Mastering B2B Lead Generation: A Comprehensive Content Marketer's Guide

It is really difficult to get B2B leads with content marketing. There are several channels, formats, and potential topics to address. Several target audiences for your company could make things more difficult.

But if you publish valuable content and do it well, your readers will believe in you and may even turn into the high-quality leads you were seeking.

Despite the seemingly endless options, there is a pattern for content that works remarkably well for generating leads. In order to make things simpler for you, we have divided content marketing for B2B lead generation into three essential steps.

The three stages of B2B lead generation content marketing are:

• Lead bait: lead magnets like webinars, ebooks, and challenges.

• Core content: podcasts, blog posts, pillar posts, and YouTube videos.

• Promotional content: social media posts and outreach to your essential features.

Your duty as a content marketer is to generate high-quality leads for your sales team or sign-up funnel. Someone on the sales team will turn the lead into a customer, or a product marketer will work to ensure that the lead receives the appropriate follow-up emails automatically.

In either case, convincing someone to become a customer is probably not your responsibility. Your goal is to turn them into leads. That is why, rather than smaller pieces of content, Stage 1 is the lead bait. It's much simpler to know what kind of core content (Stage 2) and promotional material (Stage 3) to write once you have high-converting lead baits in place.

Throughout these stages, you will be investigating your audience's demands and measuring progress in a never-ending reiterative cycle to guarantee that your efforts target and convert your audience.

Step 1: Develop high-converting lead bait.

While lead bait may not be the first thing your company does when it begins producing content, it should be the first thing you create when you begin emphasizing B2B lead generation with your content.

You can use several lead baits. Some B2B content marketing teams produce one every three months, one every two months, or even more frequently. To start, let's make only one high-value lead magnet that your audience wants in order to simplify things.

Why generate lead bait in Stage 1 of your B2B lead generation strategy?

When generating B2B leads becomes your primary goal, you should concentrate on lead bait optimization. This involves filtering content that attracts excellent leads and converts well.

Making content is done for a variety of reasons. You don't absolutely need to create your lead bait before other content formats if your objective is to increase brand awareness.

What happens if your lead bait is not optimized?

It can be difficult to gauge the effectiveness of your blog articles, podcasts, and emails if your lead bait isn't optimized. There is no conversion metric in place. Certain companies that offer a free trial may be acceptable because they can track free trial sign-ups. 

On the other hand, there is nothing to measure for B2B businesses that don't provide a free trial. Marketers in this situation can only gauge the success of their content by tracking views.

What happens when your lead bait is optimized?

When you do have optimized lead bait, it will be simpler to make smaller content pieces that link to it. You'll have a metric in place for turning blog readers into email subscribers and email subscribers into customers, which will make it easier to decide what topics to cover and measure the performance of your blog entries and social media campaigns. This makes B2B lead generation considerably easier.

Market analysis for lead bait

Don't reinvent the wheel. 

conduct competitive research to learn what other businesses are up to. Do they provide calculators, templates, webinars, or ebooks? Investigate what industry influencers and consultants are producing. Investigate the output of consultants and influencers in your sector as well. 

Unless the resource you're inspired by is widely recognized in your business and has saturated the market, it can be a good idea to build something similar.

Solve a problem for your audience.

By resolving a problem for your audience, you build trust and loyalty and keep people coming back to you for more assistance. Go through the questions on Reddit and Quora and search for related hashtags on Twitter and LinkedIn to determine what your audience needs help with.

Format options for lead bait

The format of your lead bait is a crucial factor that contributes significantly to B2B lead generation, as it enables you to amass email addresses that can be subsequently channeled to the sales team for further retargeting and nurturing campaigns.

Lead bait comes in diverse formats, such as ebooks, which encompass both comprehensive and concise downloadable guides, as well as checklists and other written materials.

You may also consider providing a webinar or video training to cater to your audience. Webinars can be delivered live, automated, or available on demand. Furthermore, if you prefer video training, ensure that it ranges from ten minutes to ninety minutes in duration.

To motivate your audience to take action, email or video challenges are an ideal choice.

A more interactive approach to lead bait would be to offer templates or calculators, which require more hands-on participation. Templates could include Word documents, Google docs, or spreadsheets, while calculators could include profit calculators or budget calculators with spreadsheets or custom coding.

Finally, to maximize the impact of your lead bait, you may opt to bundle various options together and create a resource bundle that offers your best ebooks, video training, and templates, all available in one download.

How to choose the right lead bait topic?

Generating leads is crucial for B2B lead generation companies in Dubai to ensure a steady flow of potential customers. One of the most effective ways to generate leads is through lead bait. But, how do you choose the right lead bait topic that not only solves your audience's problem but also targets your ideal customer profile (ICP) and is relevant to your solution? Let's dive into the essentials!

First and foremost, your lead bait must provide valuable actions that can help your audience achieve better results, save time, or save money. Simply offering informative content isn't enough. Your lead bait must be actionable and provide real solutions to your audience's problems.

The headline of your lead bait should be meticulously crafted to target your ICP, so you don't end up attracting leads that aren't suitable for your business. You don't want to waste resources and time pursuing leads that aren't ready for your solution. Instead, focus on attracting the right leads that are most likely to convert into paying customers.

Lastly, your lead bait should not only be relevant to your audience but also align with your solution. Potential customers who engage with your lead bait are likely interested in your product or service. Therefore, the topic should be relevant to both your audience and your solution. This way, your lead bait will effectively filter out unqualified leads and attract the right ones, increasing your chances of generating high-quality leads that convert.

How to measure the success of your lead bait for B2B lead generation?

Measuring the success of your lead bait is crucial for B2B lead generation companies in UAE to optimize their lead generation efforts But, how do you measure the success of your lead bait? Here are some key indicators:

The conversion rate of the lead bait landing page

Your lead bait landing page should have a conversion rate of at least 15% or higher. If it falls short of this benchmark, consider tweaking the headline or testing a new concept to increase its effectiveness.

The ratio of marketing-qualified leads to sales-qualified leads

At least 60% of your marketing-qualified leads should be sales-qualified leads. If this ratio is not achieved, research your audience's needs to create more tailored and relevant content that will better resonate with your target customers.

Shares and direct traffic

The success of your lead bait can also be measured by the number of shares it receives from your target audience and the resulting direct traffic it generates. If your lead bait is being shared and driving traffic to your website, it indicates that your content is engaging and valuable, which will ultimately lead to higher-quality leads.

Stage 2: Master your core content

Your core content is your website's backbone, the foundation that drives traffic to your site. It’s the content that draws your audience in and encourages them to learn more about what you offer. With a high-converting lead bait in place, you can focus on creating the best possible core content.

Market Research for Core Content

Consider the formats your audience want

To create the perfect core content, you need to consider what your target audience wants. For B2B audiences in Dubai, blog posts, podcasts, and videos are all excellent options. However, before you start creating your core content, consider your audience's needs and wants. Ask yourself questions such as:

• Does your audience commute and have time for podcasts?

• Is your audience pressed for time and prefers quick reads?

• What content format best fits your audience's lifestyle and workflow?

Adjust your content format to match your audience's preferences and make it easier for them to consume your content.

Consider your team's capabilities

Before you dive into creating your core content, consider the formats that your team can execute. While you might have a grand plan to launch a YouTube channel, it doesn't mean you have the resources to do it right now. Make sure that your team can manage the content format that you choose.

Decide on Your Content Buckets

Finally, before you conduct topic ideation, decide on the two or three content buckets that you want to be known for. What should your audience know you for? Is it email marketing, event management, or e-commerce product strategy? By identifying your content buckets, you can create a clear and coherent message for your audience.

Options for Core Content Formats

Standard blog posts (900-1500 words)

Blogging is a classic way to build your audience, drive traffic to your website and establish yourself as an authority in your industry. By creating content that is helpful, insightful, and engaging, you can capture the attention of potential customers and keep them coming back for more.

Long-form blog posts (2000+ words) 

Long-form blog posts are a great way to dive deep into a topic and provide comprehensive information that is both useful and informative. They are perfect for targeting specific keywords and generating organic traffic to your website.

Resource libraries

Resource libraries are collections of helpful resources, including e-books, white papers, guides, and case studies. They are ideal for providing in-depth information on a particular topic, educating your audience, and establishing your business as an industry expert.

Content clusters

Content clusters are a series of related blog posts that cover different aspects of a particular topic. They provide a more comprehensive overview of a particular subject, and they're a great way to keep visitors engaged on your website.

Podcasts

Podcasts are an excellent way to reach audiences that are on the go and prefer audio content. They offer a great opportunity to showcase your expertise and personality while also building relationships with your audience.

Ultimately, the core content format you choose will depend on your audience's preferences and your business's resources. By selecting the right format and creating quality content, you can attract and engage potential customers, establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry, and grow your business with effective lead-generation services in Dubai.

How to choose the right topics for core content?

One of the biggest challenges for content creators is choosing the right topics to cover. You need to strike a balance between covering the basics and producing fresh content that keeps your audience engaged and coming back for more. 

Here are some tips to help you choose the right topics for your core content that will attract and engage your target audience and drive leads for your business.

Do your research

To get a deep understanding of what's happening in your industry, you need to do some competitor research, industry research, and social listening. Start by checking out your competitors' sites, industry influencers' and consultants' sites, and research your industry on social media. 

This will give you a good idea of the types of content that are already out there and what topics are being discussed. Use this information to guide your own content creation and identify gaps in the market that you can fill.

Use keyphrase research

Keyphrase research can be a great way to guide your topic ideation. Start by creating a list of 50 to 100 target keyphrases that you have a reasonable chance of ranking for. Look for key phrases that are relevant to your business and your target audience. It's important to find an appropriate difficulty score and SERP rankings whose domain scores are close to your own. 

Once you have your list of target keyphrases, build your content calendar around them. You can repurpose YouTube videos and podcasts by embedding them in your blog posts, which can help boost engagement and drive traffic to your site.

How to measure the effectiveness of your B2B core content for lead generation?

Your core content is the backbone of your lead generation strategy, and its effectiveness can be measured by the following factors:

Conversion rate

A conversion rate of 2% or higher from your core content to your lead bait indicates that your content is resonating with your target audience and encouraging them to take the next step in your sales funnel.

Organic shares

When your core content is shared by your audience on social media or other online platforms without any paid promotion, it demonstrates the value and relevance of your content to your audience.

Content views

The number of views your core content receives is a critical indicator of its success. If your content is receiving more views than the average of your previous content, it shows that your audience is engaged with your brand and finds value in what you are sharing.

Stage 3: Nail your promotional content

When it comes to B2B lead generation in Dubai, promoting your core content is as important as creating it. To reach your target audience, you need to use various platforms and channels to promote your content.  

Market research for promotional content

To determine which social media channels to prioritize, use social listening, industry research, and competitor research to find out which channels your audience uses.

By profiling your competitors’ sites and backlinks, you can identify the sites where they are guest posting and the posts that they are ranking for. This information can help you determine which posts to prioritize and which sites to target for backlink outreach.

Promotional Content Strategies

Social media is a great place to promote your core content. Release your best content on your active social media channels to gain more shares and reach a wider audience.

Email marketing is also an effective way to promote your content. Divert your newsletter traffic to your top-performing blog posts and podcast episodes.

If you want to increase your chances of SEO traffic for a given post, then guest blogging and backlink outreach might be an excellent idea for B2B lead generation. By reaching out to bloggers for backlinks and posting on other sites, you can increase referral traffic and build links to your site.

How to choose which pieces of core content to prioritize?

Not every piece of core content needs to be promoted equally. Use social media to promote all of your high-quality content, but don't promote every individual post if some are too basic or repetitive.

When emailing your audience, select only the most helpful and actionable posts, podcasts, or YouTube videos to share, and avoid overwhelming your subscribers with too much content.

Use backlink outreach and guest blogging only for your top target key phrases, as it requires significant effort and time. Focus your energy on your high-priority blog posts, the ones that target key phrases, and have a great chance of ranking.

Measuring the success of your promotional content for B2B lead generation

To determine whether your promotional content is working, consider the following metrics:

• Social posts that perform better than your average in terms of shares and comments.

• Backlink outreach emails that convert to links at a rate of at least 1%.

• Guest blog pitches that convert at a rate of at least 20%.

• Email marketing click-throughs to your content are at least 5%, with open rates of at least 15%.

In summary, executing these three stages is crucial to successful B2B lead generation through content marketing in Dubai. By creating strong core content, choosing the right topics, and perfecting your promotional content, you can attract and convert leads effectively. 

Choose the right lead generation agency in Dubai like Prism Digital to help you optimize your content marketing efforts and achieve your business goals!