Don’t let social media overwhelm you
Are you feeling frustrated because your social media campaign isn’t generating leads for your business? Most South African businesses still have a lot to learn about using social media to generate business leads. So before you abandon ship completely, look at this stat: Compared to outbound (traditional) marketing, social media has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate. You can’t argue that, so stick around and read why your social media strategy may be failing you.
The fact that your business is not generating enough leads via social media may mean there’s a hitch in your strategy. You’re not alone. Do you recognise any of these common mistakes, which South African businesses make when planning marketing strategies to get leads via social media?
Underestimating how much work there is – Making your social media strategy work for your business requires skill and dedication. It’s a labour-intensive job and every word or piece of content that you post on social media should be well planned and constructed to ultimately generate leads – which is a challenge for business owners who don’t have much time to spend on marketing. While your job is to run a business or a department in a company, you should be either employing your own in-house expert to run your social media campaigns or hire a good content marketing agency to do it for you.
Misunderstanding your target market – You know how the saying goes: “assumption is the mother of all stuff-ups”; well in the case of your target market this rings most true. You can’t assume that you know who and where your target market is on social media. It is in fact the most common cause for hindering your social media marketing campaign. Knowing your target market is THE most fundamental part of your campaign. Before you launch a campaign on social media you should first do extensive research to know who your typical customers are, their needs and challenges, and then ensure that you engage with them about issues that are relevant to them.
Forgetting you’re engaging with real people – It’s so easy to forget that we’re targeting real people when we’re creating lead generation strategies online – everything is taking place in isolation and is essentially being created in the hard and unemotional digital realm. But, on the receiving end of your social media campaigns are people with real emotions. Create content that is engaging, lively, provocative and informative especially since you’re trying to attract your market’s attention in a space that is already over-saturated with other brands just like yours. The way to stand out is to speak to the heart.
Forgetting you have competition – The great thing about prospecting for leads online is that anyone can do it and if the campaign is executed well then you’re in the pound seats. So, this means a small one-person business can afford to play in the same space next to a large corporation and succeed, too. But to stand out from your competition, you first need to get to know exactly who you are dealing with and what they look like on social media. Check out what is working for them and what isn’t and watch how your competitors are engaging with them. Then, put together a meaningful strategy that provides the market with something your competition hasn’t suggested as yet.
Too pushy with zero value in the content – Whatever you do, don’t use social media as a hard-sell platform. Think smart and provide your market with valuable content but at the same time be quietly point them towards that thing that your brand can provide them. That’s the very definition of being strategic!
To conclude, always begin your online marketing with a clear and practical plan of action, set realistic goals and never forget that you’re creating content for real people with real emotions. Think about your target market. What do they want? What are their fears? What challenges do they face each and every day? And how can your brand provide solutions to these questions. Engage your market with valuable, meaningful content. Be consistent. Be patient. Make social media work for you so that you can work your leads.
You can avoid making mistakes in your social media lead generation campaign by being prepared and learning how to use social media to find new leads.
