To Get Leads, Sell Your Content, Not Your Product
Posted by Jim Monteleone
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Using content to create web leads is about understanding what moves prospects to respond. A three-step process based on a proven direct marketing technique rarely fails to get results. Here's how:
1. Offer Irresistible Content -- Let's say you are an expert attorney in intellectual property law. A software company owner looking to defend their product's name searches the web for information -- and finds your blog post offering an informative e-Book, "7 Ways to Prevent Trade Names from Being Hijacked". It's a marriage made in heaven.
2. Sell the Content First -- The blog post is all about the value of the free e-Book, and why you should download it. It does NOT tell you how to keep your trade name safe. Only when a prospect is excited about the value of the eBook will they exchange their contact information to download it -- which of course is a lead.
3. Then Let The Content Sell -- The e-Book doesn't just explain how to keep a trade name safe. It explains to the reader why the areas of special expertise our attorney just happens to have are needed for success. At the end, it makes it easy for the reader to reach out for even more information -- creating a "double qualified" lead. Second only to a referral, this lead is extremely solid.
The art and science of lead generation is based on principals of direct marketing developed in the 1920s in the world of mail-order. Selling the content first is a time-tested way to help qualified prospects find you -- and get them to tell you who they are.