How to get leads from X replies and conversations

Where the leads are

• Replies under posts by accounts your customers follow.
• Questions that start with phrases such as "does anyone know" or "can someone recommend".
• Complaints about a tool or service you replace.
• Posts where someone shares a goal that your offer helps reach.

How to search

1. Search for the problem in your customers' own words.
2. Filter to recent posts, since old questions have usually been answered.
3. Open the person's profile to check that they fit your customer.
4. Read their other posts so your reply fits their situation.

How to reply

Answer the question fully in the reply. Skip the pitch and the link unless the link is exactly what they asked for. If your answer is useful, people look at your profile, which is where a short line about what you do belongs.

A reply that could have been written under any post looks like spam. A reply that refers to what they wrote reads as help.

When to move to a private message

Move to a direct message when the person replies with interest, asks for more detail or shares something private. Whether you can message someone depends on their settings: some accept messages from anyone, others only from people they follow.

If a message cannot be sent, stay in the public thread. Do not try to get around a person's settings.

Mistakes that cost replies

• Replying to every post that mentions your topic, whether or not the person is asking for anything.
• Starting with a link or a promotional line.
• Writing the same reply under many posts, which looks automated and is easy for people to spot.
• Answering a question only partly so that the person has to ask you for the rest.

A simple weekly routine

1. Pick three searches that match your customers' questions and complaints.
2. Spend fifteen minutes a day reading the recent results.
3. Reply to the few posts where you can give a real, complete answer.
4. Note which replies led to a follow, a reply or a message, and repeat what worked.

Key takeaways

• Search for questions and complaints in your customers' own words.
• Answer in public before you pitch anything.
• Move to a private message only when invited.
• Respect people's message settings.

Where Avocado Leads fits

Avocado Leads does the collecting, ranking and pacing part of this work. You paste a post, a profile or a search, and it saves the people who commented, reacted, followed or match, then scores each person from 0 to 100 on buying language, how recently they were active, how well they fit your business and how reachable they are.

It then runs a paced follow or connect campaign from your own signed-in browser, with a message after where the platform allows one. It never asks for your social passwords, and it keeps to hourly, daily, weekly and monthly caps for each network. The limits that come with each platform are on the platforms page, and the safety page explains what it will not do.

Questions people ask