How To Use Content Marketing To Get Leads That Are Ready to Buy

How To Use Content Marketing To Get Leads That Are Ready to Buy:from Business 2 Community by Ryan Wilson
Great content marketing attracts prospects and converts them to buyers. However, there is more to great content than churning thoughtful, attention-grabbing blog posts or articles. Many businesses are finding lead generation difficult because they do not produce content that works. Are you among the business owners that do not see the money piling up despite producing high-quality material?
Before the dollars start rolling in, you need to put some time, thought and planning on the marketing side of content. This means having to strategically think of the type of content to distribute to your prospects and make sure that it is aligned with your buyer personas.

Grab your Prospect’s Attention

All of your content has to be beneficial to your audience. But with the flimsy attention span of online readers, how do you get them to read your long, high-quality content? The secret is to have an attention-grabbing headline.
Your headline should be backed by a high-quality body content that will show readers you are an expert in your field and can solve a problem that is nagging them.
Regardless of the type of content you are putting across — viral videos, manifestos, tutorials or special reports — you must have a marketing goal and call to action for them. Otherwise, your prospects will enjoy the content but will not bother subscribing to your blog or email list.

Your Content Marketing Message

Unlike what many people think, you should have your marketing message along with your content. After investing your time and resources in coming up with the high-quality content, you want something in return.
At this point, you are not looking to close a sale. You are simply establishing a relationship with the prospects and positioning yourself as a leader in your industry. You therefore want your prospects to leave you their email address or subscribe to your blog to get more awesome content.
Your content is just the beginning of your conversation with your prospects. Therefore, you do not want overtly sales talk in them. The marketing message should be subtle. Don’t tell prospects how you are good at solving a problem that they have. This is too direct. Instead:

Raise questions.

Use copy persuasion tactics to appeal to the emotions of your readers. Are your readers facing a particular problem that they can pay someone to solve it for them? Be subtle with your questions. You want your audience to be in a receptive state of mind before you offer them your solution.

Create interest and desire.

Next, address the points you raised in your question. Create interest and desire in the solution you have for your audience’s problem. Just hint to the solution. You do not need to overly talk about the solution and how it is going to impact the lives of your audience.
Having created a high quality content, you want it to get to the right people. Your content should be good enough to be bookmarked, shared on social media, or emailed by your readers. If you cannot create remarkable content that will spark interest in your solutions without coming out as a blatant sales letter, partner with a content expert.

Converting Prospects to Customers

Capturing your audience with high-quality content is the first part of the content lead generation equation. The next part is what to do with the audience when you have them. The answer lies in follow-ups and lead-nuturing.
Keep delivering compelling messages to your new audience using an email auto responder or your blog. At this point, you can start building a commercial relationship by teaching and entertaining the audience. Teach and entertain more than you sell. This will help to establish trust and prepare your audience to purchase when present your offer.