Building leads through social media

Building leads via social media marketing can be difficult for some companies, particularly if they're new to the game. However, with a developed strategy, a firm can generate a significant amount of traffic via platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Some experts say that a strong social strategy is similar to a baby - one cannot put it down, nor can they stop feeding it. According to research conducted by HubSpot's 2011 State of Inbound Marketing report, 61 percent of firms blog weekly and 29 percent post on a monthly basis. Only 10 percent updates their blogs daily.

"No matter how nutritious the food is, no doctor would recommend feeding a baby weekly or less," Phil Mershon wrote for Social Media Examiner, referencing the "blog as if caring for a baby" example. Mershon added that most content is only relevant for 72 hours on average.

Marketers may also want to consider syncing their efforts with LinkedIn, as the professional networking platform has the recently shifted to the No. 2 spot among social networks.