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Growth for good
Lead generation: The content strategy to adopt
Growth for good

Lead generation: The content strategy to adopt

How to build an effective content strategy to generate qualified leads: levers, tools and concrete examples to attract your future customers.
martin
martin
Co-founder of 425PPM
October 10
9 min min de lecture
Lead generation: The content strategy to adopt

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Points clés

Ce qu'il faut retenir

By increasing in power, artificial intelligence is redefining the rules of marketing and communication. As a result, a company's visibility can no longer be based on a single channel. To capture attention and transform this visibility into concrete results, it is essential to excel at SEO, but also to combine it with other online and offline acquisition levers. This involves creating truly relevant content and using appropriate resources to attract a qualified audience, not to mention guiding these visitors along a clear path that leads them to action. So How do you turn simple interest into a genuine purchase intention? And above all, how do you support a prospect until making an appointment, requesting a demonstration or making a final purchase? These are the questions we answer in this article by exploring lead generation best practices.

Do you want to convert a prospect into a customer? You have to get his attention first. And that is precisely the role of content strategy: to create relevant contact points, adapted to the buying journey, that generate interest and inspire trust. We therefore invite you to discover what strategy to adopt to generate leads through content creation.

What is lead acquisition (or leadgen)?

Nowadays, lead acquisition, also called lead generation, is at the heart of marketing systems. It is not limited to capturing visits to a site: it aims to identify the most promising contacts, to qualify them, and then to integrate them into a structured commercial journey.

Definition: what is a marketing lead?

Let's start by recalling the basics. One Lead is a contact who has shown interest in your business, products, or services. This could be someone who filled out a form, uploaded a document, or made an appointment on your site. In short, a lead is a prospect, a potential customer to be converted.

All the success of your business is therefore based on the lead generation. This generation consists of implementing multiple marketing actions aimed at attracting qualified contacts, then integrating them into a conversion tunnel. It is a central element of commercial strategy, as it marks the starting point for customer acquisition. Lead generation is essential in order to succeed in developing its clientele, boosting its sales and maintaining its business.

Good to know : lead generation is a generic term to evoke various realities. Indeed, in setting up a lead generation strategy, it is important to distinguish between two types of leads:

  • B2B leads (Business to Business) : these are prospective decision-makers or influencers for their company's purchases
  • B2C (Business to Customer) leads : they are individuals directly interested in the offer and who can make the purchase without intermediaries.

This distinction between these two profiles is important, because lead generation does not take place in the same way depending on the target.

Why is generating leads so important?

Lead generation is much more than just a marketing process. It is an essential step in the commercial development of a company. This technique consists, in fact, in identify and attract contacts who have a real chance of becoming customers. It's not just about attracting attention, it's about creating a journey that converts initial interest into buying intent.

However, in a daily life where each consumer is exposed to a multitude of requests, Knowing how to capture attention at the right time and on the right channel is a major asset.

But the benefits of lead generation don't end there. It also lies in its ability to optimize the return on investment of the marketing strategy put in place. Indeed, this practice makes it possible to target the right profiles and measures the results precisely, which makes it possible to quickly adjust marketing actions and avoid unnecessary expenses. Thanks to the collection of qualified data, the company thus enriches its prospect base, feeds its future campaigns and sets up a virtuous circle of acquisition-loyalty.

We therefore understand that lead generation also actively contributes to sales growth of the company.

Why go through a lead generation agency?

If lead generation is strategic, its implementation requires time, expertise and a rigorous method. This is why many companies choose to entrust this mission to a specialized agency.

A lead generation agency masters the required skills and offers several other concrete advantages:

  • Proven expertise : no need to train your teams internally, the agency already has best practices (inbound marketing, SEO, Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, LinkedIn Ads, TikTok Ads...). These professionals know how to adapt approaches according to the targets (B2B or B2C). They have also accumulated experience working on various projects, which allows them to offer effective and already proven solutions.
  • A significant time saver : in addition to this expertise, an agency offers considerable time savings. The tasks of prospecting and following up on leads, which are often time-consuming and sometimes poorly exploited internally, are managed by specialized business developers. They analyze the data, target the right prospects and allow you to focus on your core business.

Going through an agency therefore means benefiting from comprehensive support: from the definition of the strategy to its implementation, including the analysis of the results. It also means ensuring continuous monitoring and the ability to quickly adjust campaigns to maximize performance. In other words, it is a strategic investment that accelerates the growth of your business while optimizing resources.

What strategy to generate leads?

Lead generation cannot be improvised. It is based on a structured approach. Defining your goals, identifying your target, understanding your research intentions and choosing the right levers are all essential steps. Here are the details of the main steps to be implemented.

Define your personas and KPIs

The success of a leadgen strategy is based on detailed knowledge of its target. Define personas (these semi-fictional profiles representing your ideal customers) and a ICP (Ideal Customer Profile, i.e. the ideal company or person to target) is an essential step.
These profiles are built on demographic, behavioral and business criteria (size, sector, budget, location when the target is a company or age; geographic area, CSP level, etc. if the target is an individual). A preliminary study of this type makes it possible to guide the production of relevant content and the choice of the most suitable channels.

Responding to research intentions

To adopt an effective lead strategy, it is also important to understand and respond to the search intentions of potential customers. What is search intent: search intentions correspond to What prospects are looking for and how do they find it on the web. However, nowadays, you should know that 63% of purchases start online (Google survey) and 83% of French people find out about the Internet before buying (study conducted by Toluna Harris Interactive). Understanding these intentions is therefore crucial.

Prioritize the right keywords or PAA, not to mention generative AIs

To meet search intentions, gain visibility and reach the right leads, it is important to adopt The good inbound marketing strategy to acquire traffic.

This requires integrating that the Internet (and more particularly Google) remains a key player in the more than 50 billion daily global searches since it represents 27%, but that social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, YouTube, LinkedIn and X are capturing a growing share of the market, especially for commercial intentions.

But it also means realizing that, in order to reach leads on the Internet or networks, the SEO (Search Engine Optimization, which can be translated as “Search Engine Optimization”) is essential.

What does this optimization consist of? This SEO technique requires finding the right keywords to convince search engines (but also Internet users) that it is your site or your social network account that best meets their search intent.

But other methods should not be overlooked to gain visibility such as:

  • optimization for DAD (“People Also Ask” which can be translated as “the other questions that people ask themselves”) from Google, which offer immediate visibility by answering questions directly from Internet users.
  • the Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), it is an optimization technique that consists in adapting its content so that it is highlighted by generative AI engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, etc.). In a context where nearly 4 out of 10 French people already use these AI tools for their research (IPSOS survey, 2025), anticipating this new trend in information before buying is a way of staying ahead of competitors.

8 tips for generating qualified leads

Setting up an effective leadership strategy therefore requires combining several levers. From the choice of topics to the distribution of content, including nurturing or netlinking, here are 8 solutions to appropriate to attract a qualified audience, convince them and convert them.

1. Choosing the right topics for your business

All content must first and foremost meet the needs of your target audience. So it has to be relevant. Your prospects should feel that your articles, videos, or guides were created specifically to address their concerns. So you can establish a relationship of trust. To do this, the presentation of your services or products must aim to prove to your targets that:

  • you understood their concerns
  • you have identified the problems they are facing
  • you develop content that offers tangible solutions.

2. Consider and define the content format to be created

A prospect may be sensitive to a numerical study, while another will prefer to watch a video or listen to a podcast. Depending on the profile of your targets and the problem they face, it is important to vary the forms of content created. Indeed, the variety of the form of content makes it possible to create surprise in order to reach certain customer segments that are more receptive to this or that format. In addition, some formats are more or less adapted according to your objectives and the phases of the sales funnel.

So do not hesitate to vary the content formats: blog posts, webinars, white papers, case studies, infographics...

3. Broadcast your content intelligently

The solution chosen for the distribution of your content is as important as the content created. Indeed, relevant content loses its value if it is not seen by the right audience. That's why you have to identify the channels where your prospects are the most active :

  • website, newsletters, social networks like LinkedIn for B2B
  • website, Instagram and TikTok for B2C.

Each channel requires a specific approach: for example, adapting the right tone and format, optimizing the SEO of your publications with relevant hashtags according to the network or segmenting your newsletters to maximize their reach.

4. Implement lead nurturing

The Lead Nurturing is now part of the essential processes for converting prospects into potential customers. It consists of support your prospects over the long term by helping them to make progress in their thinking. Indeed, this practice is based on the observation that it is not enough to collect an email address; it is necessary to engage the prospect through a continuous exchange.

How to implement this conversion technique? Everything can start with a simple welcome email, but must be completed by sending a series of educational content (guides, explanatory videos, comparisons). For what result? You manage to gradually create a link that naturally leads to conversion, while respecting the pace of the prospect.

5. Evaluate the existing

Before deploying new actions, in order to optimize your marketing budget, it is also crucial toanalyze your current performance. What content works best? Are your forms generating enough conversions? Are your email campaigns reaching their targets?

By carrying out an audit of your current actions, you identify your strengths and areas for improvement. This step allows you to check the quality of the data you collect, to ensure that you are targeting the right profiles.

6. Continuous testing and optimization (CRO & A/B testing)

To generate leads and optimize your conversion rate (CRO), it is also advisable to complement your action with social networks.

In fact, in sharing your offer with your community, you can gain proximity with your targets. So you will be able to engage them more. However, to convert, you will have to make sure to send your followers to a landing page, whose offer will correspond to what you shared.

In order to gain even more performance in terms of your conversion rate, the adoption of the “Test & Learn” approach then proves to be complementary. What does this technique consist of? It involves testing different variants of your pages or campaigns (titles, visuals, call to action buttons) and comparing the results.

For example, two versions of a landing page can be put into competition to determine which one converts best. These gradual adjustments allow you to continuously improve the effectiveness of your campaigns, without excessive investment.

7. Creating notoriety and popularity

Nowadays, reputation (especially online) is an essential factor in the decision-making process. In fact, prospects more easily trust a company that they know and see regularly. Building an active presence on social networks, participating in online events or regularly publishing expert content contributes to establishing your credibility. This repeated visibility creates an effect of familiarity and trust which then facilitates the conversion.

8. Focus on netlinking and linkbaiting

Finally, SEO results remain strongly influenced by backlinks, i.e. links pointing to your site from other sources. To create this type of link, several options are available to you: the development of netlinking, but also a variant of this method: the Linkbaiting. The latter solution consists in creating content that is so interesting that it naturally attracts links (exclusive studies, free tools, viral content). The Netlinking, on the other hand, can involve partnerships, exchanges of visibility or even the purchase of links on relevant sites. In both cases, the aim is to increase your authority with search engines and generate more qualified traffic. These two techniques are therefore excellent complements to the various SEO actions put in place.

Thus, by combining these eight levers, you are implementing a complete and effective strategy, which allows you to attract a qualified audience, guide them in their journey and maximize your conversions.

Measure, analyze and adjust your marketing actions

The success of a lead generation strategy also depends on its ability to measure its results.

Tracking tools

Without accurate monitoring, it is impossible to identify what works and what deserves to be adjusted in the various actions taken. The use and mastery of analysis tools therefore play a key role in the performance of your lead generation strategy.

Here are the essentials:

  • Google Analytics and Search Console : these two tools from the Google suite allow you to track your site traffic, user behavior and requests that generate visits.
  • Google My Business/Google Enterprise: this solution from the giant makes it possible to improve the local visibility of a company and makes it possible to capture leads that are close geographically. It also offers the possibility of regular monitoring of the behavior of Internet users concerning your Google presentation page and your site.
  • Email marketing tools (HubSpot, Mailchimp, Brevo...): these tools do not only allow you to organize structured email campaigns. They also give a clear vision of the opening rate, clicks and unsubscriptions to refine your campaigns.
  • Integrated social media analytics (LinkedIn Analytics, Meta Business Suite, TikTok Analytics...): social media platforms also include solutions that make it possible to assess the reach and engagement of posted content.
  • Custom dashboards (Looker Studio, Power BI, Google Sheets): these tools facilitate the overall monitoring of your KPIs and the sharing of results internally.
  • AI Analytics solutions : these innovative tools offer automated and predictive reports to gain even more responsiveness and always better control your marketing budget.

All of these tools not only allow you to measure the ROI of your actions, but also to adjust your campaigns in real time to maximize the impact of your lead generation strategy.

Support from the 425PPM agency

Outsourcing part of your digital marketing dedicated to the lead generation strategy can be more effective and more profitable than internal management. However, many businesses think that spending more automatically guarantees better results. This is still not the case, especially in marketing.

It is not by spending more that you always get better results. It is by choosing the right levers.

Our lead generation agency 425PM is an expert in digital acquisition and stimulates the growth of companies that trust it through innovative and tailor-made acquisition strategies.

Our team offers you an approach based on three pillars to optimize your performance without increasing your costs:

  1. A thorough strategic analysis : the agency takes the time to understand your competitive environment, your target audience and your commercial ambitions. This preliminary work makes it possible to guide all decisions and to build a strategy that is perfectly adapted to your needs.
  2. Optimizing campaigns : whether it's online advertising, SEO content or social campaigns, we adjust each action continuously thanks to detailed data analysis. The objective is twofold: to maximize the engagement of your prospects and to optimize the budget invested.
  3. Continuous monitoring and improvement : we monitor your performance continuously. Regular dashboards and reports make it possible to ensure the evolution of your results, to identify new opportunities and to quickly correct discrepancies.

The agency supports its clients with tailor-made solutions, combining marketing performance and ecological commitment.

Do you want to learn more about our lead generation solutions? Let's discuss it.

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