Driving a constant stream of fresh, relevant leads to your business can be more complex than it seems. In today’s cluttered digital environment, grabbing customer attention, and convincing people to actually share their contact details with you is tougher than ever. That’s probably why around 61% of leaders in the marketing space say lead generation is their biggest challenge.
Fortunately, there is a great way to enhance your lead generation efforts: use social media. Social media is an incredible lead generation tool, particularly if you know how to use it correctly. With more than 4.89 billion people using at least one social media account, the right social media strategy can give you exceptional reach.
The challenge is in figuring out how to use social media to capture leads effectively. Here are some of our top tips and strategies to get you started.
7 Ways to Generate Leads on Social Media
While there are plenty of different ways to potentially attract leads to your business and website, social media is one of the most valuable, and versatile options. Not only does it give you access to a huge potential audience of consumers, but the right social strategies can also deliver exceptional ROI.
In fact, some studies show that 9 out of 10 customers buy products and solutions from the companies they follow on social media. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can take advantage of social channels for your lead generation efforts.
1. Optimize Your Profiles with Links
A well-optimized profile is a must for any social media marketing strategy, but it’s particularly crucial if you want to attract as many leads as possible. One great way to get started is to add links to your landing pages and lead magnets to your social media profiles. You can include a link in your bio on most platforms, from Instagram to Facebook.
Plus, you can add links to your LinkedIn Summary and Featured sections if you’re trying to attract B2B leads. You might even consider pinning a post with a link to your landing page to the top of your profile on channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, and X, with a little more information about your lead magnets, and the benefits customers get from sharing their contact details with you.
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2. Highlight your Newsletter (or Lead Magnet) in Posts
While adding a link to your social media bio is a great way to start earning the attention of potential leads, sometimes you need to work a little harder to grab your customer’s attention.
A good way to do this is to create plenty of content (posts, videos, Stories, and Reels) that drive leads to relevant sign-up and landing pages. For instance, if you’re offering your customers an amazing lead magnet, such as access to an exclusive podcast episode or webinar, share an audio or video snippet on your social feed, with a link to the signup page.
If you’re trying to entice people to sign up for a newsletter subscription, take screenshots of some of your previous newsletters, and share insights into the benefits of signing up. You could even share teasers about the content you’ll be including in future messages.
3. Use Social Media Advertising
While you can attract leads to your business using organic content, paid ads can give you a significant boost in terms of reach, and help you target the right customers. For instance, you can create targeted ad campaigns on channels like Facebook and Instagram, that share specific offers and links with different “segments” of your target audience.
You might create one campaign that generates leads by telling customers about your upcoming webinar or event, and another that directs customers to a landing page with a lead magnet like a free download or eBook. On some social media channels, like LinkedIn, you can even create dedicated “Lead generation” ads. These include pre-populated forms, making it easier for customers to sign up and share their details without having to open another tab.
LinkedIn Lead Generation forms have proven to be very effective for many companies. In fact, they have an average conversion rate of 13% compared to only 2.35% for standard landing pages.
4. Try Retargeting Ads (With Social Proof)
Another type of paid advertising strategy that can deliver excellent lead generation results is “retargeting”. Around 77% of B2B and B2C companies say they regularly use retargeting ads in their Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns.
Retargeting ads focus on capturing the attention of customers who have already visited your website or landing pages in the past, but didn’t convert. This gives you another chance to earn a crucial lead.
You can boost your chances of getting a conversion the second time around, by showing customers evidence that they can trust you, in the form of social proof. Remember, around 91% of people read at least one review before they consider purchasing a product or service.
Consider adding a review or testimonial to your ads, or simply tell your customers how many people have already signed up for your newsletter, agreed to attend your webinar, or purchased a product:
5. Expand Your Reach with Partnerships
If you’re struggling to find new leads on social media on your own, a good option is to consider working with a partner. The more people you have sharing links to your website, landing pages, and subscription pages, the more leads you’re going to get.
One excellent way to get started is to work with influencers. You can ask them to promote your website, products, and services on their own pages. Plus, you can give them links to share to landing pages with exclusive offers for new subscribers.
Another option if you don’t have the budget to invest in an influencer, is to get your employees involved. Ask them to share links to your landing pages on their own profiles, or to draw attention to your latest lead magnet or offer.
6. Host a Social Media Conference or Event
Webinars, online events, and conferences can be excellent for collecting leads. If you have something valuable to share, whether it’s an educational course, or a speaker session created by thought leaders in your industry, you can ask people to share their email for a chance to get involved.
The great thing about today’s social media channels is that you can also host virtual events on platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, and achieve similar results. You can ask people to sign up to your newsletter to be notified when upcoming events are about to happen, so they don’t miss out on live streams and other exclusive experiences.
One thing that makes this strategy particularly useful is that it gives you access to content you can repurpose and reuse in other ways later. For instance, you can turn segments from a speech in your conference into a blog post, or use Q&A sessions to find ideas for podcast episodes.
7. Use Social Media Chatbots
Finally, one interesting way to boost your chances of capturing leads through social media in 2024, is to consider leveraging an AI chatbot. Chatbots connected to your social media channels and messaging platforms can support your business in a variety of ways.
They can handle simple customer service requests, send personalized product recommendations to customers, and even help people track their orders. They can also share links to your landing pages and lead magnets to customers asking for information.
For instance, you could set up your chatbot so that every time someone asks about the latest deals and promotions offered by your business, it links them to a landing page for a newsletter subscription, which would give them 10% off their next purchase.
Generate More Leads with Social Media
Lead generation can be a complex and time-consuming process, but it’s something every business needs to invest in for growth. The good news is there are plenty of great ways you can improve your lead generation results with social media.
Whether you’re just adding a link to your landing page to your bio, or promoting your newsletter, you can use your social channels to access new customers and opportunities with incredible results. If you need more help mastering lead generation, check out our latest free guide to building a thriving email list here.