Local businesses need to consistently bring in new customers to increase sales and grow their business, so it’s crucial to embrace new digital marketing strategies to generate sales. Local lead generation using social media puts your business in front of a highly targeted market so you can get to work winning new customers.

A lead is any person who indicates interest in your products or services, and they fuel your marketing efforts. There’s no one-size-fits-all local lead generation campaign, but when you figure out where your ideal customers hang out on social media, you can create a local lead generation plan that keeps your business top of mind when purchase time comes.

Local Lead Generation Using Social Media

Studies from HubSpot have shown that even with only six hours a week spent on social media, 66% of marketers found it brought new leads. Social media business accounts allow you to target ads to people within your local area based on criteria such as location, age, sex, interests, and much more.

Social media platforms also make it easy to guide your followers to take action, from the swipe up option on Instagram stories to Facebook bio links. While social media is usually used for top-of-the-funnel marketing, it can still be a helpful and low-cost source for lead generation when used strategically.

Facebook Lead Generation

With its hyper-targeting ad capabilities, Facebook is one of the best ways for local businesses to find potential customers in their area. With Facebook, it’s easy to grow your local audience and get more eyes on your offers.

Facebook Lead Ads let you run an ad with a conversion objective and send anyone who clicks on the Lead Ad to a Facebook landing page where they can opt-in on your offer. People can simply tap your ad, and a form pops up already pre-populated with their Facebook contact information and ready to be sent directly to you.

Facebook also lets you put a call-to-action button at the top of your Facebook Page, helping you send Facebook followers directly to your website. And you get the added bonus of the ability to run your lead ads across both Facebook and Instagram as long as your ads follow Instagram’s design requirements.

Instagram Lead Generation

Instagram states that at least 200 million Instagrammers visit at least one business profile each day. And, 60% of people say they discover new products on Instagram. Where you can leverage all this traffic to meet your local lead generation needs is with geotagging.

Geotagging occurs when you tag your location in a social post. When you check-in at a location, you’re geotagging. You probably already ask your customers to check-in at your location if you’re using Instagram, but what most businesses are missing out on are the benefits of geotagging your own content.

With Instagram, you can geotag posts, stories, and hashtags. Adding your location makes it easier for people to find you, but it also helps your content show up in more searches.

According to Simply Measured, posts with a location tagged in it received 79% more engagement than those without any. Here’s how to do it:

• Post: When creating an Instagram post, use the Add Location button.
• Story: After you record or upload your story, you can click the square face, and the first button is Location.
• Hashtags: Use city and industry-specific location hashtags to target your local and highly interested audience.

Twitter Lead Generation

The Twitter Business platform is where you can not only optimize how people subscribe to your business but how you engage with your Twitter audience.

Businesses with Twitter Business accounts can use a “subscribe to our newsletter” CTA button on their profiles, while also using URL cards, to make it easy for Twitter users to interact with their brands and increase the number of leads they generate from the platform.

According to Twitter, Twitter Business profile users increased their sales by 69% after customers started following them on Twitter.

These Twitter lead generation ads let you reach specific audiences through local geo-targeting with granular targeting by state, 200 metros, and 12k postal codes. You can also create a tailored audience list in three ways:

• Using a list of email addresses or Twitter usernames
• Collect a list of people that have recently visited your website with Twitter’s website tag
• Reach people who have taken a specific action on your app

Once you’ve uploaded your list of contacts, you can choose to either include or exclude them from your campaign targeting, depending on your remarketing strategy.

LinkedIn Lead Generation

For B2B (business to business) lead generation, there is no better social media platform than LinkedIn. You can see professional demographic data to target the right people by job title, company, industry, seniority, and more.

Retarget website visitors, reach contacts, and build account-based marketing campaigns with Matched Audiences or a set of custom targeting options.

Create ads in the newsfeed, in messages, and on a desktop to capture leads and use sponsored content to promote company updates.

Using LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms also removes the main barrier to online conversion: forms that have to be filled out manually by prospects.

When LinkedIn members click on your ad, their profile data automatically populates a form they can submit with one click. They’ll save time and effort. You’ll get more accurate and complete information about your leads.

Take advantage of these opportunities on social media for your business to collect leads by offering up value on the platforms and social networks where your ideal customers hang out.

To learn more or to receive a complimentary social media marketing strategy for your local business, contact us today.