You Too Can Secure New Business Leads in the New Year

I’ll admit it. I’m ready for the new year. Not that I didn’t enjoy 2016, but regardless of the happiness or success of a previous year, I always find the hopes as well as aspirations of the new year exciting.

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It is a time to expand my knowledge, explore new horizons and reaffirm commitments to myself, family and friends. I’m not alone in this sentiment. 
According to Statistic Brain’s 2016 research, 45% of Americans usually make New Year’s resolutions. They make resolutions for the same reason that I express enthusiasm for the coming year. They wish to improve upon themselves, their lives, finances, careers and the New Year is the perfect excuse to keep these goals top of mind. Because of this, the New Year is the ideal time to generate leads for your business. 
I know what you’re thinking, but I don’t sell fitness equipment or exercise gear. While it is true that 38% of Americans make weight loss related resolutions, and companies within the health and fitness industries have one of the greatest opportunities to capitalize on the consciousness of the coming year, virtually all companies can benefit from concentrating on what is already on people’s minds: improvement in all its shapes and forms. 
In fact, the highest goal according to the 2016 data is that of self-improvement. 47% of people put self-improvement or education related resources as their highest priority for the coming year. That means that companies with educational resources to offer should be fulfilling this need through their lead generation campaigns. If you have anything informative in nature to offer your customers, and almost every company does whether they realize it or not, you are in luck. 
Lead Generation through Educational Content: How can your business leverage the collective mindfulness of the New Year to grow your business leads and ultimately increase sales? Look through your educational resources such as white papers, case studies, tutorials, how-to’s, step by step instructions, webinars, and videos as well as other content assets with an eye toward repurposing. 
No Need to Recreate the Wheel: What do I mean by repurposing? I mean taking sections or snippets of longer form content such as a white paper and turning it into a digestible, and preferably, jargon-free case study. The same can be applied to an online course or webinar. Can this content be sliced and diced into mini-classes or short video tutorials? The goal is to turn one content asset into several smaller content assets. Thus, you don’t have to use original content and send yourself or your writing staff into a tailspin. Rather, you just have to curate the great content that you already have. 
Only Valuable Content Please: Of equal import, how valuable is the content itself? Is it something that people would readily provide their email address to access? Since the goal is to drive lead generation through an opt-in or sign-up form which requires contact information such as first name, last name and email address to access the valuable content, it better be good. There is nothing worse than completing a sign up or download form only to be woefully disappointed with the video, guide or other content that you accessed. That sets your company up for a poor customer experience from the onset of the relationship which is never wise. 
Moreover, giving away an email address has become a much bigger ask. Chalk this up to the average business person receiving 122 emails per day. As such, most consumers are somewhat stingy about sharing the email address. If you want your lead generation efforts to be successful, keep this truth in mind; the content used to drive the leads must be valuable.
The New Year is about opportunity. The opportunity to become who you want to be. The opportunity to advance and progress. The opportunity to grow your business and finances. This is what is on the mind of your customers, and it is likely what is on your mind too. Take advantage of this mindset through thoughtful lead generation programs which deliver what your customers seek, and you will have a happy new year indeed. 
Here’s to a prosperous 2017!
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