Monday, March 12, 2012

Social Media and Lead Generation Potential


Take advantage of Social Media for your lead generation, and you’ll realize what a diverse range of opportunities it can provide you. But as the availability and variety of social mediums continue to increase (to an exponential degree), you may find yourself overwhelmed or confused as to where to start. These platforms’ intuitive structures lend themselves to new, inexperienced users, but before you jump in too quickly, take a moment to consider these tips and truly take advantage of the potential that lies untapped.

Stay on top of new trends
Social Media platforms are changing and developing faster than most companies can keep up; by taking advantage of the newest areas, you can keep an edge over your competition, and do well in securing your company’s image as a well-informed innovator.

Be Creative
Today’s audience thrives on the new, the fresh, the exciting—don’t let yourself fall into a generic, boring presence online. Show your personality. Do something different. Rise above your competition by engaging your customers’ craving for something original.

Embrace Minimalism
You want to stand out—but you don’t want to turn people off. Avoid gimmicks or too much “sales speak” in your social media lead generation campaigns. People have short attention spans, especially when they’re online, so don’t bog them down with too much fluff.

Deliver
Give people something they want. Make sure to incentivize your potential customer base, through one means or another. Consider a contest, giveaway, or other direct means of offering something significant as a way of gaining attention and trust. Otherwise, make sure you have enough solid content to make your presentation worthwhile.

Have a Game Plan
Most important of all, think ahead! Have both broad and smaller, specific goals for your new means of lead generation through social media. Develop a plan of attack, and in following through, measure and track your progress frequently to make sure you’re still on pace. And don’t be afraid to consult an expert if you’re feeling stuck, or if you need that little extra push in finding the right direction.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Simple and Easy Suggestions to Target Your Leads


You have a website, a blog, Facebook Page, LinkedIn Page, Twitter and YouTube… Now, how do you get real LEADS from them?
The questions we all try to answer on a daily basis. Sure you can tweet a million times a day, “Come to my website!” or post to your groups, “Did you know we exist!?” But what are you really gaining?
I have found that providing simple answers to these queries is the best answer, your audience wants to learn more about you, and in return you need to learn more about them, right?
Here are my top three suggestions to help you turn clicks into leads.
User-reviews:  Providing a place on your website where your fans and follows can comment and leave feedback for their favorite thought leader (that’s you) is key!  If you are a brick and mortar location Yelp is a great app that you can use. And here is a tool where you can monitor the feedback easily, Send Social Media.
Quizzes: Offer a quiz that is prominent on your site that offers information to your fans as well as information to you. This is a perfect lead generation, and helps with the dreaded, “cold calls.” Here is an example of the Quiz that we offer FREE Social Media Score. You can get your own here SurveyMonkey.
Participation: Are your visitors able to participate when they come to your website? We are an interactive people, and we require stimulation! I suggest offering a “FREE Guide” or a “FREE White Paper” to your visitors when they sign up for your email newsletter. Use an email marketing campaign system like this one, AddressTwo, and watch the leads flow into your inbox!