How to Turn Your Media Channel Into a Lead Generator

Something that comes up often in my conversations with other service providers and experts is how to turn your media channel into a lead magnet. 

A lot of practitioners or service pros leverage content for lead generation, but more in a “hey, here I am in case you need me” nurturing way, not in a “let me actually build a bridge between what you need and what I sell” authority-building way. 

The focus is typically on what we can offer, not how we do it. 

But what if that kind of content is also how you can get more people in the door? 

While your media channel's purpose is to build authority, it can also function as a lead-generation tool. 

Instead of selling based on what you do or generic advice you think your audience wants to hear (we’ve all seen it), you sell based on your methodology, approach, and perspective (the stuff that actually gives you authority). 

This works for a few reasons: 

I should know—I’m allergic to email marketing, but I've still driven consulting pipeline and revenue from my authority-based content (and prefer it, TBH). 

I’m going to show you how. 

First, understand how your audience interacts with your brand and what content they expect to find at each stage. 

Your audience typically interacts with your brand world in three different ways: 

That said, your content has a different job depending on the stage at which your audience is at:

Discovery (Awareness)

Mass appeal about where your industry is headed. This is brand-building content that shows how you think and see the world, designed to bring in new people while keeping the already-engaged audience sharp. Hook language should name the exact problem your audience has been circling before they have words for it. This content shows you understand your audience and your industry.

Trust building (Consideration)

Thought leadership on the bigger phenomenon and your audience need to show up differently. Think reports, case studies, trend analysis, and how-tos. The reader leans in and thinks further, building the mental associations that make your media channel their reference point. This kind of content shows your perspective and how you think. 

Relationship (Decision)

Direct strategy in the context of cultural framing. Approach, methodologies, processes, core theories. This is where the frameworks live explicitly. Decision-stage content must also address the barriers that your audience has to overcome that might prevent them from working with you. This kind of content shows how you apply tactics. 

Conversion-focused content is usually down-funnel, meaning that it lands more in the “consideration” and “decision” phase rather than the “awareness” phase. 

This means showing your audience more about how you think and how you apply tactics to your work, rather than content that speaks to your audience’s pain points or broader industry trends. That said, 

Additionally, down-funnel content typically resonates more with folks already in your audience. It’s more tactical and nuanced, so it won’t get the same reach as broader, top-of-funnel content.

That said, your content channel needs a mix of content that hits all of these different buckets. But that mix depends on your business goals. If your pipeline is dry, you might want to focus more on the bottom of the funnel. But if you’re trying to warm up your audience for a new offer or build your subscriber base, think about more top-of-funnel content. 

Your media channel should reach people at all three stages of their engagement with you, but conversion-focused posts turn fans into leads. 

So, to turn your media channel into a lead magnet, here are a few considerations when designing it: 

Content alone, no matter how good it is, doesn’t convert unless it’s designed in that way. Instead of showing your audience what you can do, show them how you think about and approach the work through your expert lens. It’s just as effective, if not more effective, at building trust with your audience and your business pipeline.

I’m going deeper on this topic (among others) in my FREE 90-minute workshop tomorrow, August 27, at 12 pm ET: Show Up Online Without the Cringe: How to Build a Practitioner Media Platform.