Being able to generate new leads is the bread and butter of any business. Being able to turn those leads into clients, is a skill. We can help with both of those things, because getting new leads is easily the hardest part of marketing, especially if a small business.

Social Media – Here to Stay

The minute the global population’s majority uploaded their lives onto social media, and began relying on the internet daily, is the moment social media cemented its place in public and private life.

While the face of the social media success stories may change as with MySpace to Facebook, their presence has not disappeared at all, in fact – it has gotten stronger, despite public mistrust.

It is the easiest and most inexpensive way to get new leads, with over 2.27 billion active monthly members per research site, Statista.

No matter what level of involvement a company has with social media, from the beginner to the experts, there are some solid tips on gaining leads that can be used by any marketer, at any level.

Business Profile

If a company is using a personal page for a business page, that’s the first issue. A company needs a business profile for the best ROI. There are a ton of options which are not available for use on personal profiles which businesses rely upon like analytics, and advertising tools to name a few.
Be sure that links or hot buttons appear on the company’s site for each social media site the company has a presence on so no traffic gets lost.

Focus!

A company needs to pick and choose which social media marketing platforms they want to be on to begin with, and if the company is small but exists on every social media platform, that’s another issue.

Small companies cannot be everywhere at once, and trying to be is a sure way to create burnout quickly. It’s not possible because social media never sleeps, and there are just some platforms which make more sense for a business to use than others.

For example, a timber company may want to have their main website, and choose to appear on LinkedIn to connect with others who can sign contracts, Facebook so they can communicate with new customers or clients, as well as post their latest news, but may not choose to be on Instagram or Pinterest, because much of their work is not image-based, and would not translate well through imagery.

If however, the company was a florist, they would want a website, Instagram & Pinterest because they’re highly image-based and imagery of flowers is highly desirable, well-liked and shareable, Facebook to gain new clients, post photos of their flowers, and to communicate with clients, but probably not Twitter or LinkedIn because they don’t have a reason for constant updates as with Twitter, and don’t rely as much on professional contacts as with LinkedIn.

Focus the efforts of the business

…into a couple strong platforms that make sense for the company to use, and stay active within, and the advertising spend will go much farther.

Gated Communities

Gated content is that content which is not accessible until a user performs a specific function like giving their email address or mobile number.

Be sure that if the company is using gated content, that the content behind the gate is worth the read or investment of time by the reader; it must offer something of value to them without asking for anything in return (their email address was the point).

There are free/freemium sites out there like Canva which can help a business create content worth gating, like an infographic, PDF, calendar, or anything else worth having.

Workshops

Everyone is good at something, and there are experts in everything. Why not focus the company’s efforts by creating workshops, webinars, live videos and tutorials for visitors to learn what the company excels at?

These types of efforts often get great engagement as well, and is one of the easiest ways to generate new leads. This is the ideal content to gate, requiring someone subscribes or gives their email address to access the webinar or live content.

Everyone Loves Contests

Give something away. This is one of the other easy ways to gain new leads, because there is nearly nobody out there who doesn’t enjoy a good contest. As with a prior tip, be sure that the prize is worth winning, or it’s pointless and any endeavors after will be to earn back trust.
The contest doesn’t even have to directly relate to what the company sells or offers, it can be a pet photo contest, a contest to caption a meme, or a random drawing using a free tool like Wheel of Names.

Encourage the audience to participate, share, like, comment, or subscribe while the contest is running, and watch the engagement soar.

Paid Advertising

When all else fails, pay for it. Small businesses don’t have as many options as their larger competitors, and this also laterally applies to their budget. Ad spend is small, which means the money spent needs to go a long way for it to be worthwhile to the company.

Facebook, Instagram and Google allow paid advertising with some targeting options, which then allows the company to retarget the same people once successful. If a customer leaves the business’ site without having purchased anything, a retargeted ad may recapture the lost business until they come back and buy.