How to attract customers with facebook

CONTENTS.
BUILD YOUR FACEBOOK AUDIENCE.
DEVELOP & FOCUS ON YOUR OVERARCHING CONTENT &
LEAD GEN STRATEGIES.
CHAMPION VALUE CREATION: WHAT CONTENT TO CREATE &
SHARE ON FACEBOOK.
MAXIMIZE CUSTOMER ACQUISITION WITH ADVERTISING.
WRAP UP & TAKEAWAYS.
10
21
30
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PRIORITIZE YOUR BUSINESS OBJECTIVES.3

PROIRITIZE YOUR
BUSINESS OBJECTIVES.1

Every brand on Facebook
is on Facebook for one
reason – to (eventually) get
more business. Getting more
business from Facebook
means different things to
different types of
businesses, though, which
means different brands …

… will have different
objectives, such as:
• Driving in-store sales;
• Increasing online sales;
• Launching a new
product;
• Building awareness; or
• Promoting a mobile
app.

This guide will primarily be
helpful for businesses that
want to generate leads or
online sales. Even with these
objectives in mind, there
are a few stepping stones
that precede turning fans
into customers. If you want
customers …

… you have to first:
1. Build an audience;
2. Drive inbound traffic to
your website;
3. Turn that traffic into
qualified leads; and
then
4. Nurture those leads
into customers.
Attract Visitors
Create an audience of
engaged Facebook fans to
drive to your website.
Convert Leads
Use forms on optimized landing
pages to collect contact
information from visitors.
Close Customers
Use email and marketing
automation to nurture leads into
(repeat) customers.

This guide will give you a
playbook for doing just
that. First we’ll talk about
how to build an audience,
and then we’ll dive into
how you get that audience to
head on over to your website
where they can actually do
business with you.

Before you can get customers from Facebook, you
need prioritized objectives and an engaged fan base
that’s compelled to visit your website.
Recap
Learn More
Click the image to grab a free copy of these resources!
Free Template: Determine Your
2014 Marketing Goals
An Introduction to Lead
Generation

BUILD YOUR FACEBOOK
AUDIENCE.2

The grow your Facebook
fan base, you need to make
your Page and your posts as
discoverable as possible both
online and off. No one can
connect with you on
Facebook if they don’t know
you exist, so let’s talk about
5 ways to get noticed.

1) MAKE SURE YOUR PAGE IS PROPERLY FILLED
OUT WITH SEARCHABLE INFORMATION.
After you’ve created your Facebook page, make sure the About
section of your Page includes:
• An overview of what your business has to offer;
• A link to your website; and
• Any other information that will help prospects understand your
business better.

Chances are you already have existing customers, friends, and
family who would be more than willing to connect with your business
on Facebook if you simply asked them to. Whether in person, via email,
or via Facebook, try asking for Likes (fans) and positive reviews.
Within the Page Manager section of your page under the “Build
Audience” menu, you have the option to invite your personal
Facebook friends to like the page, share your page with your …
2) INVITE EXISTING CONTACTS TO LIKE YOUR
PAGE.

… Facebook friends
through the News Feed, or
upload a list of email contacts
to encourage existing
contacts to connect. Use
one or more of the three
options as long as you’re
cautious about over-
promoting to uninterested
connections.

Making your Facebook Page as discoverable as possible includes
promoting your Facebook presence using what online and offline
marketing channels you already have, and removing any barriers for
existing contacts to like your Page. If you have a physical storefront,
place stickers in your front windows promoting your Page and
include your Facebook URL on your receipts. If you have a …
3) INCORPORATE FACEBOOK INTO YOUR ONLINE
AND OFFLINE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS.

… website, blog, or email
newsletter, utilize
Facebook’s various
social plugins – especially
the Like Button or Like Box
– to get people to like your
Page on the spot and
without having to head
over to Facebook.com.

Creating value really comes into play with the content you create and
share with your fans and how you interact with them (more on that
later). If you’re in tune with your buyer personas, you’ll have a good
idea what types of content to publish. If not, or if you just need some
inspiration, consider spending a week taking note of anything in
your own News Feed that compels you click, comment, or share.
What inspired you? Use your observations to inform future posts.
4) CREATE VALUE.

One of the ad types that Facebook offers is a “Page Like Ad” that
contains a call-to-action to “Like Page,” and can appear in the News
Feed as a page post or as a display ad on the right hand column of
the News feed. If you’ve exhausted your existing contacts and want
to reach people who don’t know about your Page yet, you can use
Facebook’s granular targeting capabilities to reach your ideal buyer
persona(s) and spur audience growth.
5) PAY FOR NEW LIKES (FANS) USING
FACEBOOK ADVERTISING.

To give you an idea of
what a “Page Like Ad”
looks like in the News
Feed, here’s an example
from Twix. (We’ll also talk
more about how to bolster
your organic Facebook
efforts with ads later).

Build your Facebook audience by making your Page
as discoverable as possible, by encouraging your
existing contacts to like your Page, and by advertising.
Recap
Learn More
7 Facebook "Tips" and "Tricks"
That Don't Actually Work
Facebook Says These Are the
15 Best Brands on Facebook

DEVELOP & FOCUS ON
YOUR OVERARCHING
CONTENT & LEAD GEN
STRATEGIES.
3

We’re a B2B all-in-one marketing software company that – without
magic – has amassed nearly 700,000 Facebook fans and generated
nearly 200,000 leads from Facebook. We thrive on creating content
that makes the jobs of marketers easier, so when it comes to
Facebook, we focus first on creating useful content (like blog posts,
presentations, templates, and ebooks) that our audience of marketers
will find valuable.
LEARN FROM HUBSPOT: OUR APPROACH TO
CUSTOMER ACQUISITION VIA FACEBOOK.

Ebooks,
Whitepapers
& Guides
Blog Posts Webinars Content Creation
Assets
Checklists
Templates
THE TYPES OF LEAD GEN CONTENT WE CREATE:

All this content creation arms our social media manager with a
library of resources to promote in unique ways on Facebook.

For example, she creates
Page posts that hone in on
a specific point from a longer
piece of content, or gives
our audience an idea of
what they’ll learn from it.

Most times this means
creating custom images in
PowerPoint or Photoshop
so we can catch a
prospect’s eye when
they’re perusing their
News Feed.

You see, our Facebook posts are the digital breadcrumbs that draw
our audience down a trail toward a much more substantial piece of
content they can download after filling out a form.
We use Facebook to drive
traffic to landing pages
where we can convert
visitors into leads.

Without creating content aimed at solving problems for marketers,
we'd simply have nothing interesting to post or advertise on
Facebook, and we sure as heck wouldn't generate any leads!

Focus first on your overall content and lead gen
strategies. Then, repackage what you’ve already
created for Facebook.
Recap
Learn More
How HubSpot Does Inbound:
Creating a Content Machine
The 30 Greatest Lead
Generation Tips, Tricks & Ideas

CHAMPION VALUE
CREATION: WHAT
CONTENT TO CREATE &
SHARE ON FACEBOOK.
4

To attract customers, you
can’t only post sales-driven
content.
It’s true. Here’s why.

HEY EVERYONE!
COME AND SEE
HOW GOOD I
LOOK!
WHAT COMPANIES SOUND LIKE WHEN THEY
ONLY TALK ABOUT WHAT THEY SELL.

INSTEAD, GENERATE LEADS IN TWO WAYS:
Directly IndirectlyAND
Generate leads
eventually after sharing
friendly, easy-to-
consume content not
housed behind a form.
Generate leads by
sharing content that links
directly back to a landing
page with a contact form
on your website.

Share:
• Photos
• Photo albums
• Blog posts
• YouTube videos
• Third-party content
• Event invites
Share the landing page
for a downloadable offer,
such as:
• An ebook
• A whitepaper
• A template
• A checklist
WHAT TO SHARE FOR DIRECT VS. INDIRECT
LEAD GEN:
Direct Indirect

The key to generating leads on Facebook is to
post a variety of content that aligns with goals
other than generating leads or driving sales.
Photo: Jillian Anne Photography | Flickr

WHADDAYA MEAN,
‘GOALS OTHER THAN
SALES?!’

Aiming for “fluffier” goals like
reach, awareness, buzz,
customer satisfaction, and
engagement (comments,
likes, shares) are just as
important as rigid lead gen or
sales goals. They’re the
stepping stones to what you
really want: more business.

In fact, it’s vital to aim first to
get your audience to interact
with your posts. That’s why a
balance of direct and indirect
lead gen content is so
important. Without eyeballs,
you can’t get clicks, which
means you can’t get traffic,
leads, or customers!

EXAMPLE 1: A Direct LEAD GEN POST.
The post copy is brief, and
the image is designed to give
viewers a glimpse of what
they’ll learn in the ebook.
• Provides members of our audience
with a value proposition
• Has a clear call-to-action:
“download”
• Contains a short URL linking to a
landing page with a form

This post containing a photo
album from INBOUND, our
annual conference, does not
directly drive leads, but it helps
us promote our event and
showcase who we really are as
a company.
• Does not have a clear call-to-action
• Does not contain a short URL
linking to a landing page with a
form
EXAMPLE 2: AN Indirect LEAD GEN POST.

If we only published posts
about registering for a
software demo, signing up
for a trial, or getting an
inbound marketing
assessment (our 3 most
desired conversion actions),
we’d totally bore our fan base.
Photo: simaje | Flickr

“When we post product-focused content with sales-focused
calls-to-action, we may generate qualified leads, but we only
generate a handful. When we post educational or entertaining
content about inbound marketing as a whole, we generate tons
of leads, because we reach more people, and give ourselves
the opportunity to warm them up to the idea of doing business
with us without shoving our software down their throats.”
– Brittany Leaning (@bleaning)
Social Media Manager, HubSpot

Although our ultimate goal on Facebook is to generate leads that
become customers, we have immediate engagement goals for each
post we publish, and those goals vary. Sometimes we really want
to encourage comments because we want feedback. Other times,
we may strive to for a high volume of shares because we want a
particular message to spread as far and wide as possible.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THOSE “FLUFFY” GOALS
AGAIN.

The point is, by striving for comments, likes, and shares, we garner
more visibility in the Facebook News Feed, which ultimately
increases our chances for clickthroughs (traffic) and conversions
(generated leads). You need leads to get customers.
More likes, comments, and shares means … …. More chances for clicks and contacts (leads).

Believe it or not, some of
our most successful
posts in terms of
interaction were not
direct lead gen posts.

Let’s examine the
approach behind some
of HubSpot’s top
performing Page posts,
shall we?
Photo: Clover_1 | Flickr

QUOTE AS AN IMAGE.
Purpose of Post
Draw more eyeballs to the
SlideShare presentation
our co-founder, Dharmesh
Shah, compiled to explain
our company culture. The
presentation itself aims to
align existing employees
and to attract new talent.
Goal of Post
Reach and shares.
Caption contains a clear
call-to-action to click the
short URL to view the
Culture Code presentation
on our blog.
Approach to Post
Capture one slide
contained in our complete
Culture Code presentation
to serve as a standalone,
sharable quote, and link
back to the presentation to
increase view count.

QUESTION AS AN IMAGE.
Purpose of Post
Pose a question to spur
discussion in the
comments with and among
our audience of marketers,
and mix up our publishing
cadence of posts
containing links back to
landing pages.
Goal of Post
Generate comments.
Approach to Post
Let the image do all the
talking to focus our
audience on answering a
question.
No caption or short URL.

PHOTO OF AN EMPLOYEE.
Purpose of Post
Appear relatable and
personable by honoring
one of our employees and
others who have served
our country.
Goal of Post
Likes.
Approach to Post
Grab the attention of our
audience with an image
seemingly irrelevant to
HubSpot or inbound
marketing.
Copy introduces Shawn,
one of our support
engineers, who
volunteered in the U.S.
Navy. No short URL.

IMAGE PROMOTING AN OFFER.
Purpose of Post
Encourage downloads of
one of the offers we
created – a bundle of 160
free stock photos – to help
marketers more easily
create content.
Goal of Post
Leads.
Approach to Post
Use an image to give our
Facebook fans a preview
of what kinds of photos
they’ll get post-download,
and link back to the
landing page using a short
tracking URL.
Want these stock photos?
Click the post to download
‘em.

Here’s another little secret: No matter what we’re trying to
communicate, we try to do it visually. If our social media manager
doesn’t have a pre-made image to work with, she’ll spend the time
creating one.

We may not always be
sure what we’re posting
will incite the interaction
we desire, but one thing
can be sure of is we’re
better off by posting a
photo as opposed to a
link, video, or plain ol’
status update.

In a 30-day experiment, we
found that the clickthrough
rate of posts containing
photos is 128% higher than
the CTR of posts
containing videos or links.
We also know photos on
Facebook generate 53%
more Likes than the
average post.
Click here to read more
on our blog!

THAT’S WHY, IN GENERAL, HUBSPOT’S
FACEBOOK POST FORUMULA CONSISTS OF:
1. A custom-designed 960 x 960 pixel image
2. A brief text caption
3. A short URL to a landing page
Rarely do we ever publish a post without an image. In any given
90 days, 77% of all posts we published contain a photo on average.
Photo
No
Photo

Photos work wonders for your clickthrough rate and
post engagement, so it’s worth it to spend the extra
time sourcing or creating images for your posts.
Recap
Learn More
The Marketer’s Crash Course in
Visual Content Creation
17 Customizable Templates For
Creating Shareable Graphics on
Social Media

Whether B2C or B2B, business is still P2P (people to
people), so don’t shill. Post a variety of content types aimed
at providing value – education, entertainment, etc.
Recap
Learn More
How to Generate Leads Using
Facebook
How to Engage Fans on
Facebook

MAXIMIZE CUSTOMER
ACQUISITION WITH
ADVERTISING.
5

Unfortunately, there’s
no longer such a thing as a free
lunch on Facebook.
Marketers used to be able
to reach the majority of
their fans for free (without
advertising), but that’s
changing.

Facebook is evolving to
become more of a paid
marketing platform than an
organic one. A brand’s ability
to reach their fan base
organically has diminished
as more brands and content
compete to appear in users’
News Feeds.

At any given moment, there
are approximately 1,500
News Feed stories
competing against one
another. Facebook’s
algorithm prioritizes only about
300 – one fifth – of them. The
brands that want to get
noticed have to pay to play.

WHY MARKETERS AREN’T PLEASED.
Organic reach wasn’t always so miniscule, but it’s been heading this direction for
awhile. In late 2012, the industry found out only about 16% of a Facebook page’s
fans would see a post from that page. In October 2013, that number dropped to
about 12%. In February 2014, it was 6%, and as little as 2% for pages having over
500,000 fans. Of course, this has upset many marketers who already paid for ads
to grow their fan base, thinking they’d be able to broadcast to those fans for free.

WE MIGHT NOT LIKE IT, BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS.
The reality is that Facebook is a business just like yours, and the company
encourages marketers to look at their fan bases as a way to make paid
advertising more effective rather than using it as a free broadcast channel.
Additionally, Facebook says you should assume organic reach will eventually
arrive at zero. So, if you really want to reach your target audience on Facebook,
you’ll need to supplement your organic efforts with some paid advertising.

BESIDES, A FACEBOOK FAN DOES NOT MAKE A
QUALIFIED LEAD, BUT THOSE LEADS EXIST.
The people who like your page already know about you, but that doesn’t mean
they’re ideal future customers. Even though HubSpot is approaching 700,000
fans, only a fraction of those people actually have the need and authority to buy
our all-in-one software. That’s why we pay to reach marketers who fit our target
and are not yet connected to our page using Facebook Page Post Link Ads.

HOW WE ADVERTISE: THE ANATOMY OF OUR
PAGE POST LINK ADS.
Copy is fewer than 90
characters so that it won’t
truncate anywhere we
decide to place the ad on
Facebook’s platform.
Image should have a 1.91:1
ratio (ideally 1200x627 px).
Link title is no longer than
25 characters, and
description is no longer
than 3 lines.
URL links to a landing page
containing a form to
download the ebook.

WHAT TO ADVERTISE.
If you’re trying to drive traffic, leads, and customers, you probably want to
advertise posts that contain a link back to your website, but you can also create
different types of ads depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.
With Facebook Ads, you can …

• Grow your audience
through new ‘Likes;’
• Drive traffic to your site;
• Drive people in-store with
a redeemable offer;
• Drive event attendance;
• Create awareness with an
image or video; and
• Drive installs of an app.

USE ADS TO TEST THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
CONTENT, TOO.
Did you know Facebook actually lets you create unpublished posts to test your
messaging? These “dark posts” appear in the News Feed, but not on your
Facebook Page. Since these “dark posts” don’t appear on your Page, you can
create as many targeted ads as you like to determine which ad copy and
creative resonates best without disturbing your entire fan base.

To learn more about all of
Facebook’s various ad
types and the appropriate
specs for each, check out
the latest Facebook Ads
Product Guide.

The people connected to your company on
Facebook may not be your most qualified leads. The
best way to reach them is with targeted ads.
Recap
Learn More
How to Create Epic
Facebook Ads
Advanced Facebook
Advertising Tips From the
Experts

Focus on helping people. B2B is still P2P – person to person.
Create content that makes your target audience’s job easier. Then,
create interesting posts to promote that content on Facebook.
Post a balance of direct and indirect lead gen content.
Have an engagement goal for each post.
Tell your audience what to do by including a clear call-to-action in your
posts.
Experiment. Some of our most engaging posts were unexpected.
REMEMBER TO:

Create tracking URLs so you can measure the clicks and leads your
content generates.
Take the time to create great visuals. It pays off in engagement and
clickthrough rates.
Ensure landing pages are optimized with appealing copy, visuals, and
clear calls-to-action.
Keep post copy short and sweet – ideally fewer than 90 characters.
Utilize Facebook Advertising, including “dark posts” to test and boost
effective lead gen content.
REMEMBER TO:

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