Tag: lead generation

What is the Difference Between Relationship Marketing and Lead Generation?

Business owners often enter social media marketing with the expectation that simply showing up and posting about their products and services is enough to convert strangers into customers. They are being told that they ‘need’ to be on social media because that’s the way to market their business and find more people. While this is certainly true, it’s also misleading. 

If you come to social media only to sell, you’ll walk away disappointed in your results. In fact, I’ve had many business owners tell me that social media marketing doesn’t work at all! I know when I hear this that this individual approached social media with a lead generation approach and didn’t take establishing and nurturing relationships into the equation.

When Social Media Marketing Goes Wrong

People have come to believe that you can use social media as JUST a marketing tool to sell your widget, product, or service.  This is false.  Social Media was always intended to be a social experience, meaning you were always to build a relationship through conversation and that these interactions could lead to a business relationship.  

Back when Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, it was a connection tool for college students. It is still intended to be a connection tool today.  When people wonder why their $2,500 workshop doesn’t sell on FB, I tell them it is because it isn’t a low-cost widget and people want a bit of foreplay before they purchase something so big.  

To benefit from social media marketing, you must build relationships through consistent posting of value-added content (in other words, content that your target audience actually wants). When you try to sell something on social, offer a low-dollar way to engage with you (an online workshop, an informative, whitepaper, an interesting video or a way to opt-in and get something desirable). Once people opt-in or follow you, then you’ll need to nurture your relationship with them by creating a welcoming environment and posting content that encourages them to respond and engage with you.

Social media marketing is not advertising. It is not now, nor was it ever intended to be, a place where people go to buy stuff. However, with the right connection and relationship, you can, over time, convert your followers into buyers.

Lead Generation

In the days of old, salespeople worked a system called lead generation to drum up new business. You could create or acquire a list of leads and then reach out to those people through visits, cold calls, direct mail, and advertising in an effort to convince them to buy. However, the best salespeople will tell you that high-ticket items like coaching, masterminds, and retreats would require more than a cold call. For higher investments, there was always a need to establish a relationship with a lead by taking them out for dinner or drinks, inviting them to a ball game, playing a round of golf, and other means of wooing leads into becoming customers.

This same process is even more true for social media. You can run some Facebook ads for your $9.99 product to drum up interest and build your list but you will struggle to sell your $500 package to strangers no matter what marketing tool you use. Why? Because your audience doesn’t trust you yet.

Trust is the key to making a buying decision.

And you can’t build trust by spamming your audience with sales posts on social media or in emails. It’s a sure-fire way to get someone to disengage with you, lose trust, and forget you exist.

Relationship Marketing

If you are looking for a quick fix to filling your client list or selling out your program, class, or event – it doesn’t exist. Sorry to disappoint you. Marketing doesn’t work that way and neither does social media.

Relationship marketing is just the modern-day terminology for that old-school sales technique of getting to know your leads better and establishing a connection with people before going for the big ask. If you think of your audience as your own community, then engaging with and nurturing that community is paramount to success. Will there be people in your audience that take years to say yes? Absolutely. Some of them may never pay you a dime. However, they may mention you and what you do to a family member, friend, or co-worker. 

Once you gain attention from your audience and then earn trust, what you want will fall into place.

Is it a struggle each month to create and post social media content for your business? Do you just not have enough time in the day to get it all done? The Social Media Advisor team is experts in helping you stay consistent online! We’ll work with you to create an editorial calendar, messaging, and branded images aligned with your culture and promoting your business so you don’t have to worry about it anymore! Find out more about our Monthly Social Media Support package on our website.

 

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+YouTubePinterestInstagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media TrainingSpeaking and Strategy Consultations.

#GrowYourBusiness – The Difference Between Relationship Marketing & Lead Generation in Social Media

Relationship marketing and lead generation are both highly successful social media strategies. And while both typically require an email address to sign up, that’s where the similarities end.

Relationship Marketing

Relationship marketing focuses on building customer loyalty and long-term engagement rather than shorter-term goals, like increasing individual sales. The goal of relationship marketing is to build strong connections between brand and audience that might lead to ongoing business and future referrals.

Strategy often involves the use of “direct response” campaigns that emphasize customer retention and satisfaction. This type of marketing strategy creates a bond with the customer through narrow market targeting, tailors offers to their customers, and usually demands a response that can be tracked by the marketing team. This typically requires an email address so that the company can contact the individual directly for exclusive offers, maintenance follow-ups, and unconverted leads. Relationship marketing is about the long-term value of a loyal customer and the connection that can be built beyond typical ads and generic sales promotions.

Value of Relationship Marketing

Acquiring new customers on a regular basis can be both challenging and costly. Relationship marketing helps alleviate that problem by creating long-term customer relationships that result in repeat sales (and often word-of-mouth referrals).

In addition, customers tend to have a higher lifetime value, a higher level of satisfaction, and greater brand recognition. Plus, brands spend less on marketing and advertising over the long term, as “buzz marketing” (or customers talking about your product) does the work for you.

Keep in mind, however, that the cost of acquisition can be steep in the beginning – in both time and money. Additionally, networking, which is not everyone’s cup of tea, is central to developing these long-lasting relationships.

Lead Generation

Lead generation is almost the polar opposite of relationship marketing. It focuses much less on building long-lasting relationships and instead aims to gain as many potential new customers as possible (and fast!)

Results are typically accomplished through newsletter sign-ups, opt-ins, giveaways, special events, and so on. Like relationship marketing, an email is usually required to turn leads into customers.

Value of Lead Generation

Lead generation allows you to create a huge amount of traffic to your business’s website, which will hopefully result in a higher conversion rate. A good lead generation strategy creates several different campaigns, targeting a different audience with each one. This ensures that your message gets seen by a variety of different prospects and each one will see your products as something that they “need.”

The end result? A fast-growing email list, customers that are genuinely interested in your product, and easy marketing.

Unfortunately, lead generation often comes with a high turnover rate and (sometimes) a sleazy, used-car-salesman sort of vibe.

Bottom line?

Relationship marketing and lead generation go together like peas and carrots. They both have pros and cons, but together they create an unbeatable marketing strategy.

The team here at The Social Media Advisor can help train your staff on the value of online lead generation and prospecting. If you’d like to take your company’s social media game to the next level, reach out today to learn more about our Social Power Program.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+YouTubePinterestInstagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media TrainingSpeaking and Strategy Consultations.

#GrowYourBusiness – How to Generate Leads in Social Media

When someone talks about social media as a lead generation tool, how do you feel?

For most people, the immediate response is, “Social media is for engaging with your audience and building brand awareness, but it is NOT for sales!”

Somewhere along the line (perhaps it was after one of Facebook’s endless algorithm changes), social media gained a reputation for difficulty. It’s difficult to reach your ideal client, it’s difficult to get your posts seen, and it’s definitely difficult to generate leads.

Our response to that? Psh. You just need a few tricks up your sleeve!

These are our favorite tips for generating leads on social media and producing real results:

Know your audience

We know – it’s been said a thousand times. But the key to gaining interest and creating an engaged audience is knowing what they like and need.

If you want to gain contact information from a member of your social media audience, they first have to feel like you can offer something that is useful to them. Ask yourself:

  • What is my ideal client interested in?
  • What are their pain points?
  • Which products or services would help make their lives easier?
  • What makes my product different from all the others on the market?
  • Which social media networks do they use?

Don’t be afraid to get personal! Consider things like their marital status, whether or not they have children, if they like animals, or what they do for fun. Discussing the “fun” stuff on occasion is how you can really form a connection!

Generating leads with social media

Once you understand your ideal client, generating leads is much easier. Still, you need to have a bit of strategy. While each social media network is different, there are a few tactics that work across the board:

  • Run contests: Contests do pretty well across the board. The trick is, the prize has to be valuable enough that people want to enter . . . but only valuable to your target audience. You don’t want a bunch of random people signing up for your giveaway, because they’re not likely to become clients. Again, this is where knowing your target audience comes into play!
  • Share links to gated content: Gated content is content that is hidden behind a virtual gate. Audience members must share some basic information in order to gain access – For example, they might provide their name and email address in exchange for an exclusive handout. Like contests, if your content is good enough, people will sign up.
  • Use social media advertising: Social media ads allow you to target viewers based on very specific demographics, like their age, where they live, and their hobbies and interests. Running these targeted ads allows you to make sure the people most likely to enjoy your product are the ones that see your promotion.

Do you want to train your employees on using social media as a lead generation tool? The Social Media Advisor’s Social Power Program can help bring them up to speed on the fundamentals of social media, building brand engagement, enhancing visitor experience, and more. Reach out today to set up your free consultation.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+YouTubePinterestInstagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media TrainingSpeaking and Strategy Consultations.

#GrowYourBusiness – How to Use Paid Ads to Generate Leads in Social Media

You may love your job but you aren’t just working for the fun of it. You also want to make money. Moreover, to make money, you need to get sales. To get sales, you need leads.

Until the last few years, you could rely on getting leads organically through your website and search strategies. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of these tools has been on the decline over the last few years. Nowadays, to make the most of using the web to generate leads you need to take advantage of social media advertising.

Of course, you want to make sure that you’re using your dollars effectively so before jumping in you need a plan. Here are six key steps to using paid ads to generate leads in social media:

  1. Set a Budget: When it comes to cost, social media advertising is relatively inexpensive when compared with traditional media. Best of all, you can set a target for how much you want to spend. Based on the results you can either increase or decrease the amount. You’ll need to be aware of the pricing structures for the various platforms and decide how you want to allocate your resources.
  2. Think About Your Targets: When you purchase social media advertising you select the target audience. Consider your audience carefully and make your selections based on who is most likely to need your products or services.
  3. Decide How To Measure Success: Unless you have goals and metrics established you have no way to determine if you’re getting your money’s worth. Is it hard sales, leads, clicks, shares or some other number that will determine if your campaign is working?
  4. Analyze Your Options: Study each platform carefully before launching. Each platform (Facebook versus Twitter, for example) has its own unique strengths and weaknesses.
  5. Develop Your Content: The exact type of content that will work best depends on a variety of factors. Your best bet is to use a balance of different media.
  6. Rinse and Repeat: It may take time to develop the right combinations of spending, platforms, and specific content. Evaluate your progress and make adjustments to your strategy.

To use social media paid advertising successfully you need to understand the basics as well as what makes each platform tick. The quickest, most effective way to do that is to consult with a professional.

The Social Media Advisor can help you jump-start your effort by helping you build a solid foundation. The Social Power Program will give you the tools you need to make sure that you are not spinning your wheels and wasting money. Best of all, for a limited time, you’ll receive a FREE Social Media Analysis with your Discovery Session.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+YouTubePinterestInstagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media TrainingSpeaking and Strategy Consultations.

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