It’s quickly becoming the mantra of interactive strategists: lead or be led. You either lead your online community, or they will lead you. There’s no stopping the swell of “communal opinion generation” that has become the hallmark of our society’s online engagement.

The most die-hard critics of social media are beginning to utter: “If you can’t beat them, join them”. But is simply joining the online community enough for a business to discover the elusive “Return on Investment” from social media activities? Many practitioners call this the catch 22 of the medium: overtly selling in social networks is counter-community and quickly kills your following; not selling is counter-intuitive to most business’ culture.

So if selling is counter-intuitive to community-building where do the leads come from? My philosophy has always been to let the leads find me! It’s quite ingenious if I do say so myself! Why sell when, if done right, social media will have people lining up to ask for my service? Sound good? It is, but it’s not easy to achieve.

Are you Leading or Being Led?

The key is to establish the correct strategy. “Chatting” may raise your awareness initially but will not earn your business long term engagement and loyalty. And it certainly but won’t increase inbound leads. The secret is in the community building. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned from my experiences driving & nurturing leads through community-building for my clients:

1. Understand your business’ value to the community.
This is not necessarily the value of your product or service. Consider: how does or can your business improve the lives of your community? This can be the hardest part of this process as most businesses don’t see past their products. Take a customer-centric approach. People make decisions through emotions and then justify them with logic. Look for the emotional connection.

2. First, listen to the conversations.
What challenge(s) is your audience facing? What is making their personal or professional lives difficult? Your online engagement must address those challenges, not YOUR business’ needs.

3. Understand what your competitor’s value is to your shared community.
What value are THEY providing the audience? Remember, product comparisons will only go so far in differentiating your business in online conversations.

4. Establish “one voice”.
All business divisions (Customer Service, Marketing, Sales, etc) should speak and engage individually but with “one voice” that guides their online interactions. Be sure to train your internal community before they begin to engage your online community. Consistency across all channels is critical. I’ve advocated a Social PROS team to do this [learn more about Social PROS ].

5. Hire a community manager.
It is now almost a mandatory requirement for businesses to acquire a communication professional adept at engaging the online community but who also possesses good business acumen. Empower them to be the liaison between your business and your audience.

6. Don’t broadcast announcements, create conversations.
Would you continue speaking to a friend who never allows you to you respond? Or who appears disinterested in your opinion? No, and neither will your consumers. The simple act of asking a question solicits a completely different response from your audience. They are more likely to stop skimming content and pay attention when a question is posed directly over broadcast statements.

7. Facilitate conversations among your audience.
You don’t need to monopolize the conversation. Provide the tools that allow your community members to engage each other directly. The freedom and encouragement you provide them will allow influencers to surface and speak on your business’ behalf. The referrals and word of mouth generated will pay for itself.

8. Learn how to ask for the sale.
While I agree that overt selling through social media channels has proven to be counter-community, a business must still be able to ask for a sale. It’s rule #1 in any sales program. There’s no one common best practice on this through social channels. Experiment with that works for your business. A tactic that has worked for me is to invite followers who seem to be in need to call me if they are interested in hearing how I can help them. Or by sending links to resources on my site, which then has a call to action associated to it.

The “wisdom of crowds” theory explains that if enough people state something, it becomes a truth for that community, regardless of its validity. The most important lesson I’ve learned through my experiences is that a crowd is not one person. Pass the soap box to your followers and focus your efforts on providing them value.

When crowds frequent your community, feel they are welcomed to participate and are afforded a prominent voice in the discussion the resulting affinity to your brand will see leads find it. Build it, and the leads will come.

What have your experiences been with lead generation through community building? Get in on the conversation by posting your comments or questions below.

By Sam Fiorella
Feed Your Community, Not Your Ego
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