Perhaps you’ve done a bang-up job of creating a sizable fan base on your company Facebook page. They’re there, and somewhat responsive for the moment, not worth much to your business as leads go. So now what?
Now you need to find ways to turn these Fans into loyal customers.
Marketers always lament that selling on social media is hard, but they’re really just missing the point. Social is supposed to be just that: social. Shopping requires a totally different mindset than surfing Facebook and looking at funny images or videos.
While they’re busy talking and responding to friend’s images and videos, along comes a blatant sales message and rocks their world. While this sometimes works, there is a better approach. Your goal needs to be to get them to engage with your business OFF of Facebook. In this blog post we’re going to look at 5 ways we can move these fans from simply being a like statistic on your Facebook page into customers.
5 Tips to Make Facebook Fans Morph into Customers!
Post shareable content
One of the most enticing aspects for marketers about Facebook is the astounding reach you can generate. Your brand can market to literally millions of people who you would not have had a chance at before, through the magic of sharing.
Your post gets shared to another news feed and before long, you’ve got a ton of people looking at your message.
This doesn’t happen by accident. Aim to make your content eminently shareable and actively encourage your readers to share. By engaging with your Fans in comments and consistently posting great content, you’ll very soon have an active, engaged and sharing community, the basis for a long term growth for your business. Think of this as the first step in the journey to getting your Fans to leave the comfort of the Facebook nest and venture out to your website or landing pages.
Capture new leads
One of the vast untapped opportunities on Facebook is using it to build your email list. Where else are you going to find (for free) millions of people interested in your business?
The problem has always been getting people from Facebook onto your list. Facebook doesn’t make it easy. They won’t share users name and emails with you so you have to use some workarounds to be able to tap into this huge audience.
Using a giveaway or “ethical bribe” as some refer to it is an effective method to get people to head to your pages. The key here is to offer great value and have the landing page they arrive at mirror the message that caused them to click in the first place. This sets the prospect at ease, knowing they’re indeed in the right place. Then the lead magnet you’re offering needs to do a great job of taking them the next step down the funnel. Lead magnets need to be chosen carefully, and as said before deliver awesome value.
Market via email
Once people are on your list, traditional email marketing kicks in, and you are able to market to them more effectively than you can directly on Facebook. People are accustomed to seeing marketing emails in their inbox.
This is not to say that once listed they get bombarded with sales message after sales message. This could backfire spectacularly on you, and it could tarnish your reputation on Facebook with other Fans as well.
Instead, use solid principles of email marketing, like segmenting your lists, not overloading messages, using a sane ratio of something like 5 to 1 content to marketing messages, and nurturing your list with constant attention. After all, the last thing you want is for them to feel as though they are nothing more than someone to be marketed to now. Keep giving, and you’ll find that not only will they stay raving fans, the social sharing will continue! (Especially if you’ve set this up properly in your email and encourage the activity!)
Share customer testimonials
Another technique for building your business page’s brand trust is to include customer testimonials, either directly on your Page or a snippet that links out to other media on your site.
Use some thought and creativity here, and don’t merely always opt for a textual version. People love to engage and share video and images. An interesting visual will be shared far more than a text update, and increase your chances of being seen.
Shoot for testimonials that address your customer’s pain point; that is, how specifically did your products make their lives better. This will serve you much better in the long run than a glowing account about how your company is simply the best. Have your customers get specific and say why your product made them happy. Once you’ve got their attention you want to…
Offer coupons, deals and discounts Everyone loves a deal, and Facebook Fans are no different. Coupons work especially well on Facebook, especially when they are advertised as a “Facebook Only” deal. This gives it more of an air of a special deal, and not only that, they are likely to be shared far and wide.
Use compelling and eye-catching graphics to catch their attention, and mention your coupon code near the link you include in your post. If there is a time frame for your offer, be sure and mention it.
If you would like to convert more of your Facebook Fans into customers, check out our
Social Media Strategy page or give us a call today at
(623) 521-1418 and we’ll get you started!
