Are ‘Likes’ really the most important measure of brand success on social media? We’ve certainly been conditioned to believe it’s true. But anyone—be it a regular person, celebrity, influencer, brand, etc.—can garner a lot of Likes on social. Even an egg can earn 55.5 million Likes on Instagram! 

Vanity metrics—including likes, comments, shares, impressions, views, and followers—do offer a nice confidence boost, but this type of surface-level engagement only goes so far. When navigating the world of social sales, Likes aren’t the key to increased brand revenue or impactful growth. It’s what your brand does with that engagement that bridges the gap. 
 

How to Turn Likes into Leads 

Creating high-quality content that is entertaining, educational, and/or inspiring is essential for brands looking to turn their engagement metrics into actionable leads. A lead—defined as a potential future customer who once expressed interest in your brand, products, or services—acts as a key revenue driver and contributes to your growth and success. 

Of course, great content can only go so far.   

Collecting Leads 

It’s time for your brand to collect the quality leads it needs to succeed! Consider making following improvements to boost discoverability and affinity among your audiences.  

• Improve social searchability and brand visibility by adding relevant keywords and hashtags to post captions, social media bios, and linked websites 

• Keep content accessible by including alt-text and captions to ensure user-friendly, positive experiences for all  

• Offer a plethora of consumer learning opportunities through the betterment of brand landing pages and website contact forms 

• Foster brand-consumer relationships by playing with chatbots, hosting live FAQ sessions, deploying newsletter content, using actionable CTAs, and targeting ads set on garnering new leads 

• Consider collaborating with influencers who love your brand or go further by interacting with likeminded companies and partnering on giveaways to broaden audiences, expand reach, and get more eyes on your content 

• Activate your social listening through conversation cultivation and obtain better, more actionable insights so you can create posts consumers want to see 

 
Tracking Leads 

Now that you’ve got them, don’t lose sight of them! 

Lead tracking can yield many great benefits for key brand stakeholders. From initial contact to consumer conversion, tracking and recording leads gives you an inside look into the typical activity of your potential new consumers to help you identify a lead’s inbound or outbound origins.  

Inbound leads are ones who’ve proactively contacted your brand on their own accord, like through organic search while outbound leads are those you once contacted, like through email marketing communications.  

Nurturing Leads 

You know what makes them tick—but how can you use those learnings to nurture your new pool of leads? Stop selling! 

Sales are the goal for brands, but jumping straight into that salesperson personality can turn off new, potential customers. Most consumers like having the opportunity to research and learn about new brands and products before they’re ready to pull a sales trigger. The findings from a recent Marketo study give us a better look: 

• Only 4% of website visitors are ready to buy on first visit 

• 96% of visitors aren’t ready to purchase without additional research 

 Instead, focus your efforts on value-add content that your target audience can vibe with. Use personal messaging to remind your leads what your brand has to offer by actively engaging to help answer questions, address pain points, and bolster your products and services. Optimizing your brand personality puts your leads in a position to purchase! 
 
Converging Leads 

Making a sale off a lead is a win—but your due diligence isn’t done. Follow up with leads regularly and offer them opportunities for future discounts by requesting product reviews or shoutouts on social. 

 
Learn, Earn, and Grow Your Lead Pool 

Leads are critical to growing your brand and maximizing your profits, but sales shouldn’t assume the starring role. Engagement, including ‘likes,’ is what leads your leads to shop and help boost brand revenue. When your focus is on building relationships with new and existing customer communities, you keep shoppers coming back to fill their virtual carts again and again. 

Let’s turn Likes into leads together! Drop us a line at info@againinteractive.com to get started.