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Facebook recently released Facebook Messenger app ads to the general public.
Aaaaaannnnnddddd digital advertising just got even more creepy than ever imagined.
Thanks, Zuck.
You can now directly message potential prospects via Facebook Messenger right in their inboxes. Kinda like LinkedIn’s Sponsored InMail. Meaning you can nag people 24/7 now.
But with all of these new features comes white noise. Using the right tactic is like finding a needle in a haystack on new platforms.
Just like with any new digital advertising platform, it’s hard to know what works and what doesn’t.
What will help you acquire customers and what will get you reported for stalking.
Here’s how to find that proverbial needle in the haystack by using Facebook Messenger ads to acquire customers.
Currently, Facebook offers three main advertising formats or placements with their new Messenger ad services.
Each one is different. But you can use them all together to create one big, happy, harmonious user experience.
Here, we’ll look at each in-depth, analyzing the best practices for each to get the best bang for your buck.
First up: Messenger destination.
Your first Facebook Messenger ad option is destination-based.
This works like any old display-style ad on Facebook.
It sits right in the news feed for someone to click on.
But instead of taking them directly to the Facebook page or a landing page on a website, it takes them into a conversation on Messenger:
Instead of a call to action like “read more,” it says “Send Message.”
It’s a great conversation starter and strays from the normal display ads you see on Facebook.
For example, lead magnets are great, but they often get stale.
We’ve seen the same thing a thousand times over. And eventually, that means results decline, too.
These destination ads, though, can help streamline your customer acquisition process in two big ways:
Messenger destination ads are best used to start a conversation. To get people interested in learning more about your offer without having to give up personal information or schedule a full-blown call.
(Who even talks on the phone anymore?)
These ads can also serve as a form of account-based marketing. Meaning you focus on qualifying prospects ahead of time rather than trying to get them into your funnel to qualify them at the end.
Account-based marketing seeks to narrow the pool early in order to spend more time on ideal clients.
This produces better clients that are more likely to convert, while trimming away the clients who are just there for a free eBook.
For example, Facebook expert Jon Loomer is already using the destination-based ads to start conversations ahead of time:
Instead of simply offering an eBook and collecting thousands of emails that won’t convert, he takes a direct approach:
Message Me.
Is this training right for you?
He’s effectively qualifying leads before they are even leads.
Now he can narrow down the candidates and skip the traditional funnel process where most won’t convert even at the bottom of the funnel.
DigitalMarketer is using the same strategy to get qualified users to interact with their business (before they’re ready to sign on the dotted line):
Once qualified users click “Send Message,” they are asked about subscribing to the newsletter and are allowed to ask any questions about how the platform can help their business.
These ads work just like a live chat on your site but without the need to drive that site traffic in the first place.
Meaning you can save money and time, all while qualifying prospects up-front.
To get started with these ads, head to your Facebook Business Manager and create a new ad based on the messages objective:
Under the messages section, make sure that “Click to Messenger” is selected:
This ad type will show up in the news feed and direct users to a message click, like the examples above.
After selecting your audience, scroll down to the ad format and choose either a video or a single image:
The key here is to get specific.
You don’t want a user to feel overwhelmed with ten options to message you.
Plus, it makes it easier to create a specialized message and offer by using a single image or video.
Next, upload an image or video:
Now comes the fun part. Start setting up your ad with a headline and text:
The goal here is to qualify prospects ahead of time and to get information on whether they’re right for your business or not.
You don’t want to appeal to everyone and waste your budget on clicks that don’t convert.
Ask the most burning question that your best customers ask when converting on your product, encouraging them to message you.
Be sure to select “Send Message” as your call to action, too.
This will start a conversation in their messaging inbox.
Now there is only one step left:
Setting up your welcome messages:
This will be the opening message that someone will receive when they click on your ad.
You can now start to customize your message format and even the customer actions available:
You can also add basic personalization to make each message feel personalized and targeted.
For example, in this ad, we are qualifying users up-front and allowing them to either click to a landing page off of Facebook or message us directly on the Messenger ad.
You can customize these buttons to your liking, driving traffic to your site or landing pages, or simply encouraging more conversation within Messenger.
Remember: Best practices for this ad focus on lead qualification and getting people to start a conversation with your business.
The Messenger home placement is slightly different than the destination-based ads.
This type focuses on sending messaging options directly to the home section of a user’s inbox.
Here’s what it looks like:
It works the same way as the Messenger destination ads do in the sense that a user has to initiate the conversation.
Meaning you can’t just message them individually. They have to accept your invitation to message first.
Here’s how Jon Loomer has structured his home placement messaging ads:
They work as a sponsored blast, just like your destination ads. But instead of appearing in the news feed, they show up in the messaging app.
It’s simply another way to get in front of your audience with targeted messages.
The majority of ads should focus on qualifying prospects and getting them interested in your business without asking for information just yet.
Thankfully, this one is extremely easy to set up.
All you have to do is check the “Home” box under the placement section of your ads:
This will allow your ads to show in the Messenger app as well as the newsfeed for a combined approach.
Follow the same strategy here of generating a conversation rather than trying to land prospects with a lead magnet or a quick sale.
Sponsored messages are one of the best new additions to advertising options on Facebook.
But you can’t use these sponsored message placements on just any audience.
Which is actually great if you think about it.
Imagine randomly getting a message from a company you’ve never heard of that asks you to buy SEO services or some other random, untargeted offer.
Blocked.
It’s safe to say that an approach like that would kill the user experience on Facebook. People don’t come to Facebook to get bombarded with ads.
They use the search network for that. The intent simply isn’t there.
Using these sponsored messages allows you to send a direct message straight to a user’s inbox. But the catch is that they have to engage with you first.
Meaning they have to start a message thread with you before you can message them again.
Once a user engages with you, then you can retarget them with sponsored messages.
For example, here’s how it would show up in your Messenger app:
It looks like any other message you’d get.
Plus, you don’t have to ask them to message you.
You can deliver a specific message without them needing to accept or initiate a call to action.
Since these users are already brand-aware, it’s best to message them with an offer or a discount now.
They know your brand, and you’ve likely qualified them up-front from your destination ads.
So you can push them further down the funnel.
DigitalMarketer has started using a coupon/discount-based tactic to convert these brand-aware users:
Jon Loomer has taken a similar approach, attempting to drive qualified, brand-aware users to his training program:
Sponsored messages are akin to lead magnets or purchase offers in traditional advertising.
You’ve already done the majority of the work:
Now you just need to complete the last step:
5. Getting them to convert on an offer.
This should be your final step in customer acquisition with Messenger ads.
It should help you get their detailed information as a qualified lead. Then you can nurture them via other platforms like email or phone.
To set up this audience, you’ll need to create a new custom audience based on engagement:
Next, select the “Facebook Page” option:
Now, select “People who sent a message to your page” as the custom audience criteria:
This will allow you to create sponsored messages.
Now all you have to do is create another ad with the message-based custom audience you created, and you’re ready to convert these brand-aware users into full-on customers.
Finding your needle in the haystack doesn’t have to be hard.
Try implementing each one of these ad types to work together to fill your customer funnel.
Facebook Messenger ads offer great, new ways to reach customers.
But with any new platform or technique comes risk.
What works? What doesn’t? How do you know without wasting thousands of dollars on testing?
Start by using Messenger destination ads to qualify prospects up-front.
These ads take a cue from account-based marketing, where qualification is done at the beginning of the user journey rather than at the end.
Once you’ve done this, you can place Messenger ads directly within the app and even send more personalized messages to engaged users with sponsored messaging.
You can use Messenger ads to do a lot more than you may have thought possible. You can use them to build up brand awareness at the beginning, nurture newly-aware leads, and convert them into qualified prospects who are ready to buy.
All at a fraction of the competition you’re typically running up against. Which means if you do it correctly, a fraction of the cost you’d typically spend, too.
About the Author: Brad Smith is the founder of Codeless, a B2B content creation company. Frequent contributor to Kissmetrics, Unbounce, WordStream, AdEspresso, Search Engine Journal, Autopilot, and more.
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Getting new customers isn’t always cheap.
That’s one of the reasons why I tell businesses to focus on customer retention.
With that said, it’s impossible to retain customers if you can’t get them through your doors or to your website in the first place.
If you’re a new company without an existing customer base, you’ll need to come up with some creative ways to acquire new ones.
The problem is new businesses typically have a limited marketing budget.
They need sales to generate money for promotional content, but they can’t get any sales without those promotions.
It’s a paradox.
This goes for companies that may have been in business for a while but are struggling with their revenue streams.
Regardless of your situation, new customers can always help.
You don’t need to spend a fortune on customer acquisition.
Here’s a basic formula that shows how to calculate your acquisition cost:
If you want an even more accurate version of this formula, you can add additional costs besides sales and marketing. They may include:
That’s the true representation of how much it costs you to get a new customer.
Keeping this number low will give you a much higher return on investment.
The strategies I’m going to show you actually work.
I know this from personal experience.
These are the most inexpensive techniques to acquire lots of new customers.
I know what you’re thinking.
If you’re focusing on existing customers, it’s retention, not acquisition—right?
Not exactly.
If you’ve been in business for a while and it’s been a year or two since a customer was active, I wouldn’t refer to that person as an existing customer.
Getting them back to your business is basically like getting a brand new customer.
Dig up any old information you have on this person:
Anything you have.
Reach out to them with a promotion to try to get their business back.
Here’s an example of an email campaign from Carter’s:
They give an old customer a reason to make another purchase and come back to their brand.
If you’ve recently made new improvements to your business, don’t be afraid to let old customers know.
Maybe the reason why they left in the first place was because they thought your company was outdated.
Share any information about your infrastructure that has improved the customer experience.
Do you have a new mobile application?
Have you renovated your brick and mortar location?
These are examples of things to promote when you contact these old leads.
To survive, you have to adapt to the times.
The days of using snail mail and local print advertisements to promote your business are slowly becoming a thing of the past.
Your business needs to have a digital presence.
Stay engaged with prospective customers via Instagram.
Over half of users on Instagram are active on a daily basis.
There are also 800 million active monthly users.
These numbers continue to rise each year.
The popularity of this platform isn’t going to phase out any time soon.
One of the reasons why I like to use Instagram is because it’s so inexpensive.
It doesn’t cost you anything to create a profile.
The only cost is your time.
Even if you’re paying someone to manage your social media accounts, it’s OK as long as they’re being productive.
Here’s what you need to do.
Work on getting more followers on your profile.
Realistically, not all your followers will become customers.
Don’t worry about converting all of them.
Let’s go through a scenario.
Start with a goal.
You want to gain 10,000 Instagram followers in the next month.
It’s a high number, but it’s attainable.
You’re aiming to convert 20% of your followers to customers.
That’s 2,000 new customers in just one month.
Don’t forget the best part: it didn’t cost you anything.
For those of you who think a 20% conversion is too high or unrealistic, think again.
Based on this generational data, it’s actually quite modest:
Internet users in the United States are likely to purchase something from a brand they follow on social media.
If you get more followers, you’ll get more customers.
You can improve your conversion chances if you’re managing your Instagram account properly.
Post pictures and videos of your products and services.
Get your followers involved as well.
Try to encourage them to post images of themselves using your products.
One of my favorite ways to do this is by featuring customer photos on your account.
When your followers see they can get recognition for their photos, it gives them some extra motivation to post pictures with your product.
Here’s an example from the Thule Instagram:
Now anyone who has one of Thule’s products knows they can be featured as well if they take a cool photo.
Getting customers to post photos on their personal accounts is a great brand awareness strategy.
You’ll get more followers and acquire more customers.
Again, this strategy is completely free.
Like I said earlier, you need to stick with the trends.
Video content is trending upward at record rates.
Across the globe, 52% of marketing experts say video has the highest return on investment compared to other marketing content.
That’s great news for you if you’re trying to keep acquisition costs low.
Doing something as simple as adding a video to your landing page can increase conversion rates by up to 80%.
One of the best parts about creating a video is that you can use the same one across all of your marketing channels.
I’ll go through some examples to show you what I mean.
Let’s say you created a video for your website.
You can also send it via email to your subscribers.
Not everyone on your subscriber list is a customer.
Some people may have provided you with their email addresses, but never actually bought anything.
Here’s a great opportunity for you to acquire those individuals.
Look at how Patagonia embedded a video in their email marketing campaign:
You can use the same strategy.
Don’t create a different video for each marketing channel—that’s a waste of time.
If the video is less than a minute long, you can even add it to your Instagram profile, which I discussed above.
Is your video longer than a minute? No problem.
Just include a specific clip from the video or make it into a top highlights clip.
All of this is much more cost effective than creating an entirely new video.
In addition to email and Instagram, add videos to your:
I know what you’re thinking.
How can this be a low-cost strategy if I need to hire a professional cameraman and crew to make a high quality video?
I’ve got good news for you: none of that is necessary.
In fact, the vast majority of businesses produce their video content in-house.
This helps keep costs low.
Just invest in a decent camera and microphone.
You don’t need anything too fancy.
There’s plenty of inexpensive or even free video editing software that you can get on your computer as well.
If you’re willing to pay for a video editing tool, you can try Moovly.
You can get a subscription for as little as $5 per month.
They even let you try the software free for the first 30 days to see whether you like the experience.
Some of you may have wanted to create videos in the past but didn’t know what kind of content to produce.
Remember, we’re trying to acquire customers here.
Your videos need to display your competitive advantage.
What makes your products or services better than something similar on the market?
Try starting with a video tutorial.
Go through a step-by-step process of how your product can solve a problem.
You can also create videos that demonstrate a product.
That’s not necessary for all products.
For example, if your company produces hats and headbands, I don’t think you need to teach potential customers how to put a hat on.
With that said, you can still come up with a creative video that shows what makes your product unique.
Dollar Shave Club uses this strategy with their promotional video content:
The video doesn’t teach you how to shave.
Instead, it walks prospective clients through the process of getting razors and other shaving products delivered to their front doors.
It’s an effective and low-cost strategy for customer acquisition.
If people aren’t buying your product, you need to come up with a clever way to get the product in their hands.
Give it to them free.
Let me clarify.
I’m not saying you should give away thousands of products.
But you can run monthly or even weekly promotions.
You can choose between:
A sweepstakes means you’re giving away something to a person picked at random.
It doesn’t require any skill, and there’s nothing someone can do to increase their chances of winning.
All the person can do is enter and hope for the best.
Contests require skill, and the winner is selected based on judgment.
I think contests are more effective.
It gets the participants more involved, which is great if you’re trying to acquire new customers.
Let’s say someone entered your contest but didn’t win.
They put lots of effort into their entry and were looking forward to getting the product.
Well, now they may be more inclined to make a purchase.
Here’s an example of what a conversion funnel looks like when you run a contest:
That’s what I love so much about this strategy.
First of all, it’s not going to cost you anything except for the cost of the product you’re giving away.
But it’s also a great way to build your email subscriber list.
In order to enter, make it a requirement for customers to provide you with their email addresses.
After all, how else will you be able to contact them if they win?
Now at the very least, you’ll be able to send them promotional emails.
If the contest didn’t entice them to make a purchase, your email marketing campaign can get the job done.
Remember earlier I said that if you get more followers on Instagram you could get more customers?
Well, the same concept applies here.
Additional subscribers on your email list can improve your conversions.
It’s an inexpensive way to acquire new customers.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to spend a fortune on customer acquisition.
This holds true for startup companies as well as businesses that have been operating for years.
While customer retention should be a priority as well, you can’t keep a customer if you never got them on board in the first place.
That’s why I like to start with retargeting old customers.
You already have their contact information. If it’s been years since they last made a purchase, the additional revenue will have the same impact as the impact you would get from a new customer.
Instagram is one of my favorite social platforms for customer acquisition.
Since people are more likely to make a purchase from brands they follow on social media, focus on getting your follower numbers up.
You’ll be able to convert a percentage of those followers to customers.
Adding more video content to your promotional channels will help as well.
You can make these videos in-house, so it won’t be very expensive.
Contests and sweepstakes can increase brand awareness and get you some new customers.
These strategies will also help you get more email subscribers, so you can continue to market to those people and increase conversions.
What are some budget-friendly ways you’ve used to acquire new customers?
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