How To Generate B2B Leads Using Facebook In 2021
- Updated on: 2020-12-16
- Read original article here
Generating B2B leads on Facebook isn’t impossible. It’s often assumed that Facebook is a B2C-only platform, but in reality, B2B brands can use Facebook to target just about any buyer persona imaginable—finance professionals, marketing executives, app developers, startup founders …
One of the reasons Facebook is often overlooked by B2B marketers is the fact that LinkedIn and Google have positioned themselves as the leaders for B2B lead gen. But Facebook is the most popular social network in the world and business decision makers spend74% more time on Facebookper daythan other people on the platform.
But that’s not all.
A 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report states that 91% of B2B marketers use Facebook and 67% of them consider it as the most important social media platform for lead generation.
This is why Facebook presents a real opportunity, and why all the smart B2B brands are using Facebook to generate leads. In this blog post, I’m going to break down the four most effective ways to generate leads on Facebook in 2021 and beyond.
Have you ever looked at a book on Amazon or a vintage hat on eBay, and then seen an ad for that EXACT product on Facebook, Google or a random site only two or three hours (or minutes) later? Seems like magic, right?
It’s actually called remarketing. A website (like Amazon) adds a little bit of code (the infamous cookie) to your browser, giving them the ability to show you ads on other sites based on your behavior. Your brand can do the same thing thanks to Facebook’s Pixel capabilities and a little bit of strategic thinking.
Do you have a pricing page? Do you have blog posts about your product? Do you have a page that talks about your product features or the benefits you deliver to clients? If someone takes the time to read those pages—better yet, if they click on a call to action like “Buy Now” or “Contact Us”—that’s probably a person you want to talk to. So why not increase the likelihood of this happening?
Using remarketing, you can make targeted ads appear on other sites to entice that potential customer to come back. Get their attention with lead magnets like guides, webinars, instructional content or a simple call to action asking them to get in touch. All of these options can work wonders.
Here are a few pages that often yield great remarketing opportunities for B2B brands:
Over the last few years, Facebook Groups have taken off. According to the social media giant, there are more than 1 billion people using Facebook Groups every single month to discuss their passions, plan local events and chat with friends. If you’re on Facebook, it’s very likely that at some point in the last 12 months you’ve received an invitation to join a group—if you’re not already in a few.
Facebook Groups are great places for B2B marketers to generate leads and build industry relationships. Inside these communities you will find professionals talking about things that interest them, organizing events, providing support to others in their industry and much more. Here’s an example of a dialog that took place in one of my favorite groups dedicated to SaaS founders:
This type of dialog is happening in groups across many industries. A simple search on Facebook for your ideal customer’s occupation or topics that might interest them will likely deliver a handful of groups where your target audience gathers.
Your next step is to join these groups and start looking for ways to add value. For example, if someone asks a question that you or someone on your team can answer, do it! If you can offer a tip or trick that you think this audience will find valuable, do it! The key is to always add value BEFORE asking for anything in return. You can share a gated resource but only after delivering some value for free in the accompanying text.
For example, let’s say someone asked:
I’m struggling to get my blog posts seen by more people… What should I do?
I wouldn’t respond with:85+ distribution tipsHere’s my 85+ distribution tips Instead, I would say:This is a question a lot of people struggle with and the answer differs depending on the audience you’re trying to reach. That said, let’s pretend you’re targeting CMOs—in that case, a few things you can do to reach these people include (1) Tip, (2), Tip, (3) Tip, (4) Tip, and (5) Tip… Really hope this helps get you started distributing your posts more successfully. I’ve actually put together a list of 80 more if you’re interested—check it out [link].
See what I did there?
First I focused on giving value to the person reading the response and THEN I plugged my lead generation piece.
The benefit of being in a Facebook group filled with your target audience is that your comments are seen not only by the people you specifically respond to but also by many others in the group.
This is the most straightforward technique for generating B2B leads on Facebook but it may be the most underutilized: Take your B2B lead generation assets and share them as status updates on your page.
The people who follow or like your page have already indicated some level of interest in your business; otherwise, they wouldn’t like or follow you. It’s likely that these people are exactly the type who would want to download the assets you’ve created or attended the webinars you’re putting on. Sharing this content on your page can generate leads organically—and doesn’t have to cost you a thing.
Since Facebook realized the value of keeping users engaged with the content on their newsfeeds, video as a medium has taken precedence over images and text to become the most important content format on the site—and it presents marketers with a bounty of new opportunities.
Video content draws us in, in a deeper and more powerful way. That’s why movies always get more buzz and attention among the masses than the same story in book format. People love movies. People love videos. Only some people like the written word and static photos can’t do what a video can in terms of telling a complete story.
As a B2B brand, you have the ability to use video in a few different ways:
These are the kind of videos you typically encounter on your newsfeed—videos uploaded to Facebook that are meant to be one-offs. These video assets can be educational or they can act as sales pieces driving people to take action.
Facebook recently announced Watch—their answer to YouTube Red and every TV channel that has captured millions of eyeballs over the years. Watch is perfect for delivering video content in a series format. For example, your B2B brand could host a weekly interview series with industry experts and upload the interviews to Watch.
Live video is a great way for B2B brands to capture the attention of an existing audience and build one-to-one relationships at scale. You could use Facebook Live for webinars or even live product demos.
With all three video types, the best way to generate leads is to wrap things up with a call to action. Ask your viewers to visit a URL where they can download some kind of asset in exchange for their email, or invite them to get in touch with you in order to set up a demo of your product.
Over the last two years, I’ve been able to generate more than 10,000 emails through the various Facebook marketing efforts I’ve outlined above.
Does it take work?
No question. Generating leads through Facebook isn’t easy, but the point I’m trying to make is that it’sfeasible—yes, even for B2B. And while I’ve experimented with tons of different channels and opportunities on Facebook, you really only need to double down on one lead generation tactic to succeed.
So pick one. Embrace it. And start generating leads.
