Do you want to know how to build your email list with Facebook marketing?
Looking for a way to collect email addresses from a Facebook page?
Facebook commands the lion’s share of social media users.
Siphoning just a fraction of Facebook users into your email list can create an immense opportunity for your business. We take a look at some of the strategies for using Facebook for lead and list building.
1. Build brand awareness and grow your email list with Facebook through great content and community interaction
First and foremost, Facebook is the tool for building brand and website awareness.
Facebook gives you many features for these two items whether you employ a fan page, manually find friends, promote your posts, or advertise.
Once you have people interested in your brand, they’re likely to discover your website.
This site visit is where you’ll promote the email list.
The best way to send people from Facebook to your website is to treat the platform as an all-encompassing publication tool.
This includes:
- Sharing great posts
- Hosting contests
- Offering recorded and live videos
- Responding to inquiries
I think a great way to approach it is by looking at Facebook like its own thing. Imagining if you didn’t have a website and this was your sole opportunity to connect with your audience. This shift in thinking makes you place more effort into the platform and deliver a better experience.
2. Use status updates to encourage list sign ups especially with your FB cover photo and a freebie
Status updates, on your Facebook wall, don’t need to be limited to your recent activities or blog posts. Your status updates can be used to promote your email list with Facebook especially if you have a lead generating freebie.
Want a better FB cover photo? Get one with our guide.
There are a few strategies for building list awareness on Facebook, including:
- Sharing testimonials from list subscribers
- Giving a bonus download for Facebook users
- Discounts for your products after list confirmation
The platform and your usage for promoting your list is only limited by your imagination; it’s free so there’s no overhead for making it work in your favor – it only matters how you use it to build awareness.
3. Use promoted posts to spread the word since Facebook doesn’t show everything to your followers and their feeds
Facebook promoted posts are a cheap and effective way to reach your audience.
Instead of creating ads, you’re promoting your status updates, and they do well because they’re contextual.
The promoted posts appear in feeds and walls vs showing as ad blocks often ignored by FB users.
Need some ideas?
- Try promoting an update about your email list and the freebies you include
- Point to a great piece of content on your blog that includes an email opt-in
- Send people to a landing page for this email list
- Talk about the previou month’s exclusive freebie and tease what’s coming next
- Have a big sale but give an extra bonus for those willing to sign up
Try some of the other strategies already detailed above or use the new feature to promote a contest that feeds people to your landing page and opt-in form.
4. Start exploring Facebook ads on $5-$10 a campaign, then scale it based on what’s working or showing promise
By now, you should have an understanding of the desired list subscriber
That is:
The type of individual that buys the products and services you offer.
Using this data on your list subscribers, you can start up a Facebook advertising campaign that specifically targets the demographic down to most minute detail such as geographical location, interests, hobbies, education, and more.
Combine with:
- A great picture
- Relevant ad copy that explain the benefits
- A landing page that keeps the message congruent
…Facebook advertising can send thousands of prospects to your list for a fraction of the cost.
A small investment of $5-$10 per campaign can help you understand the FB ad basics. Consider testing it on the low-end with promoted posts. Then, copy what’s worked with these into the FB ads!
5. Using Facebook as a website alternative and lead funnel through embedded code and tabs
Finally, embedded code within tabbed pages lets you build the email list with Facebook.
The platform allows you to create sub-pages with embedded code.
North Face, for example, uses a store locator to drive local business. They also embed their IG feed and videos.
There are several embeds you should try:
- Social shares from other platforms
- Blog feeds
- Product listings
- Share stories via customer videos
Think of Facebook as your secondary website.
There, you’ll create a unique experience for users but funnel them back to the site. On your site, you’ll use a mix of landing pages and opt-ins to gather FB users.
It’s a smart move since you never know what Facebook will do to shake up the platform.
Marketplaces like Themeforest have dozens of great Facebook templates for setting up your fan page to mimic a full-fledged website. Snappa is a great tool for creating visual content to generate shares and activity pointing people back to your site, too. Additionally, Facebook has many tutorials and documents to explain the process of embedding code onto sub-pages which, naturally, will be your opt-in form.
How will you build your email list with Facebook? Final thoughts and suggestions, plus a shout out to you
Facebook will continue to develop and change throughout the years.
Yet:
It’s never good to have all efforts reliant on one platform. One day people will migrate from Facebook to a new social platform. Building your email list with Facebook is a priority since you keep those contacts.
Start with what we’ve listed and explore what else the platform offers.
Then… leave a comment letting us know what you’re doing — and share the post to help any other, fellow marketers get their Facebook business page working to its fullest.
