Now that more and more organizations are investing time and money into social media participation, people are looking for ways to measure the return in terms of direct business rather than fans, friends and followers.

But, this seems to be in direct opposition to the common advice offered about social media participation. I mean, everyone knows you can’t sell on Twitter and Facebook.

The fact of the matter is that you can’t really sell anything, anywhere, until you build trust.

If you want to guarantee ROI with your social media participation you must first build trust and then turn trust into sales.

Investing in social media in this manner has a higher cost, but it also brings a measurable, consistent and predictable return when practiced fully.

The social media lead system

Today, smart marketers are using free content as a way to attract fans and followers. Many other are creating and hiding content in an effort to get Facebook and Twitter users to Like their page or submit their email to get to the good stuff.

If you want to generate a far greater return and see the full power in this idea, you must combine these approaches.

The first step in this systematic approach is to create and share valuable content with no gate or requirements. Then you may offer readers that consume this content even more content when they Like your page or visit a landing page to sign up for more updates.

The power behind this 2-step approach is that it not only tempts more people to acquire and interact with your first wave of content, the people that then take your call to action are much more highly qualified as you’ve already built a layer of trust with them before you asked for anything in exchange.

This approaches works in most any social network and is particularly effective using a when enhanced using paid promotion such as Facebook Offers and Sponsored Updates.

Here’s an example campaign

• Create an eBook with a compelling title and allow people to download it with just a click – no email address, no like, no share.
• Place a call to action in the eBook that points to a series of video that demonstrate several of the most enticing points from the eBook.
• Direct eBook readers to “unlock” access to the videos by Liking your gated Facebook page using a tool such as ShortStack, sharing a page in social media using Viral Lock or simply visiting a landing page to exchange their email to gain access.
• Amplify access to the original eBook in all social channels
• To increase participation, invest in advertising to promote your original eBook with things such as Facebook Offers and Google AdWords

This trust building system borrows from proven business building tactics and brings them directly to the growing world of social media marketing.

The 2-step approach allows you to more easily build trust and capture highly targeted leads from your social media participation. With these elements in play you can guarantee a return on your social media investment.