A Practical Plan for Turning

Conversations into Conversions

Brought to you by Formstack with expert insightsfrom Convince & Convert’s Jay Baer

THE STRESSEDMARKETER’S GUIDE

TO LEAD GENERATION WITHSOCIAL MEDIA

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media11

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Getting into a Lead Gen Groove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Creating More Meaningful Touchpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Capturing More Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

More Practical Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tying It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Team Behind This E-Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

External Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media2

INTRODUCTIONIt took a lot of work. But you did it. Your company now has an impressive following

on social media. Likes are skyrocketing, retweets are happening regularly, and your

content is being shared like crazy.

Now comes the critical question:

How many of those social media conversations are resulting in revenue-boosting

conversions?

If the answer is “not many,” you’re not alone.

Half of marketers still struggle to tie social activities to business outcomes, and 60%

have a hard time measuring social media ROI.1

The good news is that there are effective ways to turn more social interactions into

measurable leads—without having to invest in expensive software or

time-consuming strategies.

This interactive workbook will give you a practical plan for generating more leads

from social media. Be sure to save it to your desktop for easy access as you work

your way through our step-by-step guide.

Ready to get started? Let’s begin…

$

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media3

GETTING INTO A LEAD GEN GROOVEWhile social media is widely known for driving traffic and building brand awareness,

it can be used to improve sales as well.2 You just have to get in the right mindset.

Start with these two steps:

Step 1: Calculate Lead Value

Do you know what an average lead is worth to your sales team? If you’re like 39%

of marketers, you may not yet have a clue.3 If you’ve never been able to calculate

lead value for your business, now’s the time. Here’s why:

+ You’ll avoid overspending (or underspending) on social mediamarketing.

+ It’ll be easier to see when social media campaigns are makingmoney.

+ You’ll gain a better understanding of how social media compares toother tactics on a cost-per-lead basis.

Here’s a simple formula you can use to get started:

As you work your way through the rest of this book, use this number to help

determine how much you can safely invest in social media marketing.

Type here!

x(average sale in dollars) (conversion rate) (lead value)

=

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media4

Step 2: Understand a Common Conversion Path

How many touchpoints does it take for a potential customer to fill out a form on

your website? You won’t be able to generate more leads from social media until

you understand where those people are in the buying process based on the entire

conversion cycle—and not just last click attribution.

For example: Facebook may be a big referral source, but that doesn’t mean it’s the

only place to spend your money. It could be that people are clicking your Facebook

ads after first discovering your blog via Google or LinkedIn.

Since most leads are exposed to multiple touchpoints before converting, you’ll

need a clear picture of a common conversion path for your customers. Start by

answering the following questions:

INTERACTIONS

How are your strongest leads interacting with your brand?

For example:

+ In your marketing automation tool, what do the activity logs of yourhighest-scoring prospects look like?

+ In Google Analytics, what do you see under Conversions >Multi-Channel Funnels > Assisted Conversions (and Top Conversion Paths)?

W H AT I S L A S T C L I C K AT T R I B U T I O N?Attribution tells you which link (including the “source” or location of the

link) a lead clicked before visiting your landing page and filling out yourform. You can find these referral sources in Google Analytics, email marketing reports, and form builder analytics. “Last click” attribution occurs when the final referral source is given full credit for a sale or conversion.

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media5

ATTRIBUTIONS

Where do leads come from when they finally visit your landing page and fill out

your form?

For example:

+ What are the top referral sources in your form builder’s attributionfeature? (Twitter? Google? A Facebook ad?)

+ In Google Analytics, what do you see under Acquisition > All Traffic >Referrals?

Now take these two pieces of information:

+ Brand interactions

+ Attributions

And use them to fill in the following chart. Take some time to ensure you get it

right—this conversion path will be an important reference as you continue to work

your way through the rest of this e-book.

Where do most customers first discover your brand?For example: Facebook Ads, LinkedIn posts

What did they click right before filling out your form?For example: One-to-one email

Where do they engage with you next?For example: Blog posts, webinars

? Type here!

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media6

CREATING MORE MEANINGFUL TOUCHPOINTSWITH ORGANIC SOCIAL MEDIAGenerating leads all comes down to well-placed nudges in the right direction.

When you answer questions, share helpful information, and refer people to relevant

landing pages, you create more touchpoints with your brand. And more touchpoints

on social media can generate more qualified leads.

What specific steps can you take to create more meaningful interactions? Let’s take

a look.

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media7

1. Monitor High-Intent Hashtags

+ When it comes to generating leads, high-intent hashtags are an easy

way to gain traction. For example: A Las Vegas hotel chain could create

conversion opportunities simply by engaging in conversations around a

hashtag like #Vegasbound. Use a tool like RiteTag to discover trending

hashtags and set up a stream in a platform like SproutSocial to monitor

conversations.

2. Don’t Over-Automate

+ While some autogenerated tweets and status updates can attract

new leads, you have to keep it “real.” Building real connections with real

people is a surefire way to convert leads on social media. This means

you need authentic tweets, tags, and updates that are personalized and

human. Use a tool such as Insightpool, Little Bird, or Affinio to determine

who to connect with and how best to communicate with your connections.

3. Engage with Targeted Groups

+ Sharing valuable insights in the right group environment can open all

kinds of doors to lead gen as you build trust with your target audience.

You can convince and convert not only the leads whose questions

you answer, but also the hundreds of people following along. Look for

Facebook and LinkedIn groups where your target customers are active

participants. On Twitter, a tool like Twubs makes it easy to find and

participate in chats directly related to your business.

SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTIONS TIP SHEETUsing social media to capture more conversions can be a big undertaking.

Focusing on the tips below will help ensure your campaigns are pushing people in

the right direction.

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media8

Should you join that social group?

As mentioned on the last page, engaging with social media groups can be a great

way to get your brand in front of interested networks. But no one likes a company

spamming their group with irrelevant content. Wondering whether you should join a

specific online circle? Use this decision tree to decide:

Is this grouplikely to appeal

to your audience?

Research whichgroups will mostlikely attract your

target leads.

Join thegroup!

Look for another group with active participants and

two-way dialogue.

Review theprofiles of your

strongest leads to see which groups

they belong to.

Are any of yourcurrent prospectsmembers of this

group?

Are there realdiscussions withquestions and

comments?

YES

YES

YESNO

NO

NO

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media9

CAPTURING MORE CONVERSIONSWITH PAID SOCIAL MEDIAAs you work to attract more leads with personalized touchpoints, your paid social

campaigns can help move prospects deeper into your conversion funnel. Social

media advertising lets you get really specific on who you target and what they see.

This can make it easy to get exactly the right information in front of all the right

people at just the right time.

So how can you use social media advertising to qualify leads and capture more

conversions? Use the following tip sheet to make sure you’re maximizing your

social spend.

3 WAY S TO C A P T U R EM O R E F O R M CO N V E R S I O N S

F RO M S O C I A L M E D I A

+ Remove unnecessary form fields. More than 50% of online activity

occurs on mobile devices, where people use tiny touchpad screens to fill

out forms.4 The fewer fields, the better.

+ Allow users to pull info from social media profiles. Simply turning on a

form’s Social Autofill feature can increase conversion rates by 189%.5

+ Customize the thank-you page users see after submitting your form.You can drive deeper engagement by adding a secondary call to action,

like signing up for a related webinar.

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media10

1. Choose the Right Networks

+ Revisit the sample conversion path you created at the beginning of this

workbook. Where are your ideal prospects most likely to find you? Are

they spending more time on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest? Typically,

the places where you’re most successful with organic social media are

also the places where paid ads should generate the most leads.

2. Get Granular

+ The great strength of social media advertising is the ability to pinpoint

extremely specific audiences. You can use dozens of different filters to

ensure only highly qualified prospects will see your ads. For example: In

addition to basics like demographics and locations, you might look for

keywords that indicate a challenge you can help solve. Or you could filter

for personal interests that signal someone is likely to buy your products.

3. Be Creative

+ Studies show that fewer than 15% of people can name a brand or product

after seeing a display ad.6 An ad that asks a thought-provoking question

or makes an unusually bold statement is most likely to stand out in social

feeds. In fact, new research reveals that creativity makes an ad five times

more likely to be seen compared with targeting alone.7 Additionally, it’s

important to test different types of social ads to see which ones resonate

most with your target audience. And be sure to optimize for conversions

and not just clicks. You’ll have to spend a little time installing tracking code

on your thank-you page, but it’s worth it!

SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING TIP SHEETUsing social ads to drive more traffic to your landing pages is worth the time and

money spent—as long as that traffic converts into customers at a profitable rate.

Avoid over- or under-spending on paid campaigns with these guidelines.

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media11

Snapshot of an Effective Social Ad

Let’s say you have an apartment complex in Phoenix and are trying to get people

to rent units. You want to reach locals, like this guy you know named Peter. He has

a degree in computer engineering, likes to play volleyball, drinks craft beer and watches a lot of videos on his smartphone.

What would a super-targeted ad to a renter like Peter look like? Check out our

example below. For the best results, create specific ads and ad groups for each

targeting criteria.

Locations

Interests

Fields of Study

Behaviors

Display

Age Gender

United States, Arizona

Phoenix + 25 mi

Computer Science

video watching

mobile only

craft beer

gadget gear

volleyball

x

20 All Men Women- 35

^

+–

x

x

x

x

x

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media12

MORE PRACTICAL IDEASYOU CAN USE TO GENERATE MORE LEADS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook: Short-Form VideoFacebook is favoring short-form video in news feeds—and consumers are, too.

These “snackable” video clips tend to be engaging, easy to digest, and convenient

to watch on mobile devices. Create a video preview of killer content overlaid with

call to action links to your landing page, and you may be surprised at how many

clicks and conversions you can capture. The shorter, the better: The most-watched Facebook videos are 21 to 61 seconds long.8

Twitter: Attention-Grabbing ImagesUsing strong imagery is one of the best ways to drive traffic and conversions on

Twitter. Tweets with images capture 18% more clicks and generate 150% more retweets compared with text-only tweets.9 All that traffic-inducing activity can

lead to some serious spikes in conversions. Try presenting closeup photos of your

products, behind-the-scenes shots of your office, or even pull quotes placed in

attention-grabbing and branded colors.

LinkedIn: Blog PostsWhen used as a publishing platform, LinkedIn can be a big driver of traffic and

conversions. This social network generates three times more leads than Facebook

and Twitter,10 which means blog posts on LinkedIn can expose your content to a

highly engaged audience. Start by identifying the topics that most appeal to your

target niche. Then be sure to incorporate compelling calls to action that tell people

exactly where to sign up or opt in.

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media13

...TYING IT ALL TOGETHERSocial networks are constantly changing. Following the steps in this book will

absolutely help you generate more leads. But you have to be ready to adapt. The

key to staying ahead of trends as they evolve is in your social media metrics.

But there’s a problem:

You’re not an analyst. You’re a busy, time-strapped marketer who needs some

quick, actionable insights. That’s where the following checklist comes in. It includes

important metrics you can use to measure success and plan future efforts. To start,

pick at least one metric from each column to begin tracking monthly.

AU D I E N C E INTERACTIONS BEHAVIORS

Measure each metric per channel, per month

# of fans and followers# of engagements (likes, comments, shares, retweets)

# of direct (and indirect/assisted) formconversions

% audience growth # of engagements per post

% of posts resulting in clicks to your website

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media14

Next, turn your monthly metrics into actionable insights by answering these four

questions:

+ Which social networks generate the most engagement and clicks perhour or time invested (+ direct financial investments in software, etc.?)

+ Which social networks generate the most direct and assistedconversions per hour or time invested (+ direct financial investments in software, etc.?)

+ How much direct and indirect revenue is each social networkresponsible for, and how do they compare?

+ Given that you should now know which social networks are mostefficient and effective for you, where should you be spending more time and resources, and where should you be spending less?

LEARN HOW FORMSTACK CAN HELP YOU BETTER TRACK AND SCALE YOUR BEST SOCIAL MEDIA

CAMPAIGNS. GET A FREE 20-MINUTE DEMO TODAY.

REQUEST DEMO

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media15

THE TEAM BEHIND THIS E-BOOK

ABOUT FORMSTACKFormstack is a technology company that understands big marketing problems

and how to fix them. Digital marketers can leverage Formstack’s robust online

form building software as a medium to help capture more leads and pinpoint the

strategies that drive more conversions. Formstack’s online form analytics reveal

which keywords, marketing tactics, and traffic sources are sending users the best

leads. This helps marketers only spend money on the most profitable campaigns,

giving them the most leads for the least amount of money. With Formstack’s help,

companies can filter their best lead sources into their sales funnel for efficient lead

nurture.

A B O U T CO N V I N C E & CO N V E RTConvince & Convert Consulting provides digital marketing and customer

experience advice and counsel to many of the world’s most interesting brands,

including the United Nations, TaylorMade, Cabela’s, Cisco, Oracle, and many more.

Convince & Convert Media provides digital marketing education to executives and

stressed marketers through its award-winning blog, multiple podcasts, daily email

newsletters, e-books, books, and workshops.

The Stressed Marketer’s Guide to Lead Generation with Social Media16

EXTERNAL RESOURCES

YOUR FORMS, YOUR DATA

+ 1 Report: Marketers Still Struggle to Measure Social ROI

+ 2 2015 Social Media Marketing Industry Report

+ 3 Poll: Marketers Uncertain About Lead Value

+ 4 Mobile Apps Overtake PC Internet Usage in U.S.

+ 5 2015 Form Conversion Report

+ 6 Banner Blindness: 60% Can’t Remember the Last Display Ad They Saw

+ 7 It’s the Creative, Stupid: 3 Reasons Why Ad Creative Trumps Technology

Every Time

+ 8 Want to Succeed with Facebook Videos? Keep Them Short

+ 9 Tweets with Images Get 18% More Clicks, 89% More Favorites and 150% More

Retweets [STUDY]

+ 10 LinkedIn 277% More Effective for Lead Generation than Facebook & Twitter

[New Data]