With 3.6 billion people using social media worldwide, it’s become a powerful tool for businesses to reach and attract leads. Of course, your success depends on if you’re using the right tactics at the right time.
Want to learn the strategies to convert your audience into customers and get them interested in your brand? Read on to discover some of the best social media lead gen techniques being used today.
Why your business needs social media lead generation
A lead, as you probably know, is defined as any person who shows interest in your products or services. They’re not necessarily ready to convert, but they might have their email address or occupational details.
Lead generation helps you identify the social media audiences that are interested in you. When you know who exactly is interested, you’ve got leverage to target them with relevant content tailored to their interests.
It’s for this reason that 91% of marketers say that social media lead generation is their most important goal.
Top social media lead gen techniques for your business
Social media is a terrific channel to amplify lead generation. It raises brand awareness, boosts traffic to your website and builds community engagement.
So, how do you use social media to generate leads? Here are eight ways.
1) Targeted social media advertising
A simple, yet effective way to generate leads is to launch a social media advertising campaign. By using specific targeting options, you can present ads to your target audience that are tailored to their interests.
By promoting niche content, offering special discounts, and providing limited-time offers, social media advertising makes it easy to persuade potential customers to engage with you.
2) Lead generation advertisements
Lead gen ads take social media advertising one step further. By providing pre-populated forms, potential customers and clients can subscribe to your business without spending excessive time filling in personal information. A faster process inevitably improves your conversion rate. Then customers are rewarded with access to e-books, gated content and the like.
3) Virtual events
Hosting a virtual event – be it a Facebook Live, social media conference, webinar or hangout – can attract a highly relevant audience. It also positions you as an expert. By collecting information during the registration process, you’ll get relevant leads regardless of if they attend.
4) Contests and giveaways
An easy way to promote your product or service is to run a contest or giveaway. While this tactic has been around for a while, it continues to prove successful. Not only do these tactics generate a multitude of leads, but users are encouraged to share with their friends. As you can probably imagine, this elevates your reach even further.
5) Testimonials
Testimonials serve as the social proof required to generate new leads. Some leads require persuasion, and your brand’s value is confirmed when real-life clients demonstrate how they’ve benefitted from your offerings.
Nearly 8 in 10 people have watched a video testimonial to learn more about a company, product or service. The same study reported that 9 out of 10 people trust what a customer has to say about a business over what the business says about itself. Two out of three people said they’d be more likely to purchase after viewing a testimonial.
6) Video marketing
72% of customers say they’d prefer to learn about a product or service via video. Not only that, but 84% claim a company’s video persuaded them to make a purchase. For that reason, including videos as part of your social media strategy can help intrigue potential customers.
7) Social media listening
Social media listening consists of monitoring social media conversations to see what people are saying about a topic or brand.
Why does this matter? Understanding your audience, the pages and posts they follow, and their online conversations can help direct your digital marketing strategy. Of course, it’s good practice to monitor your brand’s reputation.
8) Referral campaigns
Did you know that 92% of customers trust the referrals they get from people they know? That’s why referral campaigns are yet another way to generate leads through social media.
Setting up a referral campaign is relatively easy, as most businesses need only offer a gift card or discount to customers who refer their friends. Sit back and watch the leads pile up.
To learn even more about lead generation, check out this Marketing 101 Q&A.
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