Strategies for Generating Leads Through Social Media
If you are looking to expand your business and get some customers and new revenue coming your way, you may want to consider generating leads by using a social media platform. There are several ways to do this, and of course there are multiple social media platforms to choose from. Below, we’ll go over a few lead-generating strategies that will have new customers and income flooding to your business.
Choosing the Right Social Media Platforms
Once you have decided try generating quality leads through social media, you need to make sure that the platforms you choose are the right ones for your business. There are so many platform available, from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn and more. Making sure you know which one is the best to target your customer base will increase your odds of getting good quality leads.
A good start for learning which platforms to use comes from taking a look at B2B (direct business to business) marketers. Some surveys have shown that businesses find the most success with leads through LinkedIn and Facebook. If you are unsure about which sites contain your targeted audience, you can look at analytics data for each. This post lays the demographics out pretty clearly for the major sites.
Using Facebook
If you decide to use Facebook as your platform, the first thing you need to do is take your Facebook page seriously. Use it as a sales page, not a personal one. Host the free sample offers and giveaways here, as this is the platform that most people are likely to share your promotions on or compete with their friends in an online contest. Basically any type of contest or giveaway you can think of is a great way to get names and emails from potential leads on Facebook. It’s also super easy for your audience to share the promotion with their friends for even more reach.
You will most likely have to invest in some Facebook ads at some point if you really want to reach your target market on that site. The nice thing about this is that ads bought on Facebook are less than half the price-per-click than if you were to use AdWords (about $0.80 per click compared to $2.50). So if you want to use advertisements to generate leads, then Facebook is a relatively cheap option.
Using Twitter
Not as seasoned a social media platform as Facebook, Twitter is still fairly new to the game. This means that it can and most than likely will go through some major changes as it develops. Even so, Twitter can really help you generate quality leads, as it is one of the most-used social platforms out there.
To accomplish this, you should use Twitter cards. This is a similar system to Facebook ads. Take full advantage of these cards by choosing the best image for whatever you are promoting and be sure to keep the content short and sweet.
Another great option for connecting with your audience on Twitter is by using its Live Events, which is a way to directly communicate live with your audience. Maybe think about hosting a bi-weekly or monthly 'ask me anything' event. If you end your chats with a plug for your lead-generating campaign, it offers you a big value without directly advertising for your company.
Using LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the platform that gives you the most direct access to your peers. It is the option that gives you the most leads for B2B, so logically it is one of the first places you should start for generating leads. It was also recently acquired by Microsoft, so this means that even more professionals will be using the platform to network and connect with each other in the future.
Keep in mind that LinkedIn was built for professionals and business owners to connect. This differs from Facebook and Twitter, which were built for and are used mostly by people looking to casually connect with friends and coworkers.
Offer free samples
One great trick for directly connecting with potential leads is to offer them free samples in return for some information. Everyone loves freebies! These types of campaigns are just the thing that people like sharing on their social media pages. Offering a quality sample with a quick form to fill out at the front to capture some good lead data is great. Make sure you have an option at the end of the form where they can then share the free sample offer on their personal page to all their followers.
Aside from the free sample offer, you can also run a giveaway campaign where the person is asked to enter some information in exchange for exclusive content. This can lead to success for both you and those who participated. The participant got educational or entertaining exclusive content, while you got new names and leads.
Discount Codes
Discount codes fall under a similar idea as offering a free sample or running a short contest. Try offering a discount code for a product of yours after the viewer fills out a short form. If you place a clear call to action or time limit on this discount code as you promote it, you create a sense of urgency for the person to fill out the form as well as share it with others, so that can choose to get the discount before the time expires. Many consumer companies are using this tactic as well, as it costs less than running the discount ads elsewhere. You can use this technique to easily generate leads that you can use later for email promotions and other outreach projects.
In short, knowing which social media platforms best fit your target market and which strategy to use while promoting is key. It's always a great idea to try different methods and see which ones work best for you and your business. Also note that while generating quality leads is not fool-proof, by following these ideas, you will generate more leads and higher quality leads across all the social media platforms. If you want more information on SEO, social media, blogging, and more, check out Virtual Market Advantage’s blog here!
