{"id":8003,"date":"2020-05-28T16:06:08","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T20:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=8003"},"modified":"2022-02-25T13:06:12","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T18:06:12","slug":"replace-lost-leads-content-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/replace-lost-leads-content-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Replace Lost Leads By Doubling Down on the Basics of Content, Part I: The Audit"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Marketing is an ever-evolving discipline, constantly shifting to meet the changing technological and cultural landscapes. In 2020, marketers have experienced unprecedented challenges\u2014disruptions in global markets, cancelled events<\/a>, and millions of the labor force working from home or not working at all. Those lead-generating activities and conditions aren\u2019t around anymore, so that means leads have been lost\u2014a lot <\/em>of leads have been lost. And marketers need to take bold steps to replace them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you reach your target audience in a socially-distant world? The answer, of course, is in digital\u2014and you\u2019ve got two big options there. First, you could simply migrate your in-person events over to the virtual world. We\u2019ve<\/a> written<\/a> extensively<\/a> on<\/a> the<\/a> topic<\/a>, because it\u2019s not as simple as it sounds, and that\u2019s not the right solution for everyone. A more widely adoptable strategy lies in digital content, which provides powerful insights and helpful information to prospects at the top of the funnel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, we\u2019ll cover the ways that you can innovate your content marketing strategy, improve your SEO, and increase your brand awareness, all helping you replace those high-quality leads you\u2019ve lost because of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Audit your content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before you make any significant changes to your content marketing strategy, take stock of what you already have. Even if your marketing team is already performing regular content audits, now is a great opportunity to focus on a specific goal\u2014in this case, lead generation. Here\u2019s how to conduct an effective, highly condensed content audit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start with a small sample <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Choose a number of recent URLs from your website, no more than 30 or 40. Make a spreadsheet so you can create an inventory of your selected content. Be sure to include the page title<\/strong>, the URL<\/strong>, and the content type<\/strong>\u2014for example, if it\u2019s a blog post, a white paper, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pick a narrow set of metrics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You only really need to compare about three metrics, depending on your goal. For example, if you\u2019re interested in lead generation, some of the common metrics to measure success are form completion<\/strong>, downloads<\/strong>, subscriptions<\/strong>\u2014including for blogs, newsletters, webinars, or other recurring content\u2014and conversion rate<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re hoping to boost brand awareness, look at overall site traffic<\/strong>, page views<\/strong>, video views<\/strong>, inbound links<\/strong>, <\/strong>and navigation summary<\/strong>, which will show you the most common path that users take to get to a certain page. And if you want to maximize SEO strategy, take a look at organic search<\/strong>, bounce rate<\/strong>, and top exit pages <\/strong>for organic traffic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re more interested in a general overview of performance, take a metric from each category: Organic search, page views, and conversion rate are all good bets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evaluate their performance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If your marketing team does regular audits, you\u2019ll likely already have a scoring system in place to rank successful content. If not, try to create a system that takes into consideration all three metrics at the same time. If a page performs well in all three categories, it goes at the top of the list. If a page is only successful in one metric, put it at the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be ruthless in your analysis. What do the successful pages have in common? Do they cover a certain subject matter, live in a certain place on your site, or have a similar layout? Whatever you discover as your main takeaways can help give you some basic guardrails to work with as you plan to overhaul your marketing strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n