How to Generate Leads Through Social Media

March 15, 2016

social-1148035_1280Businesses should always be looking for new ways to generate leads, and one of the best ways to do so is to utilize social media platforms. However, only 39% of B2B marketers are using Twitter and Facebook to generate leads! To start capturing leads on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, use these tips:


Facebook

Why should small businesses use Facebook? The average cost-per-click on Google Adwords, a popular choice for many small businesses, is $ 2.50 compared to $ 0.80 on Facebook.


Lead Generation Ad


Facebook has slowly but surely turned into a pay-to-play platform where businesses that choose to rely on organic reach are no longer successful. Perhaps the most effective way to generate leads through Facebook is to use the lead generation ad created through Facebook Power Editor. At first glance, these ads visually appear to be the same as basic Facebook ads. However, instead of asking the user to like the business’s page, this ad asks users to sign up, subscribe or join. Once users click on the ad, they are taken to a custom contact form within Facebook to enter their personal information which is then sent to the business paying for the ad. These ads are perfect for increasing newsletter subscribers, advertising a free downloadable information pamphlet, or encouraging users to sign up for a no-cost consultation.


Contests


Offering a discounted product or giving a service away for free is a great way to attract customers and capture leads. One way to do this is to create a custom tab with a contact information form on your business’s Facebook page using a tool called Shortstack. Once it’s created, businesses should promote its existence through Facebook posts encouraging users to visit the tab and fill out the form to enter the contest. If this sounds too complicated, another option would be to simply post details about a contest and link to a third party form using a tool called Jotform. That way, everything is done in one post and users do not have to click through to your page, find the tab and then enter their information.


Twitter

Twitter demographics skew older than other social media platforms, so this may be the right platform depending on your business.


Lead Generation Cards


Similar to lead generation ads on Facebook, Twitter has lead generation cards available to business accounts. When this feature was first released, a company called Rock/Creek was able to generate over 1,700 email leads within one week! Twitter has very precise targeting options available so businesses can tap into even the narrowest of markets with these ad campaigns.


LinkedIn

About 64% of corporate website traffic generated by social media is attributable to LinkedIn, and 80% of B2B social media leads come through this platform, too.


Groups


There are thousands of groups within LinkedIn, including many that are unique to different industries. Join groups that are relevant to your business and you instantly have the attention of other players in your field. This gives you the opportunity to engage and connect with people you otherwise would not have had the chance to meet.


Show your expertise


In order to become known as a thought leader in your industry, you have to create consistent, valuable content to share with your network. Become the go-to resource for other users on a wide variety of topics within your field and post helpful infographics, presentations and blog articles. This will not only drive traffic to your personal page, but also to your business’s page. After all, over 50% of businesses have a content marketing strategy, and you should definitely be a part of this majority.


Have you had success generating leads through social media? What are your favorite tactics?

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