Social media is responsible for permanently changing the way we converse. Likewise, it directly impacts your ability to succeed as a business locally and online.

Social media lead generation strategies not only establish brand awareness, but actively encourage your audience to interact with you, each other, and, ultimately, help you achieve your goals.

If you've avoided the social media game this long, it's time to make a change. Below, we're going to give you the primer you need to learn about social media marketing, the best platforms to use for advertising, and the seven effective tactics that can show you how to get more leads on social media.

How Effective is Social Media Marketing?

To give you a clear answer to this question, it's important to consider the unique goals a company may have when using social platforms.

For many businesses and corporations, social media is one of the best tools to analyze consumer data in future strategies. A survey conducted by Sprout Social indicates that as many as 85% of executives are using or plan on using social for this exact purpose.

Social media is also a powerful way to increase brand recognition and promote a consistent flow of traffic to your profiles and your website. One of the latest studies courtesy of We Are Social and Hootsuite indicates that approximately 44.8% of the worldwide population is using social media for brand research.

Even countries trending toward the lower end of this study see one in three internet users turning to Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube before using any other resources. For added perspective, 4.66 billion of the world's 7.83 billion population use the internet regularly.

For sales-focused readers, the same study estimates that 27.5% of people using social media head online specifically to discover new products or services to purchase. Even when spending cash isn't the primary goal, statistics are showing that three out of four people will buy something online this month, regardless of gender or age group.

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What Social Media Platforms Should My Business Use for Advertising?

In terms of sheer numbers, Facebook continues to be unbeaten in terms of active users with 2.85 billion accounts. The runners-up include YouTube at 2.29 billion and Instagram at 1.39 billion. The rest fall below the billion-plus user threshold.

This doesn't mean that platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, or even Reddit aren't useful for achieving your business goals. For example, LinkedIn on average features users of a higher income bracket, with four of five members being the decision-makers at their companies. This makes it the most popular social network for B2B transactions.

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Twitter primarily appeals to the millennial and Gen Z demographic and generally allows for more fun, conversational approach. A different study courtesy of Sprout Social indicates that there was a 35% increase in ad engagements as the number of monetizable users continues to grow on the platform.

With that in mind, every social media platform is potentially viable depending on your unique business goals. Consider your motivations for exploring social media marketing, see how those goals fall in line with a platform's user base and begin creating your strategy from there.

How to Get More Leads on Social Media?

Now, we'll explain seven easy, yet effective tactics you can use to boost your social media performance and get more leads immediately.

1. Create an Optimized Business Profile

While each social platform might offer different customization options to take advantage of, there are rules you should always follow.

1. Upload a high-resolution brand logo or image that you can use for your profile picture. Ensure that users can easily identify the picture even when the image is cropped. Your business should aim for instant recognition.
2. Make sure your business information is always up-to-date. This includes having a valid phone number, email address, physical address, and business hours. If this information does not match up with other directory listings for your business online, it makes it that much more difficult to do business with you. At worst, it can harm your overall SEO score.
   Additionally, hyperlink your contact information if the platform provides this option.
3. Link your social profiles back to your website or landing page. Social media users can learn about you on the platform but will continue their journey by clicking through to your main location.

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2. Utilize the Platform's Advertising Features

The Facebook Ads center is one of the most popular and affordable tools across all social media platforms. You can immediately cross-publish and manage Instagram ads from the same location.

However, other social platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google are making it easier than ever to manage and optimize your ads while lowering your cost-per-lead every month.

These systems utilize algorithms that constantly manage and track the performance of your campaigns 24/7. It can observe audience behavior, determine the optimal display dates and times, and ultimately eliminate poor-performing ads that are hurting your return on investment (ROI).

Continuously optimizing your campaigns also means having the ability to nurture your leads who have yet to make a purchase or opt-in. Nurturing means retargeting users at the stage where they previously left off. You can create ads that target those that visited your landing pages, filled out a form, or left an item in their cart.

Finally, all of this invaluable data allows you to create new campaigns for remarketing to the same audiences while also creating lookalike audiences that target new leads. The possibilities for advertising on social media are limited only to your strategies and creativity.

3. Use Social Proof Directly from the Platform

Today's customers are likely to be skeptical of a brand trying to work their way into their goodwill on social media. However, a little social proof can go a long way in quelling any doubts or concerns regarding your products or services. Customer testimonials are great to have regardless of where you advertise.

Thankfully, your customers won't hesitate to let you know exactly what they think of your business or offers on social media. You can use this to your advantage to let real people sell your brand for you. A 2020 study from Wyzowl states that as many as two out of three people are likely to purchase a product after seeing a review from another user that had a positive experience.

A significant part of using social media effectively is to utilize what the platform provides you. Speak with your customers, gather feedback, and incorporate the positives into your advertisements, while using the criticism to improve your brand.

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4. Determine the Right Incentive for Your Goals

To convert a lead into a customer, you need those contact details that will allow you to move the sales process along. However, savvy internet users won't give up that information without the right incentive or lead magnet. After all, no one wants yet another daily or weekly email in their inbox that ends up getting moved to the spam folder.

One of the best ways to help motivate users to provide their information is to provide them with an immediate incentive that's worthwhile. These incentives should be relevant to your brand and your offer.

A specific example could include a roofing company offering a free ebook containing expert tips homeowners can use to inspect their roofs and protect their homes. Your ad and landing page do the work of reminding the user of how important it is to protect their investment, while the free offer pushes them over the top. They get something useful out of the deal with no monetary investment, and you get their contact details for future interactions.

Other examples of powerful lead magnets could include entering sweepstakes for free prizes, coupons, or gift cards. As long as the reward for entering is a worthwhile one, you are sure to quickly generate details from leads with some promotional effort.

Consider what your brand can offer upfront without giving away the best parts of your business. Not only will you generate leads, but those future customers will remember how you helped them before they ever became a sales figure.

5. Sponsor Popular Content

If you engage with any podcast or video content in 2021, you've undoubtedly heard a sponsored advertisement. This is because many brands have found tremendous success by locating content online that already comes with built-in popularity. However, it's important to recognize if consumers of that content will identify with yours.

This doesn't mean forcing internet users to sit through a boring ad read. Allow content creators to sample your products or services for themselves. When they become fans of your brand, their use of your advertisements in their content becomes much more natural and features the built-in social proof we discussed previously above. Except this testimonial is perhaps more impactful as your audience is already a fan of the person promoting you.

Encourage your social media manager to research opportunities to connect with a variety of digital content creators. Doing so can provide a cost-effective, seamless way to bring like-minded brands, creators, and audiences together for success.

6. Target Advertisements to the User

Some forms of digital advertising can only target certain keywords or phrases. Social media provides you with the names, interests, and browsing habits of everyone who engages with your profile and your advertisements. These platforms provide you with the ability to create highly personalized ads that target specific users effectively.

Use the ad center of each platform to learn what topics, offers, or discounts appeal to different types of users and run multiple campaigns that target different types of users. They are much more likely to respond and become leads when a brand is speaking to them personally as opposed to lobbing a general offer at the biggest target.

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7. Talk to Your Audience

Perhaps the most basic tactic, but without a doubt the most important. Social media is inherently a conversational platform. Users share their likes, dislikes, passions, favorite content, favorite brands, and so much more. A brand that is simply trying to peddle its wares won't mesh well with the established norms of the digital space.

Engage with your audience regularly. Using social media for marketing isn't as simple as scheduling a daily post. It requires you to respond to user feedback, demonstrates the values of your brand and your team, and demonstrate authenticity to anyone that you might hope to become a customer someday.

Pay attention to what users are saying about your industry. Follow trending topics, keep up-to-date with hashtags, and help users understand what your business is truly about. Deceptions and misleading statements won't get you far, and the reputation that you will gain will stick with you for far longer. Engage with your audience and treat them as people, and they will treat your team in kind.

Start Generating Leads on Social Media Today!

With these strategies, your brand will begin to make noticeable strides on social media, regardless of the platform you start with. Social media can also effectively work in conjunction with other marketing efforts such as content marketing. Ensure that your campaign manager stays active on social and regularly utilizes your gathered analytics to create and promote new campaigns. With time, you will gain followers, likes, and shares just like the top brands.