Our team has generated millions of dollars in revenue from Meta’s Facebook platform and here are the ten immutable laws. In my opinion, most marketers use Facebook’s platform wrongly to generate leads. Leading unqualified leads and wasted advertising spend.
Users are on social media feeds are there to be entertained. They aren’t looking to be sold to. In our experience in performing lead generation agency services helping small businesses generate leads for services such as tuition and gym memberships etc.
It’s important to craft ads that entertain, story tell and give value as opposed to pushing for an immediate sale.
Secondly, more advanced marketing campaigns involve using Facebook as a lead generation method for emails capture using lead magnets. Lead magnets can be short, actionable, goal oriented and easy to implement. They can be as simple as a short PDF with actionable steps. This is to nurture these email subscribers into pay customers through email marketing.
Nonetheless, here are ten immutable guidelines for successful Facebook lead generation.
1) Setting Clear Objectives: Using Conversions Objective Function
Facebook ad campaign goals can range from brand awareness, traffic, lead generation to conversions. If you aren’t getting qualified leads on “conversions” objective. You aren’t going to get any luck on “traffic” and “awareness”. I promise you.
In our experience, using mainly conversions objectives is going to deliver the highest return on investment.
2) Focus on the Customer Journey
For the most part, Facebook advertising lead generation services by our agency usually don’t involve selling directly on Facebook.
Henceforth, the customer journey doesn’t end when someone clicks on your ad. It’s important to understand how to guide them through the next steps.
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Understanding Your Customer Speeds, and Retarget Them
Your prospects are going to be Cheetahs (Fast Movers), Hares (Medium Movers), and Tortoises (Slow Movers). There are prospects with different readiness to buy. Tailor your strategies to cater to each segment, focusing on early profitability and long-term gains.
Therefore, you need to create retargeting campaigns for audiences that did not convert initially.
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How to Drive Users to Appropriate Lead Magnets
It’s also important to understand lead capture through different lead magnets on landing pages. Lead magnets should be valuable and relevant to your audience.
Lead magnets can be actionable and easy to implement: such as a downloadable PDF. However, lead magnets can range from PDFs, to free online courses and to online webinars.
It depends on the complexity of your campaign and ticket price of your product/ service.
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Have a Structured Follow-Up and Retargeting Strategy
Once a lead is captured, having a structured follow-up and retargeting strategy is essential. This includes email sequences, SMS reminders and retargeting ads that keep your offer top of mind.
3) The 3 C’s: Click, Capture, Convert Framework
I stole this analogy from Nicholas Kusmich (yes credit where it’s due). Lead generation on Facebook platform itself is hugely limited. Hence forth, by clicking, capturing and then converting, it lends us a framework on how to think about lead generation on Facebook.
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The Click: Creating Ads That Capture Attention and Encourage Clicks
The purpose of the ad is the get the CLICK. There fore, good advertising involves creating ads that stand out in Instagram and Facebook’s newsfeed. Use bright colours, clear images and direct response styled copywriting to capture attention and drive clicks.
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Capture: Using Lead Magnets on Landing Pages to Capture User Information
The landing page’s purpose is to capture the lead. You go for direct leads (free trials etc) or lead magnets (PDFs, eBooks, webinars etc)
Lead magnets should be compelling and valuable, encouraging users to share their information.
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Convert: Following Up with Email Sequences and Retargeting Ads to Convert Leads into Customers
Once you have captured a lead’s information. You can follow up with relevant email sequences and retargeting ads designed to convert leads into paying customers.
This “conversions” is usually achieved on a sales call, an online webinar event on in person appointment.
4) Develop Contextually Congruent Landing Pages
Since selling on Facebook directly is unwarranted. Then ensure that Facebook’s ad traffic is directed to contextually congruent landing pages that’s tailored to your offer as opposed to other general pages of your website.
Ensure consistency between ads, landing pages in design and message. This builds trust, brand and gives users to contextual congruence.
6) Get Your Pixels, Audience and Technicals Right
Use Meta’s audience targeting tools to reach your ideal customers. I am not going to address the technicalities, however, there’s multitude of tutorials online to run you through the technical setups. Ensure that you got these audiences setup in the ad manager!
Here are the main audiences to note:
- Detailed Demographic Targeting: Use detailed demographic information to define your audience. I usually go broader as my pixel gets more seasoned.
Once audience is built, you can layer on:
- Custom Audiences: Target users who have already interacted with your brand.
- Lookalike Audiences: Used to reach new users similar to your existing customers.
Setting up conversion tracking to measure ad spend performance is a no brainer. This isn’t something to miss.
Technicals, analytics, tracking and pixels installed properly is going to help in analysing data and retargeting.
7) Customer-Centric Language and Proposition
Our team stresses upon customer research as a main pillar of digital marketing campaigns.
Speak directly to your customer’s needs and desires. Use language that resonates with them and addresses their pain points.
For example: “Struggling to get noticed online? Our SEO services will put your business in front of the right audience.”
Show clear and specific value propositions from your Facebook ad to customer journey. Strong value propositions clearly explains what benefits your product or service provides and how it solves your customer’s problems.
- Benefits Over Features
In your messaging, be specific and direct.Focus on the benefits rather than just listing features.
For example, instead of saying: “Our software has a user-friendly interface,” say “Save time and reduce frustration with our intuitive software that requires no training.”
- Quantifiable Results
Use concrete numbers and results to illustrate the value of your offering. For example: “Increase your website traffic by 30% in 30 days with our SEO strategies.” This provides a clear expectation and outcome, making your proposition more compelling.
8) Craft Compelling Ad Creatives on Facebook
Create visually appealing ads using bright colours, clear images, faces and relatable content. Ensure videos are captioned: helping with silent autoplay.
Craft ad copy that grabs attention, offer clear value and includes a strong call to action. Use the Hemingway editor to make your copywriting simple, concise to avoid overwhelming the reader.
Here are some strategies for great ad copy and visuals.
- Headlines
Craft compelling headlines that grabs attention and sparks curiosity. Example: “Discover the Secret to Doubling Your Sales in 60 Days.”
- Body Text
Use simple, persuasive language that speaks directly to your audience’s needs. Keep it short and to the point. Example: “Struggling to convert leads into customers? Our guide will teach you how to turn prospects into loyal clients.”
- Visuals
Use high-quality images or videos that match your message. Include bright colors, clear images and eye catching visuals.
- Emotional Appeal
Connect with your audience’s emotions through stories. Take out your camera, shoot yourself using your product, and script out a persuasive story. SHOW! Not “tell”. Show how your product/ service can help their lives..
9) Use of Classic Marketing Principles
Understanding traditional direct response marketing strategies, accompanied with human psychology is key to successful advertising.
Tapping into these psychological triggers helps you create ads that resonate and prompt action. However do ensure that you are compliant with Meta ad policies.
Scarcity and Urgency
- Customers acts may act only when they think an offer is limited or time-sensitive. Use phrases like “Limited Time Offer” or “Only a Few Spots Left” to create urgency.
- Countdown timers on landing pages can be added visually to show time limits.
Social Proof and Authority
- Show testimonials, reviews, and case studies in your ads to build trust.
- Use endorsements from industry experts, show your certifications, or highlight any awards you’ve received.
Commitment and Consistency
- Once people commit to something small, they’re more likely to commit to something bigger. Start with a low-barrier offer like a free trial and then to a paid session.
Reciprocity
There’s the human psychological principle of reciprocity. If you give something valuable for free, people feel they should give something back.
This can include free in person trials, product tasters… to time limited software trials.
10) Make an Irresistible Offers
Craft offers that are “too good to refuse”. The good ol’ Godfather offer.
Time-Sensitive Discounts
You can offer discounts that are only available for a limited time. This creates a sense of urgency and encourages immediate action.
For example. a flash sale 40% discount on all products for a restricted period of time.
Stacked Bonuses
Enhance your offer by including additional bonuses that add significant value. These can be complementary products, exclusive content, or extra services at no additional cost. For example: “Sign up for our SEO audit and get an entirely free technical SEO audit, keyword research report and a month of content planning.”
Risk Reversal Guarantee
Remove the perceived risk for your customers by offering strong guarantees. This could be a money-back guarantee, a free trial period, or a no-obligation consultation.
You may allow potential customers to experience your product or service without any financial commitment. This builds trust and lets them see the value firsthand.
Such guarantees build trust and make it easier for potential customers to commit.
Example: “Try our free trial gym membership for 7 days, risk-free.”
Example: “If you don’t see a 30% increase in your website traffic in 30 days, we’ll give you a full refund.”
Money-Back Guarantees
Offer a full refund if the customer is not satisfied within a certain period. This reassures customers that they have nothing to lose by trying your product. Example: “Our team is confident you’ll love our service, we offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.”
Compelling Reason Why
Humans require a reason for a “deal too good to be true”. Hence forth, simply explain why you are offering this deal and why now is the best time for customers to act. This could be due to a special event or a new product launch. Make sure your reason is believable and relatable. For instance, “I am offering this exclusive deal as a part of our anniversary celebration, as our way of saying thank you for your support.”
13) Measurement and Optimization
Lastly, remember to measure KPIs to gauge the effectiveness of your campaign. Metrics like click through rates, cost per conversion, cost per lead and average order value can help you with decision making to better your campaigns.
Note: I only advocate A/B testing only after overall messaging based on customer research is performed. Only then, A/B testing different elements, such as images, copy, and headlines can incrementally move the needle.
Finally, it is your responsibility as an advertiser to stay informed about Facebook’s latest ad features, policies. So as keep you from being banned, and on the right side of compliance on Meta platforms.