There’s no way around it. Everywhere you look there are either marketers trying to sell you lead generation strategies or entrepreneurs trying to create them. So why all the fuss? Isn’t there a clear path that leads to more customers and clients? After five years of growing my company, Versique, from the ground to a thriving $17 million leader in executive search & consulting, I believe there is. 

So, let me ask you, what is the one thing that every successful lead generation strategy has in common? 

A robust content marketing strategy. 

That’s because 47% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with you. You literally can’t have one without the other; no matter how good your ads are, how high your marketing budget, or how many cold calls you’re making each month – if you’re not distributing the right content  in a valuable, relevant, and consistent way, you simply won’t drive the potential customer or client to action.  

So, whether you want to call it lead generation or content marketing, we’re talking about the same thing. 

Let’s dive in and look at the three requirements of a strategic content marketing strategy and how to successfully execute them in your business. 

1. Creating and Distributing Valuable Content 

The digital space is getting noisier and more crowded each day. With the average consumer seeing over 4,000 ads between the time they wake up in the morning until the time they go to bed – it’s increasingly important to add value with each piece of content you produce. 

Yet with all our responsibilities, to-do lists, and business pressures it can be tough to strategically plan to create valuable content, let alone to distribute it effectively. Use the following list as a guide to remind you of ways you can execute on this without taking too much time planning strategy. In our final point, we’ll cover the optimal frequency of each. 

• Blogs

• Social Media Posts

• Infographics

• Vlogs

• Podcasts

• Website Landing Pages

• Press Releases

• Email Campaigns

2. Creating and Distributing Relevant Content

Creating relevant content goes beyond value, to adding more in-depth and specialized information in a systematic way. Here’s the best way to understand the difference: 

• Valuable content is worth the reader’s time.

• Relevant content helps the reader accomplish or learn something they need to know. 

These pieces of content take more time and strategic thought to produce but are more targeted and useful for your market. Use the following list as a guide to remind you of ways you can execute writing relevant content without taking too much time planning strategy. In our next point, we’ll cover the optimal frequency of each. 

• eBooks

• White Papers

• Webinars

• Case Studies

• Newsletters

• TV & Radio Spots

3. Consistently Producing Content

Consistency is the key to success in both life and business. Without taking a consistent approach to content marketing your lead generation will be feast or famine – great during the months you’re producing and terrible during the months you’re not.  

Use the following list to help you plan out your strategy: 

What to Post Daily:

Social Media Posts: Social media posts are a great way to humanize your personal or business brand, stay in touch with your customers, and stay relevant to your target market. Depending on the platform, your posting schedule could include one to several posts each day. 

What to Post Weekly:

Blogs: A weekly blog is helpful to not only get both valuable and relevant content to your target market, but also for SEO and ranking purposes as well. 

Vlogs: Videos are exploding reach on every digital platform out there today. By publishing a weekly Vlog or professionally done video, you increase reach, engagement and further humanize your brand while setting yourself apart as a thought leader in your niche. 

Podcasts: Podcasts are another trending avenue to show yourself as a thought leader and expand your reach within your target market. 

Email Campaigns: Depending on the campaign, you may have daily, weekly, and monthly emails going out to your list.

What to Post Monthly

Infographics: Producing a helpful infographic each month and distributing it to your networks is a powerful way to stay relevant and current. 

Website Landing Pages: By creating a new lead magnet and subsequently a new landing page each month you’re able to exponentially increase your email list while simultaneously reminding your target market that you are innovative and current within your niche. 

Case Studies: Publishing new case studies and customer testimonials should be considered a staple in your marketing strategy. Potential customers want to see that what you’re doing works and from others, why they should work with you. 

Newsletters: Although print newsletters lack relevancy, a stunning and dynamic digital newsletter is a great way to stay in contact with your target each month. 

TV & Radio Spots: It really can’t be helped. We are programmed to look up to people featured on Radio and TV as experts and specialists in their field. Maintaining a regular media appearance still provides brand value. 

What to Post Quarterly

Press Releases: Press releases around current or trending events within our company or niche is a great way to gain credibility as well as add valuable content to your marketing strategy. 

eBooks: The popularity of eBooks continues to rise. By releasing a new eBook each quarter you can stay ahead of your competition and current with your market. 

White Papers: Academic publishing can help you be a leader within your field, and there’s no better way to do that than a quarterly white paper. 

Webinars: Unfortunately, webinars are too often used as strictly a sales tool – with the only purpose to get people to buy NOW. However, that is not the best use of this type of content. Adding as much value as possible for 30+ minutes will allow your listeners to lower their guard and be more receptive to hearing a pitch either at the end or with follow up email campaigns. 

In the end, the result of a strategic content marketing campaign done well, is a pipeline full of profitable customer action, aka Lead Generation. 

If you need help growing your recruiting firm and want to know how I grew mine to $17 million in revenue and 120 employees in five years, we should talk.