Ana Gotter — October 4, 2018 — October 4, 2018
Let’s say that you love hiking, and you see a Facebook ad for a pair of hiking boots. The ad looks interesting, but it’s a brand you aren’t familiar with, and you don’t really need them. Do you buy? Probably not.
But then you see another ad in a week or so, and this time you think “why not click?” There are a ton of great testimonials, and they look great. But you still don’t need them. Until a week later, you see an ad for the exact pair and size you were looking at with a 10% discount and free shipping. You purchase.
A lot of small businesses will run a single ad campaign, not see a lot of results, and pause it within a week or even a month because they’re convinced that they’re wasting money. This isn’t always the case, however; in many, they stopped short of running the campaigns needed to actually get cold audiences to the point where they’d convert.
This is where Facebook sales funnels come into play. These funnels will work to create relationships with users until they’re ready to convert. In this post, we’re going to show you how to set up Facebook sales funnels and how to use video to leverage the best results possible.
What is a Facebook Sales Funnel?
A sales funnel is a series of marketing touch points designed to nurture users through the digital sales funnel, where they move from learning about your brand to purchasing. The first ad, for example, might be intended to introduce users to your brand, and the second is focusing on lead generation or more in-depth product promotion.
Users, after all, are almost never going to purchase the first time they ever see an ad from your brand. If, however, you set up a series of ads or touch points elsewhere online that slowly nurture that relationship and build awareness and trust, your odds are a lot better.
Facebook funnels can be used to capture new users and push them into the funnel, or even to reengage past customers, and everything in between.
Why Video?
We’ve answered the question “why do we need a sales funnel.” Now let’s answer the question “but why video.”
Video is an excellent choice for Facebook Ads, especially those at the very beginning of the funnel. It has high engagement rates overall for both organic and PPC campaigns.
Video also gives you two very strong advantages when used in the sales funnel:
- It gives you more time to get a point across; users will watch thirty seconds of a view, but won’t read thirty seconds worth of ad text in most cases. You can also use music, color, and actual motion to get your point across quickly and make a stronger impression.
- Video ads give you a powerful retargeting opportunity. You can create custom audiences who have watched certain amounts of that video ad, and retarget them with a campaign in the next step of the funnel. This will ensure that you’re only spending money retargeting users who were interested enough to watch, but maybe weren’t familiar enough with you to click just yet.
How to Create a Facebook Sales Funnel with Video Ads
A Facebook Ads sales funnel can actually exist almost exclusively on Facebook if you choose, though it can also just use Facebook Ads to move users along any other general funnel. You could retarget recent site visitors, for example, with an ad to show them your lead magnet, which then allows you to follow up via email.
For this post, we’re going to look at how create a Facebook sales funnel that exists pretty much solely on Facebook, but know that you can use many of these strategies as different touch points in many different types of funnels.
1. Start With an Introductory Video Ad
The best way to make connections with a stranger isn’t walking up to them at a bar and start making out; it’s to approach them casually and make small talk.
Think of your first ad campaign to cold audiences as a casual approach with some small talk involved. You don’t want to appear to desperate or sleazy.
For that reason, introductory-styled video ads are the way to go. They should be short, ideally around thirty seconds or less, and give viewers some basic information about your business, brand, or product. Nothing too aggressively salesy, but just enough to pique their interest.
Make sure that you have a link to your site so that they can check you out more if interested at this point. If you don’t see a lot of clicks on this campaign, though, it’s ok; we’re in a marathon, not a sprint.
2. Retarget, Showing Product Videos
Once your first campaign has been running for at least a week, you can set up a retargeting campaign. This campaign should target users who have watched at least 50% of your video ad, demonstrating interest.
This second video campaign should show more value. Feature customer testimonials, show product tutorials, or find ways to appeal to pain points that customers have. Be authentic, and again, you don’t need to treat this like an infomercial on QVC. It’s still about getting to know the customer and introducing them to you.
3. Retarget, Send to a Lead Gen Ad
Ready to retarget again? Of course you are!
Run another campaign retargeting users who had watched the above video, and this time give them a lead generation ad. This ad type features easy-to-fill-out forms designed for mobile, which allows users to share quick information in exchange for something.
This something is often a lead magnet, like a webinar registration, an ebook, a consultation, or something else they find valuable. You’ll have best results if leads can actually get something in exchange for filling out the form instead of “more information.”
4. Retarget, Shoot for Conversion
Once users have exchanged their email addresses for your latest ebook, webinar, or a quick consultation, you can now use that information to run retargeting campaigns with the help of their email addresses. You can create audiences based on a customer file with the emails, or choose to retarget anyone who filled out or even opened the form.
Once you’ve created this new custom audience, it’s time to create a few versions of similar campaigns that aim for aggressively driving conversions. Go for the hard sell, reminding users of the features and benefits of your product and service.
In order to up the ante, don’t be afraid to make offers that are a little too good to refuse. Month-long trials instead of a week, BOGO sales, or discounts or free shipping. Highlight 100% customer satisfaction guarantees if you have it, making the deal as sweet as possible while keeping the risk is as low as possible.
Make sure that these campaigns send users to the exact landing page they should. They should go straight to the product or service page that you’re advertising for, or your conversion rates could suffer.
5. Retarget After Purchase, Encourage Repeat Purchase or Upselling
Here’s a tip that I can’t stress enough: don’t think that your job is over just because your customer made it all the way to that checkout confirmation page. It’s cheaper to continue to get sales from old customers, after all, than it is to acquire new ones.
You can set up retargeting campaigns to show recent customers recommendations based on what they’ve already purchased. This can be done in a way to upsell–maybe you want them to up their membership to a higher-value service– or to increase average purchase value by showing them additional products they may be interested in.
Try not to overwhelm them, and give them time between purchasing and seeing ads again. You can use Custom Audiences from a customer file to create these new ads.
How to Use Facebook Video Touch Points in a Sales Funnel
There are a number of different ways that you can use Facebook video ads in different touch points and stages of the funnel in order to get the best possible results. These include:
- Videos that are created to introduce users to a brand. Focus on mission statements or general brand information, along with what makes you different, is a good start here. These will be shown to cold audiences.
- Content that demonstrates product value in-depth. Showing viewers how to use or maintain a product, or the results they can get, are all excellent choices once they’re a little further in the funnel and closer to conversion.
- Videos that contain or feature customer testimonials. These campaigns are excellent as retargeting campaigns, when users are interested but not invested yet. If they don’t quite trust you, this can show them why they can trust you. It goes without saying that you should never fabricate testimonials or customer reviews for any purpose.
Conclusion
Facebook Ads have so much power, but they become significantly more powerful when you use them strategically to nurture relationships with potential customers instead of just hoping for a sale on the first go around. In many cases, Facebook sales funnels are going to be more effective and a better investment when you want to nurture cold audiences into leads and then to customers, so taking the extra time to set them up is well worth it– especially when video is involved.
What do you think? Do you use Facebook Video sales funnels for your business? Does Facebook video play a central part of your sales funnels or just act as a potential touch point? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!
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