A marketing content offer is the creation of and publishing of content that attracts a specific and segmented target audience. When it's done correctly, it can drive leads quickly from acquisition all the way through to purchase in your customer’s journey.

A content offer is like a marriage proposal. You have to make sure it's the right fit for both parties, otherwise things could go wrong. The most successful content offers are strategic and based on the customer's needs - segmentation - at the right time in their journey to purchasing from you. Use the Audience Capture Sprint framework to create the right types of content to support your unique value proposition that caters to your customers along their journey.

Content offers are a form of a Sales Enablement Strategy that offer your sales team the resources they need to close more deals. These resources may include content, tools, knowledge, and information to more effectively sell your product or service to customers. 

With the many different types of content marketing and content offers that result in Lead Generation, and ultimately Lead Management, the topic can be intimidating. This post will help you to determine how to go about developing a content offer strategy for your business by first discovering which content offer types match up with your customer's journey.

What a content offer is and is not.

Content offers are designed specifically to attract a segmented audience in exchange for them performing a specific action, like filling out a form and proving their email address. In most cases, this will be an audience that has already visited your website at least once, but it could also include people who have engaged with one of your social media pages, downloaded one of your ebooks or white papers, participated in an online chat session with one of your team members and even those who have left comments on blog posts that were relevant to their interests.

A content offer is not a "Contact Us" button, a brochure, a product video, a customer case study, a fact sheet or a press release. All of these things may be useful content. But, none of them should require a website visitor to complete a form the same way you would want a lead or potential customer to do so when making authentic content offers.

Content Offers, Marketing Automation Lifecycles and Funnel Alignment

A good content offer strategy identifies who’s coming to your website (lead generation), who you want coming to your website (target audience or Dream Customers) and how they are getting to your website (traffic source).  If you don’t have a clear grasp on how customers move through each stage of the Marketing Lifecycles, you risk wasting time and money on ineffective tactics and strategies.

A content funnel is a marketing process that aligns content to the top, middle and bottom of the sales funnel while understanding the Marketing Automation Lifecycles. Align your content offers with the Marketing Automation Lifecycles, which is where the customer journey begins and ends.

The importance of content offers and its role in lead generation cannot be understated. Content marketing and offers are a strategic process that aligns with the customer journey. It’s not just about delivering content. It’s about delivering the right content at the right time to influence consumers at different stages of their journey with your brand.

So now that we have context of making the right content offer, to the right segment of your audience at the right Marketing Automation Lifecycle, let's review the most effective content offers to grow and scale your business.

Stage 1: Top of the Funnel - Awareness

Marketing Automation Lifecycle: Traffic & Capture

Marketing Process: Engagement


1. Blog Articles

In today’s market it is almost a requirement that a business has to have, maintain and regularly update a blog.  Brand You highly recommends that a company’s blog be housed on the company's website under a tab called Learning Center.  A blog is a great way to connect with current and potential customers. It allows you to share your company’s story, build trust, and create a relationship with your audience. All of this leads to increased website traffic, sales, and conversions. 

A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is any article, news piece, guide or informational website published on the internet consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries or posts or articles.   

Blogs are highly effective because they broadcast to the market your company’s insights, thoughts and stories about the world as you see it.  These articles help raise your brand awareness, credibility and most of all trust.  Most importantly, blog articles drive potential customers to your website while at the same time increasing website visitor conversion and revenue.  Today is the best day to create a strategy and a Learning Center and start blogging for your business.

2. Email Subscriptions & Newsletters

When customers give you permission to communicate with them through email you have a variety of options.  You can share your latest blog article, your company’s regularly scheduled offer (weekly, monthly, quarterly), or your latest company newsletter.  

Email newsletters are regularly scheduled - daily, weekly, and monthly - that organizations publish to update their potential and existing customers on news and offers.  Because they are easy to share and build trust, newsletters are often a first foundational step in a company's email strategy.

Highly effective Email Automation strategies and sequences not only bring you more customers and/or leads, but also cost your business less in the process.  When leads give you permission to communicate with them you can have this opportunity to learn more about them and keep them interested in your Brand Messaging while retargeting them with new content offers.

3. E-Books

An ebook (short for electronic book) is a marketing asset and is presented in a digital format that allows you to read it on an electronic device like a computer or handheld device. When it comes to Lead Generation, ebooks are highly popular because they provide in-depth digital content, visual data and on-demand access when the lead or customer needs it most.

Marketing ebooks are primarily used to educate potential customers and explain complicated ideas. The benefits of ebooks are many, including: immediate access, permission based marketing acquisition, highly customizable with images, charts & graphs, and easy no or low cost distribution. They often include interactive elements like links and videos. And, most importantly ebooks incentivize and encourage your audience to become more deeply engaged with your content.

When done right, ebooks can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool. They can help you generate leads, build brand awareness, and establish thought leadership. If you’re looking to create an ebook, keep these tips in mind to ensure that it’s successful.

The first step is to determine what your ebook will be about. Ask yourself what topics would be most helpful for your audience. Once you’ve decided on a topic, it’s time to start creating content. Remember to keep your target audience in mind as you write; your ebook should be informative and engaging.

According to Hubspot, there are 11 essential component to marketing ebooks:

  1. A descriptive title
  2. A visual cover
  3. Skill/Topics/Persona 
  4. An author page
  5. A table of content
  6. Chapter title page
  7. Social sharing buttons
  8. Visual elements
  9. Product/service call-outs
  10. Printer/mobile-friendliness
  11. A final call-to-action

Checkout Hubspot’s ebook templates here. 

4. Guides

How-To guides are often used as a lead magnet or content offers, and target leads and potential customers in the awareness and consideration stage.  Potential customers are aware of their problem and are actively seeking solutions that are naturally drawn to guide them to their problem’s solution. 

In general, there are four types of marketing guides businesses can provide as content for their customers moving down the content marketing funnel from early awareness to post-purchase: 

  • information guides
  • buyer’s guides
  • seller’s guides
  • customer guides  

While books and whitepapers can often tackle a broad topic at length, releasing shorter-form guides with more frequency gives businesses an opportunity to go extremely deep.  Guides dive into the process of doing a specific task.  They are friendly, graphically appealing, easy to read and void of industry jargon.  Guides are great 

When planning your guides, be very targeted to the segment of your audience whose needs the guide is intended to address.  Your guide should provide high value, be based on your company’s expertise, be designed to maximize engagement of your Dream Customer, and be written with the appropriate voice and tone that resonates with your targeted audience.  

To make sure the guide that is created actually gets download and generates leads, be to sure to:

  • Always start with a skeleton outline
  • Include a table of content
  • Do keyword research
  • Do customer and lead outreach to validate guide’s content
  • Test the the guide against existing segment target 

Learn more about the lead generation benefits of guides from Hubspot here.  

5. Quizzes

According to Convertflow, a lead generation quiz is a type of interactive content that asks website visitors a series of questions to help them achieve a specific outcome. 

Quizzes seek to educate your leads or potential customers and use predetermined flows to guide each respondent in a particular direction based on their answers, which could be anything from a piece of content to a specific product recommendation.  They should provide adequate incentive for your leads to take the quiz and provide an email address to view the results.  Once a lead completes a quiz it can forward your potential customers a score, a grade and/or recommend a product or service. Quizzes can also take a survey, a poll or a vote, assign a type or multiple types and/or a personality.  

Lead Generation quizzes are a great way to engage your website visitors while capturing emails and directing them toward the right product.  They can also help you capture up to more leads through your paid traffic efforts. They can also help you better understand your audience and create deeper engagement with them. 

Quizzes can be easily built into a variety of types: personality quiz, trivia quiz, scored quiz, diagnostic quiz, Buzzfeed-style quiz, or lead generation quiz.  Whether you need to collect lead generation demographic data or just want to create a fun personality test, quizzes can offer closed-ended, open-ended, multiple-choice, image, and other question types.  

The website Quiz Maker explains there are 6 components of a viral lead generation quiz.:

  • Start with the results in mind
  • Use images relevant to the quiz
  • Provide the lead - quiz taker - with something they didn’t know
  • Keep it short
  • Design the quiz to segment your audience
  • Create fans help the taker self identify

6. Courses

An online course is the delivery of a series of lessons on a web browser or mobile device, which can be accessed anytime and anyplace and often consists of a curriculum or study plan.

By using a lead generation strategy that provides online courses, you can increase the number of leads that you generate while also providing valuable content to your audience. This will not only help you attract new leads, but it will also build trust and credibility with your existing audience.  Businesses have realized that they can use their authority to expand their fanbase and audience of willing leads eager to learn from them. This has led to thousands of free and paid online courses that are used as a lead generation for numerous different brands.

Consider offering your first lesson as a content offer or lead magnet. It gives your audience a taste of what your teaching style is like and it creates an obvious segue to market the rest of your course to them. Online courses should target a segment of your audience, build a relationship with your leads and clearly communicate the value of the result of taking the course. 

When creating an online course, businesses should consider what topics will be covered, what content will be included, how the course will be structured, and how it will be delivered. Additionally, businesses need to promote their courses to generate leads and ensure that potential students are aware of the benefits of taking the course. Ultimately, businesses should offer online courses that are valuable, informative, and engaging in order to generate the most leads possible.

When using course for lead generation Convince & Convert suggests 11 key tactics:

  • Know Your Audience BEFORE You Create Your Course
  • Understand What Makes Your Course Unique
  • Monitor Your Competition
  • Take a Survey of Potential Students
  • Use a Platform that Offers Flexibility
  • Use Multiple Marketing Channels
  • Don’t Just Use a Single Learning Form
  • Leverage Email Marketing
  • Offer a Mini-Course or Condensed Version For Free
  • Have Promotions, Bundles or Discount Opportunities
  • Get Out Into the Community

7. Webinars

Webinars are video conferencing tools used by brands to talk to their customers about relevant subjects that might influence how they experience the brand or shop.

If you have expertise in your industry, webinars are a powerful way to showcase it. When you create a webinar, you also open up new lead generation opportunities for your company. Promote your webinar with email automation to your lead prospects sending them to a super-compelling landing page and promote it via all of your social media channels.  Webinars display your company's thought leadership, develop your brand voice and can provide inexpensive revenue drivers for your business.

To run successful webinars it is important to map out your webinar content using a tool like a content calendar to document all your marketing efforts in a centralized location.  Leverage you Brand Messaging, buyer personas and customer journey stages to narrow down the specifics of your webinar topic.  Your webinar should be promoted across all of your marketing channels.  Be sure to follow up to all of your webinar attendees to continue the conversation and convert the leads into customers of your product or service.

The most important metric of success with your webinars is using a multi-touch follow-up strategy that aligns with the Marketing Automation Lifecycles.  Depending on where a lead is their customer journey you will be able to measure and report the webinar's success almost immediately.  To more deeply segment your audience, webinars can have embedded surveys that indicate a lead's intent to purchase.  

At the same time, if your business is using an account based-marketing model you may also be able to identify target account attendees and prioritize the account lead while forwarding a full report of all attendees to your sales team.  Once results have been measured, put a system into place to continually monitor performance.  The next step is to move on to the next content offer: your next webinar.

According to Rockcontent here are 9 tips to generate more leads with your webinars:

  • Identify the audience you want to reach
  • Make sure your landing page stands out
  • Use your best SEO skills to gain traction
  • Present the customer a clear value proposition
  • Make sure your webinar is accessible on-demand
  • Bring in additional help to your webinar
  • Maximize your reach using as many promotional tactics as possible
  • Build a sales funnel for your webinar
  • Learn from your experience

8. Checklists

A checklist is defined as a list of tasks organized in a systematic manner providing an overview and prioritization of which tasks need to be accomplished and in what order.

Checklists are high-converting because they can work across any business industry. They compile everything that your lead needs to know into a concise actionable list. A checklist is a document, usually 1-3 pages that summarizes a blog post into actionable lists. It is an easy-to-create content offer or lead magnet.

Checklists are a highly customizable content offer that can be embedded into your website, which leads and potential customers can print out or download to their desktops.  They compile past mistakes and errors, missed steps and often overlooked tasks into a document that prevents mistakes in the future.  Checklists define specific actions and procedures into a standardized operating procedure.  Checklists can be used in a variety of settings, from manufacturing to healthcare. In any industry, it is best practice to constantly update checklists as a way of continuous improvement. 

When it comes to quality and productivity, checklists are an essential tool. Checklists help to ensure that all the necessary steps in a process are completed, and they can also help streamline complex procedures. By standardizing operating procedures, checklists help to improve efficiency and quality control.

According to Autogrow.co, checklists are perfect for lead generation because they are easy to understand, are friendly, are practical, easy to create and are low effort to create.

For best results follow these 5 steps when creating your checklist:

  • Guide your lead with structure and a logical order
  • Make the checklist easy to understand
  • Define a measurable result and objective
  • Include tops and examples to provide guidance
  • Emphasize checklist questions that serve the core objective

9. Whitepapers

A whitepaper is a persuasive, authoritative, in-depth report on a specific topic used by businesses and professionals who want to share in-depth information about a specific topic or problem and provide a solution.

Whitepapers can be around 3 to 20 pages long, but need to be long enough to clearly cover the problem it is trying to solve.  The best whitepapers are well-researched and provide in-depth analysis and explanations. Case studies and real-world examples help to back up the claims made in the paper, making it more persuasive. A good design will also encourage people to actually read the whitepaper. If you want your whitepaper to be successful, make sure it is comprehensive and provides value to the reader. Use persuasive language and strong evidence to make your case, and your whitepaper will be more likely to succeed.

Whitepapers generate leads, build trust and increase sales.  Ebooks are similar to whitepaper, but yet different because ebooks are informal, fun, deep dive pieces of in-depth content. Whitepapers are targeted to a segmented audience and structured to present a problem, then provide a solution in a more academic and persuasive piece of content. Leads that are curious about a subject download whitepapers at a high rate because they are authoritative, detailed, and informative. 

Below are Venngage’s 13 key format considerations of a whitepaper. See whitepaper examples here.

  1. Make sure your cover page immediately informs readers what your white paper is about.
  2. Summarize key takeaways at the start after writing your white papers.
  3. Don’t forget to think about your readers’ experience. Use clear page numbers to make it easier to scan your white paper.
  4. Visualize your data to make your white paper more engaging.
  5. Use consistent brand colors and fonts throughout your white paper format. This will make your design look more polished and professional.
  6. Use high-quality photos with a consistent style.
  7. Keep your target users in mind throughout the design process. If you’re using images of other people make sure they resemble your target users.
  8. Emphasize section headers in your whitepaper with icons.
  9. Break up walls of text with visuals like infographics and charts.
  10. Use a glossary to outline the specific topics you aim to address.
  11. Incorporate calls to action throughout your white paper design.
  12. Format your white paper to allow for plenty of white space. This will prevent your whitepaper design from looking cluttered.
  13. Switch up your page layouts to keep readers interested.

10. Cheat Sheets

Cheat sheets are a type of short, concise offer that someone might bookmark for future reference. Cheat sheets are usually only a page or two long and they get straight to the point.  Cheat sheets come in many forms: checklists, worksheets and templates. They’re designed to make smaller, tactical aspects of your overall strategy easier. Cheat sheets are often part of a larger lead magnet, but they can also stand alone. They’re one of the most popular types of content because they’re so useful.

Creating a cheat sheet is a great way to show your expertise on a particular topic and provide value to your audience. Not to mention, they’re quick and easy to produce. If you have an ebook or course, consider creating a cheat sheet to go along with it. And, if you don’t have any other content yet, a cheat sheet is a great place to start. They are comprehensive and usually provide highly-tactical information that saves the potential customer a lot of time. They should be formatted for quick reference, which means clear headers and not too much detail. And the more visual, the better.

Once you’ve selected a topic, it’s time to start creating your cheat sheet. Begin by outlining the key points you want to cover. Then, flesh out each point with specific details and helpful tips. Be sure to keep the tone casual and easy to understand—you want your readers to feel like they can actually use this information.

Next, add visuals whenever possible. Graphics, charts and screenshots can all help break up the text and make your cheat sheet more visually appealing. Finally, proofread your cheat sheet for any errors or typos before you hit publish. Creating a cheat sheet is a great way to show off your company’s expertise and attract leads who are looking for solutions to their problems.

Not sure where to start? Here are a few ideas for cheat sheet topics:

  • How to pick the right _____ for your business
  • The ultimate _____ checklist
  • A _____ template to help you get started
  • The _____ quick start guide
  • A step-by-step guide to _____

11. Social Proof: Business Reviews

The internet is a very noisy place, and social proof can be a way to stand out from the crowd. It's a way of saying "other people like us, so you should too!" Business reviews are one form of social proof. Social proof is the concept that someone can be persuaded into trying a product or service simply because they’ve seen a positive review or read an expert quote that is linked to the product.

Business reviews are one of the most important forms of social proof because they show that your brand is trustworthy and that other people have had positive experiences with your products or services. 

Reviews are absolutely vital for lead generation, but they are tough because they are completely opinion based. They are one of the most basic ways to generate positive feedback to your brand. 

The best way to get business reviews is to simply ask your customers or clients for them. You can do this in person, over email, or even on social media. Make it easy for them to leave a review by providing a link or QR code that takes them directly to the review page. 

Don't be shy about asking for reviews - they are absolutely essential for generating leads and growing your business! When you're looking for ways to generate leads, keep in mind that potential customers will often research your business before they make a purchase. In fact, according to Hubspot, 92% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase.

According to Leadgenera, here are a few reasons your business should should focus on generating positive customer reviews:

  • Customer reviews help you stand out from the competition
  • Customer reviews increase organic traffic to your website.
  • Customer reviews build trust with potential customers.
  • Building a customer review strategy.

12. Podcasts

A podcast is a collection or series of digital audio files (and sometimes video) that are made available for downloading or listening via the Internet. Each individual audio recording is known as a podcast episode. Podcasts are typically hosted by an individual or individuals who lead a conversation, share stories, or report the news.

Podcasts are a cost-effective way to reach out to potential customers. They can be distributed for free through iTunes and other popular directories, and they offer listeners a convenient way to consume your content. Podcasts can build an audience and establish your brand as a source of expertise, while also showing off your company's personality. They put a voice to your brand and can keep your audience listening in each time a new one is released.

When it comes to using a podcast for lead generation, one of the best ways to do that is to ask your listeners to subscribe to updates about it. Another great way to use a podcast for lead generation is to offer exclusive content for subscribers. This could include bonus episodes, special interviews, or even access to exclusive events. By providing value-added content, you'll be able to encourage more people to subscribe to your podcast, which will in turn generate more leads for your business.

Don't forget to promote your podcast on social media. By sharing links to new episodes and using hashtags, you can reach a wider audience and generate more leads. Plus, podcasts can be repurposed into blog posts, infographics, or even e-books, making them a versatile marketing tool.

If you're thinking about starting a podcast for your business, here are some tips to get you started:

  1. Choose a topic that aligns with your brand
  2. Find the right format for your show
  3. Line up guests who are experts in their field
  4. Keep your episodes around 30 minutes long
  5. Invest in quality audio equipment
  6. Promote your podcast across your channels

Download Buzzsprout’s Podcasting Cheat Sheet here.

Stage 2: Middle of the Funnel - Consideration

Marketing Automation Lifecycle: Capture & Offer

Marketing Process: Engagement & Offers


11. Calculators and Interactive Tools

Interactive content like calculators, assessments, generators, and quizzes among other things can keep users engaged with your brand and on your web page longer with useful, relevant information while often still giving your business the ability to capture their opt-in information.

An interactive calculator is a tool that allows you to present your leads with custom-made results based on their personal needs and requirements, which leads to a higher conversion rate.  Generate more leads and tackle customer pain points. 

Interactive content can also be used to educate your audience. By providing visitors with a way to interact with your brand, you can collect valuable information about their needs and preferences. This data can then be used to create targeted marketing campaigns that are more likely to result in sales.

If you're not already using interactive content on your website, now is the time to start. It's an excellent way to engage your audience, collect valuable data, and increase leads and conversions.

Impact Plus lists 9 interactive tools that effectively engage potential customers. The list includes a website grader that informs how strong a website is, a personalized undergarment “fit finder”, a furnishing assessment tool of homes, a software assessment tool, clothing style profile assessment, an advertising ROI calculator, a financial services pricing calculator, a political polling assessment, and a budgeting tool. 

See an example of Progressive Insurance Car Insurance Calculator here.


12. Buyers Guides

Shopify defines a buyer’s guide as a content that helps customers make a purchasing decision. It provides considerations for a specific product, including functionality, size, maintenance, price, and different features betweens models or brands. Buyer’s guides are helpful for selling high-ticket items such as outdoor gear, furniture, or appliances.

When creating a buyer’s guide, think about the most important questions your leads have and make sure those are answered in the guide. You should also include information about your company and your solutions, as well as any other helpful information that will make it easier for leads to choose your company.

As a lead gets closer to a purchase, one likely step for them to take is to obtain your company’s buyer’s guide. The buyer's guide is where solutions come into play. A buyer’s guide should help customers connect solutions to their most important problem with a solution that should not just be your company’s solution. 

The bottom line is that a buyer’s guide is a powerful tool that can help you close more deals by providing leads with the information they need to make an informed decision. If you don’t have a buyer’s guide, now is the time to create one. It could be the difference between closing a deal and losing out to a competitor.

Now that you know why you need a buyer’s guide, it’s time to learn how to create one. Here are the steps you need to take:

  • Decide what information to include.
  • Organize the information in an easy-to-read format.
  • Write clear and concise copy.
  • Use persuasive language to encourage leads to buy your product or service.
  • Include a call-to-action (CTA) so leads know what to do next.
  • Design the buyer’s guide using your brand guidelines.
  • Publish the buyer’s guide on your website or blog.

Get inspired for your Buyer’s Guide here and here.

13. Demos

If leads or potential customers are ready to learn more about your product or service, make it easy for them to schedule a demo with your business. Demos videos have become commonplace because demo videos are a lot easier for people to consume and because your audience is more likely to absorb the content. Include a form on your landing page that allows interested parties to schedule a demo with you.

Demos videos have become commonplace because demo videos are a lot easier for people to consume and because your audience is more likely to absorb the content.  When creating a demo video, start by outlining the key points you want to cover. Then, create a script that covers those points in an engaging way. 

Once you have your script, it's time to shoot your video. Be sure to use high-quality equipment and edit your video professionally. Finally, post your video on your landing page and promote it across your social media channels. By following these steps, you'll be well on your way to increasing the number of people who sign up for a demo with you. 

According to autogrow.co there 7 reason why demo videos work:

  • Highly Visual
  • Easy To Digest
  • Friendly
  • Practical
  • Easy To Create
  • Saves Time
  • They Answer Questions

14. Social Proof: Customer Reviews

Social proof through reviews is what drives trust and decision-making in the consideration stage of the customer journey. Your leads will use reviews to determine if your business is trustworthy. Your leads and potential customers are almost certain to read your reviews before making a purchase, so this type of social proof is likely to have huge benefits for your business. 

According to research put together by Invespcro, they state that there are 26,380 reviews posted every minute on Yelp. This shows that reviews are coming in at breakneck speed and social proof is impossible to ignore for any business. That means people from the surrounding area are rating your business online. If you’re not monitoring your social reviews, your brand’s reputation could be at stake.

When considering which reviews to feature, be sure to choose those that are most relevant to your target audience and that highlight the key benefits of your product or service. Also, be sure to showcase a mix of positive and negative reviews to demonstrate your commitment to customer feedback.

In the end business owners are responsible for their company’s online reputation.  Managing your reputation means using positive and negative information to your advantage to keep an edge over the competition.  For nearly 9 in 10 consumers, an online review is as important as a personal recommendation. 

Here are some guidelines for what to do of/when you receive a negative customer review:

  • Respond Promptly
  • Be real and admit your mistakes
  • Correct inaccuracies
  • Highlight your strengths
  • Write like a person, not a corporation
  • Take it offline
  • Provide restitution if it’s warranted
  • Ask loyal customers to share their experiences
  • Be consistent
  • Understand How Rating and Review Sites Work

15. Infographics

Infographic is a combination of the words “information” and “graphics”.  In marketing, an infographic is a collection of imagery, data visualizations like pie charts and bar graphs, and minimal text that gives an easy-to-understand overview of a topic.

Infographics are one of the most powerful lead generation tools you can use. They help turn your complex message into a visually appealing and easy to understand format. And, when used correctly, they can be an extremely effective way to increase your lead opt-in rates.

The best infographics are shareable, increase web traffic and promote conversions. But, perhaps the most important reason why infographics are so effective is that they’re highly shareable. In today’s social media-driven world, content that is shareable is key to success. And, since infographics are often shared across social media platforms, they have the potential to reach a large audience quickly.

An infographic must do more than excite and engage. They must help us understand and remember the content of the infographic.  They help tell your leads exactly what you do while increasing your lead opt-in rates and lead generation.  

According to Wix there 8 types of infographics:

  • List infographics
  • Statistical infographics
  • How-to infographics
  • Timeline infographics
  • Comparison infographics
  • Map and location infographics
  • Flowchart infographics
  • Process description infographics

Check out Venngae’s Examples, Templates & Design Tips here.

16. Trials and Freemiums

Getting leads and potential customers to take a stab at your product or service is an excellent way for them to uncover the value that your company brings to the marketplace. Few content offers will be as effective for Software-as-a-Service businesses (and other software companies) than a free trial because people love to try before they buy.

Hubspot defines freemium as: a two-tiered user acquisition model that splits users into either a free tier or a premium tier depending on whether or not they pay for an account. Free users have limited access to product features while premium users gain greater access to features.

The challenge with free trials is that they require a higher level of engagement from leads and customers than other content offers. A free trial might be the perfect way for someone to test-drive your product, but it's also a significant commitment. If someone isn't ready to make that commitment, you could lose them as a customer forever.

That's why it's so important to have a strategy for getting leads and customers to take your free trial offer. To successfully implement a freemium acquisition model, you have to place limitations on certain aspects of your product. You can do this in several ways:

  • Feature limitations: Offering extra features, enhanced functionality of available features, or ad hoc paid upgrades (e.g. rare items in a game)
  • Usage quotas: Storage limits, monthly credits, data processing quotas
  • Limited support: Tiered access to customer service and support resources

If you're looking for a way to increase conversion rates, lower the cost of acquisition, and accelerate growth, free trials are the way to go. By offering a limited-time free trial, you're letting the product and on-boarding do the work of converting leads into customers. And because free trials have definite start and end dates, there's a built-in sense of urgency that encourages people to take action now.

17. Surveys

Surveys can be effective at every stage of the customer journey and can generate highly qualified leads and customers. Creating a strategic survey strategy helps you better segment your leads and guide them to a purchase.  A survey as a content marketing tool, a content offer.

Digital surveys are a powerful way to gather data and feedback from your leads and customers. By creating a strategic survey strategy, you can better segment your leads and guide them to a purchase.  

Include survey questions in your blog articles: As you’re writing a blog post, consider adding a question at the end that encourages readers to share their thoughts on the topic. This is an easy way to get feedback from your readers and see what topics they’re most interested in. Use polls on your website: Polls are another great way to collect data from your visitors.

Run a Facebook contest: A great way to get people to engage with your brand is to run a contest on Facebook. You can ask people to submit their most pressing question about your topic, and then randomly select a winner to receive a prize. This is an excellent way to generate leads and get people talking about your brand.

Marketo suggest effective methods to increase your survey response rates and B2B lead generation: 

  • The Main Message: Make Them Feel Special
  • Eye on the Prize: Provide Incentives
  • Don’t Waste Their Time: Keep Surveys Relevant
  • Be Top-of-Mind: Offer Surveys in Multiple Channels
  • Use Surveys to Identify Hot MQLs
  • Hone Your Content Strategy and Create Better Nurture Programs
  • Discover Their Pain, Then Make It Better
  • Increase Satisfaction and Referrals

Learn Survey Monkey’s best practices for survey design, data collection response and data analysis here.

18. Webinars

A webinar is a chance to establish your brand, build an audience, generate leads and close sales.  When done correctly, a webinar for sales and marketing can be a powerful lead generation and conversion tool. It can help you build relationships with prospects, generate new leads, and close deals.  And, while there are plenty of ways to use webinars to achieve these goals, there are three essential ingredients that every successful webinar must have:

  1. A great topic that appeals to your target market
  2. A knowledgeable and engaging presenter
  3. Relevant and valuable content

A webinar is a virtual event attended by people online and your business should not take webinars lightly.  Your audience is granting you their time and attention, and In exchange your event - your webinar - should provide significant value to those that have chosen to participate.

Your business is tasked with delivering webinars on topics that draw your audience closer to your company.  Marketo suggest 5 strategies to maximize your webinar attendance : 

  • Offer high-value, actionable content
  • Keep it brief
  • Remind, remind, and remind again about the webinar
  • Offer a small ‘Thank You’ gift to the attendees
  • Encourage feedback

Benefits of hosting a webinar include: engaging with leads and potential customers and generating leads, Increase brand awareness, expanding to a wider audience and reduced expenses.

19. Landing Pages

A lead generation landing page is a page dedicated to collecting personal information and establishing the first contact point between your business and a potential customer.  A landing page or lead capture page serves to build your contact list and is the start of the conversion process and customer journey. 

Landing pages are important because they are often the first interaction a potential customer will have with your brand. You want to make sure that this first interaction is positive and encourages the person to learn more about your company. Creating a well-designed, effective landing page can be a challenge, but it is worth the effort. 

Once you collect your lead’s contact information, you can nurture the prospect throughout the sales cycle all the way to purchase.  There are 11 best practices to lead generating landing page as suggested by Unbounce:

  1. Ensure your message matches your ads
  2. Keep the action above the fold
  3. Use directional cues to direct the eye
  4. Show your product or service in action
  5. Remove navigation and other distractions
  6. Include (authentic) social proof
  7. Use clear, compelling copy
  8. Keep it fast
  9. Design for the right device
  10. Test and update your landing pages
  11. Consider using a template

If you're looking to create a lead generation landing page, keep these key elements in mind. With a little effort, you can create a page that will help you capture leads and convert them into customers.

Checkout Unbounce's anatomy of a landing page here.

20. Membership Websites

A lead generation membership site can be a great way to build an email list and generate sales. But it takes work to create quality content and keep the site updated. If you are willing to put in the effort, a lead generation membership site can be a valuable asset for your business.

The key to a successful lead generation membership site is providing quality, timely content that members find valuable. If your content is outdated or not well-written, members will not stick around for long. Likewise, if you do not keep your site updated regularly, members will quickly lose interest.

To keep members coming back, you must provide them with value. This can be in the form of helpful information, exclusive deals, or access to unique content. Whatever you offer, make sure it is something that members will find useful and worth coming back for.

According to Duda.co, membership sites are generally for online communities, internal initiatives for private groups or organizations and for lead generation.  Operating a member website or discount club involves building internal member engagement as well as building external network engagement to build membership. 

Kajabi.com states that membership sites should contain a good mix of content that syncs with your membership model, such as:

  • Written content like blogs or videos
  • Online courses
  • Live webinars
  • Perks for members like digital products or even physical merchandise
  • A community section or forum where other members can interact
  • Your archive of content
  • Exclusive downloads like worksheets, templates and more.

21. Pricing Pages

Your pricing page's main objective is to get a lead or potential customer to buy your product or service.  This can be a tough task, as you need to ensure that your pricing is clear and easy to understand, while also being persuasive enough to encourage a purchase.

At the middle of the funnel is where leads start to wonder about the price for your product or services and now it’s time to tell them how much it costs.  How well you explain pricing can put you over the top in lead-to-sales conversions.  Or, can break your entire sales process.  This is why it is extremely important to have a pricing strategy.

There are a few key elements that you'll want to include on your pricing page in order to achieve these goals. First, make sure that the prices for your products or services are prominently displayed. You don't want potential customers to have to search for this information - it should be right in front of them.

In addition, you'll want to include some sort of call-to-action on your pricing page. This could be a button that says "Buy Now" or "Sign Up." Whatever it is, make sure it's clear and easy to find.

Finally, you'll want to include some sort of guarantee on your pricing page. This could be a money-back guarantee, or a free trial period. Whatever it is, this will help to persuade potential customers that your product or service is worth the price.

Your leads and potential customers likely have already done enough to educate themselves through your content to know whether they are ready to take the next step in their customer journey.  Your segmentation and lead scoring strategy allows you to nurture them to different customer categories.

Optinmonster.com suggests 20 best practices that will increase profits and sales conversions. Below we listed the top 5.  See the complete list here. 

  1. Simplify the design
  2. Make the copy easy to understand
  3. Address the fears, uncertainties, and doubts
  4. Highlight the benefits
  5. Use urgency and FOMO

Take time to review how Apple designs their pricing page here.


Stage 3: Bottom of the Funnel - Purchase

Marketing Automation: Offers & Deal Payments

Marketing Process: Purchase & Repeat Customers


22. Personalized Demos

Businesses that use video as part of their sales process close more deals and improve their customer relationships.  In fact, according to one study, video increases the likelihood of a purchase by 64%.

Once a potential customer has made it to the consideration stage of their customer journey and your business has segmented them, now it’s time to nurture and educate them and hand them off to your sales team.  Personalized demo videos are a great way to close the sales.

Here are three more reasons to start using video in your sales process:

1. Video builds trust. People are visual creatures and we’re hardwired to respond to faces. When you add a human element to your sales pitch, you’re building trust with potential customers. They can see your face, hear your voice, and get a sense of who you are as a person. This helps them feel like they know you, which makes them more likely to do business with you.

2. Video is more memorable. The average person remembers 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, and 80% of what they see. So it’s no surprise that video is an incredibly powerful sales tool. When you combine visuals with audio, you’re creating a presentation that potential customers will remember.

3. Video saves time. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth even more. You can say a lot in a two-minute video that would take you ten minutes to explain over the phone or in person. Video is an efficient way to deliver your sales pitch and answer common questions so you can move on to the next step in the sales process.

One highly effective way of closing the sales is to put a call-to-action within a demo video for your lead to watch.  So that when the right pain point is touched, the lead can immediately address the pain with your call-to-action embedded into the video.  With today’s 1:1 video solutions you can have video that ends and flips into an embedded form that collects data right in the video frame on your website or social media channel.  

1:1 video solutions like Vidyard have built-in analytics that let you know exactly how much content your lead has watched.  Data like this can be tracked and seamlessly handed off to your sales team with information informing them that a lead has watched has watched explainer video X all the way to the end, explainer video Y only 10% of the way through, and that the lead watched all the way and he watched this end part more than once.

With tools like Vidyard this data is extremely powerful in taking an unknown lead all the way through the customer journey and closing more sales.

23. Free Trials

Sales conversion magic doesn't just happen. You need to nurture your leads after the trial period expires.

When a lead signs up for a free trial of your product, they're essentially taking a test drive. They get to see if your product is a good fit for their needs without having to make a big commitment. The key to turning trials into conversions is in the follow-up. Once the trial period is over, reach out to the lead and ask for feedback. Find out what they liked and didn't like about the product. Use that information to improve your product and your sales pitch.

Don't let leads who took advantage of your free trial fall through the cracks. Nurture them and give them the information they need to make a purchase. With the right approach, you can turn more trials into conversions and grow your business.  Marketo frames addressing this conversion challenge through advanced lead scoring and nurturing and by creating a hyper-personalized web experience.

The cost of adding a free-trial customer is relatively inexpensive.  That's why it can be helpful to provide a free trial of your product or service with no risk, no obligation, and no credit card required -- the only thing the prospect needs to do is fill out a form. Add to that, that the longer someone uses your product the more likely they are to keep it after the trial period has ended. With that in mind, it is serious business to implement a strategy to convert free leads into paying customers. 

Gartner suggests 5 strategies to more deeply engage leads after a free trial or demo:

  • Free trial or Demo - know when to offer which
  • Engage only the most qualified leads
  • Create an outbound touch pattern on multiple channels
  • Align your messaging to buyers’ needs
  • Wait for the right time to introduce the paid plan

24. Samples and Giveaways

Free stuff can be hard to resist and giving away something that your target market wants sometimes can be a great way to generate leads. However, be mindful that “free” can be met with a great deal of skepticism even though samples and giveaways are an excellent source of lead generation.

When you’re giving something away for free, people will often wonder what the catch is. They may be concerned that they’ll have to sign up for something they don’t want or that the product isn’t really free. Be sure to be clear about what you’re offering and what the person needs to do to get it. The last thing you want is for someone to feel like they’ve been tricked into signing up for something they don’t want.

In addition, make sure that your freebie is actually something that your target market would want. There’s no point in giving away a bunch of stuff that no one will use. Not only will it be a waste of your resources, but it will also reflect poorly on your brand.

Also, don’t forget to follow up with your leads after they’ve received their freebie. This is an excellent opportunity to start building a relationship and turn a lead into a customer.

The most important thing to keep in mind when running a giveaway is that whatever you’re giving away should only attract your target market. Secondly, it’s important to offer content upgrades.  Content upgrades are highly focused, relevant to the original sample or giveaway, and they have to add value.

When done right, giving away freebies can be an excellent way to generate leads. Just be sure to do it in a way that is transparent and beneficial to both you and your target market.

Learn how to run a samples giveaway in 7 steps via Appsumo.com.

25. Sellers Guide

Your business is unique and so are your products and services. That’s why you need a Seller’s Guide that’s tailored to fit your business. It should be full of the information that potential customers are looking for when they consider doing business with you.

Seller’s Guides are about your business and can help convert a lead into a paying customer while closing a deal.  They should cover all aspects of what you offer including client examples and case studies that illustrate the results of the solution you offer moving the lead to a purchasing decision.

A well-crafted Seller’s Guide can:

  • Convince leads that your company is the right choice
  • Help close deals by giving buyers the information they need to make a decision
  • Increase customer satisfaction by setting expectations up front

Both Buyer's Guides and Seller’s Guides begin with broad information about your company and transition into details about your products or services.  The difference with Sellers Guides is that it is meant to “sell” the lead and less about educating the lead.  

When it comes to creating guides, often your company is not starting from thin air.  You likely already have the information and content needed in different places within your organization.  Where the work begins is organizing it, putting all the pieces together seamlessly and laying it all out with a design style that invites your leads and potential customers to read it.

Your Seller’s Guide doesn’t have to be long – but it does need to be comprehensive. At a minimum, it should include:

  • An overview of your company, products, and services
  • Your company’s history and track record
  • Information about your team, including management bios
  • Customer testimonials and case studies
  • A FAQ section that covers common questions and objections

Take a look a pest control industry leader Orkin's seller's guide here.

 26. Checklist

Give your leads and potential customers a useful tool to bring them closer to making a purchase and help them complete a task more efficiently.  Checklists are extremely useful content that leads can bookmark and come back to again and again.

Checklists are best when there are no long paragraphs, complex sentences and are numbered action items.  Arrange your checklist graphically with clear headers and simple, yet colorful, design.  Checklists provide confidence to your leads that they are not missing something critical.  And, they save your lead time allowing them to complete a task faster.

Leads can print out checklists or download the content as a pdf to their devices. Here are 3 parts every checklist should have:

  • Introduction: include assumptions and prerequisites, the checklist is for specific target audience
  • The List: incomplete sentences are okay, organize in a logical order, incentivize deeper engagement with embedded links to other articles on your website, research similar lists to ensure the accuracy of your list
  • Wrap-up and Call-To-Action: conclude with the desired result and call the lead to action related to your product or service.

By providing helpful and informative checklists, you can show your leads that you're an expert in your field and that you're here to help them succeed. Not only will this build trust, but it may also lead to more sales down the line.

If you're not sure where to start, here are a few ideas for helpful checklists that your customers will love:

  • A checklist of features for a new product or service
  • A comparison checklist of similar products or services
  • A step-by-step guide to using a complex product or service
  • A checklist of things to remember when planning an event

Creating helpful checklists is a great way to show your customers that you care about their success. By providing valuable and actionable information, you can build trust, credibility, and loyalty - all while helping your customers get closer to making a purchase.

27. Schedule an Appointment

A fast, standardized lead follow-up process is the key to sales conversions.  According to Gartner, it generally takes more than 12 touches to reach an individual prospect especially when 70% of buyers work digitally remote.  Nowadays sales teams have a lot of dials to make, and also need to incorporate automated email strategies and potentially social touches.

Converting leads from scheduled appointments and sales calls demand a stand alone strategy.  Getting a lead on a phone call can be tough because the attention they give you is short, you only have a few seconds to generate interest and handle objections before you can advance them to the next step in the customer journey.

Your appointment strategy will take time to optimize.  And, for that reason a successful strategy needs to have excellent lead contact data to shorten the sales cycles.  Leads that take time to fill out your online forma want to hear from you. That's why your appointment strategy needs to go beyond one bland email follow-up.  

To deploy a proper appointment strategy it is imperative to align it with your Lead Management strategy.  Spend time deeply defining what a lead is for your organization. Identify the critical components of Lead Routing for your sales team, map out your customer's journey, determine how you will handle objections, how you will utilize Brand Messaging specific to your appointment scheduling strategy, and how you will distinguish messaging for voicemail and live class, and standardize sales closing techniques.

Learn more more about Gartner's proven framework and best practices for designing, building and optimizing sales calls here.

Now it's time to take action with Content Offers 

Creating content that is helpful and relevant at each stage of the customer journey will increase the chances that your leads will move further down the funnel and eventually make a purchase. If you’re not sure what kind of content to create, start by thinking about the questions your leads might have at each stage of their journey. 

As the examples in this article show, making content offers that align with your lead’s customer journey is an art and a science.  Delivering the right content when a lead has no idea that your product or service exists - the Awareness stage - is much different from when they are ready to make a purchase, the Decision stage.  And, it is important to leverage your company’s content offer assets to match their buying intent, or Consideration stage, with the right content at the right time.

What are some common questions people ask during the Awareness stage?

How can I tell if I need your product or service?

What are the different types of products or services in this category?

What are the benefits of using this product or service?

At the Consideration stage, leads are more likely to be asking questions like:

What are the different options?

How do these options compare?

What are the pros and cons of each option?

At the Decision stage, leads are more likely to be asking questions like:

How does your product or service compare to others on the market?

What are the features and benefits of your product or service?

How much does your product or service cost?

Content offers serve a very specific purpose and your job as an organization is to educate and nurture each lead with intentional content to provide solutions to your potential customers and leads through your website and expanded Digital Strategy.  From whitepapers, to quizzes, to interactive tools, to checklists, each piece of content has a very specific desired result in advancing a lead further down the pathway to purchase.

The better you know your Dream Customers and through experimentation, the more you will know what is most effective and you will be able to deliver the right content offer that guides your leads to your checkout page with their credit cards ready to buy.  Again, the whole point of this article is to help you convert the most potential customers and leads at the highest levels.  

To be successful in your Digital Strategy, your company must have a content strategy that aligns with the buyer’s journey.  This means creating content offers for each stage of the journey and understanding how to use them to move your leads through to a sale.  The right content offer at the right time can make all the difference in whether or not a lead becomes a customer.

If you need help…

Schedule a strategy session with Brand You to see how we can help you bring your Digital Strategy to life in your business.