Have you ever heard the saying, “the money is in the list?”
In short, this means that an email list is one of the best ways to generate revenue for your business.
Of course, your email list is only as good as the number of quality contacts on it.
It doesn’t matter if you’re starting from scratch or already have an email list, your goal remains the same — to add as many names to it as possible.
While there are many ways of doing so, such as sharing a link on your website, a growing number of people are using Facebook Ads to their advantage.
Over the years, Facebook has been proven to be one of the best social networking platforms for lead generation. And a big part of that is the ability to use it to drive the growth of your email list.
With all this in mind, there’s one question to answer: what’s the best way to use Facebook ads to grow and monetize your email list?
No two people will take the same approach, but there are some basic things you need to know before getting started.
1. Review Your Facebook Profile
This is where it all starts — a thorough review of your Facebook profile may turn up some areas of concern.
For example, if you haven’t recently updated your Facebook business page, now’s the time to take action. You don’t want to drive prospects to a profile that has nothing of value to share.
Other points to consider include:
- The accuracy of your business details, such as the name and contact information.
- The use of imagery, including photos and videos, to engage your audience (also your profile and cover photo).
- The addition of a prominent call-to-action (CTA) button below your cover photo.
It’s easy to put together just any Facebook profile, but it’s more difficult to create one that will generate the desired results.
2. Visit the Facebook Ad Center
Once your profile is ready for an uptick in visitor activity, it’s time to visit the Facebook Ad Center to get started.
Use your first visit to acquaint yourself with how the Ad Center is laid out and how it works. Answer questions such as:
- What is your goal? (in this case, boosting your email list)
- What is your budget?
- Do you have a description and photo in mind?
- Who is your target audience?
- How long do you want to run your ad?
As a general rule of thumb, start slowly to get your feet wet. Your early ads won’t generally perform as well as those that you use after gaining experience.
The Facebook Ad Center provides all the guidance you need. It never hurts to read through the information, even if you’re not in search of something in particular.
3. Discover Your Target Audience
You can have the best ad in the world. You can have the coolest email marketing list out there. But if you don’t target the right audience, your message will fall on deaf ears.
The Facebook Ad Center helps with this by asking you the question, “who should see your ad?”
You can then choose from the following options:
- People who like your page
- People who like your page and their friends
- People in your local area
You can also customize audience details at this point, such as by gender, age, and location.
As you do this, the system will automatically adjust to provide your “potential reach.” Bigger is not always better, but there should be enough people to make your campaign worthwhile.
4. Create Your Ad
You can use Facebook Ads to reach a variety of short and long-term goals, but in this case, you’re doing so with the idea of growing your email list.
Keep this in mind when creating your ad, as it’ll guide many of the decisions you make.
Keep the description clear and concise.
For example: “visit our website to sign up for our email list and receive a 20% discount.”
Choose your image wisely
An ad without an image won’t garner many clicks. The same holds true of a low-quality image or one that doesn’t relate to your message. Choose a high-quality, relevant image and then A/B test them to see which one delivers the best results.
Don’t forget your button label
For growing your email list, a “learn more” or “sign up” button is best. But again, you can test several options to see which has the highest click-through rate.
It’s worth mentioning again that your first Facebook Ad won’t be perfect.
It takes trial and error to learn what works and what doesn’t. Embrace the process, and don’t let a few setbacks get you down.
5. Devise an Email Marketing Plan
A robust email list is great, but only if you do something with it. And that’s why you need a detailed email marketing plan.
It doesn’t have to be complex — especially to start — but there are some steps you must take:
- Choose an email marketing platform, such as Mailchimp or Constant Contact.
- Set short and long-term goals.
- Choose or design a template; keep it consistent from one email to the next.
- Write your first email or hire a copywriter to assist you.
- Add imagery (but not too much) to engage your audience.
- Send your email, review the results, and make changes accordingly.
The email marketing strategy you use today won’t be the same one you rely on in the future, and that’s okay. Growth is the name of the game. You’ll learn and adapt as the weeks turn to months.
Final Thoughts
There’s no shortage of reasons to establish a strong Facebook presence within your industry.
Not only does this allow you to connect with and engage your audience, but you can take advantage of Facebook ads to grow your email list.
As you generate interest and leads in this manner, consider buying aged leads at the same time. This will help keep your sales pipeline full and satisfy your budget, and that’s exactly what you want!
Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash
