Comments on: Does social media generate leads? http://benbradley.net/2009/08/24/does-social-media-generate-leads/ I'm Ben Bradley and this is my blog. I write about marketing, sales, technology and anything else that distracts me Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:09:41 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Ashley http://benbradley.net/2009/08/24/does-social-media-generate-leads/comment-page-1/#comment-1393 Ashley Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:27:30 +0000 http://benbradley.net/?p=383#comment-1393 While it is tempting to drill down into specific social networking sites to directly measure where your leads come from, it’s essential to look at the bigger picture. Take a billboard, for example. They are everywhere but it is unlikely that someone will see something that interests them in that exact moment to the point where they pull the car over and dial the number. However, that does not mean that that billboard has not influenced the person. Social media like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are the billboards of the web. It’s unlikely that someone will see a tweet or your Facebook page and instantly sign up. But that does not mean they aren’t tuning into your signal. Another important thing to note, which specifically relates to Twitter, is that interaction and conversation is key. If you are “preaching” anything, to the converted or not, you are misusing the site. I think it can be a very powerful networking tool if you engage people in meaningful conversation. Eventually, you will meet someone or someone who has a friend who knows a guy…that needs your services. But you need to dedicate a significant amount of time to nurturing this aspect of your social media, which leads into my next point. Outsourcing Twitter can be a great move for companies who don’t have the resources, time or know-how to maintain the account on their own (and few do). If a company trusts an agency to be educated enough about said company’s services and/or products to generate marketing collateral or serve in a public relations capacity, why not to represent the company on Twitter? There is a danger in blindly outsourcing this task to an autonomous agency or person. I think there needs to be a steady flow of communication between the person/agency responsible for the Twitter aspect and the company but it can be a great strategy for companies to employ, especially when it weaves intricately throughout the other media related to the company. While it is tempting to drill down into specific social networking sites to directly measure where your leads come from, it’s essential to look at the bigger picture. Take a billboard, for example. They are everywhere but it is unlikely that someone will see something that interests them in that exact moment to the point where they pull the car over and dial the number. However, that does not mean that that billboard has not influenced the person. Social media like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are the billboards of the web. It’s unlikely that someone will see a tweet or your Facebook page and instantly sign up. But that does not mean they aren’t tuning into your signal.

Another important thing to note, which specifically relates to Twitter, is that interaction and conversation is key. If you are “preaching” anything, to the converted or not, you are misusing the site. I think it can be a very powerful networking tool if you engage people in meaningful conversation. Eventually, you will meet someone or someone who has a friend who knows a guy…that needs your services. But you need to dedicate a significant amount of time to nurturing this aspect of your social media, which leads into my next point.

Outsourcing Twitter can be a great move for companies who don’t have the resources, time or know-how to maintain the account on their own (and few do). If a company trusts an agency to be educated enough about said company’s services and/or products to generate marketing collateral or serve in a public relations capacity, why not to represent the company on Twitter? There is a danger in blindly outsourcing this task to an autonomous agency or person. I think there needs to be a steady flow of communication between the person/agency responsible for the Twitter aspect and the company but it can be a great strategy for companies to employ, especially when it weaves intricately throughout the other media related to the company.

]]> By: Marly http://benbradley.net/2009/08/24/does-social-media-generate-leads/comment-page-1/#comment-1392 Marly Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:19:16 +0000 http://benbradley.net/?p=383#comment-1392 I agree Ben. My experience has been LinkedIn has surpassed all the other social media venues. I agree Ben. My experience has been LinkedIn has surpassed all the other social media venues.

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