From Likes to Leads: Using Social Media Marketing to Grow Your Customer Base

In today’s economy, social currency is measured in likes, views, and shares. While consumers have long been users of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, business owners have begun to realize the benefits that come with accumulating likes and shares, and how that can positively impact their brand awareness.

But simply garnering a bunch of “thumbs up” on your business’ Facebook page isn’t enough to get the sales leads you need. In order to grow your customer base, you will benefit more from using a social media marketing team in Atlanta to help convert those likes into qualified leads. It all starts with selecting the right social media platform for your business and using it like a pro. Here are a few tips that will help you do just that.

Choose the Right Social Platform for Your Business

Increasing your customer base through social media marketing starts with choosing the right social platform for your business. Just about everyone has a Facebook business page, but would you benefit from having a Twitter account? What about Instagram or Snapchat?

Understanding the target audience for your business and which kinds of social media they engage with will help your conversion rates increase dramatically. Once you’ve selected your social media platform, be sure to take advantage of the unique advertising and communication opportunities that each platform offers.

Build on the Shoulders of Giants: Reach New Customers with Facebook

Running highly targeted ads on Facebook can generate the attention you want at a minimal cost. Facebook’s powerful platform allows you to focus your ads on specific demographics, geographic locations, and interest categories that match the consumers most likely to purchase your product or service. Your ad will appear in their news feed, making it easy for them to take you up on your offer. Facebook also has a variety of advertising objectives so you can set up your ad campaign to drive traffic to your website or enable people to complete contact forms from within the Facebook platform.

All of this can be done at a fraction of the cost of other advertising vehicles. Whereas traditional media advertising can cost thousands of dollars for ads aimed at a broad audience, Facebook ads can yield as many as 30 clicks from a targeted audience for as little as $5. Similarly, compared to other forms of digital advertising, Facebook’s cost per click can be pennies while Google advertising costs dollars per click.

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs make the mistake of under-utilizing their Facebook business page, and their lead generation suffers for it.  Your Facebook page should have clear call to action, regularly updated newsfeed with share-worthy content, and professional photos. Better yet, treat your Facebook business page like a sales page and watch your qualified leads grow.

Consider LinkedIn for B2B

LinkedIn is the number one platform for generating B2B leads. The majority of business owners and professionals will be actively using this site, so it’s the most obvious choice for creating qualified leads.

LinkedIn lets you communicate directly with professionals about your product through engaging organic and sponsored content. The key to effectively utilizing LinkedIn is a robust content strategy. The most successful campaigns are built around content generation by industry thought leaders who connect with their target audiences through affinity groups.

Position key players from your company as subject matter experts and have them engage LinkedIn users by answering their questions in groups and forums as well as regularly publish compelling content. Using LinkedIn in this way can help you increase the number of leads that really count.

Take Advantage of Twitter

Twitter is the perfect platform for short, witty, catchy copy that will grab your customer’s attention. Make sure to use Twitter cards – they are lead-generation tools that function similar to a Facebook ad, but you can incorporate more personalized multi-media content that will spark your readers’ interest and curiosity.

Twitter is also an ideal forum for engaging consumers in the moment. Have your brand managers monitor and jump into conversations as they happen with meaningful responses to consumers’ Tweets. These messages may be questions about your product or an opportunity to troubleshoot an issue they are experiencing. Connecting with consumers in real time through Twitter will lead to more traffic on your webpage and consequently more sales.

Businesses of all shapes and sizes can benefit from a social media marketing team that is dedicated to helping shine a spotlight on their company, and in turn generate an increased level of sales. That is exactly what Blueprint does for a host of satisfied clients. To find out more about how we can turn your social media profile into a lead-generation magnet, contact us today at 770.817.9560.