While the Facebook ad funnel can sometimes be overlooked by social media marketers, it is just as important as any other type of conversion funnel. Ultimately, get those conversions, you first have to understand your audience. You have to know what they will buy and their relationship with what you offer.
Read on to learn more about how you can move people through the stages of the marketing funnel swiftly and get conversions.
The Stages of the Facebook Ad Funnel
Marketing funnels trace the consumer journey. It starts with people who are completely unaware of your products and ends with them as loyal repeat customers.
While different people describe it in different ways, the funnel will generally contain these steps:
- Strangers: People who have never heard of you
- Prospects: People who have heard of you and are interested
- Leads: People who are very interested in getting more information from you or trying out your offerings
- Customers: People who like your offerings enough to pay for them
- Promoters: Customers who love your offerings so much they want to share them with others
With a smart strategy, you can easily guide people through the Facebook ad funnel to make purchases.
1. Start Small
With the oversaturation of digital ads, many consumers have become jaded to online ads. Many people find online ads overly aggressive or are otherwise turned off by them. In fact, 91% of people say that ads are more intrusive now than ever before, and 79% of people feel unpleasantly tracked by targeted ads.
It might seem like a no-brainer to flood Facebook with ads telling people to buy your products or services. However, a softer touch will often work better. At the start of the funnel, when you are making strangers aware of your offerings, you want your ads to be an introduction, not a demand.
Strangers ->Prospects
At this stage, you only want to turn strangers into prospects. Start with low-threat ads with simpler and easier CTAs attached. Rather than outright demanding that potential leads buy something, start small. Ask people to perhaps take a quiz or download some short-form free content, for example.
At the awareness stage of the Facebook ad funnel, you want to make strangers more aware of and open to your business. Then they will be more receptive to making a purchase later.
Take a look at our blog post Using Facebook Custom Audiences to Create an Unforgettable Digital Brand to take a deeper look at using Facebook’s tools to court audiences.
2. Gain Leads With Gated Content
In order to get leads, you must offer content of genuine value to potential customers.
However, even if you do not charge any money for this content, that does not mean that you do not receive any value from it. Even if you are offering a free report, ebook, or webinar, in return, you can ask people to share their email addresses. You can also ask that they fill out a survey before they can access it.
In this case, anyone who clicks on your ad will be directed to a landing page where they must fill out a lead form before they can access whatever it is you are offering.
This gives you some helpful information. For one, you know that anyone who fills out this form is interested in inbound marketing from you. You will gather some information about who you are reaching. Also, amongst those who respond, you can start to build a list of potential customers.
3. Segment and Nurture Your Audiences
If your product has many features or you are selling a number of products, make sure that you are targeting your prospects with the appropriate offer.
For example, if someone interested in kitchen appliances visits your landing page for pots and pans, you should create landing page-specific ads that promote more kitchenware, not microwaves.
You actually can create landing-page specific Facebook Custom Audiences to keep your ad campaigns separate and organized. Just always make sure that your landing page and ad message match up.
Remember that not all of your prospects will convert in the same way, at the same time, and after the same number of steps. Some will require more nurturing than others.
SEE ALSO: 10 Tips to Improve Your Facebook Ad Conversions
4. Facebook Marketing in the Purchase Phase of the Funnel
Even after you have guided customers to the purchase section of the funnel, your work is not done. Here are some helpful tips for when it is time to guide customers through this phase.
Have Strong CTAs
Make sure that your ads make it very clear what next step a potential customer is supposed to take. Also, make sure these CTAs accurately reflect your goals.
For example, if you want people to make purchases specifically, “Shop now” would be a better CTA than “subscribe” or “learn more.” Be specific to guide people through the Facebook ad funnel.
It All Needs To Work Together
While getting to the purchase phase is exciting, remember that it did not happen by accident. It is a result of a series of successful steps. You want this phase of your marketing to match the energy, tone, and flow of the rest of your Facebook ad funnel strategy.
While it can be tempting to engage a cold lead with a sales pitch right out of the gate, this is not always as successful as marketers would like.
Remember, if someone is about to make a purchase, it is likely because your awareness campaign and all of the other preceding steps were successful.
5. The Facebook Ad Funnel Never Ends
Once you have successfully guided someone from being unaware of your products or services to making a purchase, all the work has ended, right?
Not at all.
While you should definitely congratulate yourself on a job well done, don’t forget about those who have made purchases. These people are likely to make second and third purchases (and so on) if they like your products. Target them with relevant offers from time to time.
One way to do this is by running regular Facebook campaigns. In these campaigns, share useful guides and upsell offers with your customers and clients.
SEE ALSO: The Customer Journey Is an Infinite Loop
Final Thoughts
You can work toward boosting your conversions and building a better relationship with your ideal customer base at every stage of the Facebook Ad Funnel. Ultimately, Facebook is a great way to not only find new customers and clients but maintain a relationship with those that you already have.
Once you understand your audience, you can approach them in the appropriate way at the various stages of the Facebook ad funnel for success!
Which stage of the Facebook ad funnel do you think is the most important? Comment below…
