal is lead generation.
B2B marketers in the technology field cite lead generation as the biggest goal of content marketing efforts. Coming in second and third were education and awareness and brand recognition. All three of these have the goal of increasing sales for the company and content is obviously an important part of the entire sales process.
From The key to lead generation and sales? Creating engaging, compelling content:
An August 2012 study from Holger Shulze, author of the blog Everything Marketing Technology, pointed to a growing number of worldwide B2B technology marketers turning to content marketing for more brand-based goals, namely boosting thought leadership and brand awareness.
There is more in the article including additional studies highlighting the goals of content marketing for marketers.
Content Marketing for Lead Generation
For Ghost Blog Writers, content marketing is the biggest way we generate leads.
Generally, there are two ways the blog content you’re reading right now generates these leads.
1. People search for information about blogging. They find one of the articles here. The person is already interested in business blogging. They are looking for tips and insight to help them develop their strategy. If they realize they need help with the strategy and the writing they reach out through the contact form and things move along from there.
2. The second way things typically work is when someone already realizes they need help with the writing for their blog. They search for something like “blog writer” or “ghost blog writer” and find our site. From there they start digging into the content here on the GBW site. They look at the service page. They look at the about page. They start reading blog posts to get an idea about what we stand for as a company. These folks also read our posts because they want to know if we can provide the kind of content they want on their own site. If people are impressed with our blog posts they’ll want to hire us. That’s how we look at it.
If your company is in the B2B world and you’re looking to increase leads you would be in good company to start creating content. Or you could partner with a company <cough>Ghost Blog Writers</cough> to help with the writing.
As people discover your company through search and social your content will earn their trust and get them to reach out. It only takes a few B2B clients to pay for the blogging. In most cases just one consulting client or one account can pay for a year’s worth of blog posts.
It’s a no brainer.