Audience Engagement: The Goal of Content Marketing for IT Lead Generation
The only way to reach your targeted audience for IT lead generation is by emotionally connecting with them. The way you do this is to create a content marketing plan that includes worthwhile content. Rise above the promotional and product-related content and produce content that your customers need. Content marketing is all about entertaining and educating your targeted audience, as well as increasing their trust in your business. As you continue with your content marketing plan, your audience will start to see you as a credible and informative resource, rather than a business trying to sell them a product.
Valuable Content Is the Key to Generating Leads
The heart of your content marketing strategy is to create valuable and meaningful information to your audience. Your readers then share and promote interesting content, generating more leads and sales. Content marketing is an ongoing process with consistent communication and engagement with your customers. Get to know your audience and make a commitment to them by sharing entertaining and helpful content.
Know Your Buyer’s Behavior
Your prospects begin their journey by finding your content on their own, whether from searching online for information or asking their social media network for recommendations. This is the foundation of inbound content marketing that results in IT lead generation. Once your audience finds your content, they become familiar with your brand, which can result in leads. This is the point when your targeted audience considers reaching out to you, asking questions about your business. It’s important that you follow up on all inquiries immediately, before the lead gets cold.
After the first MQL (marketing qualified lead), continue engaging your prospect to see if they’re truly interested in your services. Once vetted, your qualified leads often result in sales conversions.
Determine Your Audience Persona
Identifying your audience’s persona is an important part of developing a content marketing strategy. Creating relevant content that makes an emotional connection with your audience relies on knowing what will attract them. Do some research on potential customer demographics, including their age, education, income, and location. Knowing if they’re married and their professions also helps target content to their needs. Find out how your services can help your prospects solve problems, deal with challenges, and achieve success.
The Best Content for Lead Generation
Once you determine your audience’s persona, you can create valuable content. The following tips will help you publish content that attracts leads for your business.
• Relevant – useful content that educates, entertains, and informs
• Emotional – meaningful content that invokes an emotional response
• Compelling – a clear, interesting story that readers understand
• Substance – well-written content with substance
• Trustworthy – genuine, caring content
The goal of content marketing is to inspire and engage your audience through high-quality content across all platforms. You want your audience talking about your IT business, pinning, sharing, and posting your content to their social media contacts. These new audiences drive your website traffic, improving your brand, and resulting in sales leads. By consistent engagement with your audience through contests, free eBooks, dialogues, sharing stories, tweets, infographics, polls, and responsiveness, you create loyal fans that drive more customers to your business.
About our Contributor
Jason and his brother, Daniel Simons own and operate the 36 year-old IT support company in Houston, San Antonio and Austin. ICS is a second-generation company specializing in Managed IT, VoIP, Video and Cabling for businesses. Jason grew up in the technology sector working summers and weekends doing everything from cabling to installing phone systems and data networks. In 1997, Jason graduated from Texas A&M University with a Business Degree in Management. From there, he began working in at the IT Services Houston location for ICS as the Operations Manager, then the Sales Manager, the Branch Manager and in 2008 became a 50% owner and partner with Daniel Simons.
Jason specializes in IT solutions that allow businesses to operate more efficiently, effectively and in a secure manner. Jason is a business owner that understands how to leverage IT services to improve your San Antonio organization and is not just an IT consulting technician who is attempting to operate a business..
Jason and Daniel have a profound focus on customer service with the pride of a second-generation family owned business. With IT Support offices in San Antonio, Houston and Austin, the ICS team is positioned to provide the highest level of IT and VoIP services to your organization. Jason is passionate about implementing their core values to build one of the Leading IT companies in Houston and San Antonio !
