Whether you’re a Twitter newbie or a seasoned LinkedIn pro, at some point in your social media career, your boss will want to see data-driven results. As more and more companies are looking to quantify their marketing efforts, it’s important to show that your social media engagement is more than just a popular post on your Facebook page or a video that got a lot of views.
You may think that the only way to capture leads on social media is by advertising. While Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all offer highly-targeted ad platforms, there are some simple tactics you can try today without spending a dime.
Here are 4 easy ways to start turning your social strategy into a lead-generation machine:
1. Harness the power of UTM linking:
With this tracking method, you can modify the URL you are promoting on social media to better see where your traffic is coming from in Google Analytics or your customer relationship management (CRM) system. Add UTM parameters to every link you tweet or every Facebook post to see what social networks are driving the most traffic and what content is most popular with your audience. This way, you can spend more time on the social networks that send interested visitors to your website.2. Host a targeted Facebook contest:
Did you know that contests average a 35 percent conversion rate from your visitor traffic? People love the chance to win free branded swag or other prizes, so try embedding a contest form on your Facebook page to capture leads without sending them to another website. Be careful, though; contest leads are generally less qualified because they’re only interested in the free incentive, so prepare to nurture these prospects a bit more before the final sale.3. Promote your content via Twitter chats:
Research some hashtags relevant to your industry and hop on a few Twitter chats to connect with new prospects and share your thought leadership. Once you’ve gotten involved in a few chats, begin to share some relevant branded content to drive interested visitors to your website. Make sure the content is relevant and you’ve gained some credibility in the discussion first, or you’ll just end up spamming the hashtag.4. Drive traffic to an optimized landing page:
Once you’re delivering engaged social media traffic to your website, don’t have them drop off on a cluttered landing page or feel overwhelmed by your homepage. If you’re promoting a piece of content, send your prospects to a targeted landing page with an optimized web form. And don’t scare your leads away with a long download form that asks a lot of questions. Use conditional (or field) logic to show and hide certain questions on your form based on how they fill it out. Studies have shown that it can increase form completion and lead capture by up to 50%.
About Chris Lucas
Chris is the vice president of marketing for Formstack. He is passionate about setting the vision for Formstack’s marketing department, as well as discovering new ways to drive web traffic and leads. Follow Chris on Twitter at @chris_c_lucas.
