How To Structure Your Business Blog To Maximize B2b Data Provision And Lead Generation

The primary reason for writing blog posts is to maximize b2b data provision and lead generation; not capture likes on Facebook or tweets on Twitter. You are investing time in blog writing for strategic business reasons. Your goal is to have your content achieve something. Increasing conversions is the name of the game.

Consider the following tips to improve your b2b data provision and lead generation and consequently your return on investment:

 

Planning Phase

 

Crafting your content according to a strategic plan will yield better results. What are some elements you should consider in your goal? Consider it from three angles: audience’s pain points, industry’s present coverage and your intended CTA.

 

Starting with your target audience’s pain points, you can zero in on topics of interest. Look at the problems they are facing, what do they hope to achieve out of life and what do they perceive is holding them back. Writing about subjects that will relieve your audience’s issues will improve bounce and conversion rates.

 

When considering topics covered in the industry, look at what is already published and try to put out better content on those very same topics. This will most definitely double your ROI.

 

Lastly, identify the specific type of conversion you’re looking for. These metrics can be: lead generation completed forms, file downloads, video views, social shares, blog comment engagement, etc. Always choose a single CTA for each blog post and try to vary your audience’s level of commitment.

 

Construction Phase

 

Starting with the title, an appropriate one can increase your click-through rates by as much as 20%. You can use tools such as KingSumo’s Headline Optimizer. Going on to the first few sentences, take your time in writing these. These will convert readers and encourage them to read the entire blog.

For the format, stick to the following rules:

• Keep paragraphs short, 2 to 5 sentences per paragraph
• Break up text with bulleted lists, heading tags, bolded text, numbered lists and italicized text
• Include videos and images so that readers get a break from reading
• Check font to ensure line length is between 45 to 70 characters

 

Conversion Phase

 

In the final phase of your b2b data provision and lead generation goal, you must pay attention to the location, style and effectiveness of your CTA.

The location of your CTA will depend on your goal. For example, if you want to encourage readers to purchase, then the best place to put one is after you explain a pain point, or incorporate a scarcity tactic. If you want to increase social shares, put a CTA where you have placed a quotable line. If you want to increase downloads of a whitepaper, then use tools like CrazyEgg to find out where to place your CTA.

The style of your CTA will play a huge role on its performance. Consider the image versus the text. Your CTA can include a mixture of both or just anyone. Button color and size can include a clickable button where the color and size will impact the effectiveness. Your CTA copy also has a big impact, which is why you should vary it ever so often.

 

After all this effort with your CTA, you need to measure its effectiveness. Tracking conversions that occur from social shares and video downloads is easy. However, tracking those that occur from  product sales is not. You can use Google Analytics, Convertro or Marketo to help you with this area.

 

By implementing the steps outlined in all three phases, you can improve your blog’s b2b data provision and lead generation.