8 Social Media Lead Generation Ideas

Lead Generation Ideas: Try in Your Next 2023 Campaign

Growing your business means expanding your reach. And that expansion depends on accessing fresh leads.

Gaining access to potential customer identification and contact information is an ongoing challenge. Trends and strategies may come and go, but gaining traction on social media remains as important as ever.

With the average US adult spending 95 minutes per day on social media platforms, you simply can’t afford to neglect the lead generation opportunities social media provides.

Not to mention, if you decide to find buyers for your business one day, the number of leads you generate per month will have a direct impact on its valuation.

Whether you’re navigating the world of social media marketing for the first time, restrategizing, or building on previous successes, you may have questions, such as:

• What types of content should I post to make the greatest impact?
• Who should I bring in to help?
• What incentives will produce the best results?
• What are some fresh ideas that I can use to increase engagement?

We’ve gathered some of our best answers below. Read on to learn how generating leads on social media can produce targeted, strategic, and cost-effective growth.

Let’s get started!

1. Gather Testimonials

Social media offers a constant flow of opportunities to allow people to share their positive experiences with your brand.

These testimonials allow people to feel a sense of connection with someone else who's used your product or service and can describe what’s great about it in their own words. This fosters a sense of authenticity that’s difficult to recreate with other advertising methods.

When choosing people to share testimonials, seek to present enthusiastic customers from as many different backgrounds and walks of life as possible.

Displaying diversity in this way can improve your brand’s image and create the most opportunities for your audience to make a personal connection.

When deciding how to present these endorsements, consider your resources. Then, decide how to leverage them in the most engaging ways possible.

For instance, according to Wyzowl, 87% of marketers say video has helped them increase traffic. If you have the means, high-production value testimonial videos can give your brand an authoritative and confidence-inspiring boost.

This means using professional video assets, filming equipment, editing, and graphics to establish your video content as professional and authoritative.

If you need a simpler low-cost alternative, user-created vlog-style videos can also produce engaging content.

For example, Forhers is a brand that creates products for women's hair loss. Many of their customers often write reviews on social media about how effective their spironolactone is. Some even post videos on Instagram about Forhers hair products' benefits, and those videos deliver great results in terms of customer engagement most of the time.

2. Seek Influencer Sponsorships

Testimonials offer even more bang for your buck when they’re delivered by a well-known and trusted source.

If you know of a social media account or YouTube channel that has a large following among your target audience, consider a sponsorship. Individual posts, series, or even the channel or account itself can be associated with your brand and its products.

The investment that this requires can pay off big when you leverage the impact of a beloved content creator or spokesperson to create new leads among a receptive audience.

Many established creators can offer different levels of promotion at varying price points. So, whatever your budget, don’t hesitate to reach out to influencers or micro-influencers on your radar to see if you can help each other.

Think about ways that your business offerings can be featured and demonstrated in the most engaging ways.

For instance, Kudos, a company that offers a smart wallet to maximize credit card rewards when you shop, is a great example.

The brand has a social media strategy based on influencers that review financial products like the Revvi credit card and help build hype for other Kudos products. This has helped them boost their brand awareness and attract new customers.

Here’s another example.

In a TikTok post, @tyramail1922 shows followers how to build a business website using Tailor Brands in less than sixty seconds. Notice how confidently and efficiently they communicate with their audience?

The most successful social media influencers are practiced experts at delivering information to their fans in creative, engaging ways that are sure to generate buzz. Put their expertise to work to spread your message!

3. Create Lead Magnets

One of the best ways to encourage people to share their information with you is to offer them something enticing in exchange, otherwise known as a lead magnet or an opt-in offer.

For instance, access to specialized content, a report, a downloadable tool, a gift, or a discount can all be examples of lead magnets.

Depending on your industry, free shipping, trials, or consultations could be good options as well.

Before implementing lead magnets, create a plan for the user information you’ll collect by strategizing automated and segmented social media marketing campaigns. Use integration tools and automation services across platforms by getting your hands on social media automation tools, like LeadsBridge, and a QR Code Generator like Scanova

However, it’s worth mentioning that campaigns like these sometimes require trial and error. If your efforts aren't yielding the results you’d hoped for, consider requiring fewer pieces of information for access or sweetening the deal by improving the incentive.

4. Develop Targeted Offers

Piggybacking on segmentation, targeted offers focus on segments of your audience with promotions specific to them.

When developing targeted offers, personalization is key. Make sure you understand each segment’s pain points and how your product, service, or promo can solve them better than the competition.

Once you’ve designed and launched your targeted offer campaign, you’ll need a way to track its progress. One of the best Notion widgets can help you track important KPI metrics like monthly growth and engagement rates.

Be sure to also refresh your targeted offers as your audience’s needs change. Keep track of your progress and adjust the details of what you offer to each segment as their demands evolve.

5. Host Events

You and your team may be ready to share in-depth content to a live, motivated audience. A live-streamed event or webinar is a great way to accomplish this and generate social media leads at the same time.

For instance, you could host a virtual conference or an interview with a notable guest. It’s also important to choose timely, industry-related topics.

Campus.edu, for instance, is a distinguished community college renowned for its comprehensive range of online and in-person courses. As the enrollment phase for the upcoming fall semester approaches, Campus.edu took the initiative to host a webinar explicitly tailored for prospective college students to provide valuable insights from the admissions team.

This exclusive webinar is an optimal platform for aspiring business students to interact with the admissions team. The webinar facilitates a two-way communication channel, allowing the admissions team to understand the prospective students’ profiles, concerns, and queries.

As you promote the event through your social media channels, you’ll have the opportunity to gain email addresses, subscribers, and valuable data in exchange for access to your event.

Events like these have the added benefit of generating their own content. In fact, you can repurpose video clips, testimonials, and other material from the event later — and then use it to promote similar events in the future and generate new leads.

If you put in the work with planning and promotion, at the end you’ll have fresh content, an invigorated customer base, and new leads to follow!

6. Retarget To Engage Lost Prospects

Users who click on an ad or scroll through a form but never submit are sometimes considered “lost” prospects. The good news? You can use retargeting strategies to reclaim them.

Knowing specifically that a member of your audience is on the fence, can help you reach them with the most relevant messaging.

Providing common pain points and solutions could be the key to nudging someone closer to conversion. Or they may be open to hearing testimonials or about the latest developments and improvements you’ve made to your offer.

Putting retargeting strategies to work for your business is all about using detailed data to produce the most effective messaging.

For instance, the J. Crew Factory ad above could be retargeting someone who browsed through some of the items included in the flash sale but didn't complete a purchase.

This ad reinforces the sense of urgency that’s often driving marketing campaigns and delivers it to someone who may just need the extra push.

Retargeting can also support your business after successful conversions. If you offer something that complements a previous purchase, let that person know about it.

The bottom line? Design your retargeting campaign by carefully considering how you can solve your audience's pain points so you can convert “lost” prospects into conversions.

7. Introduce A Referral Campaign

Creating buzz that fosters business growth is all about building momentum.

Positive reviews and ratings are great ways loyal customers can support you in building that. But, why not encourage them to take a more direct approach?

A referral program with the right incentives can take on a life of its own, so consider offering discounts or rewards to followers that refer friends to your brand.

Check out the following Duolingo referral campaign for inspiration.

Users who successfully refer a friend receive a free trial of the app’s Plus upgrade. This provides existing customers with a valuable incentive and promotes the more advanced services Duolingo offers which could lead to additional conversions.

Remember to consider your goals, customer profiles, and valuable offers when creating your referral campaigns.

8. Apply Social Listening

Your prospective leads are out there sharing information that can help you connect with them. You just need to know the best ways to tune in to make the most of it.

Social listening uses integrated technology to detect keyword mentions and phrases to help you determine the best strategy for growing your audience.

This is a strategy that can lead to unique insights. Not only can you learn about what folks in your target market are interested in, you may also learn about negative experiences or complaints people have about some of your competitors.

Using information like this to adjust course, improve your services, and refine your messaging is truly using social media to your advantage.

You can also use social listening to spot additional pain points and then use those insights to create tailored lead-generation campaigns.

Wrap Up

As we’ve seen, lead-generation strategies for social media tend to rely on managing incentives, connections, and information.

And, because no two businesses are exactly alike, your plan for creating or expanding your social media lead-generation strategy should be built around your unique needs.

With that in mind, here are some important questions you should consider concerning each category.

Incentives

Consider how to use what you have to entice people to further engage with your brand.

Ask yourself:

• What unique content or resources can I offer as incentives for lead magnets or referral campaigns?
• What types of discounts or offerings, such as free shipping or VIP programs, would most excite my audience?
• What type of engagement should I ask for in return? What would best support my overall marketing strategy going forward?

Connections

At some point, you’ll need to reach out to someone else to collaborate with you in spreading your message:

Questions to consider:

• Who could provide testimonials for your brand and what would be the best ways to feature them?
• What influencers are relevant to your market and how could you collaborate?
• Who are some guest speakers or notable interviewees that you could feature in an online event?

Information

As the old saying goes, "Garbage in, garbage out." If your analysis is flawed, your lead-generation strategy will be, too. So it's essential to carefully consider what you know about your market before you start planning your social media lead-generation strategy.

Things you’ll need to know:

• What segments and pain points should you be focusing on to maximize the impact of your targeted offers?
• Why have certain prospects not converted and how can you retarget them?
• What can you learn about your audience’s needs and pain points through social listening?

Focus on these areas and questions while you use the ideas above to generate and develop leads.

That’s it for today, friends.

To your success!

Luca Ramassa is passionate about Marketing and technology. He is an outreach Specialist at LeadsBridge. Lucas' goal is to help companies improve their online presence and communication strategy.