Τρίτη 1 Μαΐου 2012

How Social Media Monitoring Can Boost Your Lead Generation

Getting the most out of social media monitoring tools is something we’re obviously very interested in, and our series of free eBooks is tailored towards different uses available to SMM tool users.
In the fifth such book, we’ve taken an in-depth look at using tools like Brandwatch for lead generation.

If you’re unconvinced by the potential power of finding and nurturing leads through social media monitoring, then consider this: 17.9% of B2B companies and 24.8% of B2C marketers say that social media lead generation is even more potent than PPC or SEO is.
Furthermore, a staggering 68% of marketers claim to have created leads from social media, and 55% of them have closed deals originating from a social media lead.
It’s not a simple as simply identifying them; and the prospect will be unlikely to be looking to buy straight away.
Buyers will most likely undertake some research before comparing available options, followed by sampling them, before finally making the purchase, dividing the process into four clear sections.
Understanding these buyers is essential to finding these leads, and you will need to evaluate the following considerations.
Find out who your target consumer is - Refine which kind of people are buying your products, or which type of consumer you wish to market to. Building a profile for each target niche will help you focus your sales efforts later on.
Locate where your prospects are hanging out – Look for the forums and web spaces that your target consumers are spending their time online in.
Discover what they’re saying about you – If users are aware of your brand, which terms are being used in discussions? There could be particular keywords that people talk about in relation to your product (e.g. pricing or shipping) that could then inform your sales strategies.
Ascertain what people are talking about – your market or industry will have a number of recurring themes that people are discussing that relate to the service you provide, allowing you to accurately serve the needs of your prospects.
Uncovering this information is vital to generating new leads, and entering the sales cycle as early as possible will help you best achieve success.
Identifying those that are still in the research stage means you can then act as an educator to early-stage prospects and establish yourself as a thought-leader in your niche.
The majority of B2B leads have a sales cycle of around 4 months, meaning that becoming involved at this early stage is essential, and you can nurture these leads along the funnel to become a sale at the end.
Brian Carroll puts it like this:
“Imagine your marketplace is like a field of banana trees. Your marketing people are those who nurture and pick the bananas. Bananas are harvested when they are green, and they turn yellow as they ripen. Fully 95% of your leads are like harvested green bananas, and, off the top, your sales team needs only the other 5%, those that are ripe.”
You can discover how to follow the process through here, and also read plenty more on social media lead generation than is covered here.
There are plenty of ways that monitoring tools can help you measure the success of your lead generation and provide feedback from performing these activities, such as:
  • Volume of mentions of your brand
  • Change in overall brand sentiment ratings
  • Temporary change in brand sentiment surrounding a social marketing campaign
  • Volume of visits to your websites
  • Volume of visits from specific sites
  • Number of new social media sites that mention your brand
  • Number of new fans and followers

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