Social media has long been a method of engaging customers, but it can also be a powerful lead generator. When most businesses think of social media, they see cat and viral Buzzfeed videos, but they underestimate its true potential.
Social media is a direct line to your customers, and through leveraging these helpful tips, you can transform it from customer engagement to lead generation. Businesses want and need qualified sales leads, and with social media, you’ve got a captive audience already tuned in to your company.
Show people your gated content
You spent a significant amount of time and effort to create your gated content. It’s the best content you have and the perfect way to get people to sign up for your newsletter. The problem is, people must be on the site to see it.
Social media is an ideal and free way to get your gated content into the hands of existing and future customers. Share the link to your gated content and LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media avenues become lead generators.
They’ve liked your page, or you’ve boosted the post to target a wider audience. It’s the perfect way to pique their interest and send them along the sales funnel.
People love a good competition
Contests and giveaways make the perfect fodder for lead generation and engagement. It’s like getting two birds with one stone. The contest or giveaway doesn’t have to be about free entries. Ask them to share stories about your product or how they would use your product or service.
You can have them sign up for your newsletter as part of the entry. You’re putting your product or service front of mind and engaging their sense of competition. Everyone wants to be a winner. Offering your followers a contest can generate numerous sales leads at one time.
Advertising on social media
Many people think Google Ads is the only real avenue for pay-per-click and display advertising, but every social media platform has their own version of pay per click and other advertising. You can use the ads to bring people to your gated content, boost your post for contests and gain new followers.
LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and more all have advertising methods. They can laser target potential customers and send them along the sales funnel. That’s the beauty of the advertising platforms.
You can target by various demographics to make sure the ad is seen only by people interested in your product.
Core principals of social media lead generation
These are all methods of lead generation on social media, but it takes more than just offering up content or your gated content. There are certain ways it must be done to make it work. These are the core principals of social media lead generation.
- You need to be sociable and gain followers. For this to work, you need to be interactive with people and have content people want to see. If you don’t have followers, not many people will see you lead generating material.
- Quality followers are what count. The content must be good, but it is also must be targeted at people who want to buy. A hundred quality followers are worth 1,000 casual followers.
- Create action with your posts. You don’t need a direct call to action in your posts, but creating actionable posts is crucial to lead generation.
- Be clear and concise. Don’t confuse or be tricky. You may think you’re being clever, but customers need a clear, brief message if they’re going to be a quality lead.
- Posts should be relevant. Your posts should be targeted, timely specific and actionable.
- Be different. Your social media doesn’t have to be all about your industry or be dry information. Feel free to liven things up and differentiate your brand from the rest.
- Build relationships. Trust is earned and not given. If you want to turn your social media followers to leads, then gain their trust through engagement and interaction.
AccelSocial can help you turn your social media accounts into lead generating machines. Contact us and let us show you what we can do.