How To Make Social Media Pay Off

You can also pin images from your blog posts. That’s mostly what we’re doing with pinterest.com/inboundagency/insights/.

Tools to help you create attention-grabbing content

Some social media platforms, such as YouTube (videos) and Flickr and Instagram (photos), are best for seeding your company’s social networks with compelling content. These tools typically don’t generate leads and sales on their own, but can still be useful.

For example, you could share a YouTube video on a Facebook page or your Instagram images on Twitter. Many of these networks and apps complement and support each other. A good example of this is how one of Heiler’s clients, Neave Group Outdoor Solutions, has their employees take photos with Instagram and then post them on Twitter and Facebook.

These social networks and apps should also be viewed as stepping stones to your company’s website. They can be effective in earning the attention of your audience and then engaging with them, but you need to move them to further action, which typically means getting them to your website or to pick up the phone.

Monitor your efforts

Heiler uses HubSpot (all-in-one marketing software) with his clients because it allows them to monitor the traffic from each network and actually track leads and customer conversions from each. “This closed-loop reporting is becoming really popular with our clients because they want to know that their time and resources are getting results,” Heiler says.

“We suggest creating unique landing pages on your website, offering free content for visitors to download, and then drive traffic to these pages via your social channels,” Heiler goes on to say. “That’s really how you generate leads, and this is what HubSpot does for our clients.”