A couple episodes ago we established why list-building is so important – and in this episode we will dive deeper into the HOW of building an email list using Facebook Ads. We'll explore running conversion ads to an optimized landing page, and how that compares to leveraging Facebook's Lead Ads.
It's always important to remember what assets you own, and which are built on a borrowed platform. Having a list is a great way to ensure that you have an owned asset that will allow you to reach out to your audience even if Facebook is down.
Send a regular email so that you're staying on the radar of your audience
Backup your list periodically – the same way that you don't own Facebook, you don't own your CRM system – so if your list is ONLY saved on a third-party platform, then you're not as protected as you'd like to think. So set a schedule – maybe it's monthly or quarterly (depending on how quickly your list is growing) so that you always have an up to date list saved somewhere like your computer or a hard drive. As long as it's in more than one place.
Before Building Your List
Ensure that you have the Facebook Pixel installed and that it's functioning appropriately to track Leads, and other steps in the customer journey.
How to Build Your List
- Create an opt in/offer
- Identify your audience – Ideally you'll be able to show these ads to someone who is familiar with you because they'll be more likely to give you their email address in exchange for your opt in!
- Ensure that you're excluding the people who are already on your list. You can do this by building a custom audience from your email list. You'll also exclude people who opt in through this ad so that you're not showing the Ad to people who are already on your list OR recently joined!
This is where you will need to decide if you're running a Conversion Ad or a Lead Ad, and we'll explore BOTH options:
Conversion Ads to a Landing Page
I love using FG Funnels. FGF is an all-in-one solution that allows you to manage your email list, host your courses, build landing pages and more. If you want to learn more about FG Funnels you can go to MegBrunson.com/fgf – this IS an affiliate link, just FYI, so you save and I benefit if you sign up after clicking through it!
Build your landing page to encourage people to opt in.
PROS: you can pixel this page and customize the page to be on-brand and encourage people to opt-in for your think.
CONS: This page NEEDS to be mobile optimized because so many people use Facebook on mobile – and this can be tricky and time consuming to get right.
BUILD A LANDING PAGE THAT CONVERTS
The solution is considering Facebook Lead Ads!
The look like any other ad – but they do function differently
CONS: Limited customization options.
PROS:
- Mobile optimized automatically – huge time saver.
- They automatically pull in the info from the Facebook user – this removes a barrier for your audience because their email will be pre-filled when the form pops. The user can change it, or submit as is.
- The thank you page is customizable and mobile optimized, and it allows you to link to a webpage.
I recommend linking the thank you page button to a page where they can get the opt-in AND you should set up a welcome email in your CRM that sends an email immediately providing them access to the opt-in. I like to make sure they get the opt-in in 2 different ways: from the lead ad, and from your email – this way they have the best chance of actually seeing/downloading the optin.
How does the email get from Facebook Lead Form to your Email Provider?
Facebook does not directly integrate with third-party email providers, but you can use a program called Zapier to send the leads from Facebook to your email provider.
Zapier integrates with TONS of CRM systems and email providers, and I am willing to bet it integrates with yours. They do have a free version, but you will need to pay for the $20/month version if you are using Facebook Lead Ads as your “trigger” as we're discussing in this case.
So, Zapier will be configured to “zap” the leads from Facebook into your email provider, then within your email provider you will set up the “welcome email” that will send as soon as the new leads are added.
Zapier can also add leads to a spreadsheet in Google Drive, or send them directly through an email – but I highly recommend at the very least getting a FREE email provider like MailChimp to get you started with this strategy – or to hop right into something powerful and sustainable like FG Funnels.
NOTE: You will need a privacy policy if you are running Lead Ads, which you should have if you are also collecting leads from a landing page.
I love Lead Ads – at the very least I recommend you test them against Conversion Ads.