Online Lead Generation using Social Media

The focus of online lead generation and sales leads from social media networks in marketing is growing apace. Still too many small and medium sized business’s can struggle to not only generate leads from the social networks but also struggle to generate enough leads for a sustainable sales pipeline.

Online lead generation and social selling is the next evolution in the sales and marketing environment. The sales profession and sales activity is undergoing a dramatic change. The exponential growth of social media and its impact on communications has created a new set of rules for sales lead generation and prospect targeting.

Today lead generation on the social networks is about making connections, it involves providing value to prospects by answering their questions and solving their problems with thoughtful and targeted content. Social media channels are ready-made databases of connected users with intrinsically similar behaviour and values.

By tapping into a prospects social media interests and what motivates their social media interaction, we can establish mutually rewarding relationships. Sales and marketing must offer solutions to build emotional connections and increase engagement and trust to be effectively positioned when buyers are ready to enter the buying process.

The benefits sales and marketing people derive from social media are similar to those of traditional marketing techniques. Selling is still about great sales people establishing a connection with an audience. Social selling is an evolution of lead generation, not a revolution because regardless of the medium, the biggest challenge is still generating leads and the time it takes.

Now lead generation or social networking has to be non-interruptive to work effectively, in the sense that people are not on-line to be directly sold to. The balance of power has shifted in favour of the buyer, bombarding them with sales messages is ineffective and potential damaging. Sales and marketing must appreciate that the social selling efforts should educate, inform and influence an audience. When it’s apparent to the buyer, over a period of time in which to establish credibility and a degree of trust, that the product or service being promoted is desirable, sales will have established a sales funnel upon which to build a solid base of sales prospects.

Social selling is about creating effective techniques to maximise the potential of social media. Without a strategic understanding of the techniques that drive meaningful engagement, the process of social lead generation can be frustrating, unpredictable and a waste of valuable time.By taking a consistent & effective approach to social media activities, the opportunities and potential rewards are huge. Getting it right creates benefits which are unique to social media but which also present unique challenges for sales and marketing people. There are new innovative ways to engage with prospects early in the buying cycle.

Sales professionals should be in no doubt, social selling is a ‘long game’ that aims to add value  to  networks by educating them about relevant and insightful industry trends.The one thing that unites both consumers and brands on social media is passion. That might sound a bit strange but social conversations reflect users preferences and interests, the topics that define them.After all, our social media persona’s are tailored, to some extent, to reflect our hopes and aspirations. At the very least, our social persona’s are about presenting a version of ourselves which is inherently aspirational.We seek out others on social media who share our values. Partly to seek reassurance about our own choices but also to be linked to those with whom we benefit from being associated.

It might seem obvious but social media is precisely that, social. You need to put time and effort into nurturing connections. Dialogue gives us a voice by increase connections and establishing our identity.

Buyers are well informed and can easily access to large volumes of sophisticated product and service data. Its important we move to the front of the buying cycle and engage with buyers early. In order to achieve this we must offer unique or advanced expertise.   We must be seen as industry experts, as the source of most relevant and useful information. Social sellers must incorporate marketing style tactics and streamline efficiency and effectiveness in social selling wherever possible.

Market researchers and brand owners can aggregate social data in real-time including influencers, trends, topics and conversations. It enables companies to monitor brand mentions translating social media conversations into real-time actionable visibility. Social data can reduce the marketing resources and time spent gathering social media intelligence. social intelligence platforms allow marketing, customer service and sales teams to focus in on what matters across the social networks.

As a means of generating sales leads by connecting buyers with relevant and valuable content that informs and educates over a period of time, influence is key. Multi-dimensional, cross platform social media insights, cut through the social media clutter, filter tweets, posts, news, conversations, competitor activity, mentions and keywords with precision.

The use of social data makes online lead generation more effective, making it easier to build a larger social network to drive awareness of a brand or service.

Social data create efficiencies in the sales process by;

• Identifying social leads & prospects
• Speeding up customer acquisition
• Reducing the sales cycles
• Nurturing leads and driving traffic by profiling and social conversations.
• Using hash-tags and keywords to source, filter and engage with buyers
• Finding the social conversations, people and social influencers you want to target.
• Minimising resources and time spent gathering social media intelligence.
• Enabling companies to monitor brand mentions
• Aggregating real-time social data including influencers, trends, topics and conversations.
• Allowing us to focus in on what matters across social networks.