You Have a Social Media Lead! Now What?

So You Got Yourself A Lead…

What's your goal for social media marketing? Are you looking to build brand awareness in your community or online? What about leads? Maybe your interest lies most in finding prospects for your business. If so, there is nothing better than implementing a marketing campaign and finding out that your efforts worked! Once you've done the hard work and you have a promising prospect at your fingertips, what is next? As intricate as the lead generation process is it is also equally important to follow-up with leads in a similar manner. One wrong misstep and their interest could disappear! In fact, it's fairly common that our clients have questions about what to do next once they get a lead. Today, we're going to walk you through multiple scenarios that happen when you get a lead through social media marketing to ensure that you get them through your front door!

Not sure how to get leads through social media? At Hyperchat Social, we have a set goal of getting our clients 6-10 leads each month through our various lead generation services. Want to learn more! Schedule a consultation with us today to start getting prospect info emailed to you! Check out this blog for more answers to frequently asked questions.

How Should I Follow Up With My Facebook Leads?

If you're running a lead generation objective through Facebook Advertising, odds are your Facebook leads are giving you their contact info by filling out your lead generation form. This is powerful info! There's so much you can do with someone's email address, phone number, and any other prequalifying questions you might ask. But what should you do with it? For starters, if you have a drip campaign in place, you can always get these people included to your recipient list so that they continue to see your company name in their inbox. As far as communication goes, we recommend contacting your leads within 24 hours. If you can get to them sooner, do it! We've grown accustomed to instant gratification and our attention span isn't very long. If someone was interested enough to fill out your lead generation form, give them a quick call ASAP and ask them the questions that will help determine if they are a good fit for your services.

Someone Wants Me to Give Them a Call. What Do I Say?

As stated above, timing is key. If you have the time to drop everything and give them a call, do it now! With that in mind, it's important to come off as both personable and professional. Why should someone want to work with you? Make a great first impression by having a practiced phone script ready to go. It helps to establish a friendly tone, too. As a reminder, be upbeat. It helps to look at a mirror to see how you look when you speak. Speak clear, be confident, and ask short questions, such as "Really?", "Is that it?", or "That is all you have?".

My LinkedIn Lead Just Wants to Message Me. How Do I Continue the Conversation?

If you can get them on the phone, the odds that you'll be able to get them through your doors increase tenfold. If you're finding yourself playing message tag in your messenger feature on LinkedIn, try sending a message like the one we've crafted below:

"I don't know about you, but it's hard to build a relationship in a message box. Do you have a good email where I can shoot you all of my contact info and perhaps find a time over the next few weeks where we can connect up face to face?"

I Called My Lead and They Didn't Answer. Does That Mean They Aren't Interested?

Nope! They might just be away from their phone or busy. Make sure to leave them a voicemail that tells them who they are, why you're contacting them, and how they can reach back out to you. If you don't hear back, no need to fret. We recommend emailing the lead on the second day if you still haven't heard anything. Beyond that, we'd advise calling or emailing the lead 3 more times in that first week to see if contact can be made. If you're still not having luck, try calling them on an ongoing basis until you get to seven times with no response. This may seem excessive, but we've found these statistics to be our sweet spot.

I Called My Lead and They Were Cold to Me. Now What?

Best case scenario, your lead remembers who you are and is excited to get your call! Unfortunately, you may have to jog their memory a little bit to remind them why you are calling. If they're still resisting your questions, ask them in a way that deflects objections. This may sound like, "I don't have any money", or "I don't have any time". You can do this by using open probes to learn more about their goals. What are their pain points and how can you help ease the burden? Once you're able to get them to take the bait, explain what your initial meeting will look like and set their expectations.

My Lead Messaged Me Wanting a Phone Call. When Should I Schedule It?

Great! The best advice we can give you is to make it easy for them to choose a date and time. Don't leave the ball in their court. Instead, ask them if Tuesday or Thursday works better for them? That way, they only have to make a quick choice and you'll be more likely to get something on the calendar. From there, you'll solidify the appointment. Then you can ask them if they'll be bringing someone, like a spouse, to the initial meeting.

My Lead Showed Strong Initial Interest But Now Is Ignoring Me. What Do I Do?

People are free to change their minds, but that doesn't mean you should give up hope just because they haven't responded. Persistence is key! Your number one goal should be to stay in front of your leads as much as you can. If you found them on LinkedIn, you can go to their profile to study up on who they are and use it to your advantage. Did you guys go to the same college? Maybe you're connected with some mutual friends. Do you work with some of their colleagues? Take this waiting period as a time of preparation so when the time comes, you know all the right things to say to gain their business.

What Else Can I Do to Stay In Front of My LinkedIn Leads?

Just because someone didn't convert through your lead generation efforts doesn't mean that they won't convert down the line through other methods. The great thing about LinkedIn is that once someone accepts your connection request, they are subscribed to your posts until they click that pesky 'unfollow' button. Even if they didn't react to the initial reach out, you can continue to nurture your leads by posting content that is relevant to them. Someone may see your post and remember who you are and that you reached out to them in the past. They may not have needed your services then, but now could be the right time. Likewise, they could refer you to someone else who needs your help. This is where building that online brand awareness comes into play when you're generating leads!

Sample Lead Follow-Up Process For Businesses:

1. Call lead within 24 hours
2. Enter lead into CRM system (Thing Redtail, Hubspot, etc.)
3. Add lead to autoresponder/newsletter
4. Set up call reminders in your calendar
5. Record your calls, voicemails and email notes in your CRM system as they occur
6. Schedule the initial meeting
7. Send a handwritten thank-you note after the meeting

There's definitely an art to following up with your leads, especially when they are strangers to you and your brand! But you have to actually have leads to take these next steps. If you're having trouble generating new clients or customers for your business, maybe it's time you let someone else try for you. At Hyperchat Social, we offer Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and a customized LinkedIn messaging service. Schedule a consultation today to find out which service works best for you so that you can start generating leads ASAP!