5 Facebook Lead Generation Tactics

About five years ago, I started to play with Google Adwords.

It was something I did in the evenings to make some extra money. At first, it didn’t work out but later, after lots of reading, I found ways to use it correctly and saw the returns. Then I looked at Facebook. Could I take what I learned with Google Adwords and apply it to Facebook? Kind of…

C is for Cookie

Using Facebook for marketing? Does it work?

To be honest, I had my doubts about this until I made an effort to figure out how Facebook works, especially the advertising platform. I compared it to Google Adwords, which didn’t work.

Things changed when I saw this course on Shoemoney on Facebook Advertising really helped. It’s not cheap but then the good stuff never is.

How to generate leads on Facebook?

The answer I wanted to know was, ‘how can you take advantage of Facebook and leverage it for your business?’

Here are some tactics that can help put Facebook and Social Media to work.

  1. Create Facebook Pages — use your Facebook page to launch different campaigns. Promote it and include it in other marketing activates. Facebook pages work if you regularly publish status updates on other peoples’ home pages. Remember, Google indexes fan pages as these are public, whereas personal pages are not.
  2. Learn to Engage – whereas Google Adwords is one-way (it’s my ads appearing on Google search results), Facebook requires that you engage with your customers (or prospective customers) to begin the conversion process. The sales cycle is longer as you have to court them and win their attention but they stick around longer.
  3. Share exclusive offers — Use your Fan page as the hub for social activities. Run offers exclusive to Facebook. Once the word gets out, others will want to join. “Being ‘in’ is a key emotional driver for Facebook users. The more exclusive, the more likely people will flock to join. But it has to be compelling.
  4. Use Free Coupons — Customers respond to coupons, regardless of the medium in which it appears. For example, a photographer can easily post an offer on Facebook that gives free sessions for large parties or make it time sensitive.
  5. Integrate Facebook with Marketing Plan — Don’t work on Facebook in isolation. Test it to how well it compliments others marketing strategies. Use it for crowdsourcing, product testing and brand development.

Looking for examples?

If you’re seeking an example of those community-building tenets in action, check out Victoria’s Secret Facebook page. The retailer has steadily built a community of more than 2.5-million fans by offering an exclusive element, special offers and the “street cred” that comes with being a fan.

Conclusion

Facebook is a tool in your marketing arsenal and like any tool, it works if you know how to use it. On Google Adwords, I focused on writing slogans, catchy straplines and others teasers.

But this doesn’t work on Facebook. Why?

Facebook is more visual. It’s the photos that make the difference, not the text.