When there is something as powerful as social media out there, you should aim to make it your friend. The benefits of social media are numerous and generating leads is certainly one of them.
Social media is also a budget-friendly lead generation tool. However, don’t be fooled by this tempting lead channel. If you think that posting some content from time to time and creating a profile on each social media platform is all it takes, you’re wrong. Generating leads on social media demands careful planning and a strategy. Accordingly, you can use the following effective ways of generating leads with social media to start your journey.
1. Link Your Website
Send the social media users straight to your base by adding a link to your website on social media.
Start by including the website’s link to your bio, whether it is on Facebook or Instagram. That is one of the first things that users check out once they come across your profile.
Turn your social media profiles into business profiles to get more promotional advantages. For example, the Instagram business profile allows you to add the website’s link in Instagram Stories.
2. Organize a Referral Campaign
Refer-a-friend campaign can be a great way to engage with your social media users.
Compelling offers such as gift cards, discounts, or cash incentives can easily encourage your social media followers to sign up and recommend your website to their friends and family.
Considering that 92% of customers trust the recommendations of their friends, they won’t hesitate to submit their information and sign up on your website.
3. Refine the Search with Hashtags
Brand-specific hashtags will single out your company and make it more distinguishable. Besides increasing brand awareness you’ll also generate some high-quality leads.
Get creative and use unique, company-related, and product-related hashtags that will refine the users’ search and get them to your website.
You must find the balance when you use hashtags. What I mean by that is that you shouldn’t use hashtags scarcely, but you also shouldn’t overwhelm your posts with numberless hashtags. Really think through which hashtags are beneficial for generating leads.
Feel free to even come up with your personalized hashtag. Take Coca-Cola for example. Their #ShareACoke hashtag for promoting personalized bottles went viral and boosted sales to such extent that they even created a separate website for taking orders.
4. Offer Gated Content
Promoting gated content can spark the users’ interest and encourage them to share their information. By collecting their personal information you’ll be able to grow your email list.
Those who haven’t used gated content before should know that it is content that is kept behind a virtual gate. The only way users can access it is by sharing their information.
It can be some extra content or website upgrade that is relevant to your industry. Some of the forms in which gated content can come in are:
- Guides
- Checklists
- A calendar
- Templates
- White Papers
- Videos
- Ebooks
- Product demos
Once you’ve created gated content, use social media to promote it.
5. Create Live Videos, Tutorials, or Webinars
Facebook’s or Instagram’s live videos have become very popular in the social media community. Use this trend to your advantage and think of a fun topic that you can turn into a video.
For example, you can host a webinar, show a product tutorial, or simply start a live video to get to know your audience.
Within the live video or webinar, you can mention and include a link that will direct the users to the sign-up page to collect their information.
You can also present these tutorials or webinars as gated content, promote it on social media, and give access to those users who share their information.
6. Hold a Contest
What could be more tempting than winning a free prize? Run a contest on social media and offer a gift to the winner.
A photo contest is one of the popular choices and is very much loved by social media users. The requirement can be to send a photo along with their personal information to your website. Then you can post the received photos on your social media and let other users vote for the best one.
Such a contest will provide you with lead generation and user-generated content all at once.
Not only will you generate numerous leads but you’ll also provide engaging content to the users. Additionally, you’ll have a chance to attract new users to your page because the contestants will direct their friends and family to your social media profile to vote.
Another option is to encourage users on social media to head to your website and enter the contest there. That is, you won’t be using social media to host the content but just to get the users’ attention and direct them to your website.
7. Share Discount Codes and Flash Deals
Want to get the users’ attention fast? Discount codes and flash deals are the right choices for this job.
Organizing a flash sale creates a sense of urgency and encourages users to act fast. Promote the sale on social media by creating posts and sharing Stories to spread the news quickly.
Promoting discount codes will also help you to generate leads and direct them to your website.
Use call-to-action and attractive posts and make the promotion more attractive.
You can even collaborate with micro-influencers with a similar target audience to get more leads and increase brand awareness. They could promote the discount on their profile or their Instagram Story to get the attention of their followers.
Over to You
With the help of the above-mentioned tips, you can handle your social media like a pro. Generating leads will seem less complicated once social media platforms join the project. Regardless of the type or the size of your business, leads play a crucial role in achieving success. That is why you should use these ways for lead generation and conduct your social media campaign strategically.
Bridgette Hernandez is a Master in Anthropology who is interested in writing and is planning to publish her own book in the near future. Now she is a content writer at BestEssayEducation. The texts she writes are always informative, based on a qualitative research but nevertheless pleasant to read.