With a whopping 4.70 billion people scrolling, liking, and sharing worldwide, social media is no less than a digital tidal wave.
Let's face it, our phones are basically glued to our hands these days. We're firing off tweets, drooling over Instagram reels, and making friends on Facebook–part of our lives revolve around social media.
It doesn't matter if you're a teen or a grandma–everyone's in on the action. That's why businesses can't afford to snooze on social media for raking up new leads. It's where the people are, so that's where your business needs to be!
But it's easier said than done. Social media has no bounds, and finding leads for your business in such an enormous digital space can feel puzzling. In this post, we’ll teach you how to generate high-impact leads from social media platforms. Read on.
How to use social media for lead generation
Hubspot's 2024 report says social media's the highest ROI marketing channel. Surely your business, too, will benefit from a strong presence on social media. These strategies will show you how to leverage social media to attract leads by nailing your content.
Optimize your brand’s social profiles
Make sure your brand stands out positively on social media. Your social profiles should show who you are and what you do. Add social links to your website, compelling CTAs (call-to-actions) and your contact information.
HubSpot's LinkedIn page is an example of a social media page done right—it has a clear and concise description of their services and products, a professional logo, and a banner image that highlights their expertise. Plus, they invite you to check out their free resources and tools, which drive home more traffic and generate potential leads.
Engage with your audience
Chatting with your followers on social media is a great way to build trust. Responding to comments, answering questions, and joining conversations shows that you care about your customers. You’re also encouraging potential leads to reach out and connect with your brand.
You can use this engagement to turn people interested in your brands into leads. For instance, people who respond to your social posts or download your content are leads you can pursue with a well-defined strategy. This, of course, means you offer assets like ebooks, whitepapers etc. that your audience finds actually useful.
Zappos, an online clothing and shoe retailer, is known for great customer service on social media. They respond to customer inquiries and comments in no-time, offering assistance and engaging in meaningful conversations, which helps build a loyal community and attract new customers.
Curate valuable content
Share post blogs, videos, infographics, and webinars that your audience will find useful. Sharing valuable information will draw in larger audiences for more effective lead generation.
Start by figuring out who your audience is and what they like. Then, mix up your content types. Short videos are one of the most popular content formats right now, with over 50% of marketers using them.
Live streams, audio chats, blog posts, and user-generated content are also big hits. Keep it varied and interesting to stand out in those crowded social feeds.
Your aim is to bring more people to your social media channels and website and even capture leads through gated content. However, social media content creation is a different beast altogether. You cannot just come up with anything; you’ll have to tune your content to fit with your target demographic.
Highperformr is a complete social media suite that makes the entire process of creating and publishing content easy for you and also assists with generating leads from your social presence.
Run social media contests and do giveaways
Who doesn’t love freebies? Entice your users with a free product, discount, or exclusive access by after capturing their attention through a contest or giveaway. A major benefit of running contests and giveaways is the potential for your post going viral across social media, and creating a buzz around your product or service.
In a survey by Easypromos, 62.2% respondents agreed that giveaways or contests increases brand visibility. Moreover, 58.7% of respondents saw higher social media engagement.
That’s because, with contests and giveaways, brands can attract your target audiences’ attention and give people a sense of excitement.
Plus, you can collect valuable insights into customers’ preferences or interests. You can use this data to tailor future marketing strategies and better personalize customer experiences.
Utilize social media ads
Using social media ads, particularly paid ones, are a great way to target particular groups of people. Plus, you can even leverage lead-generation through social media ads. These ads grab leads right on the platform, without even sending people to a landing page. Trust us, social media ads are a game-changer for conversions.
You could also give retargeting ads a shot. A majority of B2B and B2C marketers–about 77% of them–are using these on Facebook and Instagram. Retargeting is basically re-engaging lost prospects, like the ones who clicked on your previous ad, got to your website but didn’t fill the form. It's a clever way to reel in those leads that almost got away.
Team up with influencers
Partnering with social media influencers can significantly expand your reach by tapping into audiences that trust their opinions. A recent Ogilvy study on B2B influencer marketing highlights this strategy's growing importance:
- Three-quarters of B2B marketers are already utilizing influencer marketing
- Nearly half of these marketers are leveraging influencers to enhance brand credibility
- A substantial 40% report increased leads and sales as a result
B2B giants like Salesforce heavily rely on influencer marketing. They team up with tech and business experts who share their success stories using Salesforce products. This is an ingenious way to build trust and engages potential customers.
Influencers also create content like blog posts and webinars to showcase real-world benefits of your products. It's a smart way to boost credibility and generate leads in the B2B space.
Host live events or webinars
Webinars and live social media events have also become powerful platforms for showcasing expertise and building relationships with potential customers. These interactive formats build credibility within your industry and accelerate the conversion of attendees into valuable leads.
Companies like Adobe excel at leveraging webinars to generate qualified leads. Their events are focused on topics related to their software and industry trends. Requiring registration for these events enables Adobe to capture valuable contact information from interested professionals.
Show off happy customers
Share reviews, testimonials, and case studies on social media. Market research reveals, 98% of online buyers say reviews are important for them to make purchase decisions.
Showcasing positive feedback from existing customers on social media will influence your potential leads to take action. By sharing genuine testimonials, you provide potential customers with compelling social proof. This authentic approach not only influences purchasing decisions but also strengthens brand loyalty among existing customers.
Turn your employees into social media superstars
Imagine tapping into all your employees' social networks and turning every employee into a mini-marketer–that's employee advocacy for you! Forbes reveals that social media-savvy salespeople outperform 78% of their peers.
Take IBM’s employee advocacy program called "IBM Voices” for example, which encourages their employees to share company-related content, industry news, and their personal insights on social media. IBM has got the basics covered with training and resources, keeping everyone on-brand without sounding like robots.
However, running a successful employee advocacy program is no walk in the park. Highperfomr’s comprehensive employee advocacy suite is designed to empower your employees to amplify their voices on social media.
Highperformr Social AI copilot improves content distribution and visibility, and the program equips your entire team with the tools and content they need to talk about your brand on their personal social media handles.
Wrapping it Up
There is no better goldmine for leads than social media. The strategies we have discussed in this post will help your brand connect with your audience while inviting more leads. Give them stuff they care about, be helpful, and watch as the right people start flocking to you.
Take the first step to generating more leads today by trying out Highperformr. Highperformr’s comprehensive social media management suite will help you generate engaging and quality content, and deliver them to a distributed audience.
