Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Google+. LinkedIn. What are these online sites called? Well, they’re social networking sites! But apart from being great platforms for meeting friends, family and co-workers, or for finding dating partners and hookup prospects, social networking or “social media” sites, are also wonderful venues for businesses to find prospective customers, and promote their products and services.
Before we go straight on how social media can provide invaluable online lead generation services, let’s first take a look at what a “lead” is. A lead is usually allotted (or used) to define an individual who has the potential to be a buying customer. Once the company’s sales team reviews and qualifies that a lead has a potential, then the lead will be converted to an opportunity for a business.
Leads come from various sources or activities. They can come from the Internet, or through personal referrals, or through telephone calls made either by the company, or by telemarketers.
According to 2015 study, a whopping 89% of respondents cited email as the most used channel for generating lead, and this was followed by content marketing, search engine, and lastly events. For online channels, the most popular lead generation avenues were direct traffic, search engines and web referrals.
There a lot ways that social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+ and others can help with a businesses’ lead generation efforts. For starters, if your company sets up a presence on Facebook, the service can let you treat your Facebook (FB) page like a website.
Shifting your company’s FB page into a lead generation tool will have a major impact on the type of content you post, what kind of ads you run, as well as what tabs you set up. For example, some businesses design their FB pages to include “Sign Up” call-to-action buttons, or have helpful “Find your store” or whatever service.
Social networking services like Twitter can also help businesses track the conversations of their followers, and enable them to easily locate potential lead. On Twitter, the company can track mentions of your company name, common misspellings, industry-related keywords, or mentions of your competitors.
Buying and posting ads on sites like Facebook is more budget-friendly too, especially when compared to other networks like Google Adwords. If you compare the average cost-per-click for Facebook versus Adwords ads, you’ll find out that Facebook ads cost a mere US$0.80, while Adwords cost US$2.50.
On Twitter and other social media platforms, companies will also have an easier time creating events and promotions. On Twitter for instance you’ll find Ask me Anything (AMA) Twitter chats every Tuesday. These Twitter chats or events help spark conversations about relevant topics, and it introduces more people to the product or service. By hosting an event on Twitter that’s related to your product niche or industry, you are offering free value.
In turn, more people will naturally want to know more about the company hosting the event! Now, who says that Facebook or Twitter are useless, and don’t offer any valuable online lead generation services. Let’s get your social media working for you – connect with us today.
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