It may sound like preaching to the choir, but recent studies suggest we make up over 45% of the world population on social media – that’s a mind-boggling 3.6 billion people. On average, we spend 3 hours per day on social networking. And it is very likely to find our next customer here as well. How soon we reach them and generate leads through social media with a powerful message of their interest makes all the difference.
Organizations are aware of the presence of their audience on social media. This is why around 40% invest in social media for new business/lead generation. The kicker is you don’t necessarily need to be an organization to reap its benefits. We can make the most of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest to put the message out in the right way to the right audience at the right time to generate maximum leads.
Here lies the challenge.
With the availability of many social media platforms, overwhelming online traffic, and a saturated marketplace, where do you start, and how do you proceed to generate leads through social media that last?
Gain attention with the first move, the lead magnet
Society as a whole responds to reasonable trade. We need to be able to offer something of value to pique the interest of our audience. This offer can be in any form – a discount, a privilege, a free consultation, a whitepaper report, a demo, or a content piece that will add value to their knowledge in exchange for their information. If done tactfully, this can reap great dividends. This is a lead magnet designed to help your audience while allowing you to determine who they are.
For example, we helped a client in the logistics business by creating a lead magnet about how companies can tackle logistics when starting/setting up an e-commerce venture. You might have also seen marketing agencies publishing industry reports that inform their prospective customers and thus generate leads through social media for their organization.
Lead magnets ideally should be resources that your target audience actually use when they download or sign up for it.
Speak directly to ‘your’ audience to generate leads through social media
If we are not speaking to the right people, our campaign falls flat. Identifying the right target audience and a precise definition of who we are selling to gives the perfect launch to the sprint. If you are thinking of a Linkedin Campaign, create a buyers persona by asking a few questions about
- Job title of decision-maker
- Type of organization
- Industry they serve
- Number of employees
- Revenue / turnover
- Location
- Challenges faced
- Desired business outcomes
With a properly tuned target market in mind, it is easier to speak a language they understand. It will feel like the right fit with room for conversation towards providing sustainable solutions. This mindset will enable your audience to find you, rather than the other way round and will be cost-effective to both parties involved.
Build an outcome-driven personalized campaign
One of the recent aspects of marketing that speaks to us is personalization. For generating leads, the focus should not just be on lead quantity but also lead quality. The quality of leads gives us an impression of the chances of lead conversion, i.e., the leads becoming customers. So, your intent and efforts should be towards attracting high-quality leads. By creating personalized content and messages, in a way you speak their language, build familiarity and connect with them, ultimately guiding them down the customer funnel. Personalization is, therefore, a tool with which you can offer a solution that can address customer pain points and help them with solutions you can provide thus converting your prospect to a customer.
It doesn’t end with campaigns | Nurture them leads
Getting people to sign up and enter their information into your database is just the start. Remember not to take undue advantage of these prospects and spam them to purchase a product, as they may be at different points of their buying journey. It is better to ask your prospects if they found the content helpful, encourage them to ask questions, and engage in conversations. Sure closing a deal is important, but fostering relationships regardless of a sale is a healthy way of helping business grow.
The aim is to identify the highest quality leads and find the right time to ask for the sale. Nurturing leads involves enabling brand awareness, strengthening trust, informing leads about your products or services, and engaging on a deeper level than it takes to generate leads through social media.
I hope you found this useful. Do share your thoughts/questions and if there is a digital marketing related topic you think I should cover.
