Social media provides one of the most effective channels for driving leads today. In fact, an astounding 97% of marketers say social media generates more exposure for their business (HubSpot).
With over 4.65 billion daily active social media users worldwide, the opportunity is massive. However, simply having a social presence is no longer enough. You need the right lead generation strategies tailored specifically to today‘s social platforms.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share 15 powerful tactics to turn social followers into quality leads for your business in 2024.
1. Optimize Social Profiles to Attract Your Ideal Customer
Your social media profiles serve as the digital storefronts for your brand. To maximize leads, you need to optimize them to appeal to your target customer persona.
Here are key elements to focus on:
- Profile image: Use your logo or professional headshot to build familiarity and trust.
- Bio: Succinctly explain what you do and your value proposition.
- Link: Add a link to your website or landing page to drive traffic.
- Visual content: Showcase your best and most engaging posts up top.
- Hashtags: Include relevant hashtags to help people find you.
Spend time reviewing competitor profiles too. See what engages their followers and aim to do even better.
2. Run Lead Generating Contests and Giveaways
Contests and giveaways are proven to grow followers, engagement, and leads.
In 2022, SweepsWidget saw contests drive over 5 million entries for their customers. And platforms like Gleam reported entrant numbers exceeding 100,000 per campaign.
The keys to running a successful giveaway include:
- Offer an exciting prize your audience wants
- Make the entry method completing a lead gen action (eg. signup, purchase etc.)
- Promote the giveaway across your social channels
- Follow up with contestants after it ends
Not only will you gain new leads, but giveaways also boost brand visibility and social proof.
3. Establish Authority Through Valuable Content
Posting engaging content allows you to organically gain followers while establishing expertise and trust. This makes social visitors more inclined to convert into leads.
Aim to share various content formats like:
- Educational articles and graphics: Teach people something useful related to your niche
- Behind the scenes footage: Give an inside look at your brand
- Expert interviews: Feature commentary from industry leaders
- User generated content: Displays authentic community engagement
Mix helpful, entertaining and promotional posts to provide ongoing value.
4. Run Targeted Social Media Ads
While organic content helps, putting advertising dollars behind social media posts generates leads faster.
Here‘s an effective process for launching social ads:
- Define campaign goals and target audience: Get very specific on the actions you want people to take. Tailor ad targeting accordingly.
- Create compelling creative assets: Focus on stunning visuals and irresistible copywriting.
- Set a budget: Start small while testing performance. Scale spending as cost per conversion drops.
- Continuously optimize: Adjust targeting, creative or budgets to improve results.
In addition to standard social placements, explore lead generation objective offerings available on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.
5. Build High Converting Landing Pages
Driving social traffic to your website is fantastic. But to capture leads, they need somewhere specific to convert.
That‘s why creating targeted landing pages is crucial.
Some best practices for optimizing landing pages include:
- Mobile friendly layout
- Relevant and benefit-focused headline
- Clear call-to-action button
- Minimal distractions
- Fast page load speed
Tools like Instapage, Leadpages and Unbounce make building high-converting landing pages easy.
6. Host Virtual Events to Spot and Qualify Prospects
Hosting virtual events like webinars and online summits is extremely effective at both generating and qualifying leads.
Best of all, you can repurpose recordings to further expand reach and conversions.
Tips for running virtual events that convert:
- Promote across social channels before and during: Drive high turnout live so more customers view replays later.
- Gate access behind lead capture: Offer exclusive value in exchange for contact details.
- Actively engage attendees: Have them introduce themselves, take polls and ask questions. This identifies hot prospects.
- Follow up with all participants: Schedule emails and calls to discuss needs.
Make your events interactive and entertaining while showcasing expertise. Avoid sounding overly salesy.
7. Always Stay On Trend with Real-Time Content
While evergreen content has a place, real-time social content tailored around viral trends and current events generates huge visibility.
Conduct ongoing trend research to spot topics and hashtags gaining momentum. Then quickly create and distribute related posts across your social feeds.
Tools like Google Trends, Sprout Social, Rival IQ and BuzzSumo help uncover real-time trend opportunities.
Getting ahead of rising conversations allows you to:
- Ride waves of organic traffic
- Demonstrate awareness of what‘s happening in your space
- Contribute unique perspectives
Just avoid chasing every fad or you may dilute your positioning.
8. Offer Irresistible Gated Content in Exchange for Leads
Gated content refers to premium digital assets like eBooks, toolkits,TEMPLATES, video courses etc. you gate behind a lead capture form.
While controversial, this tactic remains highly effective when done right.
Here are best practices for gating killer content:
- Provide tremendous value upfront in samples and previews
- Clearly explain the registration process and how you’ll use data
- Follow up consistently via email and social messaging
If gating full pieces, ensure they overdeliver on promises made in teasers.
9. Turn Followers into Brand Advocates with Referral Programs
Referral programs encourage existing customers and followers to recommend your business.
They serve as vocal advocates vouching for your value. Combined with incentives they drive significant word-of-mouth lead growth.
To launch a social media referral program:
- Communicate the benefits of participation
- Make sharing and inviting extremely simple
- Offer compelling rewards for referrals
- Spotlight advocates on your channels
ReferralCandy saw the average business generate 692% more referrals through incentives. So make sure you offer juicy perks!
10. Foster User Engagement Within Branded Communities
Moves like commenting, tagging friends and sharing posts signal higher intent to buy.
That’s why cultivating communities on social channels leads to better lead conversion.
Build engagement by:
- Personally responding to comments and questions: Shows you care.
- Sharing user generated content: People love recognition.
- Encouraging discussions around topics and interests important to your niche.
Invest time dialoguing beyond soft promotional pitches. Guide conversations providing value first.
11. Incorporate Video Content For Maximum Impact
Here are mind blowing social video stats:
- 500 million people use Instagram Reels daily
- Over 1 billion hours of YouTube shorts are watched by monthly users
- Video generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined (Wyzowl)
With numbers like that, you must incorporate video content into your social strategy.
Types that work extremely well:
- Product demos
- Customer testimonials
- Behind the scenes footage
- Expert interviews
- Live streams
ShortForm entertaining and helpful videos will fuel lead gen on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and more.
12. Go Live To Spot Hot Prospects and Make Instant Connections
Live video streaming lets you engage followers in real-time with instant feedback. This makes qualifying leads easier through two-way conversations.
Ways to generate leads through live streams:
- Answer audience questions: Learn about pain points and challenges.
- Offer limited time giveaways: Incentivize signups.
- Direct viewers to optimize landing pages: Capture contacts.
- Promote replays across channels: Expand reach and lead capture.
The ability to have meaningful dialogues on camera showcases authenticity and approachability.
13. Create Chatbots to Field Common Questions 24/7
Implementing chatbots allows you to qualify leads and book demos even while you sleep!
Today‘s chatbot platforms let you build highly advanced conversational experiences using scripts, conditional logic and integrations.
Benefits chatbots bring to social media lead generation include:
- Providing instant responses at all hours
- Seamlessly directing visitors to landing pages
- Asking qualifying questions via interactive chats
- Scheduling meetings and demos
If designed thoughtfully, people may not even realize they‘re chatting with a bot!
Top performers to explore include ManyChat, Chatfuel, FlowXO and MobileMonkey.
14. Retarget Website Visitors Back on Social
Only 2-3% of traffic converts on the first visit.
That‘s why you need to keep your brand top of mind so high intent visitors come back.
Retargeting ads displays your promotions across social platforms to people who previously visited but left your site.
Implementing a retargeting pixel like the Facebook Conversion API makes activation easy. Then set budgets and let the ads work behind the scenes re-engaging dropoffs.
This technique can increase conversion rates from abandons by up to 70 percent when applied effectively.
15. Integrate Email and Social Efforts to Increase Exposure
Your best social content deserves to be seen by email subscribers too.
Likewise, email promotions can direct more traffic back to your social profiles.
Tactics to loop email and social include:
- Auto-post new blog content across channels
- Send dedicated social media recap emails
- Promote opt-ins and lead magnets via social posts
- Reactivate email subs by featuring their UGC
This amplifies reach and engagement for your best performing pieces.
There you have it – 15 proven social media lead generation strategies for 2024!
Which will you start testing first?
Let me know how it goes implementing these tactics for your business in the comments below!
