There aren't too many businesses out there these days that complain about too many customers. There's always room for more leads. So where are you getting yours?
A recent survey reported by Brafton revealed that nearly 75% of marketers who have been utilizing social media have been able to find more leads and close more deals through their social networks. In addition, another study reported by Brafton.com found the time spent on social media marketing has increased drastically and the percentage of business partnerships formed through social media has increased by about 50% as well.
These statistics shouldn't be too surprising. The only way to make a business grow is to make it known to people who may not be aware of it yet. These days, everybody is using social media. Where else would you go to find more sales leads?
Here are 7 great methods to increase your business lead generation through social media:
- Have a presence - Simply put, if your business does not have a presence on major social media channels, you are losing an opportunity to connect with your audience.
- Monitor - By monitoring your brand, products and primary business keywords, you will be able to find and filter through thousands of online users and have the opportunity to reach out and engage with them.
- Listen - Many companies are so corporate driven that they don't stop to take the time and actually listen to their customers. You will be surprised on what they have to say, their questions, suggestions and feedback that can help build a better brand and product line.
- Engage with users - If you were to break down the term social media, 'social' is the aspect of interacting with a specific audience, while 'media' is providing consumers with information such as forms of content, promotions and new business information.
- Provide value - Rather than hitting the customer over the head to notice your business/products, provide them with information that will benefit them and get them interested in wanting to know more.
- Run promotions - Some companies do not have the ability to do this. Or they may not be in the right industry to run promotions but it can be a very strong way to gain leads. Users are prompted to submit contact information and more (similar to a shopping cart). This is a great way to find out who your target audience really is. The results may surprise you.
- Post frequent updates - Staying active, weekly at the very least - will help your business stay ahead of others who are not actively promoting through social channels. It is always best to perform regular updates, preferably with a clear 'call to action' within the update to help the engagement level of your consumers and other targeted online users.
Social media is a fast and dependable way to collect a vast array of demographic information about your customers and the visitors to your site. User interests, location, age, ethnicity and much more can be ascertained by studying the social media profiles of visitors to your site. Earlier this year Brafton.com also published a short article highlighting Matt Cutts direction that social media marketing should be a top SEO priority. You can view a YouTube response by Cutts on article marketing where about a minute 15 seconds into the video, he mentions that websites should place more emphasis on social media marketing when planning SEO strategies.
Try it yourself. Go to your most active social media site. Look at the pictures of the people who "Like" or "Friend" your business. What are their most common similarities? Are you marketing yourself to attract as much of this demographic as possible?
To put it simply, if you want leads, go where the leads are - online and waiting to find you.