Larger cover photos, photos in news feed and such changes to Facebook are forcing companies to be more visual and dynamic. In fact, nearly 50% of the items shared on news feeds are visual. Friends Feed, Music Feed,
Photos Feed, and Following Feed - all are giving the user more control on what
information they see and when they see.
If we
look purely from a B2B perspective - Facebook for advertising and brand
promotion? Yes. Brand engagement? Yes.
Thought leadership? Yes. Content disbursement? Yes.
But, how
do we generate leads via Facebook? And, how do we calculate its effectiveness
for B2B marketing?
I came across a very
interesting infographic on "Which
platform to reach out - Linkedin or Facebook for B2B". According to
this, 41% of all B2B companies that used Facebook for marketing acquired new
customers this way. Below is a snapshot of the tactics used on Facebook. We see
that stats are suggesting there is potential for generating business (49% lead
generation).
Measuring B2B Marketing Success on Facebook
One can use the following metrics to judge the business' performance on FB.
- Content Engagement = Engagements or, interactions / post
- Content Reach = Percentage of followers who have seen your post
- Lead Generation = Number of people signing up or, registering / Total number of page views
Generating Leads via Facebook
- Have a company page, not just individual profiles - This allows potential customers to interact with the brand
- Fan-gate your page but, go beyond 'Like' - Fan-gating refers to requiring viewers to click on 'like' to view your profile/page. But, one must remember it's all about engaging. The aim should be to score high on Content Engagement
- Incorporate sign-up forms for accessing restricted content/ giveaways/ contests -This is a good way to get that customer information
- Calls-to-action and back-links to your website - Gives you more hits on company website and encourages viewers to interact more
- Integrate Facebook widgets into other channels - Whether it’s an e-campaign, or an invite to an event, by integrating Facebook widgets you give the viewer a chance to share your content with his/ her network- Voila! Improved Content Reach
- Use Facebook Ads - Such ads allow you to target your content at specific audience, thereby increasing the effectiveness. You will be able to view the click-through rates and analyze ad effectiveness. If you link this up to a sign-up form you will also be able to get the viewer's information. A good example would be sharing your latest e-book on strategies for CIOs through Facebook premium ads.
- Promote your Posts/ Sponsor a Story - This is a great way to get more people to see your posts. More views translate to higher percentage engaging with your content
A good
way to ensure your marketing efforts are not going to waste on Facebook and
that you are leveraging the forum to its optimum potential is by leveraging PMDs or Preferred
Marketing Developers. They are
social experts that build apps on Facebook and help you manage ad
campaigns, measure performance and develop effective marketing strategies for
Facebook.
In short, they make life and Facebook marketing simpler for you.
