Generating Leads On Social Media: Answering the Why and How

Marketers use social media all the time to generate leads. And it doesn’t matter if you are just small time marketer promoting a business or even a professional network marketers. Social media is powerful and it is very effective in generating leads.
This post has two core mission: the first is to understand why generating leads on social media is important and the second part is how to generate real leads through social media platforms.
Are you ready dive into this topic?

 

Why is generating leads on social media important?

For starters, lead generation is expensive in many cases. And not only that, lead generation almost never guarantee high success rate. When combining both the cost and success rate of lead generation, people often think twice about going through this method.
However, put aside all the negativity, generating leads is always a vital step for any business. Billions of people use social media on a daily basis and it makes all the sense to invest time and effort in generating leads on social media. After all, there is no other platform in the world that people will literally gather all under one roof.
With today’s technology, generating leads on social media is way easier compared to years before. Nowadays, the cost is often times much lower and it could easily bring a better return on investment (ROI) for the marketers.
Plus, advertisements to generate leads could easily be reused over and over again which will further reduce the cost of the entire promotion.
Last but not least, social media is used by every walk of life. This means that you can literally target anyone under your radar on social media. With some tweaks, you can easily reach out to a wider range of audience and even make your investment (money) work harder for you!
 

How to generate leads on social media?

Lucky for you, there are many ways you can generate leads on social media. Here are some of the best ones.
 

Build strong network

In this case, you need to have a strong following or being known as an influencer within the niche. How this works is pretty simple.
You need to build a good reputation for yourself. The first step is to get more people to know who you are. Therefore, you need to take steps to connect with others within the industry.
Here is how you can do it:

  1. Follow influencers on Twitter (or any other social media platforms)
  2. Connect with them and show interest
  3. It is important to say “Hi” and be of value to your new connection
  4. Reach out to your followers when they need help
  5. Offer help, without hoping anything in return

A strong networking group is critical because it will help you in many different situations.
 

Sharing content by doing round ups

I have seen so many people doing round ups and this is a great way to generate leads. Round ups are great because the post will be shared through many channels and influencers. This means that the impact of the post will be amplified and you can easily reach a huge audience within a very short time period.
The first step is getting this done is to ensure that you have a good landing page. This is where everyone will be directed to, and to be kept informed once the roundup is done.
Now, this is where everything goes real fast and simple. Emails connected are automatically considered your leads and make sure that you embedded forms for others to sign up especially when they visit your roundup once it goes live. This is a great way to increase the lead generation process too!
 

Social media advertising for massive lead generation

Paid advertisements on social media are one of the best and most affordable methods to generate leads. With a small budget, you can easily grow and collect leads in multiple folds, assuming that you are able to provide a great offer to the audience.
When it comes to social media advertising, you have the options to choose various platforms to engage with. For example, you have Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to name a few. Targeting the right audience is critical because you want to make your money work hard for you.
How to start using social media advertising for lead generation?

  1. Create powerful banners and images (using Canva, PicMonkey or even Photoshop)
  2. Plan and execute content that will generate clicks and interest
  3. Provide an offer (or more) than is super tempting
  4. Have an email marketing tool that captures all the email addresses
  5. Use landing pages to further increase the conversion rate
  6. Use autoresponder to connect with your prospects

 

Social media profiles for lead generation

This is the last one and probably, the most obvious one. And to be honest, this is one of the biggest mistakes done by many!
When was the last time you update your social media profile? Bet it has been years, right?
One of the best ways to generate leads is through updating your social media profile. Allow me to share with you something I did last two weeks. I decided to update my LinkedIn profile and to make it more professional. Yes, I have overlooked LinkedIn for years and finally, took the initiative to get it done.
It took me quite a few days to update it but it was fine. Within two weeks, I got two direct lead generation for something I have been doing for a long time. They found me because through my LinkedIn profile. So, here’s what you need to understand.
People will need to find a reason to talk to you. And if they have no idea what you do and your experiences are, no one is going to contact you, ever!
You have two choices; to live and be found by others through the power of social media, or to live a quiet life under the radar.
 

Summary

I am really curious. What is your favorite method to generate leads? Do you use social media to generate quality leads? Leave a comment below and let’s discuss!
 
See also: Best Ways to Use Facebook Live to Generate Quality Leads