Social media. Doing it is time-consuming. Doing it well can be tedious, laborious, and frustrating. Now imagine, pouring all that time and effort into your social media channels only to have no return? I’ve watched horror movies that scared me less than that last sentence…
Generating leads is the marketer’s end goal for social media. You want people to buy what you’re selling, whether that’s a product, a service, or something else. The object of being on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like is to get interaction which you can turn into sales, or “conversions” if you want to get technical. The way to do this? Generating leads. A lead is someone you come into contact with, either by reaching out or drawing them in, who will ultimately end up taking what you’re offering.
Is generating leads easy? It can be if you know how to work it. I’m going to give you a few tips for lead generation, but the most important thing I can tell you is to avoid appearing like a salesman at all costs. Do NOT ping people out of the blue and say “You look like someone who needs my product!” You’ll look like a robot, one that will probably spread a virus to their computer.
Also, be sure that what you’re putting on your feed is what audiences are going to want to see. It should be professional but skillfully implement the tone you’re going for. Research the kinds of posts your audience interacts with.
Now that we have the basics out of the way, some advice for getting into the nitty-gritty of lead generation.
Know Your Channels
This may sound obvious, but it’s something I find most non-professional marketers fail to keep in mind. Tailor your networking approach for the social media channels that you’re using. Your strategy should not be the same for both Facebook and Instagram, two platforms that serve different purposes and wildly different demographics.
If your company’s business is mostly B2B, Facebook is not the appropriate format to be reaching out to potential leads on. You will come across as spammy. LinkedIn is where you would want to go looking for leads who are professionals that could benefit from your product or service. InMail that is more upfront about its sales-centric approach is much less likely to get ignored there. Still, though, be careful about the tone you’re using.
Bring Your Followers to You
Social media is great for maintaining an audience and getting eyes on your brand, but if you want to build leads and get much-needed sales, social media isn’t really the ideal platform for transactions. The best way to get conversions is to take your lead from social media to somewhere you have more control.
A landing page is an ideal format for this. Something simple that only gives your lead two options: convert or don’t. Taking the reader to a landing page on your site eliminates the distraction of social media and puts their eyes directly in front of your product. It’s not difficult to do this; say you’re trying to get someone to sign up for your webinar. At the end of your post, include a call to action that reads “To learn more, watch our quick, free webinar!” and then a link to your landing page where all they’ll see is the option to watch the webinar. Bait the line, reel them in, don’t give them the opportunity for distraction.
Make Use of Targeted Ads
The major social media sites offer the ability to target ads to specific sets of audiences. Putting your brands right in front of the eyes of potential customers within your demographic only helps your conversion rate, and lowers your bounce rate by not leading uninterested customers through the process.
The world of targeted ads is vast and deserving of its own blog, but they are the closest thing to a safe bet you can get through advertising on social media. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram offer a pretty wide array of options for ad presentation, many of which cut steps out of the process, making it more like that potential customers will make it over the conversion finish line.
If this all sounds a little overwhelming, that’s because it is! I get it, this isn’t the kind of thing you as a business owner want to be dealing with. My team at The Go! Agency has the experience of working on many campaigns just like yours, and we can easily accomplish the goals you have in mind for your brand. All you have to do is call!
