Facebook offers you an enormous reach. But is the social network also suitable for lead generation? We’ll tell you why lead generation via Facebook often works extremely well and what you need to pay attention to make the most of your opportunities.
What are the advantages of lead generation via Facebook?
The reach that you can generate via Facebook is enormous. Even if many younger users are no longer as active on the platform, the social network in Germany has more than 32 million users who visit the social network monthly. More than 23 million even used Facebook every day in 2019.
Also, when you advertise on Facebook, you tend to catch people in more relaxed moments. If you’re in a hurry, don’t surf Facebook. Because of this, customers may be more receptive to your concerns at this point and take the time to fill out a lead form. This is different when they are looking for specific solutions. Then you either have the solution right at hand, or the customers quickly leave your side.
With Facebook Ads, on the other hand, it is often enough for customers to assume that you will be able to help them at some point. You don’t have to send harsh sales messages to get many of Facebook’s positive effects.
Instead, you can benefit from it on Facebook if you slowly build up a community and thus strengthen customer loyalty. You can then use this again when generating leads. Because your community maintenance creates trust among prospects, you are more likely to receive the addresses of customers. You can also generate many touchpoints via the social network that have a similar effect and also contribute to your brand awareness and perception among your target group.
A big advantage is that you can tailor your ads on Facebook to your target group. This means that wastage is low and you use your advertising expenditure efficiently. This is all the more true because Facebook advertising has a reputation for being comparatively cheap. Whether this also applies to your company depends on the industry. Facebook Ads are not an insider tip, but some search terms are much less competitive there than, for example, Google Ads.
Even for small businesses, it often has advantages to collect leads via Facebook. Many focus their marketing efforts on social networks and have little or no website. It falls away as a lead generator because the range is not sufficient. Then Facebook in connection with the lead ads is ideal for collecting leads or forwarding them to sales.
A big advantage of Facebook Ads is that you can work with retargeting campaigns there, similar to the Google Display Network. This allows you to retarget users who have previously interacted with the ad. They are often more receptive to your advertising messages, so the conversion rate is often higher here.
Advantages
High reach Often comparatively low costs Uncomplicated thanks to Facebook Lead Ads Good branding effects
Disadvantages
Dependence on Facebook Contested by industry Stats are not sufficient to fully cover the customer journey Not as transactional as Google Ads
Facebook makes it easier for us with Facebook Lead Ads
If you’ve been using Facebook for lead generation for any length of time, you may be familiar with the old dilemma: to convert a prospect into a lead, you first had to lure them off Facebook and onto your own page. Many users do not forgive this break, so the conversion rate was never quite optimal.
Since 2018, this has stopped if you use Facebook Lead Ads. Here the lead form is already integrated into Facebook. Better still: If desired, the user can have it pre-filled with the data they provided on Facebook. This means that two hurdles that previously stood in the way of lead generation via Facebook are eliminated: “media discontinuity” and the cumbersome filling out.
Last but not least, this makes Facebook Lead Ads valuable for you if you like to collect a lot of data about your prospects. Because the rule of thumb is that customers are less likely to fill out forms that require them to enter a lot of data. Facebook Leads Ads to have real advantages, especially when it comes to mobile because filling out forms on a smartphone is so cumbersome.
The convenience of pre-filling will not convince everyone to become a lead, but you can still expect an increase in conversion rates. You should not overwhelm your prospects and only ask for the data you really want to work with.
Of course, it is still possible to bring your prospects to your own website. This can even have some advantages. After all, this will make them aware of your entire offer. And by providing a good user experience, you’ll make them remember you better.
Which option you choose is therefore a strategic decision that you have to make individually for your company.
Is additional lead generation via Facebook necessary?
It’s easy to think that generating leads via Facebook doesn’t add value to a well-maintained social media community. Eventually, if I gain a fan and they follow my page on Facebook, I can reach them with the information on Facebook itself.
Anyone who thought so was hit hard by Facebook’s reach restriction. The outcry was correspondingly great when it became known that even reaching your own fans would cost money.
The problem with using social networks is that you don’t have control over the direction in which they go. The greater your focus on these channels, the harder you will be hit by changes. So you should make sure you have more than one way to reach your prospects.
That’s why it’s generally advisable if social media doesn’t form your own biotope for you, but instead, you regularly try to draw your fans and followers into your “Owned” channels. These are ways of contact where you are not dependent on others. The best-known example of this is the newsletter.
The advantages are apparent:
- You can still reach your prospects when Facebook turns the reach screw again – at no additional cost.
- If your fans are leaving Facebook due to privacy scandals or other reasons, you don’t care either.
- If you choose to focus on channels other than Facebook, you won’t lose your connections.
Another key point is that you can do a lot more with your own leads than with a Facebook fan. While you can safely forward a lead to your sales team, it’s not easy to do so with a Facebook fan.
Because you can collect more contact information for a lead, you can work with them more effectively later. That’s why a lead is usually worth more to your business than a Facebook fan. Of course, the prerequisite is that you have or are building up the appropriate capacities to continue working with your leads.
Is Facebook worth it for B2B lead generation?
Facebook is not the first social network that will come to mind when it comes to generating leads for B2B: LinkedIn or Xing are certainly the first choices. Because on Facebook or Instagram, most people are more “private”. So you would have trouble selling your milling machine vise for professional tradespeople there in bulk.
But if the craftsman on the way home on the train looks a bit on Facebook to see what’s new, he hasn’t lost his professional interests. If you pop something interesting into his timeline that he can just as easily explore the next day during his workday, he won’t say no to it.
However, you should make sure that your prospect has an actual advantage from your offer and that you choose a rather casual approach. Ideally, your ads are fun and ensure that your audience doesn’t associate them heavily with work.
Note metrics: These KPIs are important for lead generation on Facebook
If this is your first time running Facebook Ads and you are new to it, you should determine what your goals are and how much you can spend per lead. This value depends on how many leads you can later convert to customers and how much a single customer is worth to you.
Only when you have calculated this value should you even start running Facebook lead ads. The ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend) is one of the values that at least put sales and investment in relation to each other and that you should therefore keep an eye on.
The CPL (cost per lead) is essential for lead generation. This metric tells you how expensive it is for you to get a lead. If you spend 100 euros on advertising and thereby generate a lead, a lead would cost you 100 euros. If you know how many of your Facebook leads convert to customers and how much a single customer brings you, you also know how much a lead can cost you.
Another important metric is the CRT, the Click Through Rate. If it’s low, your creativity isn’t good enough and isn’t appealing to your audience. Then it drives the CPC (cost per click) up. ROAS and CPL also increase when a click becomes more expensive.
In many cases, it will not be directly possible to run Facebook Ads profitably. Automated bidding strategies are often able to improve profits over time. However, it is important that you know which bidding strategy makes sense for you, your industry, and your advertising message.
Advice and optimization from an expert often make sense in order not to lose money unnecessarily or even to come to the wrong conclusion that Facebook Ads are not worthwhile. There is a lot of competition in these industries and subject areas, but there is often room for another advertiser.
More leads on Facebook: It all depends on the lead magnet
If you can’t generate enough leads on Facebook or they’re too expensive, you may not be targeting the right audience. More often, the problem is that you’re not offering enough value. In international comparison, Germans are very concerned about protecting their data. That’s why it helps your conversion rate if you offer them good value for their email address and other personal information. Lead magnets or freebies can often get your prospects more willing to give you their email address than just promoting your newsletter.
So you should put as much effort into creating lead magnets as you were trying to sell them. It should also be something that arouses interest and promises a clear benefit. In the best-case scenario, similar products are not available to free of charge on every corner of the Internet. The more exclusive the knowledge that you are imparting, the better the lead magnets usually convert.
Of course, you have to weigh up the benefits and the effort involved when creating it. But in principle, many lead magnets are suitable for generating leads in the long term, so a little effort in production is definitely appropriate.
You can take advantage of the combination of lead magnets and Facebook lead ads on Facebook. If you’re already promoting your lead magnet in your Facebook ad, people who are interested in that freebie will click. If your conversion rate is still bad, either the advertising promise and benefit are not correct, your lead form is asking for too much data, or there is a technical problem.
Wait until I have more fans, or get started right away?
Many companies wait until they have “enough” fans before paying for ads or putting a lot of effort into maintaining social media channels. In principle, this point of view is understandable. For 50 fans, it’s hardly worth publishing posts every day. On the other hand, the cat bites its own tail: if a prospect sees no reason to follow a company page on Facebook, they won’t and your fan base won’t grow. That’s why it always makes more sense to test a new channel for a few months with as much effort as possible. Only then is it clear how the offer will be accepted?
In the case of ads, this question does not arise twice. Here is the big advantage you can increase your reach with ads. If you’re thinking about using Facebook for lead generation and spending money on it, there’s no harm in getting started sooner rather than later.
Facebook Lead Ads: Best Practices
Facebook itself knows best which tricks will help you to make your Facebook lead generation as successful as possible. There is little surprise in the best practices published by the company :
- Attractive image/video material
- Clears CTA
- Set an appropriate budget
- Use a lookalike audience (i.e. a customer group that is similar to your existing customers)
- Retargeting customers who have already engaged with your ad but have canceled completing it
The company also gives you some tips for improving your instant form. The tips are also suitable for creating well-converting forms apart from generating leads on Facebook:
- Add a brief overview of your business
- Ask as few questions as possible
- Use auto-filled fields
- Use multiple-choice questions to generate higher-quality leads
- Encourage further interactions with the “Thank you” page
- Find out the optimal length of your form with A/B tests
Pay attention to the value of a lead
No lead is of equal value to a company. On the contrary, a leader can never be of any value to the company because the lead does not become a buyer.
On the other hand, depending on the industry and customer loyalty, another lead can quickly be worth a few thousand euros. Even if many performance marketers are satisfied with the end of the ratio of lead costs to conversion is right, this is not always the most efficient way.
For you, this means that ideally, you not only use the Facebook KPIs but also work with a CRM system that enables you to define the value and quality of a lead. This way you can better find out which campaign brings you the good leads and promote them.
Admittedly, this does not always make your lead generation cheaper. But you don’t clog your funnel and sales with worthless leads. Your sales colleagues will thank you when they receive better and better pre-qualified leads and their work becomes more pleasant and easier!
Improve lead quality with simple measures
If you want to improve lead quality, it often makes sense if you don’t start your lead forms the top of the funnel. If you’re trying to be more specific in trying to target better leads with your content, you need to target your audience accordingly. Analyze who ends up in your funnel even though they don’t convert and why they felt addressed. This is where the greatest potential for optimization is often hidden.
After realizing this, you should adjust the speech, because there is no simpler “sort out” function. For example, with “restaurateurs” you address a different target group than with “gourmets” or “chefs”. Find out how your target group defines itself and address them specifically. Yes, your conversion rate will go down. However, the right people will get in touch with you for this.
You also need to adapt the content accordingly. A magazine with the most popular recipes appeals to a different target group than the test of professional kitchen accessories or industry reports. You shouldn’t be stomping on your old content because of this. But pay attention to the fit between the target group and the content if you spend additional money on lead generation. Ideally, think of content, Facebook ad, and target group as a unit to generate the best leads.
It also makes sense to think primarily in terms of campaigns when it comes to optimizing lead quality. Every attribution model will sooner or later reach its limits. We cannot follow a lead endlessly and, above all, we cannot always recognize which touchpoints a prospect had. But once they’ve heard your business name a few times, they’re more likely to trust you with their email address. And if he has had good experiences with it, i.e. you help him regularly, he will become a customer more quickly.
However, this means that there is often not just a single campaign that is critical to success. You should therefore not ignore the customer journey and carry out targeted campaigns for the different stages. For example, you can target one campaign to get more leads and another to build your fanbase or even convert fans directly into buyers.
Relying on different KPIs with different campaigns can be worthwhile for you. This way you can concentrate on the lead quality and conversion rate of a single campaign and specifically identify opportunities for improvement.
Don’t forget about the analysis
Of course, your optimization does not end with a few tricks. It’s up to you to keep analyzing why some leads don’t make it to the next stage. Are they inherently unsuitable? Or are you not making them the right offer to become a buyer?
But don’t just rely on hard data. Additionally, communicate with your sales reps about which leads can be qualified well, what opportunities for improvement they see, and what content they need. In this way, you will learn soft facts that will make your lead generation more effective. And you make sure that marketing and sales work together for the same goal and support each other.
In principle, Facebook does not offer enough or the right data for many types of analysis. Many online marketers, therefore, work with higher-level CRM systems. They help to understand what exactly happens to the leads, what quality they ultimately had, and which ad was particularly effective in helping to address the right customers. That’s why it always makes sense not to rely solely on Facebook.
Use retargeting
Again and again, retargeting campaigns are the key to the success of a campaign. A classic example makes it clear why this is so:
Imagine you’re on your way to work and while you’re at the train station you’re on Facebook. You see an e-book that interests you. You want to fill out the form when the train pulls in. You wipe away the open window on your smartphone and get in. On the train, you meet an old school friend. You make small talk and you forget about the e-book. You will never download it and give your address for it. Unless the provider reaches you again and asks you in the ad whether you are interested in the e-book after all.
There are many reasons a prospect might start filling out a lead form and then give up. However, it often has nothing to do with your offer. That’s why it’s almost always worthwhile to address exactly these people again via retargeting. If you want to be on the safe side, you improve your offer. Interested parties will then not only receive your e-book, for example, but also a checklist related to the topic. This way you can arouse interest a little more and convince doubting prospects better.
With retargeting, you not only show the prospect your appreciation. At the same time, it may be that your campaign is exactly the touchpoint that was missing to convince him of you. Don’t overdo it when it comes to the number of impressions: If you keep rubbing your offer in the face of customers who have already decided against it, it won’t make it any more attractive. On the contrary, you might even annoy them and damage your reputation.
Lower CPL – the most important 9 tips
If you want to use Facebook leads efficiently, you need to make sure your CPL is as low as possible. To achieve this, you can turn a few screws.
1. Select target group more precisely: If you can determine your target group more precisely, you reduce wastage and the CPL decreases.
2. Select a broader target group: If you do not know your target group exactly, it can also be helpful to expand your target audience.
3. Work with Lookalike Audience: Facebook can create an audience for you that is similar to your existing customers. Very useful to improve your reach and address new prospects.
4. Fewer form fields: Interested parties often want to fill out as few fields as possible.
5. Reduce frequency: Especially if your target group is small, it can make sense to reduce the number of advertisements per customer.
6. Focus on good rankings: If you know where your key figures look particularly good on Facebook, you should deselect the advertising spaces that are not performing so well.
7. A/B testing: Facebook makes it easy for you to test different ads for their success. You should definitely use this option until you have developed ads that really work.
8. Spink at the competition: In the Facebook advertising library you get a good insight into the advertising activities of your competitors. A long runtime shows you working campaigns that you should take a closer look at.
9. Inherit engagement: If you’re running a new ad and it fits thematically, you should inherit user interactions from old campaigns. This way you have more social proof and Facebook also seems to deduce that the advertising is of higher quality.
Conclusion: Lead generation via Facebook is an interesting variant
If you want to use Facebook to fill your funnel or even feed your sales reps directly with new leads, the social network is a good resource. Lookalike audiences make it easier for you to reach new prospects, and you can scale and improve your ads accurately over time. With community maintenance, you build trust and thus increase the likelihood of deals. Thanks to Facebook Lead Ads, it couldn’t be easier for your customers to fill out lead forms, so the conversion rate is high.
As convincing as the key data are: You definitely have to invest time and brain power for lead generation via Facebook to be successful. Analysis and further development of the ads and a higher-level CRM to be able to evaluate leads better are important bases for this. Especially in highly competitive industries, it can be worthwhile to outsource the optimization of the ad to an expert. Without experience, you should gradually increase your budget to collect data and give the algorithm and you time to learn.