Lead Management and Conversion

Looking for ways to build your network and your reputation with your target audience in order to attract new business opportunities?  (Silly question, I know…sorry.)

Well, the ‘low tech’ way to do this has been local networking events and speaking at various professional group events – but the ‘high tech’ social media approach is Q&A sites like those found on LinkedIn, MarketingProfs, Yahoo! and Answers.com.

But is it worth your time?

Almost 53% of companies responding to a recent Business.com study claim to participate in LinkedIn Answers – but when it came to measuring performance, LinkedIn Answers had ‘…the lowest top two box score.’

So if offering free advice to potential clients is an approach you want to test, where should you try it out online?

Based on the report, MarketingProfs Knowhow Exchange is the place – more than 57% of the respondents using this Q&A site report that their business has been impacted by their participation on this site.

What’s your goal and who is your target?

If you are unfamiliar with either LinkedIn Answers or MarketingProfs Knowhow Exchange, I suggest you check them out because they are very different from each other.

MarketingProfs seems to attract a small business/sole proprietorship audience whereas LinkedIn is all over the board (though in this recession, it seems to attract the same audience).  The topics are more practical and personal advice at MarketingProfs, whereas LinkedIn gets a lot more theoretical and controversial.  (A recent question posted on LinkedIn Answers was entitled “Social Media Sucks” and has, so far, garnered almost 1,000 responses.)

If you are using Q&A Sites for lead generation, you should test them out and see what you get – but don’t be careful because they can zap a lot of your time without any return.