Facebook advertising can be insanely powerful when used correctly. However, most entrepreneurs get it wrong and end up wasting a lot of hard-earned cash.
The #1 reason most newbie advertisers fail is because they try and sell their product to people that have never heard of them before.
There’s no real strategy.
Selling to a cold audience (people who don’t know who you are) CAN work, but most of the time won’t.
Which poses the question: how on earth do you get people to buy from you on Facebook?
Read on and I’ll show you in four easy steps how you can create your own Facebook advertising strategy.
Four Steps to a successful Facebook advertising strategy
Step One: Create Valuable Content
Picture this.
You’re walking down the street.
You spot someone in a charity jacket speaking to people as they walk past.
You dread the moment you have to walk past them in case they try and start a conversation with you.
You get closer.
You lock eyes.
Oh dear… here we go.
“Just let me get on with my day please. Don’t interrupt me”, you think to yourself…
You maybe even consider faking a phone call or crossing the road to avoid the awkward interaction.
Interruption marketing.
Interrupting someone as they mind their own business, in an attempt to sell them something.
You’re doing the exact same thing every time you place an ad on Facebook.
People are scrolling their feeds, minding their own business. They don’t want to see your ad promoting your “20% off” offer.
Yes, you might catch some people (like the charity people on the street), but the majority of people are going to ignore you.
There’s a better way to do it.
And that’s by creating valuable content. Content people actually want to see as they scroll down their newsfeed.
You see, people on Facebook couldn’t care less about you. You need to make them care.
Content can be in the form of blogs, videos or podcasts and you can create it by doing things such as:
- Answering the questions you’re always asked by potential customers
- Solving problems your potential customers have
- Solving any pain points you know your customers have
Your content is a conversation starter. An opener. It’s like approaching someone in a bar and saying hello, as opposed approaching someone in a bar and asking them to marry you…
Step Two: Creating a lead magnet
The next step is to create a lead magnet. A lead magnet is something a prospect downloads in return for their email address/contact information.
It needs to be hugely valuable and relevant to your original content.
By inviting someone to download your lead magnet, you’re deepening the relationship and opening a new stream of communication – such as email.
Here’s an example in action:
You’re a guitar tutor, looking to have people sign up to your online guitar lessons. You could:
1. Create a free video lesson, teaching people how to play a certain song on the guitar. Let’s go for a cheeky bit of Ed Sheeran.
2. You then create a lead magnet which includes lessons of every single one of Ed Sheeran’s songs. To get it, people have to download it by giving you their email address.
Can you see how relevant that is? If someone watches the first video, chances are they like Ed Sheeran and want to learn how to play his music on the guitar, so it’s a no brainer for them to download the free lead magnet teaching them how to play more of his music.
From then on, we can start marketing to them via email, creating that deeper relationship. Perhaps inviting them to learn other artists/songs.
Step Three: Create a Facebook retargeting ad
One thing you can be sure of in the online marketing space is that people won’t do what you want them to do…
Even if your lead magnet is incredible and super relevant, some people won’t download it when you first present it to them.
That’s where Facebook retargeting ads come into play.
Have you ever gone to the likes of Amazon, looked at a pair of shoes and then gone back to Facebook and been followed around by an ad featuring the same pair of shoes?!
It’s the same thing!
The Facebook pixel is a piece of code you can install on your site, allowing you track anyone that visits it. Every time someone visits your website, your pixel tracks them and you can create an ad inviting them to download the lead magnet.
That’s where the magic happens. A website visitor who’s been retargeted with an ad is 70% more likely to convert with you!
Step Four: Nurture and convert
The fourth and final point to my Facebook advertising strategy is nurturing the relationship with that person until they buy from you.
Leads are great and every business needs them. But leads are no good if you’re not converting them into paying customers.
We need to continue providing value to those leads, showing them why we’re relevant and how our product/service will help them.
I use ConvertKit for my email marketing to do this as it’s super powerful but very simple to use.
This system has worked time and time again for me and my clients and will work for you.
The key to a great Facebook advertising strategy often begins before you spend a penny on Facebook. It begins with the initial interaction. The more value you can provide upfront (through your content marketing) the better.
Everyone else is going straight for the sale, so if you spend the time and effort providing more value, you’ll win. Every time.
Gavin
