Acquiring Leads Through Social Media Is Easy For Businesses

Selling anything on line is a two step process.

First you have to "acquire" a lead, then you have to "convert" it.

Every Twitter follower, every Facebook friend, everyone reading your website or blog is a lead you have acquired, by being interesting, helpful or perhaps funny.

Most people can do this - it's relatively easy to build up a following on all those media of a few thousand, or even tens of thousands of people.

"I have over 10,000 Twitter followers!"

Impressive, no?

But here's the thing: Many of those follow me because I'm a diver, some because I'm into Formula 1, others because I'm a snowboarder.

Which is all good.

Except I don't sell dive gear, Grand Prix tickets or Snowboards. So the reality is, I'm unlikely ever to "convert" those into customers.

Which is also fine.

But it does mean a shift for businesses when they think about their marketing.

Traditionally most small to medium businesses market in niche publications - if you want to sell gardening tools, you advertise in a gardening magazine or on a TV program about gardening. They are attacking a rich seam of people who are pretty much already qualified prospects, so conversion rates are likely to be high.

It's not so with social media. You can only succeed at social media by being multi faceted in your personality, in exactly the same way that people succeed socially!

And that brings with it diversity in followers.

The message for businesses is that your conversion rate via social media will be much lower than in conventional niche marketing - accept it.

But relish in the fact that the acquisition of a big audience is much, much easier through social media, and apart from your time, will cost almost nothing.

More:

1/ Don't follow the herd!

2/ On motivation

3/ Switch your focus and make some money