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How To Grow Your Email List With Facebook Advertising

Lead generation is one of the most popular ways to use Facebook Advertising. If you spend any time on Facebook, chances are you have seen this type of...

Photo: Reesy Floyd-Thompson; Credit: © Back Bay Photography
Photo: Reesy Floyd-Thompson; Credit: © Back Bay Photography

Lead generation is one of the most popular ways to use Facebook Advertising. If you spend any time on Facebook, chances are you have seen this type of ad.

Lead generation ads on Facebook offer the promise of better days if you opt in. The headline reads something like: “Download my free guide” or “Watch my free training.” Share your email address; receive the gift in your inbox. This exchange is called opting in, and the free content is known as a lead magnet or freebie. 

Sound familiar? Thought so! And if you are anything like me, you have quite the collection of promises.

Despite how magical Facebook advertising seems, it’s actually a proven channel to build an email list (I personally know it works). The cool part—we all have this power. Let me show you how to pull a rabbit out of your ads.

There are five components of a Facebook lead generation campaign. Let’s take a brief look at each one alongside a client case study.

 



1. Facebook business page

In order to use Facebook Advertising, you need a business Page. You cannot run ads from a personal profile. It’s simple and free to set up a Facebook business Page or you can convert a personal account into a business Page. Don’t worry if your business page is brand new and you have a small number followers and likes. Hang tight; I’ll explain why.

 



2. Facebook ad account

A Facebook ad account is essential. No ad account, no ads. Manage an account in the Ads Manager or Power Editor.

 

Photo: Facebook Ads Manager; Source: Facebook
Photo: Facebook Ads Manager; Source: Facebook

3. The offer and audience

Here is where the fun begins. Most of the work involved in launching a successful lead generation campaign happens before you get to the Ads Manager or Power Editor. The number one thing to consider is the psychology of your buyer (i.e., lead) and their buying habits.

Facebook is not a marketplace; at least it wasn’t designed that way. Though Facebook users know they will be sold to when they log in, they don’t use the platform to buy. They come to connect. In order to capture someone’s attention, you must interrupt this pattern of behavior.

The offer (and subsequent presentation) must get someone to slow their scroll long enough to consider picking up what you are putting down. 

What should you offer? The lead magnet or freebie could be an eBook, PDF guide, video series, swipe file, free course, etc. This piece of content is the gateway into your funnel. It’s the lure.

Offer a lead magnet that is so good you should charge for it. Create a lead magnet with the intent to sell, and then offer it for free. The more valuable and insightful the lure, the more likely to enchant. 

Once you know your offer, nail down your ideal customer (i.e. Audience).

 

Source: Facebook

Audience is everything. What do you know about your target? Who are they? Where do they live? What do they do? What do they want? What are their desires, hopes, dreams, frustrations? Are they predominately male or female? What is their age range? Knowing your audience demographics is the difference between putting your offer in front of frenzied fans or those with zero cares to give. 

This is why having a new Facebook page or a page with limited likes should not be a huge concern.

An alluring offer in front of the perfect target triggers the impulse to buy, join, be a part of something, and not miss out. Your ability to capture an email address will heavily depend on the charm of the offer.

Finally, while we’re talking about the offer and target audience, let’s briefly discuss the ad copy and creative. Your ad assets, both the copy and the creative, must speak to your target audience. The creative has one job and one job only—to grab attention.

Image ads are the most native to Facebook’s news feed, but video converts better. 

Whether to place text on an image – that is the dilemma. If you decide to, then you get an allowance of 20%, five squares worth of text. Use the Facebook grid tool to color within the guidelines. The long and short of ad copy depends on the offer and the industry. Both styles of copy converts. The key is to write good copy.

 

4. Landing page

The landing page, much like the creative, is designed for one thing – to capture the email address (a.k.a., the lead). When users click on your Facebook ad and lands n the landing page, you want them to take an action. Once that action is taken, the lead lands on a ‘Thank you’ page. Use this page to give them a virtual high five: an invitation to a Facebook Group or the opportunity to purchase an exclusive product or service.

 

Source: Upwork

Pixel me this: We can’t talk about a lead generation campaign without mentioning the Facebook Pixel. The pixel is a tiny bit of code placed on your site to track conversions or deploy automated optimizations and remarketing campaigns. For this type of campaign, set the ‘Marketing objective’ to ‘Conversions.’

Place the default pixel on both the landing page and ‘Thank you’ page. You can also use different types of event codes provided by Facebook. Place the ‘Complete Registration’ event code on the ‘Thank you’ page to track registrations to webinars, events, and so on.You will not be able to run a conversion ad without a properly-placed pixel.

 

5. Email service provider (ESP)

An email marketing partner provides software to collect email addresses, carry out email automation, deliver your freebie, and tracks open and click-through rates with minimal effort beyond set-up.

Popular examples of email marketing tools include MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, and AWeber. Most email marketing services offer user-friendly tools to add your email list form directly to your landing page.

 

Now you are ready to run a successful lead generation campaign using Facebook ads. Meanwhile, test your lead magnet and your audience until you find the winning combination – until the magic happens.

 

Reesy Floyd-Thompson, owner of Create Good Marketing, is a digital Wonder Woman on a mission to teach non-marketers and do-gooders how to use the internet. She specializes in the I-don’t-know-jack-about-marketing entrepreneur looking to change the world. Connect with @ReesyThompson on Twitter.

 

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