We have been witnessing unprecedented changes in the marketing world since the pandemic. Social media and digital means have overtaken traditional forms of marketing. By the year 2020, 3.6 billion people were active social media users. And as such, businesses are relying more on this ever-evolving landscape to generate leads and grow their brands. Once you’ve established your brand and have a successful customer engagement strategy on social media, your growth plan should target getting fresh leads.
What is lead generation, and what’s the role of social media?
A lead is essentially any information that lets you identify potential customers. Lead generation has been part of traditional marketing methods as well. But with the shift in marketing mediums, social media has become a critical part of lead generation strategy. Social media is proving to be a valuable channel for generating leads when used smartly. It enhances any lead generation program by improving community engagement, driving website traffic and turning potential customers into sales.
There is ample research available on video content’s effectiveness in boosting lead generation. Thanks to innumerable options of Video Ad Maker tools available, your digital marketing strategy can be built around lead generating video content.
What are the most effective ways to generate social media leads?
Marketers admit that the biggest challenge is generating leads to their websites. Therefore, it is important to understand how social media can play a role in generating these leads. If you have been looking for foolproof strategies to generate leads on social media, here’s a list of tried and tested techniques.
- Enticing landing pages
The landing page is quite often the first impression. A website that is simple to navigate and hold your attention often becomes a great source of lead collection. Landing pages should be visually simple to understand, with relevant content and easy access to all the right information. Customers are more inclined to leave their details behind when things are clear and uncomplicated.
- Relevant content
Sound content is essential for generating leads on social media. For establishing your authenticity and credibility, high-quality and relevant content is required. Providing value to the audience is the only way for businesses to thrive in the competitive digital environment. The direct sales pitch is an old approach. For your brand to stay distinct, the focus has to be creating content that offers value to the audience browsing through the overwhelming volume of information on social media.
- Gated Content
Simply put, it is the content for your target audience that requires a signup. It’s the easiest way to grow your email list. Gated content can be in the form of webinars, tutorials, e-books or free giveaways. This type of content brings in a focus list of leads. The key to success is to make the content desirable. A compelling description of the content on your landing page helps bring in signups to these contents.
- Offers and Contests
Offers and discounts are time tested marketing tools. Social media contests and promotions help you interact with the audience and get insight into buying trends and preferences. These initiatives are known to be lead magnets. They excite the audience and draw attention to your products and services. This type of content often goes viral and gets shared on social media at an impressive rate. Partnering with influencers and brands for these types of campaigns can open up more possibilities.
- Paid Ads
Organic lead collection can be limited. Social media ads can always supplement your efforts and boost the entire process. With paid advertising, you can reach your audience faster and tap the right demographics. It’s also easy to set goals and track them with social media ads. Comparatively cheaper than traditional advertising, this could be a worthwhile expense for your brand promotion and lead generation. With time, targeted ads can be a tool to save money and time in social media lead generation.
- Live Content
The global reach of social media can be taken advantage of when hosting formal or informal live events. Live content, in a way, is a precursor to gated content. It’s an opportunity to point the viewers towards the signup page and generate a more targeted lead list. Live question-answer sessions and webinars draw in an audience interested in your specific product or service. Virtual events also help you establish expertise in the fields and build trust. Live content can also be repurposed as embedded links on landing pages and used to generate leads.
- Customer Reviews and testimonials
Stories and testimonials from customers can benefit your brand value immensely. Hearing from like-minded viewers about the benefits of a product and service convinces people to trust the brand and enhances your credibility.
- Referral Programs
Even in the digital world, word-of-mouth has great potential to gain business leads. Referral campaigns are the most effective way to use this, along with testimonials. Buyers often trust the judgment of friends and family; referrals are a great way to take advantage of this faith. Enticing offers for referral programs will encourage existing customers to share their stories on social media along with the signup links.
- Measure and Monitor
Monitoring the success of your social media campaigns can be an insightful and proven strategy to gain valuable leads. Social listening should not be overlooked when working on lead generation plans. Free social media monitoring tools help you research audience engagement, competitive brands, relevant keywords and tags, all of which helps tweak your efforts for lead generation.
Lead generation has a significant part to play in digital marketing plans. While businesses are effortlessly generating brand awareness on social media, translating these efforts into valuable leads is a harder task. These discussed tricks to generate high-quality leads on social media can benefit your strategy if used right. Maximize your social media profile’s potential to generate leads that can turn into sales and contribute to your brand’s growth. Consistent presence with valuable and quality content and the tricks mentioned above can turn social media platforms into lead magnets for your business in no time.