You run a business that you love. You deliver amazing results to your customers. They rave about your business to their friends.
Yet…You stay up at night worrying about customers…
No, not wondering how to serve them better… You already do that!
But figuring out how to get MORE of them…
Competition is fierce. Technology is moving too fast. It is hard to keep up with the new marketing tools.
You are overwhelmed and marketing feels extremely complicated.
SEO, Reputation Management, Local Presence – these are all critical factors for succeeding in the local marketing game.
But these take time.
You do not have that much time. You have bills to pay, employees to support…
If you want leads fast, then investing in a simple marketing funnel with Facebook ads may be the right step for you.
Before, you say that you have already tried Facebook ads and they did not work, allow me to share some of the experiences.
I audit a lot of Facebook campaigns run by small businesses.
Many of them make the same mistake: They boost one or two of their Facebook posts and expect the leads to start rolling in.
That’s not how lead generation on Facebook works…
If you want to stop worrying about where your next customer is coming from and start generating leads 24×7, this post is for you.
How to create a Facebook-powered Lead Generation Funnel for your Business
Step 1 – Build a connection with your audience on Facebook.
Facebook is ripe with your ideal customers. But they do not know you and they are not ready to buy from you.
Your job is to engage them first.
Start by creating an educational, inspirational, or entertaining post on your Facebook page. Video works best – For example, help them learn about 5 Dental Myths that are not True or guide them through Improving Facebook Ad Targeting
Step 2 – Show the post to more people via Facebook Ad
No matter how great your content is, very few people will see the organic posts from you.
If you want more people to see your post, create a Facebook ad to promote it.
Pro Tip: Resist the temptation to simply boost your post.
While it will help you reach a bigger audience creating an actual ad with Video Views or Engagement objectives will allow you to expand your audience broader.
You can assign the existing post to your Ad in Ad Manager.
You may be asking why not run a traffic or conversion campaign? After all, you need customers not video viewers…
We ran many tests to compare using Video Views vs Traffic ads at the initial stages of the campaign.
Guess what?
In the end, the lead quality is always higher and the cost is always lower when we warm up the leads first.
Step 3 – Fine-tune your audience selection
Your next step is to figure out who to target.
If you have a lot of visitors to your website or have a long list of existing customers, you can create a custom audience target.
If not, you can start with interest targeting.
Think about people in your location with interest in the types of services you provide.
For example, look for people with interests in dental care, self-care, or dental-related pages.
Step 4 – Test different budgets and audiences
Do not just run one ad for one type of audience. You will need to test which audiences will be more interested in your message.
Create several versions of your ad for each of the audience selections with a low daily ad spend ($5-10/day).
Do not worry about clicks or leads at this stage. Your success is measured by the highest view times and engagement.
If the ads do not get good engagement, turn them off after 2 days.
Look for 1 like for 100 views as the initial benchmark and optimize from there.
Step 5 – Identify a compelling offer
Selling your main offer to the customers who never bought from you may be hard. You need to build trust and give your future customers a flavor of the full experience.
Think of a low-cost yet compelling offer you can offer upfront.
Pro Tip: Resist the temptation of offering FREE services. Many people who take FREE offers have no intention of buying later.
An example of a low-cost introductory offer will be a $49 teeth whitening + exam + X-rays. There is value-packed in the offer and an opportunity to upsell additional services later.
If you are determined to go with a FREE offer, give away a product that does not require your time (for example, a Home Repair Evaluation Checklist).
Or you can offer a FREE high-value, high-relevance offer that is likely to convert into a paid experience (for example, FREE Dental implant assessment).
Step 6 – Create a landing page showcasing your special offer
Never drive paid traffic to your homepage!
A dedicated landing page for your offer will always convert better. People get confused when there are too many options.
A high-converting landing page makes a bold promise focused on the outcome of the offer (not just a teeth whitening, but a confident smile; not just a remodel, but a “new home feeling” to bring the family together, etc.).
It also has a single call to action.
The good news, you do not have to create a landing page from scratch. There are many excellent products offing tried and true. Check out LeadPages, Unbound, or Clickfunnels.
Would you like a ready-to-edit funnel you can implement in just a few clicks? Click here to download our Demo Funnel Template built with Click-Funnels.
Step 7 – Create a Facebook ad to promote this offer
Remember who I told you not to create a traffic ad at the beginning?
This time you will be using a Traffic or a Leads objective to promote your offer. Test each of these objectives separately.
Pro Tip: lead generation campaigns make it easy for your prospective customers to opt-in. However, easy is not always great for conversions. We found the quality of these leads to be lower. Look at the actual lead to customer conversion rates when evaluating the effectiveness of these campaigns.
Once you get the initial funnel in place, also try Chatbot Messenger campaigns. These campaigns require a bit more setup but can be highly effective in pre-qualifying your potential leads.
Platforms, like ManyChat and ChatFuel, make it fairly low tech for you to create the first bot.
Step 8 – Target people who engaged with your post or video
In the initial Facebook campaign you “warmed up” your leads. Now you can convert them and invite them to take your offer.
Create a Custom Facebook Audience from people who viewed at least 10 seconds of your video or engaged with your Facebook posts.
Pro Tip: You may even go back to your initial Facebook ad and update the audience selection to include the Lookalikes of the people who viewed your video.
Step 8 – Collect Relevant Information
Find the perfect amount of information to collect from your prospects. Only ask for the information you will use such as Name, Email Address, and Phone Number.
Make sure that your data collection process is compliant with the GDPR requirements. Some Products such as Click Funnels create features to help you stay compliant, so check the software you are using
Step 9 – Track your leads
Always make sure your lead information is updated in your main CRM system.
You can connect your landing page to your CRM to track the leads and automate sending the offer information.
If you do not already have a CRM, consider a free option from Hubspot or an email management solution from ConvertKit.
Step 10 – Thank you Page
Once potential leads opted into your Initial offer, show them a Thank You page with an add-on offer. It is typically a higher value One-Time-Offer and only available for a limited time.
Since your leads are already interested in the offer, it is your opportunity to upsell to them.
Your Thank You Page will covert if you include a simple explainer video articulating the value and customer testimonials.
If you are using Click Funnels, your funnel may already include a Thank You page template.
Step 11 – Follow up
Immediately following up to confirm the appointment (especially, if it is a FREE offer) increases the likelihood of people showing up.
Text, call, or email to confirm the appointment and reschedule if needed. You may even do all of these together.
Using an autoresponder or a bot sequence will automate some of these steps.
Step 12 – Close the Undecided
If your leads DO NOT take your offer it does not always mean they would not want it (or a version of it) later.
Many people who clicked on your offer page may get distracted. Increase your chances of conversion by showing them an Exit Popup with a FREE offer to collect their email address.
A coupon for future services or an educational checklist makes a great exit offer.
You will later use this information in your email campaign or Facebook Custom audience targeting (which is an advanced step to master AFTER your initial funnel is working).
CONCLUSION:
Creating a complete marketing system for your business can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Do not wait until you have ALL of the pieces in place. Start with the scaled-down funnel to start generating your leads.
Once you see that customers are starting to come through your funnel, you can tweak it to make it more cost-effective.
