Social Media has started to play a huge role in lead nurturing and actually closing deals which is beyond advertising. Marketing in general, has changed so much in the last decade. While commercials and advertisements still carry weight, social media has transformed the digital marketplace. Now companies have the opportunity to interact directly with potential customers like never before, yet so many businesses don’t use the full potential that social media has to offer. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a business today without some degree of social media presence, but having a social media account or profile isn’t the same thing as using social media effectively.
Getting started with social selling
You have a variety of options at your disposal for nurturing leads on social media. You will want to start with the basics — without a solid foundation your social proof won’t have the strength or authority to close leads. How can you get started? Here are a few simple steps you should take right away.
Create consistent branding across your web presence and social media. You want an experience that unmistakably represents your business, regardless of where customers or leads interact with you. If you’re not sure of the best place to start, MarketBeam can help build an overall social strategy starting from current social footprint assessment.
Don’t stick to just one social media platform. Just as different people hang out in different places in the real world, different potential clients spend time on different platforms. You may find an entirely different niche of leads on Twitter than you would on Facebook. Take the time to
cultivate your social media presence on multiple platforms.
Include social follow widgets on your website, blog and emails. Make it simple and easy for anyone who reads any of your content to follow you. Even if the majority of your followers never buy your product or service, they contribute to your social proof meaning they make you look like an authority in your field.
You want to increase engagement, so cultivate likes and replies. Likewise, interact with your followers as much as possible. You want your business to appear transparent and down to earth. Depending on your industry, you may consider adding a level of fun and humor into your
social media posts.
Always respond to social media inquiries on time. If someone poses a question to you on Twitter or Facebook, give a genuine response as quickly as possible! You cannot use social media for lead nurturing if you neglect the “social” aspect of the platform!
Of course, these are just the basics. If you want to close leads on social media, you’ll need to have a bigger strategy, but don’t let that intimidate you! Social selling takes time and effort to do well, but can bring a whole new level of lead nurturing to your business!
Lead nurturing with social media
Even with the basics in place many businesses and entrepreneurs simply don’t know how powerful of a sales tool social media can be. Let me ask you, do your employees have social media accounts? Do they share lead nurturing content on behalf of your business? Doing so
could increase your reach dramatically! By including employee social media accounts in your social selling plan, you not only extend your reach, you also increase your social proof and create a company culture that emphasizes teamwork. Further, this makes it easy for leads to connect directly with sales representatives, making your business more responsive and interactive. This alone can increase sales!
You should integrate as many automated opportunities into your workflow as possible. When a potential lead completes an Opt-In on a landing page, make sure you include the option for connecting on social media in your confirmation and the follow-up email. Similarly, every email that you send should incorporate a widget for connecting or sharing on social media. You should also try to diversify your social media posting. While you should post links to your content on all of your social media channels, don’t make an identical post on Twitter, Facebook
and LinkedIn — remember that these platforms attract different kinds of interaction. So, customize content and style of posts for individual social platforms.
How to nurture leads on Facebook
While other social media platforms have become more specialized, EVERYBODY is on Facebook! There are over two billion accounts on Facebook. Because of this reason alone, you need to make your presence known here, but in a world where everyone tries to get attention on Facebook, how can you set yourself apart?
1. Post Regularly
First of all, make sure that you post on a regular basis. Video posts do very well, and if appropriate for your business, can generate a lot of interest. Regardless of what you post, make sure to include a call to action, otherwise you might miss an opportunity at converting a viewer
into a follower, or even a sale!
You want to create posts that appeal to all stages of lead nurturing. From people who know nothing about your company, to active leads who have an interest in what you sell, and finally the conversion from lead to customer.
2. Educational Posts
Educational posts and videos work well to reach individuals who may never have heard of you, while more targeted videos and posts — how to articles, industry specific reports and product comparisons for example — will capture the attention of leads who follow you on Facebook.
3. Giveaway Posts
The third kind of post you will want to publish will catch the attention of buyers. This includes giving away demos, product tutorials, discount alerts and other sales related content.
Don’t forget that you have the option of running ads on Facebook as well. This lets you cater advertising towards audience-building, boosting engagement or making sales. While this provides an additional tool, don’t let Facebook ads make up your entire strategy. Instead, focus
on generating useful content for every step followers will take — from stranger to customer!
Sales funnels have turned into Infinity loops which require brands to continuously communicate with customers even after a sale is made. This will make sure to customers continue use products and services.
Nurturing leads on LinkedIn
LinkedIn functions differently than Facebook — while still inherently social, this platform is geared towards professionals from all walks of life. To generate useful leads on LinkedIn, your company absolutely must have a strong brand presence on the platform. If your company profile
looks unprofessional, any attention turned your way will quickly wane. With strong branding and powerful copywriting in place, you can begin to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
LinkedIn provides an excellent platform to post links to your content about your industry. Anything you generate that could create buzz for your business can do well on LinkedIn. While you don’t necessarily want to post sales pitches, you absolutely do want users to understand
what you have to offer, and how it can benefit them.
Everyone on LinkedIn gets regular digests in their email and most users check out their newsfeed at least a couple of times a week. Think of them as a captive audience! Your company can grab their attention if you post interesting content on a regular basis. However, take note that LinkedIn’s algorithm favors content shared by individuals, so personally building connections and sharing content, as well as enlisting employees to share company content will yield much better results than simply posting from your company profile.
Lead nurturing on Twitter
Twitter acts a bit like the wild west of social media. To a certain degree, anything goes! That’s part of the beauty of Twitter. Unlike on other platforms, commenting on a stranger’s posts doesn’t seem weird or off-putting. It’s absolutely normal for random people to reply to strangers’
tweets, only to instigate a conversation. You also have the power to follow just about anyone, and you’ll get updated about trending topics — this gives anyone the power to tap into these conversations.
This means that you can comment on any tweet that relates to your industry, and anyone following that conversation will have access to what you’ve written. This gives you the opportunity to position yourself as a thought leader before users even see your profile! Just like on Facebook and LinkedIn, you should share any content you create on Twitter — and should encourage your employees to share it as well, widening your reach. If you get replies, it’s crucial that you tweet back as quickly as possible. Twitter moves fast, and to make the most of
interactions, you’ll want to strike while the iron is hot!
In effect, this will create a funnel on Twitter. From seeing a single tweet, to following your account and finally clicking on your links — which will hopefully convert your followers into customers!
Don’t forget your executive branding!
As you begin building out your social media strategy, don’t forget that you want to present a strong, cohesive brand across all platforms. While you don’t need perfect uniformity across your web presence and social media accounts, you do want the style and tone to reinforce your company’s purpose no matter what platform you post on.
Suggested Reading: How to Use Social Media for Powerful Executive Branding
If you need help with your executive branding — or with making the most of social media lead nurturing — MarketBeam can work with you and your team to create a social media strategy that can extend your reach by a factor of 10, with less than an hour a day commitment from you!
Don’t let social media leads slip by. You can’t implement social selling overnight, but you absolutely can — and should — begin
developing your social media strategy right away. While you will need to invest time, effort and money into social media, it will pay off in the long run as you interact with followers and close leads.
Leveraging social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter takes work, but it offers you the opportunity to interact with the marketplace like never before. Potential customers are easier to reach than ever before. Begin reaching out to them now and before long social media will become a valuable tool for nurturing and closing leads.
