5 Ways To Turn Your B2B Blog Into A Lead Generation Tool
By Kipp Bodnar
Wed, Oct 28, 2009
One of my favorite things about writing about B2B and social media is that most of the ideas I talk about scale well. They can work well for a 5 person company or a 5,000 person company. A great example of this is blogging. I have seen large and small companies across many industries become successful at blogging. However, many of the same businesses are missing out on great opportunities to use their blog(s) for lead generation.
Before I get into my list, I would like to remind everyone that it is ok to break the rules. Just because every blog you read has a twitter widget and an RSS icon in the side bar doesn’t mean that your blog has to have it too. For many organizations their blog is their main source of inbound web traffic and is the first impression for your organization that many people see on the web.
All of the eye balls coming to your blog make all of the space in posts and sidebars very valuable. How do we convert those eye balls into leads? Here are five ideas:
1. Use Ads and Special offers – Let’s remember that you have complete control over your blog’s design and content. Why not include a compelling ad or two with specific calls to action as a way to directly generate leads from your blog visitors. If your blog applies to different company divisions or product lines then serve ads that tie to individual post page topics instead of the same ad across the entire site.
2. Leverage Live Chat – Having a live chat function that connects customers to sales and customers service staff instantly to have questions answers can be a great way to generate leads or even create a sale. B2B companies have been using chat as part of their product pages, but I argue that it makes much more sense to have chat as part of the blog as well. Visitors to your blog are looking for specific information or at least more information about your company. A chat is a quick and cost effective way to engage them and get them into your CRM system.
BONUS: Mine the text from multiple chat sessions over a few weeks to find common customer questions and interests. Then develop a series of blog posts around address these top customer issues.
3. Ask For Opt-in for E-mail Marketing – If you do any e-mail or permission marketing then you should have an opt-in form some where on your blog. If someone is reading your blog there is a high likelihood they are interested in your business and would be willing to provide their e-mail address to get additional news and updates.
4. Have Sales Team Engage Through Comments – If you are writing engaging blog content then likely you have created discussion in many of your blog posts. I encourage you to get your sales team involved in responding to your blog comments, so that they can leverage them as a way to build better customer relationships. They shouldn’t be actively selling in the comments of your blog, however, discussions that occur in blog comments can easily translate to a follow up call or e-mail with sales potential.
5. Write Posts That Actually Sell Stuff – In the world of social media you hear a lot about not selling stuff. I think those people are wrong. Sure, you can be over the top with spammy sales pitches, but there are sales opportunities in social media. One of these opportunities is a well-written blog post. It is okay to write blog posts that actually sell something. They shouldn’t be every post of your blog. If you are about to launch a new product, then write a post about it. Provide you blog readers with the first chance to order it or a special discount. Give them something that will help them feel special and endear them to your organization.
So remember that it is ok to sell stuff in social media. In fact your blog is a critical sales and lead generation tool, if you choose to use it.
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Tags: B2B, Blogging, Lead Generation
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Interesting post and I would double down on #1, especially having strong calls to action. One of our B2B clients sells highly technical products but pushes “self-service pricing” on their blog (www.4equallogic.com). We call it the $60 Million dollar blog because that’s how much marketing funnel value it has generated in one year. The blog is the top source for real opportunities.
I think far too many blogs meant to help a company are merely passive. It’s ok to have outlets for visitors that want more especially given the fact that most corporate blogs are written for SEO to generate inbound traffic.
Thanks for the post.
Dale
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I agree with your suggestions, with the exception of the live chat. I find those sites with the live chat to come across as cheesy. Especially when you attempt to scroll away, and the chat box chases you down the page – very distracting. If the blog is done well, and the call to action is powerful, then the expense of the live chat plus the disruption are not necessary. For the record, I also am not fond of talking heads. The first time you see them, it’s neat. By the second or third visit, it’s annoying.
I am also not sold on the idea of selling things in the blog – unless you mean indirectly. Direct selling in the blog is a turn-off. Personally, the blogs that share information and are helpful are the blogs that I will return to. The audience is savvy and will vote with their eyeballs.
Jody,
I don’t mean content that is over the top sales focused in a blog, instead using the other space like the sidebar to help boost leads.
Another brilliant article. Often, when people write articles on how-tos or tips, they provide such generic information it simply isn’t relevant. This article gives relevant, specific information, and goes so far as to give examples in each bullet point, e.g.: “For instance, the bottom of this article has an offer to watch a webinar about blogging.” Great work! Thank you for always thinking of others, lots of good karma coming back your way as you keep spreading good thoughts ours!
Cheers
Jaiden