Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/602622
26 FEDA News & Views to drive awareness of the book and newsletter subscriber sign-ups. The figure below shows the click and conversion (people who clicked through and then signed up for my Painless Prospecting newsletter. If I was only looking at click data, I might feel that I need to place more effort on Twitter and less on Facebook and LinkedIn, as Twitter drove significantly more clicks. But then you look at the conversion column. The conversion column tells a very different story. Each of those platforms drove four conversions. However, LinkedIn drove those conversions at a much higher conversion rate. Thus, if I'm looking for the most profitable platform to place my limited resources (time and effort), then LinkedIn would seem a better option. When someone clicks on your content, they're indicating an interest or curiosity. They're window shopping. And in the world of business prospecting, they're invisible. While this is ok for a while, at some point, if you really want to use your social media efforts to surface real leads, then you need these invisible buyers to take the next step. You need them to give you a piece of personally identifiable information, such as an email address to subscribe to a blog, in exchange for helpful information. Once they do, they become a visible prospect. And that should be the goal of your social media efforts—to create and share content that turns invisible prospects into visible leads. Posted Profile Group/Page Message on Clicks Conversions Tom Profile Update Been waiting Six Months to send this tweet!!! Apr 23,2013 185 4 Martin's http://bit.ly/110muRN SO FRIGGIN EXCITED 12:21 Twitter Tom Profile Update Getting closer to publishing my new book Apr 23, 2013 18 4 Martin's "The Invisible Sale"! in this book, I combine my two (more) 13:45 Facebook Tom B2B Sales, What do you hate about selling? Apr 23, 2013 11 4 Martin's Marketing, Social I hate cold-call-based prospecting. In fact, I've spent 11:00 Linkedin Media & Lead almost 20 years putting together strat (more) Generation The Invisible Sale http://bit.ly/110muRN If you sell, prospecting is one of the most important things you do - and it's probably one of the most frustrating and painful things you do, too. But it doesn't have to be! The Invisible Sale http://bit.ly/110muRN If you sell, prospecting is one of the most important things you do - and it's probably one of the most frustrating and painful things you do, too. But it doesn't have to be! Links into Leads continued The Benefits of Conversion Tracking Conversion tracking isn't just a better, more accurate way of reporting social media ROI. It's a better way of developing a social-media-powered business development plan of attack. The single biggest challenge agency business development operatives have today is time or, maybe better stated, lack of time. If you're just tracking clicks, you very well may be spend- ing a lot of time producing and sharing content with window shoppers instead of developing relationships with true pros- pects. To ensure that you're focusing your attention on fishing holes that produce real leads, focus on tracking what happens after the click. About the Author Tom Martin is a 20-plus-year veteran of the market- ing and advertising industry with a penchant for good debates and helping companies painlessly prospect for new customers. He is the founder of Converse Digital and the author of The Invisible Sale. Follow him at http://twitter.com/tommartin or connect with him at http:// w w w. l i n ke d i n . c o m / i n / t o m - martinjr on LinkedIn.