In any type of marketing, lead
generation is basically defined as the practice of gauging interest
in your business’s products or services. This is typically done
through building lists via email, a subscriber base, fans/followers,
or even phone numbers.
When using social media sites like Facebook to
generate leads, the only thing that really changes are the amount of
tools and tactics available at your disposal.
However, through all the different apps
and widgets to help you suck up emails like a giant tornado, it’s
actually the tried and true practice of content writing that can help
you the most. If you can construct compelling content, any promotion
you run is going to be much more successful.
Let’s have a look at a few solid ways
to create written content that will help you generate leads.
The Top 5 Tips for
Creating Written Content that Generates Leads
1: Draw Attention to Your Topic
Let’s view this as the ultimate
starting point: People see your content for the first time, with no
idea whatsoever about who you are, what you do, etc. How do you go
from first timer to graduating someone with one piece of written
content? The answer: You don’t. The idea here is to draw attention
to the topic, not to convert people. You’re never going to do the
latter with a piece of content, but you can achieve the former.
Remember that this is the very top of
the funnel, thus it’s much wider and more encompassing. What your
aim should be here is to ultimately get people interested in what
you’re offering them. You can accomplish drawing attention by:
Sticking specifically to the
defined market; i.e. addressing a problem for people who are looking
for a solution
Asking a unique, intriguing
question
Using wordplay and alliteration to
draw interest
Keeping things short and pithy –
to the point with a bit of flare
Focusing on proper spelling and
grammar
Avoiding run-on sentences, long
words, unnecessary punctuation, and bold, all-caps print with
numerous exclamation points (you’ve seen it before, and it’s a
turn-off)
Remembering that the idea is to
get people to simply look at the content for now, not to give you
their credit card number
This is the initial step in a process
for writing lead-generating content, so don’t sigh and walk away in
frustration. The first step here is to ultimately figure out how to
use your language to get people to read on. Take a look around at
popular brands and promotions and read their teasers for a better
idea.
2: Make it Brand-Specific
Now that Joe and Jane Average have
stopped on your content and have started reading it, they need to
know more. This is another area where less is going to be more, but
it’s also an area where a knack for smooth writing is going to pay
dividends. What you’re aiming for here is to introduce your brand
to the public at large. Tell people who you are, what you’re about,
and instill a sense of trust in people so that they’re comfortable
following through with your eventual call to action.
A great tip to remember here is that
your content introducing the lead-generating mechanism (a promotion,
a poll, a quiz, etc) doesn’t have to be the final piece of content.
In other words, a post that introduces or mentions the promotion can
link to it; it doesn’t have to be constructed like one of those
run-on-forever, excessively long weight-loss sales pages. The most
important step here, however, is to put your brand out there.
Try using simple words like “we”
and “our” to get the brand feeling across
Use your brand’s name
Make people feel comfortable when
reading
Raise awareness for your business
Show consistency in your content
and across different platforms
There’s no secret hiding under a
random rock by an oak tree. Great writing is about keeping things
clean, interesting, succinct, and intriguing readers. Putting your
brand into it simply gives a face to the words. “Our cola is
America’s favorite” doesn’t have the same ring as “Coca Cola
is America’s favorite soft drink.” Branding.
3: Emphasize the Incentive
Now that readers are interested in what
you have to say and know who’s saying it, it’s time to give them
a reason to follow through with the action. More than likely, the
post they’re reading is going to lead them to some sort of sign-up
mechanism in order to get them into the funnel. This is where the
actual leads come from. People need to give you their email addresses
or some other form of contact. Your writing to this point hasn’t
been to sell them on becoming a lead; it’s simply been to keep them
around and to inform them about what you’re offering and who you
are.
To get people to actually become leads,
you’ll need to toss in some incentive. However, writing does play a
crucial role here. Every business from Alaska to Zimbabwe is offering
discounts and BOGOs and other incentives. It’s how you sell the
incentive that makes a difference. As Jonah Hill might shout when
losing a fight, “Use your words!”
Here’s how you can use your words to
emphasize the incentive:
Put emphasis on how limited the
offer is: Days, number of people, etc
Make any free gift shine by
touting its positives
Show some enthusiasm in what
you’re offering
Stick with one or two sentences
Cut out the fluffy adjectives
Emphasize the benefits to the
customers, but don’t lie
4: Summarize and Share
Remember here that these tips are for
your content in general, from status updates and quick posts to the
actual text of the promotion page. So you’re looking to take some
style tips to use for every piece of written content, not simply a
single long post hoping to get leads. With that said, it’s now time
to think about advertising your promotion. And in any piece of
content that’s linking to the actual promotion, you want to keep
things short, and you want to emphasize sharing.
Try a spin on these two examples to
help you get the idea:
“Our new product, the XYZ3000,
is satisfying customers from every corner of the globe. For a
limited time, we’re offering a huge discount to the first 200
people to share this post.”
As you can see, these are very simple
sentences but they still touch on all the key points discussed thus
far. It’s content that has a brand feel, that emphasizes the
incentive, that’s succinct and easy to read, that encourages
sharing, and it makes it clear that the reader must follow through.
So rather than having an incredibly long post that attempts to
convert, these are just interest-grabbing quips that lead to the
actual promotion (which may be an app or a landing page that you
construct).
5: Hire a Helping Hand
Depending on the venue, your methods of
advertising are going to differ. From Twitter, for example, you’ll
want to employ the use of effective hashtags in order to find a
broader audience. On a site like Facebook, however, you’ll really
need more of a helping hand by way of paid advertising. This is where
Promoted Posts and Sponsored Stories come in handy.
Practically speaking, ten new customers
are most likely more than enough to cover any type of investment you
make. Imagine getting fifty new customers, half of those being repeat
customers, and hundreds of other leads that may eventually become
customers. Needless to say, investing is smart. What you want to
invest in here is an ad-management app that will help you target the
right demographics with your content. This also gives you a great
opportunity to test different combinations of text on markets to see
which ad is the most effective.
The best part about advertising on
Facebook is that you’re not boxed in with conventional ads. You can
advertise an entire post if you want, breathing new life into
something that was already popular.
By sparking a reader’s curiosity,
introducing your brand, emphasizing the incentive, and leading them
to a distinct location with a clearly defined goal in mind, you can
transform a wide range of readers into leads.
Once they’re in the
funnel, you’ll need other weapons to transform them into customers.
But in terms of getting them in, some good content goes a long way.
Post written by: Simon Campbell,
a writer from a facebook ad campaign tool –
Qwaya.
He loves to write different topics about social media and
participates in some communities and forums. If you have more social
media marketing questions, feel free to ask
Simon
on Twitter
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