GENERATE LEADS FOR YOUR BUSINESS USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Almost 40% of the total world population is on Internet as of now. The growth curve of the Internet has escalated drastically since 1995 from just 1% to 40%, so you can imagine the potential of Internet and the social media.

To generate leads using Social media we need to understand what actually comprises of Social Media. Social media is a computer mediated tool that allows people or companies to create, share, or exchange information, career interests,ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks. It is a platform which anybody could use to share or find anything. 

Here are a few techniques to grab leads using social media:

1. Chose your Platform wisely: Before choosing to use social media to generate your business you must identify the use of any social networking site. You must know the specific purposes of each platform you wish to use to grab your target leads.
   
2. Identify Your Audience Well: Let’s suppose you have an incredibly ingenious product designed specially for non vegetarians and your product is highly desirable, but if you are selling that product in Gujarat or Rajasthan then you are not going to sell many as those two are the states with most number of vegetarians.Before you can seek out your audience, you must identify them. Are your typical customers male or female? Are they young or old? How much money do they make? What are some of their likes and dislikes? Are they local to you, or do they live all over the world? Are they a certain ethnicity, or do they come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds?Once you have a clear picture of who your ideal customers are, you can use this information to determine where they hang out online.
3. Optimize your contents to keep your audience interested: You know who your prospective customers are but they don’t know about you. Why should they come to you? Be interesting, be entertaining and be informative with your content. Be reliable, be dependable and don’t ask for anything in return. Soon your prospective customers will find you.
4. Have a blog on your website: You should have an integrated blog on your website. You should be addressing current issues that your customers are facing, updates on your business and daily ramblings. You should be sharing these posts on social media. People are quick to dismiss the brands that they believe will not deliver the services they require. By becoming the go-to person in your industry, you will attract more customers and strengthen existing relationships.
5. Utilise the multiple channels effectively: It is worth knowing that the most popular networking websites are: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest. Each social media channel boasts their own community. You should adapt your long-term plan to each community accordingly. Have a clear focus, be consistent and prove your expertise. Utilise multiple channels and cross promote. Nonetheless it is better to be actively involved with one or two social channels, than to be spread thinly with no given direction on them all.
6. Keep an eye on your the analytics: You must use analytics to measure your success on social media. Google Analytics is a free tool and easy to use and learn about your customers which include their demographics, geographic locations, behaviour and the degree of interest to your website or product.
7. Conclusion: Most of the leads generated online are through Social media so keep posting and keep your audience interested. Besides generating leads you also help create brand awareness and a chance to create an excellent customer delight.