All too often, we hear brands claim that Facebook advertising doesn’t work for them, but do you want to know a little secret? 

Every brand can sell on Facebook. 

What separates those who thrive on the platform and those who can’t muster a single conversion is a sales funnel. 

Remember, nobody logs onto Facebook to shop – users are here to connect with friends and blissfully scroll through memes. The low buying intent is what makes Facebook advertising so different from the likes of Google and Bing.

Jumping in gung ho with offers before the user knows anything about your brand is a recipe for disaster.

Because you are introducing your brand/product/service to a pool of completely new users, it’s unlikely that they will purchase straight away. Instead, you must capture interest and nurture them towards your goal. 

What is the Facebook Ads sales funnel? 

We admit it, “Facebook Ads sales funnel” does sound a little complicated, and it’s this apparent complexity that makes novice marketers take the easy route and pin their hopes on a solitary ad.

Of course, more adverts equals a higher cost, but believe us; you get out what you put in. It’s impossible to expect an audience that has never heard of their brand to convert at the first opportunity. 

Facebook Ad sales funnels begin with a general audience and use retargeting to deliver campaigns to an increasingly warm pool of leads. The idea is to create targeted campaigns depending on where the individual is in the buying journey. As the person channels through, they move closer to your desired action, whether it be to enroll in a plan, purchase a product, or attend an event.

The sales funnel has three main stages: 

• Awareness (Top of Funnel): At the top of the funnel, you have a general audience who don’t know anything about your brand. It is here that you introduce your brand and generate awareness. Remember, these are cold leads with minimal buying intent, so keep it light and focus on forging a relationship. 
• Retargeting (Middle of Funnel): Once you have a pool of people familiar with your brand, you can now retarget those who engaged with your brand. 
• Converting (Bottom of Funnel): Only after you have developed a relationship with the right audience can you proceed with converting. It is here that your leads are close to converting but need an incentive or reassurance that now is the right time. 

Top of the Sales Funnel – Raising Awareness

At the top of the sales funnel are individuals who don’t know anything about your product or brand and have never interacted with your content.

They can’t move through the sales funnel until they’re in it, so the first step is to create a target audience. 

Thankfully, Facebook benefits from being exceptional at targeting. With Facebook ads, you can be as specific as you like in terms of interests, behaviours, and demographics. Perhaps you want your ad shown to females aged 20-30 who have a dog and like to run, or maybe you simply want to reach dads in New York.

Whatever your audience, once you have one finalized, it’s time to create an advert to raise awareness.

Remember, these individuals have never heard of you before, so immediately pushing them to purchase or sign up for something is a tad hasty. Instead, you need to introduce your brand subtly. 

The goal here is to make your audience familiar with your brand and maybe even get them to interact or visit your website.

Middle of the Sales Funnel – Retargeting

In the middle of the sales funnel are individuals who are familiar with your brand and have interacted with your content, but haven’t yet expressed an interest in your product or taken a deep-dive in your website. 

It is at this phase that Facebook Ads really comes into its own, with a feature that allows you to retarget custom audiences. 

You can refine your audience by targeting the individuals who engaged with your first post. Such individuals might have clicked through to your Facebook Business page, watched at least ten seconds of your video, or liked your post. 

This pool of engaged individuals is now aware of your brand and has a higher buying intent, but they need to be convinced why your product is needed. It is here that you craft a post that lists your product’s special features, highlights the pain points your product solves, and answers objections they have. 

The goal in this phase is to prove to users why they need your product. 

Bottom of the Sales Funnel – Converting Leads to Customers 

The bottom of the sales funnel is where the magic happens, and where your hard work pays dividends. Ideally, the first two steps will have set you up for an easy finish, and now is the time to convert your hot leads into paying customers.

If you have attracted the right audience and formed a strong relationship, getting individuals to convert should be relatively straightforward. Individuals who have made it this far down the sales funnel are on the edge of converting. Chances are, you just need to give them a little nudge. 

This is your opportunity to retarget individuals again. But this time, you can remarket to those who visited your site and viewed products but did not complete a purchase. 

Here, at the bottom of the sales funnel, customers seek reassurance from online reviews. As such, your advert should feature some social proof like success stories, stats, or testimonials. 

To bolster your attack, run adverts with timed special discounts, e.g. “20% off your first order. Ends today!”. This incentivizes the purchase and creates an urgency to act immediately.

Social Media Advertising Specialists

At Rank Media, we believe that every brand can sell on Facebook. We use a carefully considered combination of organic posts and Facebook Ads to lead potential customers through the sales funnel. 

All of our work begins with a well thought out strategy, from which we develop campaigns that speak to your audience at a lower cost per conversion. 

In the past month, our social media gurus have led home automation, female apparel, and outdoor accessories companies to a 236%, 1366%, and 1799% return in ad spend respectively.

Get in touch to find out how we can improve your conversions and boost your company’s sales! Call us today on 1-800-915-7990.