6 Steps to Generate Leads from Social Media

BY BECKY LIVINGSTON, PENHEEL MARKETING

If lead generation is at the top of your firm’s marketing and business goals, you’re going to love this six-step process to turn social media users into leads.

1. BUILD YOUR PROFILES

Begin by optimizing your social media profiles by doing the following:

> List your contact information.

> Add a call-to-action button.

> Post a link to the firm’s website.

2. CREATE CONTENT

Create clickable and compelling content that users want to share and comment on. Here are some ideas:

> Downloadable checklists and tip sheets

>Video how-tos

> Ebooks, whitepapers and case studies

> Webinar registrations

How do you know when content is clickable and compelling? If you answer “yes” to any of the following questions, then the content should be behind a lead generation form:

> Will the content save the reader time or money?

> Will it aid the consumer in learning a new skill?

> Does it co-exist with another company/ brand?

> Does it explain your product?

> Does it provide instruction, e.g., how to?

3. DEVELOP A LANDING PAGE

They’ve clicked. Now, wow them with your landing page. Make it easy to read with a simple form. For example, don’t have 12 fields that prospects need to complete to obtain a checklist form. Use more fields when people register for an event, download a case study or want to schedule a consult. Pre-filled form fields are a bonus for users and increase the chance they will complete the desired action.

4. PLACE ADS

Placing social media ads can be tricky. Here are some general tips to consider:

> Know the target audience — title, interest, age, industry, whatever you can define about them.

> Identify the target geography. y Be realistic about the budget. For example, social media ads, on average, cost $0.38 per click with a monthly ad spend between $200 and $1,500.

> Use the appropriate image size for each ad platform. Hootsuite (hootsuite.com) offers a social media image cheat sheet for each platform.

> Add the pixel (code) provided by the social media platform to your website to help track ad effectiveness.

> Maximize the social media platforms’ tools. For example, LinkedIn has built-in lead generation forms; Facebook and Instagram ads can be synced to some customer management systems and they offer re-targeting tools; and YouTube offers prominent call-to-action buttons on lead-generation ads.

5. OFFER AN INCENTIVE

Give people a reason to do what you want them to do. Offer an incentive that sweetens the deal and makes them want to complete a form, share information, comment or give you a call. Examples include the following:

> Get a free, 30-minute consultation.

> Register for this webinar and get the second webinar free.

> Refer a client and get a one-on-one estate-planning session.

> Early bird rate — get $200 off through [insert date].

> Enter for a free swag bag filled with goodies.

6. MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS

To know if your campaign was effective, it must be tracked. In addition to social media analytics, this can also be done with website analytics, such as Google Analytics. Consider tracking the following:

> Conversion rate. Use the following formula to determine how many visitors take the prescribed action: (post conversions / clicks) x 100

> Click-thru rate. Use the following formula to determine the rate of people clicking on your call-to-action (CTA) link: (# of clicks / impressions) x 100

> Bounce rate. Look at your website analytics to determine the percentage of people who leave the page without completing the call to action.

> Cost-per-click (CPC). Use the following formula to calculate how much you are paying, per click, for your sponsored social media content for a specified time: Total Ad Spend / Total Measured Clicks

> Cost-per-thousand (CPM). Use the following formula to calculate the amount you pay after 1,000 people scroll past (not click) your sponsored content: ($ spent / number of impressions) x 1,000

Now that you have the plan, what can you promote to help create a lead-generation opportunity for your firm?

Becky Livingston is the owner of Penheel Marketing. She can be reached at becky@penheel.com.