The Nexus Approach: Downloadable Lead Capture Resources

Providing value to your visitors and prospects will enrich your marketing journeys, encouraging more users to stick with you and become qualified leads.

One of the most effective ways to provide value and relevance to visitors is to strategically use gated content to deepen brand awareness and collect lead information.

Downloadable resources are among the most effective and flexible types of gated content, and we often recommend them to our clients and partners.

So, what’s the Nexus approach to downloadable lead capture resources? Let’s take a look.

Quick Background

Downloadable resources is a general term for PDF content on your website that users can access once they provide their contact information. It’s also commonly referred to as lead capture content.

By actively providing their information in exchange for a resource, users effectively qualify themselves as being interested in your brand’s offerings and expertise. Critically, this process also gives you prospects’ email addresses and consent to contact them, enabling sales outreach.

Lead capture content can take many forms, as we’ll see below. However, whatever types of resources you produce, remember that context is key to effectively using it as a sales enablement tactic.

Understand a user’s intent when requesting a certain resource, and then tailor your later outreach to align with that intent.

For example, a user downloading a middle-funnel educational guide might not be ready for a full sales pitch.

Instead, you might send them an email stream that further explores the topic, presents options for solving their problems, and highlights the most relevant aspects of your value proposition. As they further engage with your messages and become familiar with your brand, they’ll be better primed for a sales pitch.

Our Process for Downloadable Resources

The Nexus team frequently collaborates with clients to produce or improve downloadable resources. Most commonly, we work with clients to produce new PDF content for them from scratch.

The content development process involves these general steps:

Account Manager and Client: Align on the strategy for the PDF deliverable and its purpose
Copywriter: Begin researching and planning the content
Copywriter: Gather additional input from the client and request quick calls as needed to gather subject matter expertise, case study details, etc.
Copywriter: Draft the content and loosely mock up its intended formatting, including ideas and descriptions of graphic elements
Client: Review the draft and provide feedback and edits
Copywriter: Finalize the draft of the content and share with our graphics team
Graphic Designer: Execute the drafted content as a fully designed PDF resource
Client: Review the produced PDF and provide feedback and edits
Copywriter and Graphic Designer: Make final adjustments and deliver finished PDF to the client
Account Manager, Copywriter, and Client: Depending on your needs and tech stack, align on implementation plan and provide guidance for setting up a lead capture landing page for the resource

In some cases, we may help clients refresh their older downloadable resources with updated copy and visuals. This process may involve the same two rounds of client feedback, or just one for updated visuals depending on the scope of the project.

If you’re already a Nexus client, you’ll be familiar with this content production workflow—we use the same general steps to create content for your website, minus the optional step of lead capture implementation.

However, note that a downloadable resource may require more input from you depending on its subject matter and purpose.

Examples of Our Downloadable Lead Capture Resources

Nexus downloadable lead capture resources generally fall into these categories:

eBooks
- Mid-length educational content in PDF form
- Engage users looking to learn more about specific topics related to your offerings, ideal for top- and mid-funnel buying stages
Whitepapers
- Polished reports that include findings from research and surveys conducted by your organization or partners
- Highly effective for engaging users at later buying stages or post-purchase to build brand loyalty
Case Studies
- Success stories from your work with clients or customers in a fully-produced PDF format
- Helpful for enabling sales and conveying social proof to high-intent prospects
One-Pagers
- Short PDF resources that may cover a variety of topics
- Often used to summarize key tactical information to be shared directly with leads and customers
- Also ideal for enabling sales and engaged high-intent prospects
Quick Resources
- “Freebie” PDF resources like free templates, infographics, and checklists
- Most commonly used to attract and qualify top-funnel traffic to your website

Let’s take a closer look at specific examples in each category and how Nexus played a role in their production.

eBooks

Improving the Donor Journey with Matching Gifts

Strategy: Educational guide for prospects and existing customers. Intended to enrich value proposition of the product. Shareable with customers to ensure adoption and ROI from purchase.
Our Role: Full planning, drafting, design, and execution

Introduction to Procuring Quality Charity Auction Items

Strategy: Visual refresh of an outdated resource. Targeted to a broad audience of users just learning about the subject and looking for guidance.
Our Role: Copy updates, visual redesign, and production using updated brand identity

Whitepapers

Key Takeaways from the National Camp Impact Study

Strategy: A custom branded “top takeaways” resource based on an industry study for use as a lead capture asset and to support sales conversations
Our Role: Full planning, drafting, design, and execution

We can also collaborate with you to create longer-form reports based on your organization’s own studies, surveys, and industry projections. Please contact us to discuss your whitepaper needs and ideas.

Case Studies

Case Study: Claire’s Place Foundation

Strategy: Templated case study of client’s work in an easy-to-share format
Our Role: Template development, coordinating with client, drafting, design, and execution

Building Resilience Through Collaboration

Strategy: Unique case study-style resource to highlight a client’s unique offering. Intended to educate prospects and demonstrate social proof for the program.
Our Role: Full planning, research (including an interview with client’s subject matter expert), drafting, design, and execution

Comprehensive library of matching gift case studies

Strategy: Templated case studies compiled into a comprehensive resource for easy access by sales team members when engaging leads
Our Role: Template development, coordinating with client, drafting, design, and execution on a rolling basis

One-Pagers

How Are Your Synagogue’s Finances?

Strategy: Short resource to educate leads and reinforce value proposition. Used as a both a lead capture resource and shared directly with leads during sales conversations.
Our Role: Full planning, drafting, design, and execution

Get Started Guide

Strategy: A straightforward get-started guide to be shared directly with customers to improve the onboarding experience
Our Role: Full planning, drafting, design, and execution

Guide to California Department of Education’s ELO-P

Strategy: Short educational resource on government programs relevant to ICP. Used as a both a lead capture resource and shared directly with leads during sales conversations.
Our Role: Full planning, drafting, design, and execution

Quick Resources

Free Corporate Sponsorship Request Templates

Strategy: Free library of templates for a top-funnel audience. Intended to capture and qualify leads from high-traffic pages on the website.
Our Role: Full planning, drafting, design, and execution

Google Ad Grant Readiness Checklist

Strategy: Free checklist resource for a top-funnel audience. Intended to capture and qualify leads from high-traffic pages on the website.
Our Role: Full planning, drafting, design, and execution

Pre-Summer Checklist for Camp Directors

Strategy: Free checklist resource for a top-funnel audience. Intended to capture and qualify leads from high-traffic pages on the website.
Our Role: Full planning, drafting, design, and execution

Partnering with Nexus for Downloadable Resources

Want to integrate downloadable resources into your brand’s content marketing strategy? Or do you have outdated sales or lead nurture materials that need refreshed copy and visuals? We can help.

If you’re already a Nexus client, contact your Account Manager to discuss options for completing one-off PDF projects within your engagement hours. Temporary engagement expansions can also be developed for larger scale projects.

To make resource development a more sustained priority and to build out your website’s content funnel, consider launching a custom lead generation campaign.

These custom offerings allow you to mix and match from a range of lead generation deliverables. We’ll work with you to develop a quarterly strategy, and then you’ll receive fresh lead capture, lead nurture, and sales enablement assets each month.

Have any questions or ideas for how we can support your brand’s lead generation efforts?

Please contact us to learn more.