Social media is no longer only a way to connect with friends and family or make new connections. Social media has transitioned into a business marketing platform that can directly affect when and what people buy. Today, potential purchasers will conduct research on businesses through social sites before purchasing a service or product. For example, the average user will conduct a search on multiple platforms for different types of businesses, comparing reviews and price points of various companies and, in many cases, will actually reach out to a business before making a purchasing decision. Therefore, social media has become a critical resource for generating leads for service-based businesses, locally and nationally.

To successfully utilize social media marketing, businesses must understand users’ intent. Businesses do not always have to sell immediately to users through social platforms. However, users continue to learn and engage with brands while using their respective social networking tools. By showing themselves to be helpful and trustworthy, businesses can naturally draw those users to them. If a business’s social media posting answers questions, resolves an issue, or provides information or insight about a subject, the business will attract those users who are interested in that type of offering.

Social Media Lead Generation Creating Content That Attracts and Nurtures Leads

The foundation of social media lead generation is content. Lack of quality content reduces visibility & engagement. The aim is not to sell every post but instead, develop authority and trust over time. Types of content that you can use for this are educational, simple explanatory, and real-life examples, along with behind-the-scenes insights that help humanize the brand and create a relatable feel.

The importance of regular posting in nurturing leads is immense. Continuously posting will keep your brand front-of-mind and make users more familiar with your brand. Users will begin to recognize your content over time & build a relationship with it based on reliability. This relationship, established from familiarity, will reduce the hesitation to reach out.

Using a clear and conversational tone makes it easier for users to connect with the content. The Indian audience tends to appreciate a more approachable tone, rather than an aggressive approach to sales.

Engagement is how conversations are formed around content. Building relationships through responding to comments/replying to messages/acknowledging followers creates a two-edged sword. Many leads will begin as casual interactions. When handled with genuine interest versus a scripted response, those interactions can ultimately lead to enquiries & consultations.

Converting Engagement Into Real Business Leads

To convert potential customers into actual customers, you need to give them direction. Clear calls to action tell the user what they should do next, such as creating a message, scheduling a call and/or going to your landing page; these prompts should be a natural progression on the user’s journey where they match up to the content they are currently engaging with and help facilitate action because of being easy and straightforward to follow through on. When a user has a clear understanding of what to do next, the odds of them taking action are much higher.

By leveraging paid social media advertising to grow your lead-generation efforts, you can quickly identify the right audience for your business and try different messaging with your audience. Successful advertising focuses on the struggles of the user versus the product features, they address the issues the user is having and connects through a relatable manner, offering assistance. Using ads in addition to attractive landing pages and user-friendly lead forms increases conversion rates dramatically.

In today’s world, trust is very important when making a purchasing decision. Potential clients use social proof like reviews, testimonials, and success stories to help build trust with a brand. Creating video content helps enhance the trust factor of your brand by putting a face to the name. Delivering content in various formats like live streams, short clips, and stories from existing clients builds trust by providing transparency and authenticity.

Lead generation from social media can be an ongoing cycle that improves over time through analysis of data collected. Companies that evaluate their efforts, adjust their marketing strategies, and remain consistent have sustained success. Here at Saanzz Digital, we believe that social media marketing offers the greatest results when the focus is on developing relationships through trust rather than trying to make quick sales. Once trust has been established between the business and the customer, generating leads will follow.