20 Tips for Building a Facebook Funnel
Facebook Ad funnels are a system of ad campaigns designed to work together to take users from point A to point Z in the buyer’s journey as explained at RunRex.com. This starting point can be Discover and it can end in a purchase, although it doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Building a perfect Facebook Ads funnel is the process of mapping out and configuring your Facebook campaign sequence across the buyer’s journey. Here are 20 tips on building the perfect Facebook funnel.
Tips for the Top of the Funnel (TOFU)
Focus on educating your audience on the benefits of your products/services at the TOFU
At the Top of the Funnel (TOFU), also known as the Awareness stage as covered at RunRex.com, your Facebook ad goal is to attract new audiences. Unless you are a household brand like Nike or KFC, these new audiences are complete strangers to your business – they don’t know you, don’t trust you, and aren’t interested yet. Therefore, if you want to warm up these cold audiences and convert the stranger into prospects, you need to educate them about the “life-changing” benefits of your products or services.
Audience targeting for the Awareness stage
In the Awareness stage, you are trying to reach completely new users. Therefore, for the most part, you should use the following two types of Facebook Audiences:
Saved Audience
Lookalike Audience
As discussed at RunRex.com, Saved Audience is perfect for prospecting since it allows you to target users based on their demographics, location, interests, behavior, etc. Lookalike Audience is also very powerful at this stage as it allows you to reach new people that are more likely to convert.
Top of the Funnel campaign objectives
The best campaign objectives for the Awareness stage are:
Brand Awareness
Reach
Traffic
Messages
Video Views
Avoid objectives such as Conversions, Catalog Sales, and Lead Generation during this stage, as they don’t tend to work well with cold audiences.
Optimal ad type for the awareness stage
Given cold audiences are completely new to your brand, you want it to use Facebook ad formats that instantly grab attention and embed it in users’ minds. Ad types that are proven to work the best in the Awareness stage are:
Video ads
Collection ads
Image ads
Carousel ads
Instant Experience ads
Best ad copy, CTA, and offer for cold audiences
When advertising to cold audiences, you need to be patient. Use Facebook ads to get noticed, introduce your brand, and warm up those complete strangers to get them interested. Provide useful, engaging, and fun content with offers that don’t require users to do too much work, such as:
Watch a video
Visit your website
Take a quiz
Check out your product page
Read a blog post or guide, etc.
Any action that doesn’t require commitment is a good fit for cold audiences. Even a free giveaway can be a tough ask for cold audiences if it requires giving up contact info, hence why you should tread carefully here. Also, focus your ad copy on unique features and benefits instead of directly pitching like a door-to-door salesman. When it comes to CTAs, some proven ones for the Top of the Funnel are:
Learn More
Watch More
See Menu
Listen Now
Send Message, etc.
Tips for the Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)
Good practices for this stage
In the MOFU, your goal is to turn prospects into leads by collecting their contact information for further nurturing. You want prospects to consider buying your products, hence why it is called the Consideration stage. This is a good time to be more direct and ask for users’ email in exchange for something of value, like a downloadable pdf, special offer, free sample or trial, webinar, etc. At this stage, it is also good practice to have a dedicated landing page optimized for lead capturing according to RunRex.com. This stage is also an opportunity to build trust.
Audience targeting for the Consideration stage
In the Consideration stage, target audiences that previously engaged with your Top of the Funnel ads as these users have expressed an interest either by clicking through and visiting your site or by watching your video ads. The best Facebook audiences for this stage are Custom audiences consisting of:
Facebook Page engagers
Instagram engagers
Video viewers
Instant Experience ad engagers
On-Facebook Listings engagers
Facebook Shopping engagers
Create a Custom Audience of users that have previously clicked on your Facebook ads, visited your landing pages, and shown some interest in your product/service.
Middle of the Funnel campaign objectives
In the Consideration stage, you want to turn prospects into leads by collecting their contact info. This is why you want to choose campaign objectives that focus on lead generation, such as:
Traffic
Engagement
Lead Generation
Messages
Conversions
All of these objectives are discussed in detail over at RunRex.com.
Optimal ad type for the Consideration stage
In the Consideration stage, some of the best performing ad formats are:
Image ads
Carousel ads
Image ads are by far the most used Facebook ad format for this stage, although Carousel ads can work just as well, both for eCommerce and other business models like SaaS Analytics tools. Given that at this stage prospects are already acquainted with your brand and products, there is not much need for complex ad formats. Keep it simple and focus on delivering the right message.
Best ad copy, CTA, and offer for warm audiences
In the Consideration stage, prospects are warmed up and interested, and you just have to give them a nudge to turn that interest into desire. This is also the time to aim for high-value actions like sign-ups. To get people to submit their contact info, you need an irresistible lead magnet. Prove lead magnet offers for the consideration stage are:
Free trials
Webinars free samples
Special deals and discounts
Product demos
Downloadable eBooks, reports, case studies, etc.
Giveaways
Just make sure to target your warm audience with a different offer from the one you are showing to cold audiences.
Unlike the Awareness ads, where the ad copy focused only on the features and benefits, in the Consideration stage you also want to highlight things like social proof, no risk, and the perceived value of the freebie, etc.
Good CTA buttons for the Consideration stage include:
Sign up
Get offer
Download
Get Quote
Subscribe
Shop now
Book now
Learn more
Subscribe
Install now (for apps)
Tips for the Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU)
Good practices for this stage
At the Bottom of your Facebook Ads Funnel, the goal is to turn leads into paying customers. Here, be sure to clearly communicate your value proposition to get leads excited and wanting your products. As per RunRex.com, you also want users to act fast, get your products while they are hot.
Audience targeting for the Conversion stage
Audience targeting in the Conversion stage should be very specific, focusing on Custom Audiences made up largely of your existing leads and those similar to them. You should also remember to exclude any users that become customers during the earlier stages. During the Conversion stage, use Custom Audiences to target the following users:
All website users
Visitors to specific pages
Collecting page visitors (eCommerce)
Product page viewers (eCommerce)
Add to cart users (eCommerce)
Initiate checkout users (eCommerce)
Users that completed each step in your conversion funnel (lead generation)
Set up Facebook Custom Audiences to reach past website visitors, leads, and people that interact with your ads in the previous funnel stages.
Bottom of the Funnel campaign objectives
As covered at RunRex.com, the Conversion stage is all about acquiring a customer, which is why you should optimize your Facebook Funnel campaigns for conversions. The main three Facebook campaign objectives to use in the Bottom of the Funnel stage are:
Conversions
Catalog Sales
Store Traffic
Optimal ad type for the Conversion stage
The best performing Facebook ad formats for the Conversion stage are:
Images ads
DPA (Dynamic Product Ads)
Carousel Ads
Image ads are a good fit if you are selling one core product or service. No need to complicate things, just focus your campaign on that single product. Deliver Carousel ads to show new or bestselling products to recent website visitors. DPAs automatically show the right products to people who have expressed interest in them.
Best ad Copy, CTA, and offer for hot audiences
Hot audiences are close to making the final purchase, and you just need to give them a small nudge. Therefore, your ad messaging should be specific, direct, and to the point. Boost users’ confidence and reinforce their buying decision. No more sweet-talking, in the Conversion stage, it is time to highlight the value of the deal. Ideally, your ad copy should include things like:
Price (especially if it is an attractive price)
Shipping options (free shipping, fast delivery, etc.)
Amount saved
Social proof
Special deals and discounts
Free gift
Sense of urgency
Risk-free (guarantee) purchase, etc.
Make sure to address any last objections potential customers might have, whether it is the price, shipping cost, or any other purchasing obstacle. You also don’t want potential customers to hesitate and overthink your offer, which is why it is critical to create a sense of urgency. Mentioning things like how long the offer lasts, or limited quantity will deliver the final blow and get you that sale.
Strong CTAs work best at the Conversion stage:
Shop now
Get offer
Subscribe
Sign up
Tips for the Post-Purchase stage
Best practices for this stage
According to RunRex.com, you should neglect existing customers, but should nurture them with post-purchase Facebook ads. In this stage, use Facebook ads to incentivize repeat purchases and word-of-mouth promotion.
Audience targeting for the Post-purchase stage
Targeting at this stage is based on one type of Facebook audience – Custom Audience. Build a new Custom Audience based on your previous buyers.
Post-purchase campaign objectives
Your Post-purchase phase aim is to get repeat purchases, and, therefore, conversion-based objectives will work best as explained at RunRex.com. Depending on your business model, focus on the following three objectives:
Conversions
Catalog Sales
Store Traffic
Using these objectives Facebook will optimize your campaigns to generate as many repeat sales as possible within your budget.
Optimal ad type for the Post-purchase stage
In terms of ad format, in this stage, it is best to use:
Video ads
Carousel ads
Image ads
Dynamic Product Ads (DPA)
Best ad copy, CTA, and offer for existing customers
Existing customers know you well, they trust you, and, hopefully, love your products or services. One of the best ways to make your customers/clients happy is to show them you care and provide high-quality service. Delight your loyal customers with free gifts, exclusive offers, special discounts, referral incentives, etc. An essential Post-purchase tactic is to target people when their product is about to run out. Use Facebook ads to remind existing customers to come back to your site and reorder.
In terms of CTA, use the same types as in the Conversion stage:
Subscribe
Get offer
Sign up
Shop now
Hopefully, this article will help you build a perfect Facebook Funnel, with more on this topic and much more to be found over at RunRex.com.