by Paul Slack
In this multi-part series on Facebook marketing for small businesses, we will be walking you through tips, advice, and best practices for getting the most out of Facebook for your business. In part 1 & part 2,we explained why Facebook is an important platform that every small business should add to their marketing arsenal. In parts 3-6 we discussed the first four steps of the tactical wheel (listening, building community, broadcasting, and content) . In this post, we will discuss best ways to get your potential customers to take action. Generating conversions from Facebook is essential to your internet marketing success.
The number one goal of conversion on Facebook or any social media platform is to remember the ABC’s (Allways Be Closing). Don’t get me wrong, we don’t want to come across as a pushy used car salesman, but we do need to be intentional about making it easy for our fans to become leads/sales when they are ready. You have to always think about how you can to give somebody the opportunity to take the next step.
There are two conversion goals on Facebook.
- Encourage users to become a lead or purchase a product. Drive users to a conversion form, encourage them to email you to request additional information, call, or walk into your place of business.
- Examples of Effective Calls to Action
- Request a quote or a catalog
- Educational event – Remember, your potential customers are trying to make informed decisions; therefore, putting on events like webinars or workshops can be an effective way to get them to take the next step.
- Special offers – Offering coupons, gift cards and discounts can be very effective for many businesses.
- Free analysis – If you’re services company, you can offer a free analysis or consultation.
- Promotional products – Many businesses have experienced surprising results by offering something as simple as a baseball cap with their company logo on it.
- Buyer’s kit – If your industry consists of long sales cycles and sales-by-committee, offering buyer’s kits are a great way to generate leads by sending anyone who opts-in information that will educate them on the process and help them internally promote a change within their organization.
- Technical resource or Premium content area – This is a spot on your website and social media environments where you have a lot of good technical data that your potential buyers need, but you lock it up in a library where they have to opt-in to gain access to it.
- Examples of Effective Calls to Action
- Encourage visitors to “like” your page. By earning new “likes” you have a direct link to potential customers. You’ll benefit from exposure to their friends based on their comments, wall posts and profile. You’ll also be able to communicate with them in a format more visible than your traditional email database.
Remember the 90/10 rule. Simply put, 90 % of what you broadcast should be beneficial, useful and informative to your target audience; the other 10 % of what you broadcast can be promotional.
