When I speak to businesses about their current social media strategy, one of the most common issues that come up is a desire to generate leads. While most businesses know that social media marketing can help move the needle for their business, figuring out how to make that happen can be a challenge.

Although creating a Facebook page or tweeting on a daily basis isn’t going to instantly translate to leads, the good news is there are plenty of ways to use social media for lead generation. The key to making that happen is understanding what works through social channels. Once you have that outline, you can customize your strategy for your specific business.

Since there are multiple ways to approach lead generation via social media, let’s take a look at the most effective options:

Create a Great Piece of Downloadable Content

While social media gives you a way to directly connect with potential customers, it’s important to remember that social media is very busy. Since there are at least a dozen different things competing for people’s attention whenever they’re on a social media site, you need a way to make your business stand out.

One of the best ways to grab people’s attention is to offer a free download. Whether it’s a cheat sheet, whitepaper, infographic, short ebook, or checklist, having a downloadable piece of cornerstone content that directly appeals to your target demographic will make everything else you do via social that much easier.

Hold a Contest

If you’re in a B2C market, it’s still worth creating a great piece of downloadable content. But in addition to offering a free download, running contests on a regular basis can also be a great way to boost social activity and collect email addresses.

Don’t Rule Out Paid Social Ads

Even though social media has become a key part of many people’s daily routine, it’s important to remember that sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest are still growing. As a result, they can offer advertising opportunities that would be cost-prohibitive through channels like AdWords. Since opportunities are out there, it’s definitely worth testing to see if any type of social advertising is a good fit for your business.

Experiment with Different Mediums

Podcasts and webinars are two mediums that businesses should consider trying out. While they’re not going to work for every single industry, both podcasts and webinars can be very powerful lead generation tools that can tie directly into social media efforts.

If you’re interested in social media training for your employees or would like to have an experienced professional take care of your social media management, contact me to learn more about how I can help.