How To Turn Social Media Into A Lead Generation Machine

Social media… what is it good for? Nothing if you aren’t leveraging it to generate leads for your business. It’s really fun to “get visible”, post on social media, and grow a following but as a marketing tool it’s falling flat.

Let me guess… You’ve been posting and posting according to all the “recommendations” people throw at you; post 3 times a day here, post 20 times a day there, be active here, post, post, post. And you are a little exhausted by it and really discouraged because your efforts are not paying off in the form of list building or leads contacting you to see how they can work with you.

Sound familiar? Social media can be a powerful lead generation tool when used correctly. If you are interested in learning more about lead generation though, particularly when it comes to talking to your customers. Then it might be a good idea to check out someone like this lead generation company. However, if you want to do it by yourself then think of social media like a window display in a local store. It’s how you entice people to come in and take a look around your business. So why is your social media not getting people to come inside (i.e. sign up for your lead magnet/opt-in)?

You aren’t connecting your content to your audience’s current struggles

Your content needs to be targeted toward the problems that your audience is currently trying to solve. If you haven’t gone out and asked people who fit your ideal client avatar… I’m talking interested in similar things, they have similar goals, and are in the group of people that you are trying to reach, not that they have the name Sally and they have blonde hair… then your content might be missing the problems they have entirely.

Doing the dirty work of researching your ideal clients will also make sure that you are using the same language to describe their problem or framing in the way they are thinking about their problems. It’s like talking to someone who doesn’t know that they have a problem your words are falling on deaf ears.

So getting out there asking your audience and people who fit your ideal client avatar what they think their problems are is going to help you create better targeted content that your audience is going to find value in.

You aren’t giving it purpose

Hear me out.

Your purpose of social media is to advertise for your products and services right?

But are you giving your social media platform a purpose in your marketing funnel? Are you leveraging it to build the know, like and trust factor? Are you providing Calls to Action for click your links and getting your lead magnet/opt-ins?

Each platform is different in how you can really give it purpose, but some quick things you can do to start optimizing it right now are;

• Provide a Call to Action to visit your opt-in’s landing page in your bio section
• Go beyond branding and think about what you want people to do and create cover photos that support that goal

You may be turning off people by promoting TOO much

We have all seen it the social media profiles that look like the weekly supermarket ad.

You may be shutting people down before they even get to know you because you are bombarding them with offer after offer. You’ve skipped the crucial step of building the know, like & trust factor. And therefore establishing yourself as an expert in your niche.

You’ve got to find a mix of content types that work for you. Try doing a mix like 50/30/20.

• 50% – value posts
• 30% – brand building posts like behind the scenes
• 20% – promo

This allows you to build up your credibility and authentically connect with your audience priming them to take advantage of your promotions when you share them.

You aren’t inviting people to take the next step with you

This may seem like the purpose topic we just discussed, but I want to take that concept a step further.

Not only is giving your social media profile a purpose important, you’ve got to look for other ways to invite people to take that next step with you and get on your list or opt-in for your free content.

You can do this in a variety of ways, but one of the best things you can do is provide a Call to Action on each social media post. Now again refer to promoting too much for the dangers there. But your Call to Action even when it isn’t “Download my Freebie” is a powerful tool to train your audience to engage with you.

And getting them to comment back with you can open the doors to deeper conversations and helps you generate leads through your social media.

You aren’t having fun

I like to think of having fun as an essential part of the entrepreneurship/Ladyboss experience. Because if it isn’t fun why do it? And what kind of energy are you really putting into it?

If you are looking at your social media like a chore or dreading having to get in there and engage you are going to bring the whole atmosphere of your content down. And since this is your chance to connect with people and engage with your community you don’t want to be a Debbie downer – you want people to be excited for your content and that starts with you having fun.

Start engaging with profiles you enjoy, find fun content to follow and share, experiment with different types of content and posts and don’t forget to let your personality shine!

Exploring your creativity and and having fun will help you stand out and connect on social media.

Key Take Aways

When you are applying a purpose to your content on social media and leveraging the ability to connect with your audience you are going to move people to take action.

And this action whether it is engaging with your content and opening a conversation or clicking your link to download your freebie is where you get a ROI on your social media efforts. Just posting to post is not good enough because there are already a TON of people out there doing it.

Let me know in the comments what questions you have about turning your social media platforms into a lead generating machine?

Michaela Hoffman is a brand designer, web developer, and content marketer for online service providers who want to create a lead generating online presence. She helps women who are struggling to gain visibility online build a strong and cohesive web presence that attracts their dream clients through personalized consulting that focuses on strategy and action.