Creating a social media account is easy, but generating leads? Not so much. It can be difficult to convince a user to leave Facebook, as an example, and visit your website or landing page when she’s posting, liking, updating and following her friends like it’s her job. But fear not, the mountain isn’t as steep as you’d think. Here are 3 actions you can take today to start generating leads across your various social media platforms.

Answering Questions

Most platforms allow you to search for user content by typing in keywords. You’ll then be able to see what everyone is saying about your product or industry, and you can present yourself as an authoritative figure. This could mean replying to a Twitter user who wants to know how to bake a cake because you’re a bakery owner and no one knows how to make a pound cake like you do. You don’t have to boast about your wealth of knowledge, or come across as overbearing. Your goal is to get them to follow you and hopefully they’ll persuade others to do the same.

What begins as a dialog should result in a larger conversation, or at least that should be your intent. If, for example, you’re chatting on Twitter and you consistently invoke a hashtag (i.e. “#birthdaycake”) your conversation will likely receive attention from other users with a similar interest. From there your following will continue to grow and, depending on your sales stages, the goal is to move users from Twitter to your website where the conversion (e.g. phone call, email opt-in, a purchase) takes place.

Related: How to qualify your VOIP Leads?

Joining Groups

Within many platforms, you’ll find groups, the most popular of which are on Facebook and LinkedIn. Groups are the social media equivalent of a club. They tend to be centered around a specific topic, industry, or set of beliefs, and their members are among the most active on social media. People only join groups if they are really passionate about a topic, which means you’re bound to have a much higher engagement rate among these users.

Can’t find a group for your niche? The good news is, you can create one! Just make sure it focuses on the actual topic, rather than providing a vehicle of self-promotion for you. As an admin you can set-up group events, post documents or images, conduct polls, and much more.

Related: Why Omni-Channel Marketing is Ideal for IT and Software?

Posting Videos

If you’ve ever been on the fence about posting videos, get a load of this stat: According to Dr. James McQuivey of Forrester Research, the value of 1 minute of video is that of 1.8 million words. It reminds me of the old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” only it’s much higher.

Indeed, videos are transforming the internet and changing the way we market content, so it’s vital that you at least experiment with them. You can shoot a quick vlog or how-to video on your phone for immediate upload to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or Snapchat. You can also try creating a live video on Facebook or Periscope (part of Twitter) to get realtime feedback from users. Not only are you interacting with a live audience and that can massively improve your brand’s ‘human’ factor, but you’re also creating content that can continue to engage your audience long after the lights go down the “live” broadcast concludes.

Use As A Means, Not As An End

Social media is a vehicle for generating leads, but the ultimate goal is to optimize our conversion rate by bringing these users back to our website. It’s easy to get stuck in the weeds of social media interaction, but you must remember to stay on the point of your brand’s message. Helping out your target market will help you out if you entertain, engage and education your audience before asking anything of them. Given to get.

Michael Peggs is the founder of Marccx Media, a digital marketing agency specializing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Before Marcxx, Peggs worked at Google in business development, forming digital media and advertising partnerships in the United States and Asia. He is also a contributor to The Huffington Post, FastCompany and Business Insider as well as and podcaster, hosting the iTunes Top 10 New & Noteworthy Podcast You University.

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