Twitter is a top social media platform for marketers. From interacting with customers, to pushing your original content, to generating leads and everything in between, there are many benefits to using Twitter for your business. While having a Twitter profile to interact with current customers and clients and to network with connections is important, there is a lot of potential for Twitter to help grow your business as well.  Lead generation is a huge component of this.

So, how do you generate leads through Twitter? Listening to the chatter and conversation is a great starting place. Yes, you get notifications on who is interacting with you or mentioning you already on Twitter. Developing leads is a step beyond monitoring conversations that relate specifically to your brand and company.  What is your business? What are your products or services?  You need to find users who are looking for what you are selling.

You can find them by using keywords.  Search by keywords and hashtags that are related to your industry.  If you are a dog groomer in Chicago, find out who is searching for one by running a keyword search.  Run a Twitter search for “Chicago dog groomer”.  You’re not going to hit the jackpot every time. You may have to try multiple different keyword searches on a regular basis to catch any leads that pop up over time. Once you do find a lead, you need to have an action plan for contacting that lead without coming on too strong. You are going in cold here.

When you don’t have a relationship with the potential customer, and it’s obvious you are poaching them for a sale, don’t scare them away. Have a strategy for first interactions with customers where you are trying to generate leads.  What you want is to help them. Your product or service should be offering a solution to a problem or a need that they have. This is a great way to lead generation.

If you want your actual Twitter page itself to be a place that attracts leads, you’re going to have to put some work into that. Take a survey of your followers –are these people that could be customers or potential clients? Make sure that you are offering a solution to a problem or need that they may have. Focus on being an expert in your industry and informing followers. Collect information from followers when you can. This includes gathering email addresses so that you can reach customers on other avenues. You can use an email marketing tool and set up a campaign that reaches followers a step beyond Twitter.

Lead generation is definitely possible –it’s all about getting creative. How have you been successful generating leads on Twitter? If you were approached by a brand on Twitter, would you respond? What would your reaction be? Comment below!