Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogs are not just social channels anymore. Internet users are spending more time on Facebook than any other web brand combined! These platforms work well for marketing, communicating, and sharing knowledge. If you use social media correctly, you can use it to your advantage and generate leads for sales.
Before you begin to generate leads properly on the web, you must be aware the issues and concerns that social media brings to the table. As you increase your social media activity you will increase the marketing ‘noise’ around your brand, which makes it harder to stand out. Not having a strategy leads to not bringing in the right leads and may bring no leads at all. Most businesses engage with their leads initially, but don’t have a long-term strategy in place to convert their fans into sales. All of these issues can be avoided if you use social media properly to your advantage to generate leads.
Do your research
Direct your content to your target audience. Make sure that you have a clear, consistent, and persuasive focus.
Avoid acting short-term
Develop a clear strategy for your social media activity that relates to your business goals, your sales strategy, and your company’s value proposition. Think long-term and what it is you want to achieve in the long run.
Drive people from your social media mediums to your site
Introduce them to product pages or useful content. Make your audience engage on a deeper level, and gather information from them so you can use the information and convert it to a sale.
Always actively engage with an interested individual, whether they are interested in your product or even just your content. If you have good, rich content, your target audience will engage without a fight.
In order to generate leads on Facebook, share links and content from your product site on your page. This will direct them towards your site and lead to sales. Include call-to-action buttons, a Facebook “Like” plugin, and share buttons. Get more likes on your page by holding a contest or “Follow Me” buttons.
Focus on your target audience as much as possible. Build a follower list by tweeting consistently, posting interesting tweets, and using great content. Tweet links to your site so that fans can turn to sales.
This social tool is professional based, and you will find businesses looking for other business owners, making connections, and generating business. LinkedIn is built for leads to find you, not the other way around. You need to have a strong profile that tells your story. Along with adding videos and adding all the necessary content, ask for leads. Be clear what you are looking for on your profile page, and mention you are looking for connections. Participate in group discussions of your target audience. Use the advanced search to explore specific companies and industries to generate leads.
Blogs
Pay attention to who is visiting your site. First-time visitors are what you should be after in order to generate leads. Put an irresistible call-to-action next to content on your page that shows top posts, or most interesting content. Get rid of unnecessary information such as a blog roll and comments. Get a keyword analysis done and create keyword-rich content that will help with search engine optimization. This will allow people to find you easier on Google.
Social media is something business and sales agents can no longer ignore. By 2014, social networking services will replace email as the primary vehicle for interpersonal communications for 20% of business users.
There are plenty of tactics you can take to generate leads, but remember that social media is growing and your business won’t grow without integrating it into your marketing strategy.
