Social media is a great way to not only generate exposure for a business and website, but also generate high-quality leads. The question for many business owners is which social media tools will provide the biggest benefit and how to go about using it to their advantage. Here are some of the tools that you can use and how to get the most out of them.
The first social media tool is Facebook. With more than 800 million active users, Facebook could possibly be the most important social media asset to generate leads for your business Studies show that more-and-more people “like” products, services and businesses on the site. By setting up a business page on Facebook, people can spread the word about your business. Most people also use Facebook by default so it is easier for them to spot updates about your business than through other avenues such as email or direct mail.
Twitter is another tool you can use to help generate more leads. Rather than making short tweets about news or deals on your site, use the site to post links to valuable content. People will appreciate your post and will be happy to give you their information once they are on your site as well as re tweet your post to their followers. This can quickly turn into a short burst of incoming leads.
YouTube is another great social media site to help you generate leads for your business. Many businesses ignore YouTube because they feel they would not have time to make videos on a regular basis. Creating videos is really simple and can even be outsourced. If you post a video with great content, you can lead the viewer back to your site in order to collect a lead. By properly optimizing and promoting your videos, they will show up in the top results for specific search terms.
There are many other websites that you can use such as Yelp.com, LinkedIn and Tumblr. The most important ones are Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for most businesses. However, certain industries and markets will find that sites like Yelp and LinkedIn are worth investing their time and resources in as it is very profitable to do so.
When it comes to generating leads, promoting your business and sharing content on these social media sites is only part of the equation. It is also important to have your own blog where visitors can be directed to from your social media assets. Once on your blog, visitors can digest more of your content and grow to like and trust your business.
You can get even more leads by adding incentive for people to subscribe or submit their information. The easiest way to add value in this case is by offering whitepapers. Offering a short yet valuable and relevant report in exchange for a few pieces of the visitor’s information (i.e. name, email, telephone number, etc.) action can turn more of your visitors into solid leads you can follow up with regularly through a simple CRM tool like AddressTwo.
You can also segment your leads by offering multiple whitepapers and having visitors submit their information for the one they are most interested in. In short order, you will build multiple lists with each one giving you an idea of what the person is interested in. The advantage of this is that it allows you to follow up with your leads with the right products, services and content.
Event-based marketing can also be a great way to add tons of leads in a short amount of time. Announcing a high-quality Webinar will entice visitors to submit their information so they can sign up and get the schedule of the Webinar. This is more of an event rather than a simple white paper so it will gain more attention.
You have to make sure that you tie in everything together when using social media for lead generation. For example, you can post on Twitter linking to a valuable blog post. Once the visitor reaches the blog post and reads through it, there can be a request to submit their information in return for a whitepaper. On your blog, there will be options to subscribe to your Facebook, Twitter and YouTube since you never know where the traffic is coming from.
The first social media tool is Facebook. With more than 800 million active users, Facebook could possibly be the most important social media asset to generate leads for your business Studies show that more-and-more people “like” products, services and businesses on the site. By setting up a business page on Facebook, people can spread the word about your business. Most people also use Facebook by default so it is easier for them to spot updates about your business than through other avenues such as email or direct mail.
Twitter is another tool you can use to help generate more leads. Rather than making short tweets about news or deals on your site, use the site to post links to valuable content. People will appreciate your post and will be happy to give you their information once they are on your site as well as re tweet your post to their followers. This can quickly turn into a short burst of incoming leads.
YouTube is another great social media site to help you generate leads for your business. Many businesses ignore YouTube because they feel they would not have time to make videos on a regular basis. Creating videos is really simple and can even be outsourced. If you post a video with great content, you can lead the viewer back to your site in order to collect a lead. By properly optimizing and promoting your videos, they will show up in the top results for specific search terms.
There are many other websites that you can use such as Yelp.com, LinkedIn and Tumblr. The most important ones are Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for most businesses. However, certain industries and markets will find that sites like Yelp and LinkedIn are worth investing their time and resources in as it is very profitable to do so.
When it comes to generating leads, promoting your business and sharing content on these social media sites is only part of the equation. It is also important to have your own blog where visitors can be directed to from your social media assets. Once on your blog, visitors can digest more of your content and grow to like and trust your business.
You can get even more leads by adding incentive for people to subscribe or submit their information. The easiest way to add value in this case is by offering whitepapers. Offering a short yet valuable and relevant report in exchange for a few pieces of the visitor’s information (i.e. name, email, telephone number, etc.) action can turn more of your visitors into solid leads you can follow up with regularly through a simple CRM tool like AddressTwo.
You can also segment your leads by offering multiple whitepapers and having visitors submit their information for the one they are most interested in. In short order, you will build multiple lists with each one giving you an idea of what the person is interested in. The advantage of this is that it allows you to follow up with your leads with the right products, services and content.
Event-based marketing can also be a great way to add tons of leads in a short amount of time. Announcing a high-quality Webinar will entice visitors to submit their information so they can sign up and get the schedule of the Webinar. This is more of an event rather than a simple white paper so it will gain more attention.
You have to make sure that you tie in everything together when using social media for lead generation. For example, you can post on Twitter linking to a valuable blog post. Once the visitor reaches the blog post and reads through it, there can be a request to submit their information in return for a whitepaper. On your blog, there will be options to subscribe to your Facebook, Twitter and YouTube since you never know where the traffic is coming from.
Social media is a very effective way to generate leads. It can be very cost effective and the fact that your content can go viral is an attractive element of this strategy. One word of caution: be careful to learn the boundaries on how commercial you can be on these social media sites as they often have regulations on commercial content.
Patrick is owner of PWG Marketing, a small business marketing and digital technology firm located in Perrysburg, OH. In 2008, Patrick was selected as Ohio’s only Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant. The Duct Tape Marketing System is a framework that brings forth the idea of marketing as a step-by-step system that produces predictable and consistent results. For more information, visit www.pwgmarketing.com.
