How to Generate Leads Through Social Media

Your phone is ringing. It’s a number you don’t recognise. Do you pick it up? If not, you’re not alone. As a society, we dread cold calls. Unwelcome interruptions right in the middle of the movie we’re watching. Or our evening meal. Not only are cold calls intrusive, but they don’t work. As a business, you need some way to speak to potential customers. But with cold calls off the table how do you connect? It’s time to learn how to generate leads through social media.

76% of buyers are ready to have a conversation on social media. It’s, therefore, the perfect place to connect with potential customers. Not only is social media the ideal place to foster a friendly conversation, it also gives customers the power to decide when they respond. There are no more mid-movie interruptions. Just a friendly connection between business and customer. Not every single conversation will turn into a lead. But we have a few suggestions on how to generate leads through social media. Let’s help you turn those potential customers into active and engaged members of your community.

How to Generate Leads with Gated Content

Gated content is exactly what it sounds like. Content that’s hidden behind a virtual gate. By entering their contact information, interested readers can gain access. It’s one of the most valuable ways to generate leads through social media. Indeed, it often works in collaboration with other methods. However, gated content only works if what you’re offering provides value to your target audience. So, take some time to really think about what you can offer your core audience. This could take the form of a free guide, a trial or exclusive content, for example.

Most leads only take a few seconds to decide whether they’re interested. So, be sure your social posts are interesting. Marketing specialist, Guy Kawasaki, believes, “ every post,other than a response or comment, should have a picture or video. That’s one of the most important things to remember.” Catching the eye of your potential customers is the key to getting them to your gated content.

Running Social Media Contests to Generate Leads

Running a contest is a really great way to drum up attention and leads for your business. But how do you filter out the freebie seekers? The honest answer is that you can’t. But that doesn’t mean a contest isn’t a valuable strategy when you’re thinking of how to generate leads through social media.

There are ways to minimise the chances of your leads being purely prize seekers. For instance, make the prize something that is specifically valuable to people with the highest potential to become your customer. If it’s not much value to anyone else, they’ll shy away. Giving away the latest iPhone, for example, might grab you a viral post. However, the value of the leads is diminished because they’re not genuinely interested in anything other than the prize. It’s far better to offer something like a free or extended trial of your service, or an upgrade to a higher tier.

The quickest way to run a contest is to allow people to enter by retweeting, sharing, liking or following. While this will generate a lot of entrants, you’ll only gain access to the information that’s publically available on their social media profiles. Combining the competition with a landing page is a far better way to ensure your leads are valuable. While this extra step will generate fewer entries, it provides data of a much higher value. With this in mind, it’s always good to remember that social media marketing is about quality, not quantity.

Social Media Advertising for Lead Generation

It’s a question most businesses ask themselves when considering how to generate leads through social media. Is paid advertising worth it?

It’s a good question. It can be tempting to rely on organic social media posts to build your community. After all, what better value is there than free? However, paid-for advertising lets you target a core group. With it, you can collect leads from laser-focused groups of potential customers.

As social media algorithms develop to deliver a user-first experience, the focus has shifted in favour of the freshest, most valuable content for each individual user. Purchasing advertising space means that your advert doesn’t just rely on a ‘spam everyone’ approach. Instead, it delivers your content to the most valuable audience for your product.

How to Generate Leads Through Social Media Events

Hosting an event is a great way to get noticed. It’s also the perfect way to create gated content. Webinars are one of the best-performing types of gated content. They provide high value content in return for personal details. The beauty of a webinar is that it’s directly created to appeal to your core audience. So, anyone who joins and provides their contact details is a highly valuable lead.

It’s not just webinars, though. 80% of people on social media prefer to watch a video instead of reading a post. So, if you’re not creating video content, you’re missing out. Live sessions are a great way to establish a connection with your audience. If you create a compelling and engaging video, then your audience will remember you for longer. What could be better than an engaged community and a longer shelf life for your lead generation? It’s certainly an easy approach to adopt when looking at how to generate leads through social media.

Whether you host a webinar, an AMA session, or just a live chat with your followers, we recommend gating it. A quick Facebook or Youtube live session will gather viewers. But remember, you’ll only have access to their readily available social media info. It’s far better to direct them to a landing page that requires contact information to gain access.

Are You Social Listening?

If you’re not engaged in social media listening you could be missing out on highly valuable opportunities to generate leads. You’re also missing out on direct customer feedback. And the chance to respond to questions, comments, and complaints.

Successful social media marketing isn’t just about creating a post and sending it out into the world. It’s about keeping a virtual ear to the ground. Use it to understand your industry, your competitors, and also who’s talking about you.

It only takes a few minutes to set up a few core keywords to help you monitor how your business and industry is performing. But how does it help you generate leads?

By keeping an eye on relevant hashtags and chats about your industry, you can join conversations and establish yourself as an expert in your field. Position yourself as a go-to resource for your product. You’ll soon find people seek you out with their questions. And t hese people are some of the most valuable leads available. So don’t miss out on the chance to connect with them.

It’s the beauty of social media. The more you connect with your customers, the more customers you’ll have to connect with.

Enjoyed this article? Get more insight, tips, opinions, and need-to-know info on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.