Facebook and LinkedIn – The Modern Age Lead Generation Tools For Your Business

by    |   28th Feb 11 1:35 am   |   9
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Facebook LinkedIn e1298881991149 Facebook and LinkedIn The Modern Age Lead Generation Tools For Your BusinessLead Generation is a vital aspect for establishing and expanding any business, more so for Small to Mid-sizse Businesses (SMBs) as they have budget constraints on advertising, marketing and new business development. It’s a chicken-egg situation for small businesses – if they don’t generate quality leads, it hampers the business. If those leads materialize, they not only help boost your business revenues but open up several new unexplored leads as well.

It’s fair to say that the explosion of social media has completely transformed the small business approach for lead generation.

Ad-ology Research Data on SMB Lead Generation

As per the recent data from advertising research firm Ad-ology, more than 55% of small-business owners view Facebook as a valuable modern age lead generation tool. The Ad-ology research covered 752 US small-business owners and concluded that several other social media networks including LinkedIn, Twitter and recent social commerce phenomenon such as GroupOn are also gaining popularity as lead generation mechanisms in the SMB segment.

Millions of business users are leveraging Facebook for their advertising and marketing campaigns. The research firm says that nearly 57.2% of small-business owners believe Lead generation is the top business benefit of social media. Another 54% SMB owners use social media to monitor their business’ online reputation. The research data confirms that using Facebook and LinkedIn as customer service tools is also gaining acceptance in the small business community.

Facebook Lead Generation Campaigns

Facebook is growing at a scorching pace and offers a fantastic platform to launch viral lead generation campaigns for businesses of all sizes. I’ve seen several businesses successfully run lead generation campaigns by setting up dedicated Facebook pages and then spreading the word through their fans/ friends.

LinkedIn Lead Generation

In my opinion, LinkedIn is the perfect amalgamation of professional and social networking. It’s drastically different from Facebook and provides a more business-oriented platform as compared to Facebook for hiring, lead generation and business ventures. It’s a popular platform amongst SMBs for hiring as well as business partnerships.

The LinkedIn Groups feature provides the perfect platform for like-minded individuals and businesses to generate and share leads for mutual benefits.

Social Analytics

Generating quality leads is only half the battle won for a business. Turning those leads into concrete business opportunities is the other and equally important part. I strongly recommend businesses using a top notch social analytics tool to measure the effectiveness of their lead generation campaigns. I’ve been using Google Analytics for a long time and I find it to be mighty efficient in capturing the relevant lead data from across the web that allows me to see a bigger picture and reassess my lead generation strategy as needed.

Does your business use social media for lead generation? If so, have you leveraged Facebook and LinkedIn to generate quality leads for your business? Did it help enhance your your social media lead pipeline? Please share your opinion by leaving a comment below this post.

Douglas Idugboe, Digital and New Media Marketing Strategist. Founder and Chief Editor of Smedio! A Canadian Bestselling Author, Marketing Strategist, Speaker and Trainer, Who Loves Technology
  • http://blog.esimplestudios.com Gabriele Maidecchi

    Social media has impacted SMBs far more than one would have initially been able to predict. It provides tools that were not traditionally available to business owners, and allows them to reach (potential) customers in social interactions they were traditionally not part of.
    We could say it kinda hits people when their guard is low, surely lower than in old forms of advertising like banner ads or mailing campaigns.
    It’s very easy to see the change when you consider that nowadays social media has switched from being a comfortable plus to being a needed mandatory step.

    • http://fbleadgen.com fbleadgen

      Absolutely agree with you, Gabriele.

      I’d go as far as saying that social media is far more important for SMBs than it is for bigger organizations (who typically have the resources to generate leads through other channels). Considering that social media is essentially free, businesses would be crazy not to use it!

  • Pingback: 3 Steps to Create a Consistent Social Footprint | Project Social

  • http://urgentessays.co.uk/buy_dissertation buy dissertation

    [...] more than 55% of small-business owners view Facebook as a valuable modern age lead generation tool. [...]
    as for me, that sounds weird! facebook is an entertaining social network. and now look – business owners take it into account! that’s ridiculous! but unfortunately it probably makes sense nowadays..

  • http://twitter.com/gautamtandon Gautam Tandon

    Very well said. When it comes to making and keeping up with business connections, Linked In has one of the best features currently available in market, hands down. What makes Linked In different from Facebook and other Social Networks is that it’s extremely simplified when it comes to working your way out from a business perspective.

    Thanks,
    GT
    http://blog.ellipsissolutions.com/2011/03/03/linked-in-ethics-for-best-lead-generation-results/

  • Anonymous

    All right I’m following you! :)

  • http://www.denvermarketingfirm.com Jonathan Roseland

    The world of lead generation has changed a lot with social media. Here’s a quintessential ‘internet marketing trick’ as it requires no skill, no money, no software and very little time. Depending upon your industry you can generate between 10 – 30 hot leads daily off Twitter using this technique. Here’s a link, please let me know what you think http://su.pr/2mpwrg

  • Anonymous

    Great subject and content. I will recommend the site without a doubt, great spot!! I will be back to check out more for sure. 

    Glenn Wright
    VP of Marketing
    Partner Source 
    (Ranked #2 for Service/Cost: B2B/B2C Appointment Setting | Lead Generation and Market Research Company)
    Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
    http://www.thepartnersource.com

  • http://www.appointmentsetting.com/ appointment setting

    The use of social media like facebok,twitter and linkedin is increase in last year. This are really powerful tools  for any business to generate the leads.