Trick question! The answer is: it depends. I know, I know. Everyone wants one simple response, but as long as you pay attention to where your audience lies, that focus will pay off. It’s about getting to know where your customers congregate, but one thing is for certain, social media marketing (SMM) is powerful.
SMM has reduced costs for 45% of businesses, and 92% of marketers say that social media is important to their company. Revenue has been reported to increase for 24% of businesses when they utilized social media for lead generation. Many B2B marketers report 44% of leads through LinkedIn, 39% through Facebook, and 30% through Twitter.
Start off Smart
Social listening can be employed to see where people are chatting about your brand. Don’t make the mistake of guessing, because if you are wrong, it will be like shouting into an echo chamber. Lead generation is all about drawing people into your sales funnel. It’s inbound marketing and not at all the same as selling.
AeroLeads
Lead generation through social media means gathering intelligent social data on your customers. Things you should be looking for include:
- Which products you could potentially sell your target audience.
- Their demographics, including special interests. The more niche the better.
- What their pain points and issues are that you can solve.
- Strategy to eventually turn them into paying customers.
This isn’t about surveys in the mail or filling out forms, it’s about providing content for your audience that they can find value in, and you do that through getting to know them, then attending to their specific needs.
The Three Big Ones
The largest platforms and the most popular to provide content for are:
Certain industries fair far better on Instagram and Pinterest because they have extremely visual content. This includes industries like the food and restaurant, bridal, and fashion. It’s important to know your options and the general purpose of each platform.
Due to its easily accessible business connections, LinkedIn seems to still generate the most leads for B2B marketers. It caters to networking and professional communities, so people are already in the business of buying. Let’s put it this way, you won’t be seeing too many cat memes on LinkedIn and that’s just fine. A few quick tips when posting to the platform:
- Only post once a day. It has been proven that professionals find it the most annoying if you fill up their feed with your content. They’re busy and they like to scroll.
- Utilize LinkedIn’s publishing platform. You can post to multiple groups at once and send out content in a massive manner.
- Add connections and build your lead list. You can check your social rating on the platform with the Social Selling Dashboard.
Although LinkedIn may generate leads for some, so do other platforms. LinkedIn is a great place to start when looking for your audience and every business owner on the planet should at least have a LinkedIn account.
Social Sprout
Gender and Age Demographics
Many people assume because LinkedIn is made for professionals, the age of the audience may be a little higher. Recent studies by the Pew report show, however, that the most popular demographic for the site is actually 18-29-year olds. It breaks down as follows:
- 34% of 18–29 year olds
- 33% of 30–49 year olds
- 24% of 50–64 year olds
- 20% of 65+ year olds
In terms of gender, although it can shift from time to time, the general figures are as follows:
- 31% of men use LinkedIn.
- 27% of women use LinkedIn.
So, although it is key to know your specific audience, it is always helpful to know the general demographics of each platform too.
Generating leads through Facebook typically takes either viral content or paid ads. The changes Facebook has made to their algorithm means it is incredibly hard for businesses to reach people organically. Simply put, they want you to pay up—but that can really pay out when you do it right. Facebook ads are much cheaper than other sites like AdWords. In fact, they compare like so:
- AdWords $2.50/click
- Facebook $.80/click
Here are a few tips on how to work Facebook:
- Create a custom tab. This makes it easier for you to place contact forms on your page.
- Use your page as a website. It’s fine to get likes but you want people clicking links. Therefore, your content should contain a lot of links back to your main site/blog.
- Create contests and polls. Ask questions that will generate answers and a buzz around your brand.
Gold’s Gym is one company that’s doing it right on Facebook. From the “Find Your Gym” tab to the “Sign Up” call to action, everything is geared toward collecting leads. Check them out.
No matter what, just remember that Facebook should always be a part of everyone’s plan. There are 8 out of 10 people in America with internet access, and 79% of internet users are logging into Facebook. That’s a pretty big audience. Luckily with Facebook, you can drill it down to targeted marketing in their boosted campaigns.
Social Sprout
Gender and Age Demographics
Facebook still reigns as the most popular channel for any age group, but as you might suspect, it is still the most popular with a young to middle-age crowd. The figures are as follows for age groups on Facebook:
- 88% of 18–29 year olds
- 84% of 30–49 year olds
- 72% of 50–64 year olds
- 62% of 65+ year olds
Facebook metrics also tend to skew heavily towards women. Check these numbers out:
- 75% of men use Facebook.
- 83% of women use Facebook.
There are ways to check your Facebook business page to see who your actual audience is. It’s on the “insights” tab at the top left of your page.
Many people over the years have misunderstood the value of the Twitter platform. The microblogging site has often been mistaken for something frivolous where one collects followers and likes. However, there is great value for collecting leads through Twitter, you just have to know what you are doing. Twitter is a treasured marketing channel when done right. Here are a few tips to work the platform for leads:
- Search and use relevant hashtags on every post. The more the merrier. This is what puts your content into other channels for a larger amount of impressions. Multi-channel marketing is key.
- Create events using Twitter chats.
- Use Twitter Cards with eye-catching images. Outdoor company Rock/Creek reported after they used Twitter cards, receiving 1700 new leads in under a week.
- Track your brand mentions. Use social listening so you never miss the opportunity to have a conversation with a potential lead that mentions you. These are the people that become brand advocates.
The lifeblood of Twitter is engagement. You probably won’t see the most leads from this platform, but the purpose is more about brand awareness and interacting with your audience. They’ll usually convert after an interest is sparked to visit your site after seeing an engaging tweet. So, it’s just as valuable a platform to have as the other big two.
Social Sprout
Gender and Age Demographics
34.5% of consumers prefer to connect with a brand through social media and they often do it through Twitter. Twitter is a high-volume and fast-paced environment with a younger generation still holding true to the platform. Here’s how the numbers break down:
- 36% of 18–29 year olds
- 23% of 30–49 year olds
- 21% of 50–64 year olds
- 10% of 65+ year olds
Twitter is the platform you go to where you can actually connect with celebrities and build an influencer network. In terms of gender, it’s about equal down the line and split like this:
- 25% of women use Twitter.
- 24% of men use Twitter.
A business that has a stout comprehension of their gender demographics will always have a better chance at collecting leads. The better you understand your audience, the easier it will be to reach them with your products and services. Customer care through social media is imperative for modern business.
Key Takeaways
Don’t forget there are other social networks out there. In fact, there are hundreds now, so your exploration should be a continual process. Don’t limit yourself to just one channel either. Multi-channel marketing is how modern B2B marketers are getting it done. The more you get to know your audience, the more apparent it will become which channels to work. You should always have at least 2, but 3 is the golden number.
Our Social Times
Social selling is about taking the time to do your research and listen for where people are discussing your brand. The more you focus on the right people, the easier lead generation will become. Ultimately, consumers in the 21st century want to feel special and when you take the time to do that, it always pays off.