How to use Owned Media to improve lead generation for your business

An effective Inbound PR strategy involves every aspect of your business' Earned, Shared and Paid Media channels, but it should also incorporate your own website and ensure you are making the most of your Owned Media content.

Regularly writing and promoting your own content through the channels your business 'owns', be that eBooks or blogs, is a great way to reach prospects and generate leads as well as being a highly effective way to grow and nurture website visitors into leads and perhaps eventually customers.

Furthermore, your long form content, such as Market Research Reports or Whitepapers, gives you the opportunity to showcase your expertise and knowledge in the industry in great detail, more so than shorter form content such as blogs - which can also be used as a way of driving traffic to your long form assets.

Through careful planning and thorough research, your Owned media can help you gain credibility and trust from your target audience, giving you the competitive advantage.

On the surface, this seems relatively easy.

But creating engaging content requires careful consideration and planning; from the written elements to the design and layout – there are a lot of moving parts that require careful consideration.

To help you save time, effort and budget in creating your Owned Media assets, here are a few things to help you get the most value out of your content, with a view to improve lead generation.

1. Nail the Headline

No matter how great your blog story, or how informative your eBook, failing to grab your readers' attention with a great headline means your content won't get read - it's the simple.

Headlines are the most important element to selling the content of any blog or eBook. It should get your readers' attention and make them want to read the eBook or article so make it short and concise, snappy and eye catching.

Knowing your headline also helps you focus your content, so take time and don't overlook it.

2. Ensure that you are integrating SEO keyword research into your content strategy

Unlike your Earned Media, which your audience will find through media publications, Owned Media has to work harder to be found and SEO keyword research and targeting is a vital aspect of this.

Consider the kind of search phrases your audience is using to find content around their problems and target them with your content strategy.

Let's take an eBook or whitepaper for example.

Optimising your title might seem like the right thing to do for SEO purposes, but from a lead generation point of view it’s more important to ensure that the landing page of the eBook is found on the search engine results page’s (SERP) and not the eBook itself.

By all means use SEO keyword research to brainstorm the content and title of your eBook, from this you will be able to easily optimise the landing page around a relevant and highly searched phrase/keyword, making your eBook or other Owned Media easier to find.

For more information behind the importance of using SEO and keyword research in you PR and content strategy, read this blog.

3. Keep your audience top of mind

Your audience is arguably the driving force behind any Inbound PR strategy.

If your audience is not already at the heart of your strategy – it’s time you made a change.

The need for creating content based on your audience's problems is essential to ensuring your Owned media is an effective lead generation machine.

Determining and understanding your audience and what their pain points are is half the battle when looking to create great, valuable content for your website.

Curating content with a specific audience in mind, will help you gain the trust and interest of your audience and, in turn, increase the likelihood of them engaging more with your brand.

The idea of using a one size fits approach to curating content does not work anymore, and has not for quite some time now. Your target audience is looking for content that will help them make informed decisions.

A healthy blogging pipeline on your Owned media channels that addresses topics and search phrases relevant to your long form content is an effective way of giving your audience what they need to know.

Blogging not only brings traffic to your website and helps improve lead generation, but it can serve to build trust and interest around core topics to establish credibility amongst your target audience.

Be sure to include a clear call to action in your blogs to drive traffic to the landing page of your eBook. Don’t forget to optimise your blog content around relevant and popular search terms – this will increase the likelihood of your blogs being found.

4. The promotional strategy

Now you've got your website filled with informative eBooks and entertaining blogs, but an additional element of Owned media that is often overlooked is an effective promotional strategy.

After all, if you publish a piece of content without promoting it, does it even exist?

It is important that your Owned website content is being promoted across the various social channels that resonate with your buyer persona/target audience. This is where it interlinks with Shared media channels.

A collaborative, planned approach to your promotional strategy is required to ensure your Owned Media is effective in improving lead generation through your website and making the best use of the Earned, Paid and Shared media you are also generating.

While social media is most effective in creating brand awareness and increasing engagement, it can and should also be used to promote website content.

Be strategic with your social media strategy. Consider using a healthy mix of social media channels and posts to promote the landing pages and other content.