How to Generate Leads on Facebook | 5 Proven Ways + Tips for Success

If you want to learn how to generate leads on Facebook, there are a number of different approaches you can take – everything from running Facebook ads specifically for leads, to hosting events, offering contests, and sharing high-performing content.

This means you can drive direct and indirect leads, both of which are part of a healthy marketing strategy.

What’s the difference between direct and indirect leads?

Direct leads come from marketing that tells potential customers, “Check out what we can do for you. Our product is amazing. Please buy it.”
Indirect leads come from an awareness approach. You’re introducing new people to your product or service and growing a connection.

The ideas in this post will help you generate both kinds of leads – these are legitimate, proven methods – plus learn what kinds of businesses they work well for.

How to generate leads on Facebook | 5 proven ways + tips for success

1. Facebook lead ads

Let’s start with the most effective approach: Facebook lead ads. These ads simplify the lead generation process for both you and the user. These are high converting, bottom-of-the-funnel ads.

Once a user clicks on one of these ads, they’re taken to a lead form on Facebook that is pre-populated with a user’s Facebook contact information.

Users don’t have to go through the tedious pinch-and-zoom process of typing information into a tiny mobile form. That’s easier for users, and you’re more likely to capture their information because they aren’t turned away by the form or taken off Facebook.

The contact information is then sent directly to you. You can also optimize your Facebook lead ads for quick follow-ups or higher-quality leads with options like:

Custom questions that ask about preferences – learn more about potential leads and use that information for retargeting
Give users the option to call your business right after they’ve filled out your lead form
Add in the option to book an appointment rather than waiting and sending a follow-up email

The example below is what pops up after a user clicks on a Facebook lead ad for a car dealership. Users are asked about the kind of car they’re interested in, their timeframe for buying a new car, when they want to schedule a test drive, and the ad also collects their contact information.

Here are a few examples of which niches can use Facebook lead ads to generate direct leads:

B2B companies can make it easier for new clients to contact them right away
Hair salons and beauty services can make it easy for people to book appointments
Real estate agents can use lead ads to find clients who are in the market to buy or sell a house
Service-based industries (landscape services, personal trainers, cleaning service, pool cleaners, home repair, etc.) can use lead ads to set up appointments and consultations

For more examples of successful Facebook ads, check out 7 Examples of Great Facebook Ads and Why They Work.

2. Share a high-performing blog post

If you’re a blogger or have a blog attached to your business site, this approach is worth checking out. To take this approach, you need to be sharing your blog posts on your blog’s Facebook page so you can use Facebook’s Analytics Tool to see which posts perform well (we like to call these unicorns).

Unicorns are posts that do well without ads – they hit a nerve and trigger a response. That’s great for generating leads.

Here’s an example of a blog post from personal finance blogger Millennial Money Man, or M$M, that could do well as an ad:

You can tell from the number of comments and shares that engagement is high on this post. M$M is a financial blogger and Dave Ramsey is, like, the debt-payoff guru, with a very loyal following. M$M is challenging Ramsey’s strategy and getting people fired up enough to click on that post.

Turning this into an ad would be easy, but to generate leads you have to make sure you optimize on your end. An opt-in form with a free offer would probably work well. That’s actually what’s on the other end of M$M’s post: an opt-in form for M$M’s free Money Mastery Guide in a few different places on his site.

This approach works well for bloggers who want to learn how to generate leads on Facebook, and it works for nearly every niche. Learn more at Facebook Ads for Bloggers.

3. Offer something for free

Offer ads are effective because they introduce new users to something everyone loves: free stuff. Everyone loves free stuff, especially if it’s free stuff that solves a problem.

Here’s a great example:

This Jasper’s ad puts the problem right out front – we know you have no idea what to do with figs! Then they give an easy solution – here’s a delicious recipe.

Because these ads focus more on awareness, this is a more indirect approach, but it gives you the opportunity to find new customers and start building a relationship with them. To do that successfully, you need to make sure you have a solid offer.

Here are three tips for creating a great offer:

Provide value to your target audience: A valuable offer that generates leads will solve a problem or fill a need. Educational content does well – ebooks, webinars, step-by-step guides, etc. Value builds trust, and that’s what you need to eventually convert users to customers.
Align with your business: This is common sense, but you want to take it one step further and make sure your free offer aligns with your paid products and services. This gives potential customers a realistic idea of what they can expect if they turn into a paying customer.
Targeted to the right person at the right time: You’re going to get leads in different stages of the sales funnel, and it’s important to have offers for different stages. Top-of-the-funnel offers would be educational content, whereas a coupon or discount code is a better bottom-of-the-funnel offer.

Virtually any kind of business can create an offer ad to generate leads, what’s more important is that you pay attention to those tips above and create the right kind of offer.

Pro tip: If you want to learn how to generate leads on Facebook, lead management software can help you create high-converting landing pages and email sequences to optimize the process. Learn about two popular options in Clickfunnels vs. LeadPages: How Do They Compare?

4. Host a contest

Interactive content, including contests, is far more effective at gaining people’s attention. Contests can produce a high amount of engagement, too, as they encourage Facebook users to share, like, and comment on posts. Ultimately, that gets your ad in front of even more users.

Let’s look at an example of how to generate leads on Facebook with a contest:

This ad works for a few reasons. First “FREE” and “WIN” are in big block letters and draw your attention to the contest. There’s also a sense of urgency created with the language of “limited time.” That’s a must in contests: you don’t want people to think they can wait and enter their name in later. Also, the photo used in the ad is a real photo of real clients, rather than a stock photo, which gives users a clear sense of what they could win. Finally, the offer is compelling – a free one year membership is a great savings!

Those few things make this Facebook ad work, but here’s a complete list of key ingredients that will generate leads with a contest:

Always use a CTA
Make sure the contest is linked in the caption
Use power words – “free” and “win” are important for contests
Use real images of customers instead of stock photos
Give a succinct description of what they can win
Make sure there is a sense of urgency for entering the contest
Create a valuable offer
The ad’s copy should be succinct and to-the-point
Make sure the landing page matches the ad in tone, copy, and imagery

5. Host an event

Most people think of Facebook event ads as a way to get more people to your event, but they can also be used to generate leads for your overall business. The trick is to link to a separate page where they’ll register.

Below is an example of a successful event ad:

This is an offer and event ad rolled into one, which makes it especially compelling. The ad copy is simple and effective: FREE, legendary, make history. And when users click on that “Learn More” button, they are taken to a page that explains the event and is also set up to capture their email address. It’s where the user becomes a lead.

While the event is important and potentially very helpful to users, Robin Sharma wants leads, and he looks like the kind of guy who knows how to get them.

Webinars are a great option if you want to host an event for your online business, but they’re not limited only to online businesses. Brick-and-mortar businesses can use event ads for classes, workshops, concerts, dining experiences, shopping events, and more.

“Free” always resonates well when you’re trying to build awareness, so keep that in mind.

Pro tip: Simplify the ad creation process with Facebook ad templates. Learn more at How to Use Facebook Ad Templates.

More tips that will help you generate leads on Facebook

You learned how to generate leads on Facebook in five different ways, but there are still a few smaller tips that are worth sharing.

Don’t forget the call-to-action!

Don’t underestimate the power of a good call-to-action (CTA). People need to be told what to do, and Facebook gives you tons of options for CTA buttons, including Apply Now, Book Now, Get Quote, Learn More, Sign Up, and Subscribe.

Click here to see a full list of CTA buttons available for Facebook ads and what kind of ad formats they work with.

Put a link to a landing page on the top of your Facebook page

To get your money’s worth out of an ad, use all the opportunities that Facebook gives you. One of those opportunities is the CTA at the top of your Facebook page. Here’s an example of that:

Rather than using the basic “Learn More” button that takes users to your website, you can do something a little more effective. The CTA Wedding Wire is using encourages people to start using their app. When you click on “Use App,” you’re brought to a landing page that explains what the app does and links to the app store.

At the very least, make sure the page this button links to is set up to collect leads. It could be a website or blog page with a simple “Subscribe” button at the top of the page.

Pin posts to the top of your timeline

If you have a Facebook post that is doing particularly well and set up to collect leads, pin it to the top of your Facebook page. Here’s how to pin a post to the top of your timeline:

Click on the little pencil icon in the top right corner of your post
A drop down menu will appear
Choose “Pin To Top”

To unpin the post, you simply click on the same icon and hit “Unpin.”

Make sure the landing page matches the post

We’ve talked about this a little already, but in case you missed it, your landing page needs to match your ad. A landing page that doesn’t match will potentially confuse users and add unwanted friction.

All it takes is similar imagery, colors, tone, copy, and photos. This tells users that they’ve come to the right place.

The final word on how to generate leads on Facebook

One of the reasons Facebook is great for digital marketers is that there are so many options for creating effective ads. Facebook is set up to drive leads so make sure you’re taking full advantage of what’s available, and keep trying new things.

It would be great if we can get these images side-by-side in the article.