The purpose of a movie trailer is to excite the audience, create intrigue, demonstrate quality and entice consumers to watch the full production. A company blog that has been optimized for lead generation should function much the same way. Each post should be educational and informative so it conveys a sense of thought leadership without giving away the whole story. Writing your blogs so that they function as a preview of your premium content will increase your chances of generating leads with your content marketing strategy.
Your blogs should inspire the reader to want to learn more and give a sneak peak of the value of your premium content. Calls to action serve the same function as the release date of a movie in that they communicate the next step needed to view the full piece. For example, a statement in a movie trailer like “in theaters July 7th” is similar to a call to action button that says “click here to download now”. Once that level of intrigue has been reached the consumer must determine if the premium content is worth the required information. For a movie this would be based on the cost of a ticket. Ensure that the perceived value of your premium material matches up to the amount of information your forms require from your prospect. If the cost is too high you will miss out on potential clients.
Once a reader has decided to make the investment of viewing your content you need to be sure it delivers on its promises. There is nothing worse than seeing a great movie trailer and paying the cost of admission, only to be disappointed by the end product. Each piece should provide entertainment value and go through several edits before being released. Make sure your premium content fits the interests of your target audience and contains clear, valuable, useful information. At the end of the movie your audience should know the moral of the story.
When the movie is over and the crowd begins to dissipate they’ll all walk by promotions for new and upcoming releases. Your social media and website pages should contain links to other premium content offers that give your visitors ideas on what to see next. This will also help nurture those that aren’t ready to purchase and keep them in your pipeline. They might need to see a few more movies before they view your company as a star. Once you’ve been recognized as a reliable, trustworthy source of information and entertainment it will make future publications and productions more successful. You’ll develop brand evangelists, fans and followers that will help promote your content.
