How to Get More Leads on Social Media in 2022

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It’s not a secret — social media is where everyone is at.

And if you are not tapping into social media to generate more leads, you are really missing out on a lot. Even as physical, in-person networking has been losing steam over the last few years, virtual networking simply rocket-shipped thanks to the pandemic in 2020.

Don’t get us wrong — nothing beats in-person connections. But while you wait for your next physical meeting to happen, there is no reason to not get in touch with a larger crowd online. And in 2022, lead generation on social media is only going to see increased traction. Here are some methods to generate leads we saw emerging in the last couple of years you should definitely consider in 2022.

7 Methods to generate more leads on social media in 2022

Remember, whatever your budget may be, you are sure to find a lead generation method suited to your requirements. Take a look:

1.Partner-up with Influencers

Nobody would have thought about influencer marketing up until a few years ago. And yet — here we are! People simply documenting different things about their lives on social media have today become some of the most powerful entities to help you generate leads!

According to a Databox study on measuring influencer marketing ROI, 53% of marketers say that influencer marketing can help companies convert at a much higher rate than other channels.

Dior did it — and successfully too. In order to celebrate the launch of their Forever Foundation, Dior and its influencer marketing agency partnered up with 67 influencers who matched each of the 67 shades of the Forever Foundation. The result speaks for itself: these 67 influencers brought Dior a reach of 2.66 million, with an increased engagement rate standing at 120%!

Dior is a big name. The same method can be applied to businesses of any size — and this is why Influencer marketing is so awesome. It all boils down to some fundamental steps:

  • Identifying the right influencers suited to what you have to offer
  • Identifying your target audience in terms of numbers and demographics
  • Finalizing a budget
  • Communicating the outcome you are looking for
  • The content brief and plan can be shared by you, or you could leave it to the Influencers — well, they know their audiences better after all.

    2.Give and receive

    You would probably have seen tutorials or instructional videos on different platforms that actually are an advertisement for a product/service. So what makes these pieces of content different from the usual ads? It’s simple — the viewer actually gets something from engaging with such content.

    The value the content creates in the minds of the viewers from watching the instructional acts as the seller’s sales pitch. Once the value has been created, interested people will want to get in touch with the business.

    Give and receive can work in another way as well – Gated Content for instance. You give something to the prospects if they agree to share their details with you. Hubspot does this with the resources they offer for free on their resources page. All you have to do in return is sign up. Clever, right?

    HubSpot-Resource-page

    You can give to receive in any number of ways. It’s all a matter of what kind of products/services you’re offering, and what kind of customers you are targeting.

    3.Hold contests and events on your social media accounts

    There are a lot of interesting features you can use on social media to generate leads even without the help of ads or influencers. If you are looking for an absolutely budget-friendly way of generating leads, then this one is for you!

    Look at this Instagram post by Hallmark in the UK.

    Hallmarkuki Instagram
    Source: Hallmarkuki

    This was a simple contest Hallmark (UK and Ireland) announced on its Instagram page. These kinds of posts lead to increased engagement with the audiences — and if used right, can also result in lead generation. The number of likes this post has may not be very high – but let’s imagine the giveaways were to be something more dramatic, and the criteria to win the contest included something like “share this on your story and tag us!”. That would definitely bring in more leads to the business.

    You have options of posting stories, going live (more on this in the next point), posting reels, etc., on multiple platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Clubhouse and so on. It is always advisable to use social media monitoring tools to get the most out of your efforts.

    Contests and events became especially popular after the COVID19 pandemic and are definitely going to be a powerful lead generation technique in 2022 as well.

    4.Partner-up with co-creators

    If you think you are not yet a strong enough name in your area to generate interest towards an event you will host on your account, then you can consider partnering up with a known name instead.

    You can do this in multiple ways — for instance, a Q&A with an expert on Instagram Live, hosting a webinar on LinkedIn, organizing a discussion on Clubhouse, etc.

    Many companies have begun going live with co-creators to both, engage their audiences as well as to attract new leads — For example, Spotify collaborated with astrologer Chani Nicholas in 2019 and came up with ‘Cosmic Playlists’ — playlists that were curated for each astrological sign. Who would have thought?

    Well, Spotify says they attracted 400,000 new followers!

    Spotify may be a big name — but the lesson is applicable to even small companies. Look around — there may be other small companies, influencers, content creators you can reach and partner up with to churn out content. That’s a sure way to tap into an existing, defined set of audiences.

    Such live collaborations became increasingly popular in the last couple of years, and are definitely set to be a dominant trend in 2022 and beyond as well. The simplicity of these events coupled with the massive potential they have to reach new people make co-creator partnerships an amazing way to generate leads.

    5.Create targeted ads

    There cannot be a list of this kind without a mention of targeted ads. Sure, targeted ads are not new — but they are almost always guaranteed in delivering the kind of results you expect. And so, they will continue to be a dominant method of lead generation in 2022 as well.

    Targeted ads involve expenditure. So be prepared to have a budget set aside to use this method. However, because 71% of consumers prefer to see ads suited to their interests, you should probably not worry so much about spending money.

    Targeted ads have the obvious benefit of establishing contact directly with your target market on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. The platform you choose depends on the nature of your business. For instance, if you have a product to sell, targeted ads on Instagram would be a better idea because it is more visual.

    6.Use automation tools

    The problem with targeted ads is they are not as personal as your reach should probably be. At some point, you will have to spend some cash to invest in more robust, automated lead generation methods — LinkedIn automation tools for example.

    Lead generation tools get you in touch with the exact prospective leads you want, with minimum effort on your part! This method is awesome because you will get in touch with leads who may have a better chance of converting into clients as opposed to leads generated through ads.

    The reach of automation tools may not be as massive as with targeted ads. However, the leads will definitely prove to be of better quality, and this should be the one single reason you should consider this investment.

    7.Engage in niche communities

    Lastly, grow your network of leads organically — the good old-fashioned way!

    We have seen successful people getting increasingly active in different online communities and groups. For example, if you are an investment expert and have a consultancy agency, join communities and forums related to finance. Give advice or simply share your knowledge on these forums. Respond to questions related to finance posted by others, share resources, tips, ideas, and engage in meaningful discussions.

    Over time, you will have established yourself as an expert in your field. Once you have successfully established yourself, you will be able to drive people to your site, blogs and social media accounts.

    The key point to remember here is that your presence on these forums should be to genuinely help and share. It’s an amateur mistake to seem too pushy and salesy, and the moment you start to appear that way you will lose credibility.

    Conclusion

    If you are wondering which is the best social media platform, the answer simply is — there is none! It all depends on the nature of your business and the kind of output you are looking for. For instance, Instagram would be a better idea to sell organic soaps, while LinkedIn would make more sense for Human Resource consultancy services.

    Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram will continue to be the dominant platforms in 2022. In addition, Clubhouse could also see a spurt of growth going by the popularity it saw in 2021. Pinterest has also upgraded itself and could prove to be a great platform this year. Try out different platforms in small, experimental ways to see what works best for you and what absolutely doesn’t. Obviously, the more platforms you try to generate leads on, the better — but be careful about wasting your time on platforms that simply don’t show any traction. Best of luck!

    Oliver Baker
    Oliver Baker is a co-founder of Intelivita, a leading Web and Mobile App Development company based in Leeds, UK. Oliver has been at the forefront of the business, expanding it globally and into new technologies including iOS and Android, AR, VR and Mobile Game applications. Oliver excels in Project Management, Leadership, Quality Assurance and Problem Solving and has qualifications with Prince2 and APM. He aims to develop his skills further through a shared interest with other leaders in the Software Markets and the Clients of Intelivita.

    1 COMMENT

    1. Excellent article, Oliver, and you have summarised the methods very well. I would add only one comment: In the world of social media today, (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and all the rest,) we are in the power of unilateral and seemingly random decisions made by the owners of each platform, and which can and has led to the destruction of many businesses. If you don’t migrate customers to your own email database, you are powerless to respond to their megalomania.

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