Social media serves as a great tool in most areas of marketing, but many entrepreneurs and marketers find it falls flat when it comes to lead generation. While much of that boils down to common lead generation blunders, the other part of it boils down to social media users not knowing how to reel in new customers through these platforms.
Believe it or not, there are hundreds of powerful ways you can employ social media channels to become a lead magnet. In this post, we look at seven of them.
1. Listen to Relevant Conversations
Use a social media monitoring tool like HootSuite to set up alerts for your brand name, competitors, products, and industry related topics. You can then monitor these streams to identify influencers you should build relationships with, questions you can answer, and problems you can solve. You never know when reaching out to help a stranger will turn into a valuable lead.2. Take Your Virtual Communication Offline
Sometimes target prospects don’t want to connect via social media. They need that personal touch—the phone conversation or face-to-face meeting that wins their trust. You’re missing a valuable opportunity if you haven’t yet made your offline contact details available on your networking profiles. Set up a schedule of posts to let your audience know the value of connecting with you in the real world.
3. Leverage Social Ads
If there are funds in your budget, consider paid advertising options on social media platforms. Promoted content on Facebook, self-serve CPC ads on LinkedIn, or sponsored Tweets on Twitter can go a long way to increasing exposure for your brand, driving traffic, and generating leads. To get the most out of your social ads make certain you use a strong call to action, a dedicated landing page designed for high conversions, and ad targeting options that ensure you reach a high-quality audience.
4. Use Free Offerings
Promoting free eBooks, guides, white papers, and other branded materials via social media is an excellent tactic that should form part of every good lead generation program. Make sure the link you post along with your promotional snippet directs users to a compelling landing page with a lead capture form.
5. Create Promotions
Contests, sweepstakes, giveaways, discounts, and other promotions offer a highly effective way to engage fans, increase social conversions, and accumulate qualified leads. The bonus is that contest entries will provide a pool of unique, user-generated content you can use for future marketing communications. Make sure you explore all the options available through the social platform you’re using and that you abide by any contest hosting guidelines the site has set.
6. Participate In Twitter Chats, LinkedIn Groups and Google+ Hangouts
A huge part of using social media for lead generation requires you to interact with your audience. If you’re not putting yourself in front of your target market, engaging in meaningful conversations, and building authority, then you shouldn’t expect to run a successful lead generation program.
Google+ Hangouts, Twitter Chats, and LinkedIn Groups are three of the most powerful features you can use to engage relevant communities. As you participate, be sure to identify potential leads and search for opportunities to connect with them. Answer their questions in public, and then follow up with a private message. Whatever you do, get to know the ins and outs of these tools and how you can use them to build strong, long-lasting relationships with qualified prospects.
7. Encourage Social Sharing
Easier said than done, right? The first things you want to look at are ways to increase the virality of your content. When you create pieces that compel people to share with their networks, you effectively amplify your brand’s exposure, boost traffic, and improve your potential to generate leads.
The next thing you want to do is ensure you provide an opportunity to share. Make sure you embed social sharing buttons into your free offerings so readers can quickly and conveniently share snippets of valuable information and a link to the relevant landing page.
Once you start to generate leads through social media, it’s imperative to evaluate and measure your results. Figure out which traffic sources, social media channels, and types of content deliver the highest number of page views. Assess the keywords visitors use, as well as the content they see, before they convert to leads. When you start to understand the conversion path people take, you’ll be able to tie your lead generation efforts with your lead nurturing plan.
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