Lead Generation: How to generate leads on social media

Social media has quickly been adopted by society as an innovative way to connect with people. It is no surprise, then, that it didn’t take businesses long to realise the potential that social media has for generating leads. Around 75% of B2B buyers and 84% of top-level executives use social media as part of their decision-making process, which shows the influence that social media has when it comes to creating meaningful relationships between businesses and customers.

Organisations that have adapted to use social media as a tool for lead generation have found that their funnels are providing very positive results across a number of factors. From increasing branding efforts to generating promising leads and boosting sales, social media has encouraged growth for countless businesses. 

To help you get the absolute best out of your efforts on social media platforms, this article is going to outline the best ways to generate leads on social media. From corporate promotions to referrals, there are lots of different approaches you can take to leverage social media in your favour.

Promotions and special offers

Social media is an excellent way to promote offers for a business, which in turn can drive up lead generation. According to research from Retail TouchPoints, 76% of consumers have purchased a product that they have seen on a social media post. This staggering number highlights how useful promoting your products on social media can be.

To get the best outcomes through social media platforms, try to advertise promotions and special offers for your products. These could be exclusive deals only available through specific social media platforms like Instagram if you are looking to increase your audience on one particular platform. You can approach these promotions in a number of ways, such as hosting a raffle or a giveaway to spark interest. This is a great way to incentivise users to share your brand across social networks, which can lead to even more leads.

You might want to consider using some type of admission form so that you can capture useful information and insights through the data. You could integrate a way for users to share the special offer online to help spread the word and increase potential leads. There are even services available to help set up the promotions for you, such as True Rewards.

Referrals

Referral campaigns are another excellent way to generate leads on social media by using a digital form of word-of-mouth. According to research from Nielsen, 92% of customers trusted the recommendations of friends, families and colleagues - so it is no wonder that referrals can work so well for businesses. It gives companies an insider to persuade potential customers to try out new products and, in the process, that insider might receive a cash incentive or special offer.

There are lots of different ways to set up referral campaigns across the most popular social media platforms, which has been shown to work tremendously well at quickly building on an existing customer base. You can embed links to track referral responses and gauge their effectiveness over time or make changes as you go. This can provide you with key insights into your customers and what they are looking for.

Surveys

Social media has given people a voice online, and it turns out people love to share their thoughts on these types of platforms. A recent BuzzSumo study found that posts that were questions generated the most direct engagement from users, which makes polls and surveys an excellent way to reach audiences and interact with them. Polling users gives them a chance to voice their opinion and gives businesses a novel approach to receiving direct feedback. If you are looking to push response rates up, try to offer some form of incentive like a discount on specific products if a user answers the poll.

Gated content

Gated content requires some form of action on the user’s end to reach the content, such as filling out a form or registering an account. It can be a useful tool to generate leads by enticing customers to sign up in exchange for useful content. This is most pronounced in the B2B sector, with 80% of all B2B assets being tucked away behind gated content. 

The most important part of using gated content effectively is to generate content that is meaningful to your customer base. This requires a good understanding of what your ideal customers are looking for - and what type of content they are willing to sign up for. This can be achieved in a number of ways but it should reflect your target audience. For example, infographics are an incredibly popular way of providing high-level content that is gated.

It is recommended to keep your landing pages simple and to the point to avoid inundating leads with information and causing them to walk away. Make it easy to sign up and only ask for information that you really want - don’t bog customers down with endless fields to fill out.

Discount codes

Everyone loves a good deal, which is why discount codes are such an effective way of generating leads. This is even more pronounced on social media platforms thanks to the ease of use that online discount codes offer. According to a study published by Beambox, 82% of digital discount codes are used in under a week, so it clearly resonates with customers.

Discount codes can provide greater brand awareness with customers as well as improved lead generation. A good way to approach this is to incorporate a strong call-to-action and a timed element, such as a flash sale or expiration date for the coupon. This causes a sense of urgency in customers to act quickly and ultimately use the discount code. It can also be an effective way to lower cart abandonment rates if you have an online store.

At iGo, there are different services where we can help with data growth and lead conversions. Contact our team today.