Lead generation is the genesis of every marketing effort. It is the stage where you build interest, trust and credibility and drive high-quality traffic to you. If you’re struggling with lead generation for your small business, you’re not alone. So are 61% of marketers, as shown in research by Hubspot.
The good news is social media exposes you to a large pool of potential customers. According to Statista, there are over 4.2 billion social media users. That’s a lot of potential leads if you play your cards right.
So, how can you ensure social media lead generation as a small business owner? Follow these five tips.
1. Optimize Your Profile
Your social media profile is just as vital as your social media posts. You need to optimize your profile to ensure potential leads will trust you enough to contact you in the first place. You should also ensure your profile makes it easy for them to contact you.
So, ensure that your profile carries your brand name. It is equally necessary to put a face to your brand. “Face” in this case is typically a logo. This ramps up your recognizability and makes the leads feel like your brand is legitimate. Include your contact details in your profile, too. These include your telephone number, email, website, among others.
When optimizing your brand profile, don’t forget your brand description. While a platform like LinkedIn allows up to 2,000 characters for description, Twitter and Pinterest limit you to 160. Incorporate a searchable keyword, include hashtags, describe what you do and what problem you solve.
Finally, you should include a call to action. This helps you inform the leads what you want them to do when they reach your profile.
Unlike Instagram and Facebook, some platforms, such as Twitter and Snapchat, do not feature dedicated call to action buttons. But you can add a link to your profile. You can get users to click on this link so they can get to a landing page that contains a lead capture form. This is where leads give you their email addresses in exchange for your lead magnet. This is a great strategy for email marketing for SaaS, for retail, for B2B and any other type of business you can think of. You may also link to your blogs or even your e-commerce store.
2. Use Testimonials as Social Proof
Typically, your prospective leads are individuals who are still deciding whether or not to try your product. A great way to bring them clarity is by using social proof. According to a BrightLocal study, 85% of customers tend to read testimonials and previous reviews before deciding to buy.
You can collect these testimonials by requesting them via email. You can also use the customer review feature on Facebook. Another way is to search online and leverage review platforms and GoogleMyBusiness.
Now, in what format can you use these testimonials? Generally, there are two types of testimonials to drive leads:
- Feature text testimonials
- Short video testimonials
A feature text testimonial is the most straightforward social proof. When you get these reviews, don’t edit the text because that will diminish their authenticity. You can share this text directly on social platforms.
Audiences on YouTube, Tiktok, Instagram and other visual-based social platforms relate more with video content. As such, you can also get your satisfied customers to record short video testimonials. Then, repost this user-generated content on your social media page.
If you can’t get your customers to make a video of themselves, take screenshots of their reviews and make them into slides, then share them on your social media platform. Just make sure you ask for your customer’s permission before posting. With these testimonials, you can position yourself as the right fit for other leads.
3. Run Ads
Social media ads are a powerful tool to capture highly qualified leads. If you tailor your ads to your audience’s exact needs, you can easily convert them. To further ensure your leads click on your ads, provide special offers. These include free trials, limited access to gated content or special discount codes.
Before running these ads, identify your ideal audience persona. Look at their interests and their pain points. Your special offer and ad copy should appeal to these.
Some prospects can miss your ads when they first appear on your page, and others can click on them but fail to complete the intended action. So, a sequential retargeting campaign is a way to re-engage these social network prospects.
You can create these sequential ads using the custom audience feature of various social media platforms. You just set the different criteria for how your sequential retargeting ads should run. For instance, you could decide to retarget people who abandoned their carts. Here’s a sample overall retargeting sequence for that situation:
So, the day after someone leaves their cart, they see the ad tagged day 1.
The next day, they see the ad tagged day 2:
The next day, they see the ad tagged day 3. The sequencing allows you to build up interest in your brand until they click on it and convert.
4. Offer Incentives for Referrals
Offering incentives to people when they refer someone to your business will make them more inclined to recommend your brand. This can increase your chances of generating leads.
These referral incentives could range from gift cards to discounts in exchange for a lead. You can also consider double incentives, rewarding both the referred and referrer.
When creating a referral program, highlight the rewards and expectations as clearly as possible. In fact, you can go as far as making a comprehensive pdf of the terms and rewards. Then, make it accessible by creating a QR code for a pdf document. This way, all your audience has to do is take a shot of the QR code to gain access to your referral program guidelines.
5. Host a Virtual Conference or Event
Virtual conferences can help you engage and nurture your qualified leads via relevant conversations. People need to register for this event, so it serves as a great way to capture their info and build a comprehensive email list of qualified leads. Further, this strategy helps you establish yourself as an authoritative expert within your niche.
To ensure your virtual conference or event will generate leads in the first place, you should make sure your topic is something that will interest your target audience. Don’t give a webinar on email marketing if your target audience is interested in cybersecurity. It helps to look back at your audience persona for this.
Once you’ve determined your topic, build anticipation for your event. You can do this by posting a simple social media post. You can also leverage influencer marketing to drum up interest in your event and get people to sign up.
But let’s face it. Despite your best efforts, you won’t get absolutely everyone to register for your event. That doesn’t mean, however, that you’ll give up on your other potential leads. You can repurpose the contents of your virtual conference or webinar into lead magnets to attract those leads instead. These lead magnets may include gated PDF or ebooks that potential customers can exchange for their email addresses.
Social media can help you build awareness about your brand and generate leads. The more leads you have, the better. The more people you can turn into paying customers, after all.
To maximize your social media lead generation, optimize your profile, leverage testimonials, and use ads. As you do this, don’t forget to run referrals. Also, use virtual events to your advantage.
Apply these strategies, and you’ll see your social media lead generation efforts reaping the best results.
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