7 Types of Lead Generation Content You Should Use

Is your business looking for more ways to generate leads? The right content can easily help. 

No matter the size and shape of your business, you can attract and convert potential customers using lead-generation content. But not just any old content will work. Learn about the best types of content to include in your lead generation strategy. 

What Is Lead Content Marketing?

A lead is someone who shows an interest in your product, service, or business. They have interacted with your organization in some way and usually provided you with information about themselves, such as their name, phone number, and email address. 

In the past, businesses generated leads through direct mail, cold-calling, and in-person events. These were resource-intensive activities with generally disappointing returns on investment. 

As digital marketing has grown, strategies for connecting with potential customers offer much better results. Lead generation content marketing refers to establishing contact with interested parties using various types of content. 

Visitors are encouraged to provide their contact information in exchange for content they view as having value. Once collected, this customer data can be used to create relevant campaigns to nurture leads as they make their way along the buyer’s journey.

7 Types of Lead Generation Content To Include in Your Strategy

The best lead generation strategies can help your business significantly grow its reach and overall results. Here are seven types of lead generation content you should consider using.

1. Short Videos and Influencer Marketing

If you want to generate leads, you can’t go wrong with video and influencer marketing. In 2023 alone, people watched an average of 17 hours of video content each week. Video is an excellent option for business-to-consumer (B2C) lead generation because it can help your business create awareness, build trust, and showcase its expertise. 

How do you generate leads with short videos? The good news is there are many use cases for video content in marketing, including:

• Testimonial videos
• Explainer videos
• Product demo videos
• Social media videos
• Presentation videos
• Teaser videos
• Brand/company videos

Influencer marketing is another popular way to appeal to audiences, particularly those on social media platforms. In terms of lead generation, leveraging the power of other people who have influence can produce positive results. This is because people on social media often “follow” the recommendations of people they like and trust. 

2. Different Types of Gated Content

Gated content is online material requiring visitors to complete a form to access it. These forms usually ask for basic personal information, like name, email address, and other relevant identifiers. This content strategy aims to generate leads so you can contact them in the future via email or phone. 

Here are a few different lead generation content strategies using gated content:

Valuable E-books To Establish Authority

E-books are one of the most popular and effective types of gated content for driving leads. Compared to many other content types, e-books are simple to create. They are also great for “how-to” topics.

The great thing about e-books is that you can often create them without reinventing the wheel. For example, you can look at your most popular posts on a particular topic and combine the information into an easily digestible e-book or “Ultimate Guide for Beginners.”

Engaging Surveys and Reports With Industry Trends and Data

If you are focused on business-to-business (B2B) lead generation, one type of gated content that can produce results is surveys or reports containing industry data and trends. This is because business customers will be more interested in making data-driven decisions than individual consumers. When using this type of content, link to reputable sources if you aren’t using your own surveys or data. 

Highly Informative White Papers

Another excellent type of gated content is white papers. These are in-depth, authoritative reports on specific topics. In general, these are long-form content pieces that are valuable to your audience and interesting to consume. 

A white paper makes sense when a topic requires a deeper explanation than can be covered in an e-book. These pieces usually rely heavily on data to support their findings, and they can also establish authority and thought leadership. 

In-Depth Blog Content and Guides

Your company’s website is one of its strongest sources of lead generation. After all, many people go there first when they research a business. Using blog content for organic lead generation helps you pull in interested parties from search engine results or other “free” sources like social media platforms or directory listings.

You can create short, gated blog posts and guides that answer users' frequently asked questions or demonstrate how something works. Visitors simply need to enter their email addresses to gain instant access. This type of website lead generation is simple and effective. 

3. Case Studies To Showcase Real Success Stories

One thing that can give you an advantage with potential customers is showcasing real-life success stories. Case studies are proof positive that your business can be trusted to solve a client’s most pressing issues because they illustrate precisely how you did the same for someone else.

These content pieces are compelling sales lead generation tools because they let you document a unique customer journey. A case study can be in written or video format. Most case studies describe a client so the reader can identify with them, highlight their “problem,” and outline the steps to resolve it using your products or services. 

The more detailed your case study is, the more valuable it is to readers who are trying to make a decision. If possible, include a quote from the client explaining how your solution helped resolve their issue. This is just one way to leverage word-of-mouth in your content. 

4. Customer Testimonials To Leverage Word-of-Mouth

Testimonials can help drive sales by building credibility and trust with potential customers and showing the value of your product or service from a real user’s perspective. You can accomplish this with case studies, but there are other ways to generate leads with your customers' experiences. 

Flywheel marketing is one example. Teacher, writer, and researcher Jim Collins developed this business growth concept, which is a unique community marketing strategy. As customers purchase your products or services, they become the “engine” to drive growth. 

Using this approach, you will attract more satisfied customers who will become cheerleaders for your brand. You can use these testimonials as part of your content or as stand-alone content to drive new leads. 

For example, you can include a "What Our Customers Say" section of a blog post or video. Or, you can create a piece of content entirely dedicated to showcasing your customer feedback.

5. Webinars for Real-Time Engagement

Webinars are pre-recorded or live online events that allow presenters to share insights and information and interact with an audience in real time. They are a valuable means of capturing and educating leads on complex topics, making direct connections, and addressing questions. 

Webinars are ideal options for prospective customers in the decision-making stage. They may be aware of your brand but haven’t yet decided about awarding their business. Maybe they still have unaddressed questions or concerns that your webinar can address.

Participants must register to access the webinar. This can involve filling out a simple opt-in box that will add them to your email list for future marketing messages. 

Once participants are registered, you can build excitement and anticipation for the event with reminders and additional announcements. After the event, you can follow up with attendees to continue moving them closer to a purchase decision. 

6. Email Marketing Campaigns and Newsletters

Email marketing remains a tried and true strategy that produces positive results. Instead of posting content on your website and waiting for a prospective customer to find it, you send it directly to their inbox. 

Your business can create email lead gen campaigns at every step in the marketing funnel. Whether the reader is a first-time or repeat customer, you can send them personalized and valuable content that prompts them to make a purchase. 

When building your email marketing campaign, it’s vital to segment your audience so you can deliver content that resonates with them. It’s also critical to create engaging content delivered gradually with specific calls-to-action (CTAs) that encourage readers to take the next step. 

7. Podcasts and Interviews

A podcast is a live or pre-recorded audio program centering around a topic of interest to your audience. Because of the growing popularity of this medium, podcasting has become one of the more trendy lead-generation techniques. Specifically, 82% of Americans ages 12 and older listened to terrestrial radio in a given week, according to data from Pew Research. 

Your business can create high-quality podcasts that raise brand awareness, foster thought leadership, and grow trust with your target audience. When your listeners feel more connected to you, they are likelier to become strong leads and loyal consumers. 

Your podcasts should include valuable content, or your listeners won’t stick around for long. Consider conducting interviews with prior customers, product developers, and industry leaders to generate interest in your products or services. Don’t forget to include a transcript to make your material accessible and answer your audience’s questions to improve engagement. 

How To Find Lead-Generation Content Ideas

If you want your lead gen marketing strategy to succeed, regularly creating and delivering fresh content is essential. Of course, producing fresh and engaging topics can be challenging. 

So, how do you develop new lead-gen ideas for your marketing campaigns? Here are a few options to get your creative juices flowing.

Do Keyword Research

You can conduct in-depth keyword research using paid and free tools as part of your overall digital marketing and SEO strategy.

If you don’t wish to invest in paid keyword research tools, you can conduct free keyword research using Google Trends and the search engine’s autocomplete feature. 

Browse Online Forums

Consider browsing relevant online forums to find out what topics your audience is most interested in reading about. 

If you can determine where your potential customers are spending time asking questions, you can make a list of topics to address in your content. A few excellent sources include Quora, bbPress Forums, and Reddit. 

Watch Social Media Trends

Another way to take advantage of the various trends your audience is following is to check out what’s popular on social media right now. Instead of spending hours scouring different sites, you can use different tools to identify rising trends, such as Trendsmap and Trends24.

Study Your Competitors

Your competitors might be successfully connecting with your target audience. If so, there’s nothing wrong with taking a few cues from what they’re doing right. You certainly don’t want to copy what they’re doing, but you can create similar content that adds more value and ranks higher than the competition. 

Use a Blog Topic Generator

Finally, you can get some brainstorming help by using a blog topic generator, like Portent’s Content Idea Generator and Content Row’s Headline Generator. All you need to do is add a few relevant keywords to the tools, and they will return interesting ideas you can customize to fit your needs and audience.

How Compose.ly Can Help You Get Leads With Great Content

Ready to generate quality leads for your business? Compose.ly can help you create powerful lead magnets that boosts your authority and drives conversions. 

Compose.ly’s team of highly trained, expert writers can produce engaging content to increase brand awareness and gated content to generate leads. When you need a high-quality lead-generation content strategy, we’re ready to help. 

Connect with our team today to learn more about our blog writing and other content services.