For most businesses being able to generate leads through social media. 73% of U.S. adults use YouTube, and 68% of them use Facebook. ¾ of those Facebook users access the platform on a daily basis. 78% of 18- to 24-year olds use Snapchat.
Those are only part of the latest stats provided by the Pew Research Center. On a global level, the percentages may be smaller. Nevertheless, social media platforms are still going strong and people are nowhere near the idea to stop using them.
That’s where businesses focus their marketing efforts. They target their audience on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media platforms. But is this process as simple as sharing information about your brand and waiting for people to buy what you offer? Not exactly!
People use social media with two main intentions: to get informed and to have fun. When we say get informed, we don’t mean getting informed on stuff they want to buy. People mainly use social media to get the news. When we say have fun, we don’t mean shopping fun. We mean cute dogs and cats. And babies!
So it’s not easy to turn this audience into sales leads. You’ll have to make a lot of effort to generate leads through social media. The good news is that it’s a possible mission. We’ll give you important tips on how to do it.
1. Focus on Creating a Community
The term social is pretty much self-explanatory. People use social media because they want to connect with like-minded individuals. They don’t necessarily like connecting with businesses. But you know what? They would love to connect with the communities of brands they identify with.
Let’s take Coachella Festival as an example, they created leads through social media campaigns. This is a business, but it’s not how people see it. They see it as a community they are part of.
The Facebook page has over 2 million followers. You’ll see them commenting, asking for advice, and sharing their opinions with each other.
That’s the kind of relationship you want to build with your social media audience.
● The conversation should be focused on values. Coachella is all about that youthful vibe, fun, and excitement. Alo Yoga, as another good example of brand-building a community around its name, promotes the values of mindfulness.
That’s what the talk on their Instagram page is about. That’s the secret to the high levels of engagement they get.
● Use social media groups! You can create a closed Facebook group for your followers, so they can feel free to share what they don’t want to share with the entire world.
It’s very active, and the members are always sharing their thoughts on the books they’ve read. They won’t do that on the official Amazon fan page, but they are more than willing to do that in a community that feels like home.
2. Be That Go-To Page
When you check out the pages we listed above, you’ll notice they are not about promoting a business. They are all about the audience.
If someone wants tips on how to practice yoga, they can ask in a comment on Alo Yoga’s Instagram and some of the other members will definitely answer.
That’s the point you want to reach. You want people to come to you when they have questions. When you have such an authority as a business, people will start making purchases and you won’t even have to invite them to take action.
How do you build such an authority?
● Content! You need an integrated blog at your website, and you need to keep publishing high-quality content that provides solutions. If you don’t have a great team of writers and editors who can make that happen, there are cheap writing services you may count on.
● Where do social media get into the picture? Well, that’s where you’ll be promoting those blog posts. Each of them should trigger engagement, so pay attention to the description you write.
You want people to notice those posts, and you certainly need them to follow the link to your website. There, they will find content that gives them the information they need.
if they keep seeing this type of content in their feeds, they will start recognizing your brand. They will remember the page and they will come to you with their questions and that is how you create leads through social media.
RELATED: 3 Powerful Social Media Strategy For Your Brand
3. Use the Power of Influencers
So what do you do when you don’t have many followers on social media? Paid advertising is an option. You’ll get your ad featured in people’s feeds, and many of them will be interested if you make it attractive enough.
Is that where you should stop? No! Influencers already have their huge communities, which you can attract your way if you play your cards well.
Are you following influencers on social media? Of course, you are! No matter what types of interests you have, you can find an influencer who delivers content related to them.
We all love influencers because they give us cool stuff to share and comment on. Plus, they give us tips on what to buy. That’s exactly why businesses can profit from them.
If, for example, a popular tech blog recommends a certain brand of laptops and accompanies that recommendation with a lengthy review, people will trust that influencer.
Naturally, this person will be sharing their honest opinion about the laptop, but that doesn’t mean they are not being paid by the brand to do that.
The manufacturer sends a package with the laptop and probably provides some kind of financial compensation in return for their praise. The followers get the recommendation and they consider the brand when they plan to purchase a laptop.
Easy. Effective!
● Focus on your niche! You want influencers that have the same target audience as you do.
● Use a tool like Deep Social to find such influencers. Pick the ones you’d like to target and start outreaching.
● You have to write personalized messages. Explore the activity of these influencers, so you can find something that triggers their interest in your brand.
Remember: they will be sharing their honest opinion with the audience, so they must like your brand if you want this method to deliver results.
No one said it would be easy.
4. Make the most of lead generation ads
Take your social media advertising one step further with lead gen ads. These are ads that come with pre-populated forms so people can easily finish signing up without spending too much time entering their personal information. This saves time, speeds up the lead generation process and can significantly boost your conversion rate.
In fact, Lead Gen Forms on LinkedIn have a 13% average conversion rate while landing pages see about 2.35% conversions on average. Types of lead generation ads are also available for Facebook and Instagram as well.
Here’s a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form example. The form fields are pre-filled using details that the prospect has already included on their LinkedIn profile, so the process is frictionless both for your reader to access the content easily, and for you to collect the lead information.
5. Leverage social media sponsorships
Instead of using paid ads, you could also attract leads from the social media content that your target audience is already consuming. Consider sponsoring shows, content and YouTube channels that are popular with your target audience.
That way, you can get a reputable content creator to talk about your brand, product or service even for just a couple of minutes. This can be much more engaging than forcing ads in front of an audience that might not even engage with it.
6. Launch a referral campaign
Referral campaigns can be highly effective in doubling your sales leads. These campaigns provide an incentive to your leads for referring their friends and/or colleagues. That means the referred people will get to learn about your products or services and potentially become additional leads.
To make this work, you could provide an attractive incentive such as a gift card, a free gift or a discount in exchange for the referral.
For example, MasterClass came up with a referral campaign that allowed people to get a free annual membership when they get one as a gift. It then promoted this campaign through social media in the form of organic posts and paid ads.
6. Make the most of social listening
Look for lead generation opportunities with effective social listening. Monitor social media conversations and see what people are saying about a certain topic or a competitor brand. This will help you identify any opportunities to generate high-quality leads for your business.
For instance, someone complaining about a competitor’s product might appreciate an alternative. And someone asking for recommendations will definitely love to hear your suggestion. On top of this, people asking about your brand and products will love your proactive approach when you step in to address their concerns.
