20 Content Upgrades That’ll Skyrocket Your Lead Generation

Lead generation is a key component of business growth. Although traditional methods like blog postings and email sign-ups remain useful, experienced marketers constantly look for new ways to attract their audience and turn passive readers into loyal customers. 

Introducing content upgrades, a game-changing idea transforming how businesses attract and keep leads. Beyond the standard sidebar email sign-up, content upgrades give users more value in return for their contact information.

This successful strategy increases your email list and offers your audience a more engaging and customized experience.

But with so many content upgrades available, how can you choose the best one for your business?

Here are 20  different content upgrades that will increase lead generation.

What are Content Upgrades?

Content upgrades are improvements to the existing content on your website. Content upgrades are extremely specialized opt-in offers that will transform each of your blog posts into a powerful email list-building engine.

They are lead magnets created as an extra offer for a particular blog article. Unlike site-wide lead-generating strategies, content upgrades are specific to a particular blog post on your website, which is why they are so powerful.

When visitors are already engaged with a blog article on your website, collecting their email addresses in return for additional relevant information is easy. You know precisely what they’re looking for, and you’re providing it to them through a content update.

Here are some examples of content updates:

• A blog post called “The Best Pharmaceutical Jobs in 2023” may be modified with new data to become “The Best Pharmaceutical Jobs in 2024.”
• A 2016 post on “mortgage best practices” can be updated with fresh statistics and information to make it more relevant in 2024.

20 Content Upgrades That’ll Skyrocket Your Lead Generation

1. Continued Content

One of the fastest and easiest methods to add a content upgrade to your blog is to continue the content in a separate, email-gated document. This generates more leads by encouraging people to provide their email addresses so they can read the entire article. 

If you’re creating a listicle blog post with your top ten, simply add 5, 10, or 15+ additional items in a content update. Let your audience know they can learn even more in your upgrade PDF, which you will send them as soon as they sign up.

You can place calls to action for your content upgrade throughout the blog article to improve the possibility of someone entering their email address.

2. Blog Posts

Blog posts, one of the most popular types of on-site content, should be generated regularly to generate leads.

Blogging is practical, accessible, and entertaining for some of us. But how can you turn blog readers into leads?

The most frequent technique to convert blog visitors into regular visitors is to simply ask for their email addresses so that you can send them notifications when new content is posted. It’s more handy to receive content in your mailbox rather than having to look for it.

Make a clear and central call to action that encourages readers to subscribe. Include a one-step form in your blog pages. Put links to related services you offer or to other internal blog articles related to the blog’s topic.

This is highly significant since inbound links are one of the most important elements Google considers when ranking your website, and they play a vital role in SEO.

3. Cheat Sheets

Another straightforward content update option is to provide a printable cheat sheet. Used correctly, it can help you increase your lead generation efforts.

Create a one-page cheat sheet that your readers can quickly print and have nearby to refer to when performing what you taught them in your blog article.

Readers could always return to your blog article and reread it, but a cheat sheet makes life easier, which is precisely what a content update is all about!

Suppose you have a blog article titled What are SEO scams? You may develop a 1-page cheat sheet with tips to help your users improve search engine optimization (SEO) and increase organic traffic.

4. Checklists

Checklists are popular with readers because they are simple to develop and utilize. Checklists work well for long-form blog entries with a lot of information. Simply summarise all of the critical processes and make a checklist out of them.

For example, if you have a blog post titled How to Increase Inbound Leads? you can add to it with an actionable checklist that visitors can use to optimize their articles. 

Checklists are also an excellent method to demonstrate your creativity and visual flare to clients by creating an aesthetically beautiful piece of content that reflects the style of your company.

5. Master Lists

If your post is primarily focused on tools and resources, creating a master list with direct links to each tool might be a valuable resource for your readers. 

This is an excellent method to provide your audience an opportunity to do or learn more once they complete your information. 

6. Audio/Video

If you conduct webinars, create educational videos, or record interviews, you may make the audio and video content available as downloaded content upgrades.

Providing podcast or video adaptations of your blog posts is an excellent approach to repurposing and creating more content in less time. You may also share previous live streams as a content update.

7. Printables

A printable can be anything the reader can print and use to complete an activity.

This is an excellent content upgrade choice due to its versatility. You can create a printed calendar, goal tracker, spending tracker, and other tools.

Consider what people enjoy writing down and how it relates to your blog content, and create a printable content upgrade just for that reason. For example, if your blog post is on how to cook a particular dish, you may create a printed guide and promote it as a new content upgrade

8. Reports

Reports are not only helpful for content improvements, but they also help you identify yourself as an industry expert.

If you’ve performed significant research on a topic or conducted your survey, you may present your results in a report to educate your readers about your field.

These content upgrades take significant time, research, surveying, and other resources to develop, but they can be trendy.

You can use them to generate more leads and establish yourself as an expert in the field.

9. Case Studies

Case studies are proof that anything you mention in your blog post works. Thus, they not only make for excellent content upgrades but also help you gain your readers’ trust.

Case studies are adequate for various reasons, one of which is that they show how multiple types of clients can use your product or service and real-life success stories from others.

Many websites will include easily accessible case studies, but leveraging case studies as a lead generation tool is also a good idea. Also, a case study does not have to be about someone else. You are capable of writing one yourself.

10. Guides

Guides are an excellent type of evergreen content since they attract new readers by expanding on a topic that they are interested in and, most likely, seek specifically.

When intending to produce a guide, you must conduct topic research and ensure that the topic is both exciting and still needs to be exhausted. 

If you find numerous pieces of rich material on the subject and don’t think you can make yours more beneficial, don’t waste your time writing a guide about it.

It can help first-time business owners optimize their eCommerce websites. Also, it might be an excellent source of organic traffic for your website.

11. Challenges

Challenges are another engaging method for increasing lead generation. The challenge can be a mini-project for the reader to complete. It can be a simple reminder or a continuous duty for them to give time to.

The great thing about this advancement is that it also provides opportunities for community interaction. You can set up a hashtag for them to use when sharing their progress on X.com (previously Twitter).

12. Infographics

Another excellent content upgrade option is an infographic. Most readers consider them ‘eye candy‘. They’re appealing and easy to understand.

Data visualizations such as charts and graphs to provide numbers, text blocks to share information snippets, flowcharts to map out steps to complete a task, and other elements can all be included in infographics.

These can be included as a CTA at the end of a blog article, informing the reader that if they sign up for the email newsletter, they can see all of the statistics behind your blog post in one place.

Infographics work because many people prefer diagrams and visuals over text. 

13. Ebooks

E-books are an excellent approach to communicating a topic to a targeted audience. This works best when you have a series of blog posts about the same broad subject. You can collect them into an ebook and include new information to fill up any gaps between your posts.

They can be used as a call to action to convince individuals who wish to learn more about the issue to join your email list. The best part about these is that they may be as long or as short as you want. There is no prescribed length for an ebook.

14. Scripts

A script is a prewritten piece of writing that guides readers through a challenging circumstance. One example is a script that informs clients that your price structure has changed. Depending on your niche, you can write various scripts to guide your readers through challenging real-life scenarios.

Scripts are ideal for anyone who needs to regularly send mass emails or emails to the same people. 

15. Templates

Templates, like scripts, may include:

• Email templates.
• Budget templates
• Copywriting templates

People enjoy templates because they are convenient and easy to understand. Creating templates (spreadsheets, emails, etc.) can also make it easier for your audience to execute the task. They will be grateful to your company for making it simple.

16. Free Trials

Free trials are a successful lead generation tool in B2B, with 80% of SaaS companies providing them to attract high-quality prospects.

When marketing a product or service, a free trial, product demo, or consultation service can effectively add value to a content piece.

As everyone enjoys receiving freebies. If you have a premium service, you can provide a free trial as a content upgrade for relevant blog entries. Alternatively, if you’re selling things, consider offering free business swag to enhance the likelihood of returning customers.

17. Worksheets

Make your post more interactive by including worksheets or workbooks for readers to follow.

This can be a fun technique to assist your audience to grasp something hard or to guide them through the process of putting something together, such as business goals, a business plan, a new content marketing strategy, and so on.

A worksheet serves as an excellent content upgrade and connects you and your followers even when they are not reading your site.

18. Formulas

Formulas are great because they allow readers to modify your content to their needs. Consider them success recipes rather than “fill-in-the-blank” questions.

19. Host Webinars

Webinars are a valuable lead generation tool, according to 73% of B2B marketers and Sales Professionals, especially for high-quality prospects.

If you have a blog post about a webinar you hosted, you can use it as an upgrade. You can use any webinar software to make the process go more smoothly. 

A webinar provides a lot of information in a short time and helps you move your audience down the sales funnel. 

20. Slideshare

SlideShare allows you to upload and share presentations with your network effortlessly. Slides include fewer words than an entire blog article and are thus easier to understand. That’s why they provide excellent content upgrades.

Conclusion

These 20 content-upgrading ideas provide a unique opportunity to demonstrate expertise, add value, and establish trust with your audience.

By incorporating these upgrades into your content strategy, you will create the way for exponential development in your email list and your prospective consumer base.

FAQs

1. How are content upgrades different from normal lead magnets?

While both are used to generate leads, content upgrades are specific to certain blog posts or topics, whereas lead magnets are typically more general and available across the site.

2. Which form of content upgrade is most effective?

The effectiveness varies according to the audience and area. However, checklists, templates, and eBooks work well in various areas.

3. What exactly defines a content upgrade?

A content upgrade is added content provided to readers in exchange for their email addresses. It’s usually more in-depth or valuable than the original blog article and directly relevant to the topic.