It was in 2007 that Facebook officially launched its Facebook Ads platform. This program allowed businesses to create profiles (just like personal accounts), post content and engage with their users for the first time – the early days of lead generation on this popular social platform.
And now, after more than a decade, marketing and advertising on Facebook remains an effective engagement and lead generation strategy for businesses across various industries.
According to Hootsuite’s Digital 2020 Report:
• The platform has an advertising audience of 2.14 billion.
• An average user clicks on 12 ads per month, proof that people on the platform are paying attention to and engaging with ads.
There’s also a lot of sales potential to be tapped in the social network’s growing pool of highly engaged users. A 2018 Kleiner Perkins report showed that 26 percent of Facebook users who clicked on ads went on to make purchases.
To top it all off, the platform has a slew of ad formats and tools that help you drive brand awareness, build customer engagement and do lead generation on Facebook.
LinkedIn has long been considered the go-to social platform for showcasing businesses and finding new customers. But it no longer holds the monopoly in the “social media for business” space.
While Facebook remains a platform focused on building personal communities, it currently boasts a set of business-focused features that you can maximize to turn followers into paying customers. If used with the right strategy, it can even become an invaluable lead generation tool in your social media marketing arsenal.
The catch is that generating traffic and leads is not as easy as it seems. According to the social media giant itself, over 160 million businesses are using the site to communicate with their customers. The platform is becoming crowded with more brands discovering how to use Facebook for business marketing every minute, so you need to find ways to cut through the noise. Aside from that, there are mistakes you need to watch out for to avoid sabotaging your Facebook marketing strategy.
Some businesses enlist the help of a Facebook marketing consultant to get their desired Facebook leads, while others are eager to face the challenge on their own.
If the latter sounds like you, you will find this blog handy. The following sections will cover a wide range of lead generation tactics, such as how to use Facebook Live for business and how to generate quick leads through Facebook Stories.
Without further ado, here are 10 actionable yet awesome tips on how to get leads from Facebook.
1. Give Your Facebook Page a Good Makeover
Before jumping into the nitty-gritty of advertising or selling on Facebook, spend time working on your page’s appearance first. It should be among your Facebook marketing fundamentals.
This is because your page is your company’s face in the social realm and your storefront in the digital world. Its appearance can influence how users view and interact with your business, just like how your retail store’s facade impacts your foot traffic.
Setting up your page and dipping your toes into Facebook management doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are the things you need to get started:
A high-quality profile picture that represents your brand
A high-quality and attractive cover photo or video
A customized call-to-action (CTA) button that encourages visitors to perform relevant actions, like signing up for a webinar
A thorough and updated “About” section
Keep in mind, however, that this is a generalized checklist. You may need to customize a few elements in your page according to your product or service offering, which may require the expertise of a Facebook marketing consultant. If you feel the need for a complete revamp, working with a full-service Facebook marketing company is another great option.
2. Invest Your Time and Effort in Facebook Advertising
Advertising on Facebook is a quick yet effective way to reach more audiences and turn them into prospects. It lets you put your ads in front of your chosen group of people for a specific period.
While you will need to pay to boost your posts and run your ads, you’re on a great platform. Social marketers have found that Facebook provides the best return on investment (ROI) among all paid advertising channels.
If you are new to creating ads or still confused about how to use Facebook for business, the Ads Manager tool will guide you through the steps.
Here’s what you need to do:
• Select a marketing objective.
• Identify the demographics and behaviors that describe your target audience.
• Determine where you want your ads to run (displayed on your Facebook News Feed, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network or across all of them).
• Determine your ad budget and duration.
• Choose from Facebook’s six ad formats.
• Place your order.
The Ads Manager interface may look overwhelming at first, but remember that you don’t have to be a Facebook marketing expert right away. You can start advertising with the basics and learn how to use Facebook for business marketing as you go.
What’s important is that you discover how to maximize its various ad formats and tools to create captivating ads. Planning out your advertising costs and testing your ads also helps ensure that every penny counts. If you feel that you need expert help, partnering with an experienced Facebook marketing agency is a smart strategy.
3. Start Running Facebook Lead Generation Ads
Although Facebook lead ads align with the suggestions in the previous point, it’s a special type of ad that calls for an entry of its own.
You may be wondering, then, what makes Facebook lead ads different from the rest? The quick answer is that they come in an entirely different format.
Lead ads are a type of form that lets users submit their contact details while staying on the platform. This ad type can boost your business’s Facebook lead generation efforts in many ways:
• It is a promoted form displayed on Facebook, so you won’t need to create or optimize a landing page anymore.
• It fills out contact forms for users by pulling the information they submitted to Facebook, making the whole process easy, especially for mobile users.
• Since they are pre-populated forms, users are more likely to complete them.
• It is also helpful in gathering the details you need to understand your audience better.
If you are looking for fresh ideas on how to get leads from Facebook, running lead ads is worth a try. These promoted forms do the heavy lifting for you by not only reaching your prospects but also collecting valuable information such as names, email addresses, phone numbers and more. To add to that, you can utilize lead ads to understand your potential customers better and make marketing on Facebook a more effective endeavor.
You can use lead ads in three main ways to get the most out of lead generation on Facebook:
1. Get more subscribers to your email marketing
2. Gather inquiries from interested users and potential customers
3. Draw users to special deals or promotions
Facebook lead ads can also be used for event registrations, webinar sign-ups and white paper downloads, making it a great addition to your existing Facebook advertising efforts.
If rolling out this strategy isn’t within your team’s expertise, know that you can always enlist Facebook management services. Agencies offering such solutions will handle your lead generation campaigns for you while following your marketing objectives and targeting your desired audience.
4. Give Your Promotional Posts a Creative Twist
Marketers love marketing and selling on Facebook because that’s where the people are – 1.84 billion daily active users from all over the world, to be exact.
However, users don’t seem to share the same sentiments when it comes to seeing ads on their timelines. A SurveyMonkey study showed that 74 percent of users think there are too many ads; respondents also said that the ads they see are “overwhelming, repetitive and irrelevant.”
This isn’t to say that marketing on Facebook is a waste of time. There’s still much success to be found in sharing promotional posts on social media, but you need to be creative.
Level up your Facebook selling game; add photos to your lead generation posts to make them more appealing. According to recent statistics, this type of media brings 179 percent more engagement than others, so it may give your posts a great boost.
But there is a catch: You need high-quality and well-designed images to draw your users’ attention.
Consider these guidelines when designing and using images for Facebook lead generation:
• You want to catch the users’ attention as they scroll through their News Feed, so make sure to use an eye-catching photo or illustration.
• Keep your images from looking pixelated and blurry by following the Facebook Ads Guide’s file size recommendations.
• See to it that the copy is clear, concise and relevant.
• If you do not have the resources to produce quality images, know that you can always enlist expert Facebook marketing services.
5. Excite Users About Your Offers Through Facebook Videos
Making quality videos for social media is not an easy task. There’s a lot of time, effort and resources involved in producing videos – even those that run for as short as 15 seconds.
But your hard work will not be in vain as videos help draw in prospective customers. Here are some figures proving their potential:
• More than half of consumers want to see more video content from the brands or businesses they follow (HubSpot).
• Eighty-four percent of video marketers affirm that videos are effective when it comes to lead generation (Wyzowl).
• A video on social media helped 93 percent of marketers gain a new customer (Animoto).
Here are some tips in using video when marketing on Facebook:
• Use videos to talk about or promote your current offers.
• Don’t forget to add captions to your videos. American Press Institute data showed that around 85 percent of Facebook videos are viewed without sound.
• Turn your videos into lead generation tools by mentioning your calls-to-action (CTAs). You can invite viewers to check out your eBook, save the date for an upcoming webinar or simply leave a comment.
• Make your videos “native” by uploading them directly to Facebook. Videos from YouTube and other external sites are not favored by the algorithm, so they won’t have the same reach as native videos.
With the right strategy and enjoyable content, you can eventually make Facebook selling exciting for you and for your followers. You may not be able to crack the code right away, but there’s no harm in testing new ideas as you go along. You can also work with a Facebook marketing expert to employ proven tactics and enhance your existing campaigns.
6. Use Facebook Live To Talk About Your Offers or Expertise in Real-time
Facebook’s live video streaming feature lets you broadcast a video in real-time or share important events with your followers as they happen. Ultimately, this feature can help your business stand out as authentic, remarkable and relatable.
But learning how to use Facebook Live for business not only helps you build your brand but also helps in driving your lead generation efforts. Facebook Live enables you to interact with and engage your viewers in real-time. What’s more, you’ll enjoy 6X more engagement than standard videos (viewers love anything spontaneous and authentic) and it requires less effort and resources than producing a polished video.
Before you grab your phone or camera, take note of these tips when going live:
• Don’t go live just for the sake of the views and engagement; plan your live content and goals carefully.
• It’s alright if you don’t know how to use Facebook Live at first, but make sure to do a dry run before launching your broadcast!
• Spread the word about your broadcast and invite people to watch.
• Once you go live, be prepared to share valuable information about your chosen topic. You should also be ready to answer your viewers’ questions.
• Mention your CTAs through your broadcast; let them know what you want them to do.
• During the broadcast, take the opportunity to direct your viewers to your lead generation offers (e.g. a new eBook, product or service trial).
• After the broadcast, optimize your video for search so that users can find it easily. Change the videos’ titles and tags and include relevant keywords in the description.
And for the exciting part, here are some creative ways on how to use Facebook Live for business:
Give your viewers a virtual tour of your physical store.
Demonstrate your latest product or service.
Do Facebook selling in real-time.
Conduct an interview or Q&A session.
Host a webinar.
If you are interested in holding big events such as webinars or a product launch via Facebook Live, you may want to consider enlisting the help of a Facebook marketing company. The success of these efforts can greatly impact your brand’s reputation, so partnering with a Facebook marketing agency experienced in these can help ensure a smooth broadcast – and an impressed audience.
7. Try Facebook Groups and Be More Social
Facebook Groups are spaces built to facilitate ongoing group communication. They allow people with shared interests to come together and engage with others.
As a business, you can use groups for creating conversations with your target audience and getting to know them better. But most importantly, you can also use these spaces for Facebook lead generation.
If you are joining groups as part of your Facebook advertising efforts, keep these guidelines in mind:
• Join groups relevant to you and your business to maximize this strategy’s potential.
• Get to know the members of the group – the insights you gain will help you understand your target audience better.
• Engage in real conversations and offer valuable information first.
• Do not sell right away and avoid spamming the group with links.
You can also create your own groups and encourage users to join. Although this will require a lot of time and effort to set up, having a group will allow you to do the following:
Build strong relationships around your brand.
Ask your consumers directly for feedback on a new offering.
Nurture prospects and stay connected to existing consumers, even if in-person gatherings remain discouraged.
Agencies offering Facebook management services can also handle this task for you. They oversee the whole process, from creating the group and inviting members to keeping the community engaged.
8. Encourage Quick Responses From Your Followers Through Facebook Stories
Facebook Stories are photo or video collections visible to your followers for only 24 hours. They are displayed at the top of the News Feed for both the web version and mobile app.
They’re mainly used to share fun and authentic moments throughout the day, but they can also be a valuable element in your business’s Facebook marketing strategy. Stories tend to get many eyeballs as they’re prominently displayed at the top of every timeline. They allow your business to be more relatable and accessible to users and they help elicit urgent responses from your followers because of their fleeting nature.
If you are interested in using the Stories feature to generate more Facebook leads, try these tips:
• You can take a photo or video or choose one from your gallery. Whichever you use, make sure to use high-quality multimedia.
• Add relevant CTA buttons to generate leads. Various options are available to business pages like “Book Now”, “Call Now” and “Shop Now,” to name a few.
• You’ll want to encourage users to take action, so make your Stories as interactive as possible. For example, add polls or promote time-limited offers.
9. Maximize the Power of “Free” To Attract Users
Consumers are always on the lookout for solutions to their problems – especially when they’re free. This is an opportunity you can explore when you’re selling on Facebook. You can encourage users to connect with you by giving them something they’ll find useful in exchange, like lead magnets.
What Is a Lead Magnet?
A lead magnet is any free item or service used to compel users to exchange email addresses or other contact information for access. Some common examples are trial subscriptions, eBooks, white papers and free consultations, to name a few.
Here’s what you need to do to start generating high-quality Facebook leads with lead magnets:
• Before producing a lead magnet, identify who you’re targeting and what they value. This will help you create an offer that your target audience will want to access.
• Invest time and resources into crafting your material. You can work on this with your writers and designers, or you can seek the help of a Facebook marketing expert.
• Build a landing page exclusively for your lead magnet. Keep the copy in it clear and straightforward so that visitors will know what to do when they arrive on the page.
• Build a “Thank You” page where visitors will land after submitting their information. This page should let them know what to expect from you next.
Creating a lead magnet users would actually want to acquire involves a lot of work, which goes the same way for any type of content. If producing high-quality lead magnets within your in-house team isn’t feasible, you can engage Facebook marketing services from an agency you trust. Their team of writers and web designers can help you produce the content you need for this endeavor.
10. Engage Users Through Exciting Prizes or Giveaways
In Facebook management, engagement is vital. You need to keep your followers engaged and excited; otherwise, they will lose their interest and eventually turn to your competitors.
You can avoid losing potential customers by launching giveaways. These are inexpensive events that help you increase your page likes, generate engagement and turn your followers into leads – simply by enticing them with a prize.
Here are some tactics you can explore to make lead generation on Facebook fun for both you and your followers:
• Like and Share Contest – Ask users to simply like and share your post to join the giveaway. This can help spread the word about your contest and your business quickly.
• Caption Contest – Rally users to craft a caption for a photo of your choice; the wittiest or funniest entry gets the prize.
• Photo or Video Contest – Encourage users to upload photo or video entries based on a prompt. This is a great way to get user-generated content (UGC).
• Subscribe to a Newsletter – Ask users to simply sign up for your newsletter to join the giveaway.
But before you launch your giveaway or contest, read through Facebook’s Page Guidelines to ensure that you can hold your event legally. You can also turn to your Facebook marketing consultant for advice when sorting out the logistics to make sure you’re not violating any regulations.
Take Your Facebook Lead Generation Up an Epic Notch
When it comes to advertising on Facebook, your imagination is the only limit. You are free to play with existing tactics, merge two or three of them or create an entirely new one. But if you want to get your feet wet first, here’s a quick rundown of the strategies on how to get leads from Facebook discussed above:
1. Give your Facebook page a good makeover.
2. Invest your time and effort in Facebook Advertising.
3. Start running Facebook Lead Generation Ads.
4. Give your promotional posts a creative twist.
5. Excite users about your offers through Facebook videos.
6. Use Facebook Live to talk about your offers or expertise in real-time.
7. Try Facebook Groups and be more social.
8. Encourage quick responses from your followers through Facebook Stories.
9. Maximize the power of “free” to attract users.
10. Engage users through exciting prizes or giveaways.
Learning how to use Facebook for business marketing in any of these ways can unlock more wins for your business. It will enable you not only to build brand awareness and customer engagement but also to generate the leads you need to scale. With the right Facebook marketing strategy, the social media platform can even become an invaluable tool in converting your audience into buyers.
But it’s also worth pointing out that while the ideas shared above help you get started on how to get leads from Facebook, they’re not to be treated as one-size-fits-all solutions. There’s also no one correct way to advertise on the channel.
You can start with the strategies mentioned here, but your success will depend on you. How you approach Facebook management, design your Facebook lead generation ads and coordinate every tactic in between can take your Facebook lead generation up a notch – or send it plummeting to the ground. If you need assistance from an experienced Facebook marketing agency, Thrive is here to help!
Thrive is a Facebook marketing company that has helped businesses of all sizes generate leads through top-notch social media advertising and Facebook management services. We also offer video production, content writing and website design services to accommodate all of your marketing needs.
Give us a call at 866-434-4748 to get started. We’re excited to win Facebook lead generation with you.
