How to Increase Lead Generation by +250% with Blogging [Case Study]

Blogs are powerful tools for sparking site traffic. You know that. But it’s time to step up your game. It’s time to start generating leads.

But capturing leads through your blog is tough. Where do you even start?

Well, wonder no more. Because in today’s post, we’ll discuss how to increase lead generation with blogging (by +250%).

Let’s get right into it.

How to Increase Lead Generation by +250% with your Blog

Meet Oren Smith.

A few weeks ago, we asked Marketers to share their content marketing techniques. Oren replied, and delivered an amazing response.

In his response, he mentioned a content marketing technique for generating leads that we knew worked. Because it’s a technique we also use and have great results with…

…and that technique is blogging.

But before we get into the technique, here’s Oren’s backstory:

Much of the strategy and work we carry out for clients revolves around content marketing. And in the B2B space, content marketing gives us an opportunity to help our clients solve prospect problems and answer questions. It’s also an opportunity to showcase our client’s unique expertise. But a couple of years ago, I admit, we weren’t producing the same level of output for our own brand.

This was interesting. Oren’s team was taking advantage of content marketing for clients, but they weren’t harnessing it for themselves. So here’s where things changed…

Recognizing the opportunity, our inbound marketing agency wanted to capitalize on our expertise. So in April 2015, we increased our blogging efforts and began publishing three posts per week. Full team participation.

And with that, the wheels were in motion. It was time for Precision Marketing Group to skyrocket their lead generation.

The Results

So back to Oren’s successful Content Marketing technique – blogging.

Oren mentions how in April 2015, he and the team began blogging 3 times per week. This is when things changed.

And this technique resonates with us here at Pagezii. We’re also highly active when it comes to publishing blog content. Have a look:

So Oren’s technique is not only blogging. But publishing content consistently.

Now let’s see the results from producing three blog posts per week.

Since then, we’ve seen an increase in blog subscribers by 4,300%, monthly blog post views by 163%, organic traffic by 182%, and visit-to-lead conversions via organic search by 259%. And what’s key here is that the leads we’re generating are much more qualified to buy and in line with our target markets.

Whoa…

…those are impressive numbers.

These are the fruits from publishing three new blog posts per week. Which Oren was already doing for his clients.

But now the real question. How does blogging translate to leads?

The Power of Business Blogging

So you saw how blogging three times per week can boost lead-gen by +250%. Let’s take a quick step back and talk about blogging for business.

A blog is a means to communicate with prospects. You can use your blog to share your expertise on issues your customers need answers to.

Here are a few other reasons why blogging is a great tool for your business:

It’s informal. It’s conversational content. So this means prospects reading your blog don’t feel like someone is selling to them. Instead, they feel like they can trust you.
You can target unique topics. And if you know SEO, you can be the first answer to your prospect’s question.
You can share posts with communities. When you’re active in communities, your customers will accept you. Because it shows you care about your product or service. So make sure you’re adding to the conversation by sharing blogs on social networks. You can also share posts via publishing platforms like Medium or to related LinkedIn groups.

Let’s finish off Oren’s tale and see how blogging got him a 259% bump in leads.

Into the Specifics – How to Use your Blog to Generate Leads

Take it away, Oren.

Of course, to convert visitors into leads, we also publish downloadable content. The content ranges from webinars and guides to eBooks and checklists. And because we want to capture lead information, we gate the content behind landing pages including forms.

There are many sources we use to drive visits to these pages. But our analytics have repeatedly shown that our top performing website entry pages that lead to conversions are, in fact, blog posts.

So this gives our team a goal. We want to connect our blog content to relevant resources on our site. So that everything we produce seamlessly works together. There’s always a logical next step for the reader.

To close, embracing the blog as a team has clearly had a huge impact on our lead generation, visitor engagement, and branding efforts.

Boom.

There you have it. Oren lays out how his blog generates leads. And by upping their blog publishing to three times per week, their team saw a +250% increase in lead generation. It makes complete sense.

Here’s how it works:

How To Increase Lead Generation with Blogging Content Marketing Sales Funnel

But wait. A lot of businesses are blogging but not seeing these kinds of results. So how do Oren and his team do it?

The Secret Behind Boosting Lead-Generation with Blogging

The answer is simple. We’ve already talked about it. It’s consistency.

Early in Oren’s case study, he mentions how his team went from publishing low volumes of blog posts to three per week.

And this is the secret. Consistent blogging makes the top of the funnel wider. It gives you opportunities to reach new prospects. And when your content aligns with a prospect’s needs, you’ll generate quality leads.

But blogging three times per week is tough. So if you can’t write blogs at this rate, it’s okay. Because even publishing content once per week will do. It’s all about widening the top of the funnel, consistently.

Let’s quickly discuss techniques for consistent blog publishing. Here are a few ideas:

Look at your Analytics data for existing blog posts. Which topics generate low bounce rates, high time on page, and high page views? Use this data to guide related topics your prospects are interested in. To do this, login into Google Analytics > Behaviour Reports > Content Drilldown > /blog/. Then look at search term data to get topic ideas rolling.
Talk to existing customers. When you do, listen to their questions and what they want to solve. Write these ideas down during your customer calls. They make perfect topics for your blog.
Look at what your community is talking about. Look at trending topics data in other blogs and across social media. Also look at forums like Quora or LinkedIn groups, and online publishing platforms like Medium.

Now you have ideas to start widening your prospect funnel. It’s time to start capturing lead data.

Part Two of Content Marketing Formula

Part two is downloadable content. Capturing a lead means getting their information. So to do that, you have to create high-quality content.

Here’s how you can tap into your blog to get the job done.

In Oren’s case study, he mentions:

We want to connect our blog content to relevant resources on our site. So that everything we produce seamlessly works together. There’s always a logical next step for the reader.

Here’s a strategy you can use.

Look at what your top performing blog posts focus on. Then brainstorm ideas to elaborate on these topics.

For example, your top performing blog post could be “Why Twitter Engagement Builds Brand Authority”. Here’s how to build a download around that:

Create Twitter engagement strategy checklist.
Write a report on how Twitter engagement builds brand authority across different industries.
Write a case study on how one of your customers has put this concept into action.

Any of these ideas work. They act as a “content upgrade”. They also give you the opportunity to capture leads.

And Finally, Make Sure You Blog Posts Feature These

To actually capture leads from your blog, you have to give them a bridge to walk on.

This is when to use a call to action. And aligning your CTA and download to the blog post topic is key.

Check out how Oren does it in his blog posts.

How To Increase Lead Generation with Blogging Call To Action Examples

In the example, Oren uses three CTAs relating to the blog topic to drive leads. Two subtle CTAs in link format, and a nice CTA box at the conclusion of the post.

These all lead to a landing where visitors can enter their lead information. Check it out.

How To Increase Lead Generation with Blogging Landing Page From Blog Example