generate better leads and grow your business

Want to learn how to use your website to generate better leads and grow your small business or non-profit?  Well, when we begin these projects with each client, we ask them to think about what a “lead” means for their company and how they plan to capture them.

A lead for us is an email address, but for some, it’s a phone call, a contact form completion or a follow on social media.  Be clear on what a lead means to you and your marketing team before you move on to the next step!

How to Spot a Good Lead: The Elusive Mountain Pika

A good lead is like the elusive mountain pika.  Rarely seen in the wild, this creature roams quietly through the rocky talus fields, making itself known only when in need of sustenance or to sound the alarm before diving back into its burrow.

When it finds a spot in the sun, the mountain pika may linger, basking in the glory of its warmth.  When spotted by the curious hiker, cameras and phones come flying out in the hopes of capturing this recluse of the wilderness.

Similarly, when we spot a good lead, we clamor for its attention.  We immediately email, call, InMail or the brave few may show up on their doorstep.  We are not providing the lead with any education or nourishment, we just want to sell, sell, sell.

And just like the shy mountain pika when it feels under attack, the lead disappears back into the wilds of the interwebs.

how do you capture a good lead?

Now that you’ve defined what a good lead is for your brand, how do you capture it?  And once you have it, where do you keep it?  This elusive mountain pika needs food and water, so be strategic with your planning of lead capture and lead nourishment.  Let’s set up your lead capture strategy first.  

Ways to capture a lead for your outdoor or lifestyle brand:  

There are a number of ways to capture a lead, but here’s the most common ways we capture an email address for our clients:

• contact form submission
• event activation
• download of gated content
• website footer – newsletter sign-up box
• landing pages

Where to store your leads

Having a good CRM or Customer Relationship Management system in place allows you to not only store leads, but also track additional information.  This might include how the lead came in and when, what their social handles are, and when your last contact was. 

We use Monday.com or Insightly at Top Rope Media, but have also worked with Blackbaud, SalesForce, Memberleap and Hubspot.  If your organization has a membership component, you seek financial contributions and membership dues, then having a CRM in place is crucial. 

Pro tip: Be wary of the ‘all-in-one’ solutions. 

Many companies will promise their CRM can not only help you track leads, but also manage accounting, do email marketing, social media planning, etc.  After 20 years of working in marketing and fundraising, we’ve learned there is no out-of-the-box solution that will do everything well.  Most larger brands and organizations will require some CRM customization.

If you need help selecting a CRM, or using a tool like Zapier to connect your CRM to say your email marketing platform, send up a smoke signal.  We offer consulting services to help get you moving quickly. 

Generate Better Leads by Producing Better website Content

Several of our clients have asked for a new website design, or major a refresh of their current site.  Why?  They want something more visually appealing, easier to navigate, and easier to help them generate better leads. 

Curious as to one of the primary ways we generate better leads at Top Rope Media?  We create better content.  Where does that content live?  On our website.

We should all be long past the days of buying lists and followers.  And yes, we certainly recommend paid advertising for many of our clients to help generate brand awareness and revenue.  However, we find the best leads come from the playing the long game and creating good content. 

Again, where should that content live?  On your website.

What types of content should you create

Now that you’re onboard with writing good content to help you generate more well-qualified leads, what type of content should you create?  Well these days content comes in many forms.  Video still rank as one the most-consumed pieces of content.  Accordingly to Wyzowl, 84% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video.

If you’re new to video, we’ll tackle how to get started in an upcoming post.  For now, let’s talk about what other types of good content you should be creating to generate better leads:

• Case studies
• Infographics
• Blog posts
• Videos or Vlogs (upload to YouTube or Vimeo, and embed the link on your website!)
• Checklists or resource guides
• Comparisons, rankings or reviews
• How-to or explainer videos
• Articles for trade publications, or local/national news outlets
• Press releases
• Podcasts
• White papers or eBooks

How Good Content Can Improve Your SEO

Now that you’ve learned what types of good content you can produce, don’t let your content stream dry up!  By building a library of evergreen content for your readers or viewers, and having it live on your website, you can easily link to these pieces throughout the year. 

All this good content will also help you create better search engine optimization (SEO).  Not quite sure what SEO is?  Read more about it in our Website Design and SEO blog post.  So instead of paying an agency to manage your SEO, save your money and start by writing good content!

content marketing: What to write about or record on a video

What types of content should you produce and write about?  The first step should be to start a list with the top questions you are asked about your product, service or organization. 

For example, if you create a list of the 24 questions people most frequently ask you about your service or product, then an honest and thoughtful answer to each of those questions could be your first 24 blog posts or videos!

Create authentic content that focuses on your audience’s needs and addresses their pain points.  As an example, one of the most frequently asked questions we receive is a form of “What will this cost?”  So instead of hiding that from potential clients until they receive our proposal, we address it on our Services page.

Tools to Help You Write or record Good Content

Where else can you find what written or video content your audience needs and wants and therefore generate better leads?  Through your website or Google Analytics, look at the pages with the most views (besides your homepage) along with the pages people spend the most time on. 

Need help finding more keyword phrases to include in your content?  By using the tools listed below you can create a good list of keywords or keyword phrases that are often searched for in relation to your product or service: 

• Keywords Everywhere
• SEMRush
• Buzz Sumo
• Google Search Console
• Google Keyword Planner

More Tips for Writing or recording Good Content

Be consistent and stay on brand.  As an example, most people come to our website for two separate content tracks: adventure travel and marketing.  Although we personally have an interest in what the Utah snow forecast looks like for this week, or the latest puffy jacket to hit the market, we do not write about it in our blog.

We generate better leads by staying consistent with the content we produce.  So, stay focused on offering solutions to your audience’s most frequently asked or searched questions.

content creation vs. content distribution

So now you know what types of content you can produce to generate better leads. In addition, you learned what to write about or record in those pieces of content.  What’s the next step?  Distributing that content. 

Since you cannot expect people to stumble upon your great content simply through search alone, help them find it through content distribution.  That great blog you just wrote, or that video you just recorded for YouTube (which is embedded on your website) can be shared in a number of different ways. 

Here’s a few distribution channels we use:

• Email: via an email marketing platform like Mailchimp
• Social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn)
• Paid advertising
• Online forums
• Networking groups  

How do we keep track of the content we’re distributing?  We create a content calendar to stay organized and use publishing tools like Hootsuite to track when, where and what we’re sharing.  Examples of other tools you can use to organize your content: 

• Excel, Google Sheets, Buffer, Post Planner, Hubspot

Need Content Production and Distribution Help?

Need help getting started generating better leads, or want us to create and manage your content production and distribution?  If so, read more about our Services and Pricing to see if we’re a good fit for you.  Have a quick question for us?  Send up a smoke signal or leave us a comment below.

Lastly, if you’re seeking more tips on digital marketing, check out these posts:

• 7 Steps to Crafting Your Perfect Email Strategy
• Website Design and SEO for the Outdoor Industry
• 8 Steps to Kickstart Your Online Advertising with Facebook and Instagram

To learn more about what we do on the regular, follow Top Rope Media’s adventures on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Until next time, happy content writing!

Meredith