To generate leads, you need to create valuable and persuasive content. That way, you’ll build trust and demonstrate authority, helping the user feel more comfortable with exchanging their contact information.

Whether that means picking the right keywords in your content or nailing your social media ads, better content leads to happy customers and, crucially, more conversions.

But how do you do it? Well, we’ve chosen eight of the best ways and tips for branding to attract leads through digital marketing that won’t lead your business astray, covering everything from web design improvements to social media advice:

 

1. Use Specific Keywords

Using long tail keywords (those with three or more words), rather than short and broad keywords, will help you target users who have a more specific search intent. 

Let’s say you sell guitars in Buffalo, New York. You’ll want to use the long tail keyword ‘guitar shop in Buffalo NY’ rather than the keyword ‘guitar shop’ in your content, in order to reach potential customers (AKA leads) who are further down the buyer’s funnel. That is, users who are ready to buy a guitar in Buffalo.

There is also less competition with long tail keywords because they’re so specific. This means your web pages are more likely to rank for those keywords. 

To find relevant keywords that will attract loads of leads, you can use tools like SEMrush, or the Google Chrome extension Keywords Everywhere.

 

2. Leverage PPC (Pay-per-Click)

Using PPC marketing allows you to target your web pages at specific users, based on factors like age, location, and job title. This helps you to expose your business to its ideal audience.

In other words, you can advertise to users who are likely to become leads, rather than just advertising to a broader audience and hoping for the best.

You can use Google Ads to have a link to your website appear at the top of the search results for a relevant keyword – you’ll simply pay Google Ads each time a user clicks on that link. It’s usually only a couple of dollars or so, depending on the keyword you are targeting.

PPC marketing is effective, earning businesses $2 for every $1 spent, but it can seem daunting. With that in mind, you can always hire an expert or use a PPC management company to handle all the PPC legwork for you.

 

3. Run A/B Tests on Your Web Design

How do you generate leads through online marketing? Test, test, test. You should test different keywords, PPC platforms, and website layouts to see what increases or damages your conversion rate.

Running an A/B test on your web design means trying and comparing different versions of your website to see which gains more traffic. 

For example, your web developers can test different versions of your webforms or CTA (call-to-action) buttons to see which get more leads. Remember, to test is best!

 

4. Ensure Your Site is Mobile Friendly

57% of users say they won’t recommend a business that has a poorly designed website on mobile. Fewer recommendations means fewer leads, so it’s vital that you optimize your site for mobile and turn those dissatisfied visitors into happy leads.

How does it work? It’s simple. A mobile-friendly website will reformat its content to display correctly when viewed on a mobile device, ensuring your website looks great on all screen sizes. This is called responsive web design, and it helps to create an enjoyable user experience, removing the need for unnecessary scrolling or squinting at tiny navigation bars.

It’s an easy task for any web designer, and nearly all website builders come with mobile-ready templates anyway.

 

5. Create Lead Magnets

A lead magnet is a piece of content you can offer users in exchange for their contact information. Typically downloadable content, such as PDFs, eBooks, and quizzes (anything that would benefit or entertain the user), lead magnets can turn tentative users into confirmed leads.

Companies like Leadpages provide lead magnet templates for you to use on your own website, helping you ‘turn clicks into customers’ more easily. The same company reported that 9 out of 12 of its highest-converting templates come from its webinar registration pages. 

With so many people working from home these days, there’s arguably never been a better time to start creating webinars anyway, has there?

 

6. Build an App

Developing an app means opening up another road to destination lead. It’s a road with heavy traffic, too, with 57% of all digital media usage coming from mobile apps. So, you can just build an app and expect more leads, right?

Wrong! To get users to download your app and become leads, you must offer value or an incentive. You can do this by providing services that are unique to your app, or services that your competitors haven’t offered yet.

 

7. Advertise on Social Media

As mentioned earlier, you can use PPC on social media to have your web pages appear on users’ social media feeds. The most common platforms to advertise on include Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but you can leverage paid marketing on nearly all social sites, even TikTok and Snapchat.

Attracting leads on social media is relatively cheap, too. The average CPL (cost per lead) is just $0.80 on Facebook, compared to $2.50 on Google.

You can also use social platforms to promote your lead magnets – think downloadable quizzes, PDFs, and checklists – and expose your business to the billions of active social media users around the world.

 

8. Personalize Your Content

No website visitor likes to be treated like ‘just another customer’. Getting personal can do wonders for your conversion rates, with 80% of customers more likely to purchase a product or service from a brand who provides a personalized experience.

You can use purchasing history data and the user’s IP address to recommend relevant products or services, or you can collect the information from your landing page forms so you can address users by their name in emails and promotions. A personalized experience should lead to more, well, leads.

 

Conclusion

To capture leads, you must create content that users love. You must build trust and nail your conversion rate optimization tactics.

Just think: it’s no use spending thousands on paid marketing campaigns if you’re directing users to your lousy website, because they won’t convert. So, take care of your content’s quality, and the leads should look after themselves.

About the Author

Dan Barraclough is a writer at Expert Market, a leading B2B comparison site helping businesses find the best services and solutions. He specialises in a range of tech topics like web design and digital marketing, but also has a penchant for dash cams and postage meters.