Social media is the best free advertising program ever! Social media is a huge waste of time! I don’t understand how social media can help my business!

We’ve heard all of the above from frustrated business owners who say they’d like to take advantage of social media platforms and turn those leads into sales. Maybe you’ve used social media to increase sales, but need a few fresh ideas. Either way, we’d like to help. Below, five things you can do to generate leads and increase sales on social media – things you might not have considered, but probably should.

1. Create a Slideshare version of your business card – and add the link to your Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ pages
2. Reach out regularly – by asking your clients/fans/followers to submit photos, jokes or testimonials. Tip: be aware that Facebook and other SM platforms have rules about contests and giveaways. Be smart and check before you post.
3. Round up the best of something – ideally, something that relates to your business. If you sell sporting goods, why not the best lures to catch walleye? If you sell textbooks, how about the best news about education this week? Present your “bests” in a video, a blog, or if it’s really good, a downloadable format to collect emails and other data about your prospects.
4. Reach for the Vine – if your CEO refuses to blog, will he whine on vine? A 6-second video about something relevant to your industry (taxes?) or not (daylight savings time?) could be a fun way to reach prospects and encourage them to share your humorous snippets. If you’ve got some hams who want more time in front of the camera, use Instagram.
5. Get in the game! Gamification is good. It can be as simple as posting a trivia question (and later, an answer, with recognition to all those who posted their guesses) or developing an app to hook millions.

Want help projecting the right image with your social media platforms of choice? Got an idea for an app to reel in new leads? Contact us.