Claiming ‘Leads’ in Social Media
Social media has given brands the ability to harness the power of large groups to spread the word about their products quickly. When a product is released, a discount is revealed, or an event introduced, a brand can now sit back and let their followers spread the word around in cyber space.
However, most brands are working on an integrated marketing level, where they are simultaneously launching TV, Print, Newspaper, and Magazine advertisements in conjunction with their online social media marketing campaigns. This causes some issues when a brand wants to assess the success of each individual marketing effort.
In order to properly assess where leads are coming from for a new product, brands should consciously put steps in place to gather data from their followers and new customers. This can be as simple as adding a ‘how’d you find us’ feature on the product purchase page, or as intense as developing custom IP address analytics and digging through data.
No matter what technique is used, it is important to implement a system to help determine lead generation. This will help marketers assess the potential of using social media to spread the word. Don’t forget, social media marketing, as with other forms of marketing, creates more touch points. What the customers do after they are exposed to your product is out of your control. Manage your touch points, measure your results. This will help you succeed in social media marketing.
