Finding and Nurturing Leads with Social Media

Social media is one of the most valuable types of internet marketing that a company can engage in. You can use social media in so many different ways to increase the profitability of your business, and it is those multiple benefits that make it so worth pursuing. Social media is a method that is recommended by all the top internet marketing experts like Scott Gallagher, so it’s worth taking the time to look into how you could be increasing leads through the use of social media.

Social media includes almost all types of content that can be created online. It doesn’t matter whether the content that you’re creating is text based, graphic (images), video content, or audio content (like podcasts.) What is important is that you’re creating high quality content, and that you’re releasing it regularly to social media sites. This is a VERY important strategy, and it is the first step in your social media lead gathering.

So, what type of media do you need to create in order to bring leads into your business? There are a few things that work as good types of social media and a few that don’t. The kinds that do work are materials that are funny, informative, or controversial. What doesn’t work in almost every case is anything which is simply promotional, or a hard sale piece of advertising.

When you create something that is funny or controversial, it is going to stick with those who view the media. These types of media can be among the best, because people are more likely to recommend this type of media, or to try and share it with their friends. That is the best possible scenario with social media. You want something to spread among the internet, such as when people share something on Facebook or recommend a YouTube video to their friends. This is how lead generation online works, and funny and controversial materials are often a good starting point for getting social media to spread.

Of course, once people become exposed to your media, they’re in a way a lead, but a rather tenuous one. From there, it’s up to you to nurture that lead and grow it until the person becomes a customer of your company. Getting someone to become a customer is all about making them feel comfortable with and trusting your company, and the best way to do that is through conversation.

Social media is all about sharing and discussion. If you post a great piece of media, there is a very good chance that you’re going to get people commenting on it. These are your leads, and you need to encourage them to become more. This is where many people fall apart on their social media strategies. They don’t realize that replying to the comments on media can be as important as the creation of the media itself.

When someone comments, you must reply. That is a rule that you should stick to almost all the time, the obvious exceptions like SPAM comments notwithstanding. When you reply, you should try to be open and honest. Don’t reply defensively to anything that you perceive as an attack on your company. Remember that not only will the person you’re replying to see your comment, but so will everyone else that is reading the media. Even if you can’t convince that person to change their stance, a level headed and open reply to a hostile response can help turn other readers into strong leads as well. Keep a steady cycle of social content creation going at all times and the effects will build on each other for the greatest lead generation success.

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