Generating leads is a crucial step that happens early in the marketing and sales funnels. It’s the start of the relationship between you and your ideal customers, which you can and should build upon to eventually earn their business.
Ways to get more leads
There are countless ways to generate leads using social media but a few of the most popular include:
- Running contests. If you require an email to enter, you can get your foot in the door and nurture interest in your brand through email marketing.
- Directing followers to your landing pages. Have a gated offer you’re promoting? Pop the link in your bio. And include it in your tweets or captions on platforms that allow clickable links (AKA not Instagram captions, folks).
- Lighting a fire under brand advocates. You could even start an official affiliate program with an emphasis on social media promotion. When your loyal fans mention you in their social circles, not only can it increase the number of leads you get but it can also increase the level of trust people have in your brand.
How to measure leads generated
Depending on the goals of your company, you may want to track:
- Email list signups. How many people from social media sign up for your email list? Do certain social media channels (or content types) result in higher signup rates than others? Track both to optimize results and generate more leads that you can nurture into customers down the line.
- Downloads. Do you have gated resources that require people to give contact information in exchange for access? Keep tabs on how many people follow through on giving their info and keep in touch with them.\
- Sales. In addition to tracking smaller conversions such as email list signups, figure out whether the leads you get from social media eventually become customers. If not, you may need to change your social media strategy and/or the social media and overall marketing channels you use.
You can get much of this information in Google Analytics by going to Acquisition > Channels > Social.
Related: Find out how building a social media funnel can help you turn more followers into customers.
