Do you want to get more leads for clients or your business? (Who doesn’t?) We will guide you through the process, and help you get more leads and close those sales!
What number of followers do you have on Twitter Imagine if every one of those followers could be turned into a sale.
Interested?
Let’s start with the basics before we get into it.
Before we can figure out how to generate leads to your business, it is important to first define what a lead and why they are so important.
Here it is.
The basics of lead generation
What is a lead exactly?
Hubspot defines a lead as “anyone who shows interest in a company’s product or services in any way, shape or form.”
Have you, for example, signed up yet for a free trial of Agorapulse?
Another example: If your life, work, and passion is in social media, I highly recommend signing up for the Agorapulse Newsletter.
You have already signed up for the newsletter by entering your email address and clicking “sign me up”.
You are now a leader!
Agorapulse has received your email address to indicate that you are interested in their content. Agorapulse will then be able to send you content that you love, and help you manage your social networks.
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Instead of spending time scrolling through blogs, looking for the most relevant social content, get the best delivered right to your inbox.
Instead of Agorapulse working blindly on content and not knowing if anyone will read it or benefit from it at all, they know that they are writing for you, an engaged audience.
Both parties win.
However, not all leads can be considered equal.
There are three types of leads
Some leads are more valuable than others or considered “warmer”. Warmer leads are more likely to be open to your product and easier to sell to.
Temperature of a lead depends on where they are in their journey as customers and what you offer at each stage.
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The wareness stage is the most important.
The awareness stage of a customer journey is where customers don’t know anything about you. They aren’t sure who you really are or what you can do for them. However, they are curious and eager to learn more.
You might get them to subscribe to your blog, or follow you on social media.
These leads are also known as Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs).
MQLs have been in touch with your brand, but only from a distance. They aren’t ready to get a sales call, or sign up for a trial. As a lead, they’re considered lukewarm.
Leads in the Interest Stage
The people at the interest stage in their customer journey are not just aware of your brand but they’re also actively interested in it.
They want the details.
“How will your product help me?”
You may be contacted by them to ask a question or engage in live chat.
These leads are called Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs).
These leads are sending strong buying signals. They openly express a desire for you to become a paid customer. These leads are certainly warmer.
The decision stage is the most important
These people are not ready to buy but are still considering their options. These people aren’t sure if they’re right for them.
You may be approached by them to request a free trial, or to submit commitment questions about pricing plans and paid-for services.
These leads are sometimes called Product Qualified Leads (PQLs).
They are indicating their interest in your products or services by requesting a sample or a limited amount of it.
Your money-makers are PQLs! These are your hot leads.
While each lead type may have a different ”value”, all leads are essential for a company’s success.
Let me tell ya why…
Why are leads important?
Sales are made from leads. It’s that simple. Leads are people who are interested in your brand and what you offer.
You can convert any lead into a sale if you nurture it properly.
Example of a Lead
Let’s say, for instance, that someone signs up to your blog then follows you on Twitter.
You can provide exceptional content that addresses the needs of your customer, acknowledges their wants, and subtly explains their reasons for buying your product.
They might be motivated to look around your site and ask questions via live chat about your product.
It’s possible to influence their decision in your favor if you answer these questions in the right manner. They may even sign up for a free trial to see if you are a good fit.
If they love the free trial, they will be a paying customer.
All leads are important because of this.
But how can you get them?
How to Generate Leads
It is a huge industry. There are many ways to generate leads that will help you reach the awareness, interest and decision stages in your customer journey.
Let’s take a look at some of them:
How to generate MQL leads
Make compelling blog posts, videos and podcasts, and share them widely.
How to generate SQL leads
Live chat can be integrated into your website.
How to generate PQL leads
Offer a free trial to your product.
You’re not a regular business, however, if this is what you’re reading, it’s not just any business.
Most likely, you are a social-media agency or have a business that is social media-focused.
How can you get more leads through social media?
Retail Dive reports that Shopify has recently analysed data from 37,000,000 social media visits, which led to 529,000 orders.
It should not surprise that social media is an enormous resource for MQL lead generation when you consider that more than half of the population uses it.
However, generating leads via social media can prove costly and ineffective if you don’t know what your doing.
Let’s take a look at the top social media platforms and see how we can use them to generate leads.
How to get leads through Facebook
According to research, Facebook is the most popular social media platform for lead generation. This is evident when you consider that Facebook is used by over 1.69 million people.
What you need to know about Facebook lead generation
Make sure you put your best effort into creating clickable content
No more posting links to your blog posts.
You must go beyond the normal to generate leads via Facebook.
Keep your posts concise, sharp, well-linked and under 70 characters.
Use bold images, bright colours, enticing CTAs and daring questions.
Think outside the box
Engaging questions and images are sure to encourage click-throughs. However, it is important to think laterally about what you post. Be bold! Be bold!
Live videos such as “behind-the scenes” and “embarrassing moment”, for example, always get lots of click-throughs.
Paying for lead advertising is not a way to get rid of it
You can reach more people by paying Facebook for microtargeted ads. They will also help you to cut through the competition.
Instead of spending time creating unproductive organic content, spend your money creating content that generates leads.
The reward is real.
(You can also use the Agorapulse AdsReport for free to analyze the performance and effectiveness of your Facebook ads without having to navigate through the complicated interface of Facebook’s native tool.
Your Facebook homepage is important!
Your Facebook homepage page should be treated as a website homepage. It should be bold and free of clutter.
Your homepage is your shop window to your business. Make sure it’s clean, attractive, and inviting!
Don’t forget to update it with new features, offers and photos.
How to get leads through LinkedIn
Forbes reports that LinkedIn is the place where 80% of B2B leads can be generated via social media.
LinkedIn is a popular place where CEOs and decision-makers spend their time, reading industry-relevant articles and exploring new products and tools. LinkedIn can be used as part of your lead generation strategy to connect with up to 61 million influential senior-level executives and 40 million decision-makers.
You can think about it this way: If you could make a few powerful executives into hot leads, then you might retire. !
What you need to know about LinkedIn lead generation
Ask thought-provoking questions!
LinkedIn loves a conversation.
Your post will be shared more often if there are more comments.
Ask (industry-related), daring questions, get opinions and seek advice.
It should be controversial, but not inflamatory. Also, it should provoke thought. This will make people feel that they have to contribute with their two pennies.
Give back
LinkedIn is used by people to search for information.
Post useful tips, tricks and hacks.
You’ll get more engagement for your brand and your LinkedIn connections if you offer something of value.
You will be known as an expert.
Do not leave it too long between posts
Posting daily will keep you in people’s minds and on their home feeds.
You don’t have to post new content every single day before you experience a meltdown.
You can reuse content that you have already used on social media platforms. Link to blog posts and resources, direct people towards the latest newsletter or write a brief industry summary.
Agorapulse can help you post all social content so that you don’t miss any posts.
Spamming people is not a good way to undermine your credibility
Click on Post Options before you publish anything to LinkedIn. You can choose who to send your post to by job title, location, or industry.
You’ll be able to keep your reputation intact if you target the right people with the correct content.
How to use Twitter to generate leads
Despite the negative comments about “declining numbers”, 353 million people are using Twitter. This number is expected to grow by 2.4% in 2021.
Twitter is a hotbed of leads, especially when you consider that 69% have purchased something because of a tweet.
What you need to know about Twitter lead generation
Use a business Twitter account and not your personal one
You will appear more credible and your audience won’t be confused. Your brand will also grow stronger.
Spend time looking at your bio
It’s what potential customers see first when they visit your Twitter account.
These tips will help you optimize your Twitter profile.
Include a CTA on your landing page (e.g. Check out this offer and add hashtags related to your product.
#Hashtags:
Use trending hashtags
Every minute, 350,000 tweets get sent. How can you make a difference in such a large crowd? !
You can get your hashtags just right.
You should know what hashtags are most popular in your niche so you can create hashtags that reflect these trends.
Communicate what you and/or your brand stand for.
Use #ShareYourEars to show how powerful hashtags can prove to be. Disney launched #ShareYourEars to raise funds for the Disney Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Disney donated $5 for every person who wore Mickey Mouse ears and shared their photo on Twitter using the hashtag #ShareYourEars They raised more than $1 million during this campaign.
The Hashtag Guide: All You Need to Know
Host a Twitter chat
Live streaming is a great way for your followers to interact and engage.
Answer questions, get feedback, position yourself to be an expert, build brand awareness and direct people towards other content such as your blog posts or landing page.
Do not tweet randomly
Post only when you are certain it will be seen.
There are many recommendations on when the best time to tweet is. People are 181% more likely than others to use Twitter while commuting. Therefore, you should tweet between 9 and 6 on weekdays or between 5 and 6 on weekdays.
Others believe that the best time to buy is between 11 and 1 pm. Tuesdays and Wednesdays have the highest CTR, while weekends are the best for B2C customers.
These suggestions are a guideline. You can experiment and discover your best tweet slot.
Post no promos every day
You will quickly lose your followers if all you tweet is about your brand or product.
Mix it up. 30% of your stream is links to your blog content. 60% is content created by others (but still relevant to your audience, product, and should be shared), and 10% is promotional material.
These do’s and dont’s will help you create awareness for your brand and generate leads. But is that all? Are these all the things you need?
Four final tips on lead generation
Although each social media platform is unique and has its own ways of generating leads there are some guidelines that can help you keep on track with your lead generation.
1. Know your audience
It is a waste of time to try to generate leads without knowing your audience. If your target audience uses Twitter rather than Facebook, and you launch a very expensive Facebook ad campaign to generate leads, how many leads would you expect?
To a) create a customer profile, b) identify the platforms that your potential customers use, and to c) determine how they use these platforms (i.e. For personal browsing, work, etc. When and how.
Create world-class content
You can at least ensure it is better than your competition.
This post has already covered the importance and benefits of creating clickable content. It’s worth repeating. It is easier to generate leads if your content is robust and of high quality.
However, I am not referring to creating highly-visual, engaging content that is outside the box.
Also, I am referring to creating:
PollsSurveysCase studiesInterviewsEbooksWhitepapers
Tip #1: Find out what your audience is looking for and create it.
What are they reading right now? What are they most interested in? What are your competition producing?
These are great starting points to plan, create, and publish world-class content.
3. Social listening tools are a great option
In lead generation, social listening is often forgotten. It is often used to manage your reputation and find out what people think about your business.
It’s a great tool for generating leads.
Talking about your brand, including mentioning your product or asking questions about your industry, is a sign that they are interested in you. Get out there and have a conversation.
You can direct them to your blog and answer their questions. This is a great opportunity to speak to someone interested (e.g., a lead).
Agorapulse’s monitoring function allows you to listen in on important conversations within your industry, your brand, and your competitors.
4. To see what sticks, throw it against the wall
While your audience may prefer Facebook to Twitter, LinkedIn could generate more leads.
You can experiment with your lead generation strategies and content promotion strategies and review them regularly to find out what’s working.
Fix it if it is broken.
Your campaigns should be based on the channels that bring in the most leads.
In conclusion
Social media is a great way to engage and attract potential customers. It can also help them navigate their customer journey and transform them from MQLs into hot PQLs.
Start saving time and energy with your social media management. Get a free trial of Agorapulse, which will help you plan, track, measure, and measure your social media efforts.
Did you miss our previous article…
http://www.affiliatemarketingbuzz.com/?p=809