5 Creative Ways To Gather Facebook Leads, FREE!

We’ve all heard the saying “the best things in life are free”. But surely you have to pay to play on Facebook to get leads, right?

I’m here to answer that very question and show you 5 creative ways you can gather Facebook leads on your fan page for free!

5 Creative Ways To Gather Facebook Leads, FREE!

1) Pin a post to the top of your Facebook fan page

One of the most overlooked features on a Facebook fanpage is the “pin” button. This feature allows you to pin a post to the top of your timeline for a period of 7 days. When a post is pinned, an orange ribbon is displayed in the top right hand corner of the post, and it remains pushed to the top of your Facebook timeline.

We know that most users engage via the Facebook newsfeed. However, you don’t want to ignore the people directly visiting your fanpage. This is traffic you could be leaving on the table.

How can you capitalize on this?

The first post a fan is going to see will be the one pinned to the top. This is the perfect opportunity to pin those lead capturing posts to the top of the timeline. These can be competitions, latest blog posts, deals or a link to subscribe to your email list.  The best part is if you want the post to appear on the page for more than 7 days simply re-pin the post to the top after the current 7 days pass! So what are you waiting for? Get pinning!

2) Create a call to action in your cover image

We have all heard the news that Facebook now allows for more than 20% text in cover images and that users are now allowed to include calls to action and link to their channels or websites. So, how do you turn this opportunity into a lead I hear you ask?

As well as creating eye catching designs, a great way to attract leads is to use a call to action. This can be done in two ways:

1. Create a call to action text on the cover image itself.
2. Add a description to your cover photo telling users about your business, services or updates; and the most important part include a link.

By adopting these techniques you now have two extra chances to capture leads. First, by drawing fans in through the eye catching cover image, and second by giving them more information via the cover image description and link. You can always track the URL placed in this description to help give you an idea about traffic and conversions.  Haven’t got a cover image description? Give it a go today!

3) Include a URL in your about section

To clear up any confusion, there are two parts the Facebook about section. The first is a short description that is displayed just under your Facebook profile image and is 255 characters in length. It’s important to remember the text in this area also helps users find your profile via graph search. The second is a longer description which appears to allow over 30,000 characters and is the perfect place for you to tell your fans more about your business.

Short description: When creating your short description it is important to include keywords related to your business to help people find your page via graph search.  A trick here is to ensure your URL is also included to help drive traffic back to your site, email opt-in or contest.

To edit this section simply click on Edit page > Update info at the top of your admin panel.  You will then see a section labelled “Short description”, where you can edit your 155 characters.

Long description: When creating your long description, it is important to realize that all the content here is indexed by Google. You want to make sure you let your fans know more about your business in this section. Share more about what your business is about and how it can help others.

Some tips on what to write in this section include client testimonials, accomplishments, business milestones, your page guidelines (for example rules on SPAM) and even the products you have to offer.

To edit this section simply click on Edit page > Update info at the top of your admin panel.  You will then see a section labelled “Long description” where you will be able to enter your information. What are you waiting for? If you haven’t updated this section there is no time like the present. Google will thank you for it!

4) Highlight posts that promote your offer

Another feature you can access from your Facebook timeline is the “highlight post” feature.

The highlight post feature can be found by hovering over any post on your timeline, clicking the downward facing arrow in the top right hand corner of the post, then selecting highlight post.

Once this has been selected, two things will happen. One, your post will now expand in size to take up the full width of the timeline. Two, your post will now be featured on your timeline in the highlights section making it easier for users to find your post as they scroll down through your fan page.  To un-highlight the post simply click on the downward arrow in the top right hand corner of the post and select “remove from highlights”.

This is a great opportunity to showcase your lead generating posts with an eye catching large image, a link or a call to action. Images that are highlighted are 843 x 403 pixels.  What are you waiting for? Share your creativity!

Here is a great example of the highlight feature by camera company Nikon on how they have used a great eye catching visual to promote a photographer’s work

5) Make use of Facebook apps 

Facebook apps are often a key ingredient for a successful Facebook fan page, yet they are often over looked. We understand that the majority of content is absorbed via the Facebook newsfeed. However, by not capitalizing on the users who visit your fan page directly, you are missing out on free traffic.

A great way to grab your fans attention and generate more leads for your business is to utilize Facebook apps. Facebook apps provide many benefits as they allow you to:

• Grow your email list
• Promote your business through competitions
• Offer promotions to your audience
• Engage on your other channels

When creating a Facebook app, Facebook allows you to create a custom thumbnail and custom app name. The dimensions for a custom Facebook app thumbnail are 111 x 74 pixels. It is important to include a call to action in this thumbnail to help draw attention and drive traffic to your app. Here is an example by Go Creative Go who used a Facebook app, with custom app thumbnail and name. to highlight their black Friday promotion.

One key point to remember with Facebook apps is they are not mobile compatible unless you have a smart URL link. A smart URL link is one that most Facebook app creators will provide you and allows your app to be viewed via mobile. Without this link your fans can only see your app content via their desktop.  A lot of these apps are free to setup, with paid options for more advanced features.  The only thing left to do now is get creative!

With Facebook pushing paid posts, I hope this article has shown you that there are still some free ways you can get leads for your business.

How many of these creative techniques have you tried on your page? Comment below and let me know 

5 Areas of Focus in 2014 – Your Website

There are so many tracks you can take in building a better web and mobile presence for your business, it’s often hard to tell where to begin.

Below are five areas we suggest as the most important for a small business to focus on for 2014. In this piece: Your Website.

Improvements in each area will position your business to be more findable, shareable, and profitable. This is a short summary of each of the five areas we believe to be most important of your attention as it pertains to your website.

5 Areas of Focus in Building a Better Business Presences
Your Website in 2014

1.  Landing Pages with Opt-In: Creating content is important. Landing pages help turn visitors into leads, and leads into customers. Creating a landing page allows you opportunity to collect and exchange some important data. A landing page can showcase your regional standing, a product offering, or an upcoming event. The opt-in portion allows you to being collecting email and contact information from a visitor in exchange for the value your landing page offers.

2.  Open Graph Meta Data (http://ogp.me/): You will be hearing more about Open Graph and Cards as 2014 goes on. Local Marketing, Social Media, Authorship, and Product Offerings are important in Open Graph protocols and similar meta data to describe what type of content it is you’re putting on the web. All this helps you become more findable to your targeted audience and potential customer base.

3.  Your Business Blog: This is not a new topic on this site, but it’s still a new idea with many small business owners. While page depth is still an important reason (possibly more for credibility than findability), a blog also positions your business for putting together many small pieces for larger products in the near future. Think Ebooks, presentations, infographics, and other ecommerce or offline sales opportunities. Page depth still carries some weight, especially if there is quality within the pages.

4.  Click-to-Call Phone Number and Contact Info: Huge item – and most often the quickest to accomplish. Your legitimate contact information (not named info), above the fold and easy to find is why most people visit your site – especially on a mobile device. Additionally, store hours and directions or a map are both important pieces of information to make available to the user.

5.  Measuring Metrics: It’s almost sickeningly sad how few business owners keep up on their own web traffic data – and how most are relying on metrics that no longer matter or are no longer measured. How do you tell which way is up if you don’t know where you are now?

A Subtle Way to Make Your Facebook Images Pop on the News Feed

Every good marketer knows that the way Facebook users scan their News Feeds doesn't leave a lot of time to catch the eye - and further interest - of a potential customer. Posting compelling images is an essential part of the strategy, but here's one subtle tip to help your images stand out even more.



As you can see above, the technique involves using a large block of contrasting colour in the background of one of your Facebook posts, but, crucially, leaving a portion white at the top. Thiscreates the illusion of your image popping "out" of the screen against the blank Facebook background.



In this second example, I have added an arrow to enhance the effect further, and draw people's eyes to my message in the status update.

Although the effect is very subtle, in the context of all the other "flat" images on a busy News Feed, it really does catch the eye. Try experimenting with this method using different images and colours to see what works best for you.

Have you given this tip a go? Let me know in the comments below as I'd love to see!

7 emerging social media marketing trends for 2014

With 2014 knocking on the door, we thought it was time to put down the eggnog and take a hard look at what’s going to be hot on the social media marketing front the coming year — and what won’t be hot.

Before we do, let’s take a quick look at a roundup of trends that have originated from the most popular social networks this year.
Google: A reboot of Google+
Expecting a whole new surge of Google+ users (and rightfully so), Google made a wise decision to revamp the look and feel of its social network. The visually appealing, streamlined look was well received as more mobile users came to appreciate the larger displays and intuitively separated sections.
Google+ vanity URLs are now available for users who fulfill certain criteria. To long profile links that contain a host of squiggly numbers, good riddance, we say!
Facebook: Hashtags and Verified Pages

Not surprisingly, 2013 has been the year of updates for Facebook.
#hashtags were successfully implemented for profiles and pages. Now you won’t have to be ridiculed when you place them in your posts – they are now completely searchable.
Facebook rolled out Verified Pages a la Twitter’s verified account. Even the little blue checkmark looks familiar, doesn’t it?
Twitter: Twitter Trends expand worldwide
Twitter Trends is now available in 160+ locations, allowing users to narrow down current events to a specific area of their choice.
Want to leverage the power of Twitter for your business but don’t know how? Luckily for you and other business owners, the Twitter for Business website was launched to assist both new and existing users in growing their audience.
LinkedIn: Notify your contacts
LinkedIn finally gave its users the ability to mention contacts when posting, not unlike a feature that already existed long ago. Once mentioned, your contact will receive a notification that they’ve been mentioned in your post thus warranting their action.
Pinterest: Never miss a beat
Pinterest greatly improved its look, and besides the aesthetic appeal, it now boasts a new Categories section that aids searches for business and connections.
The new notifications feature is a natural – this feature ensures that you’ll never miss anything important related to your pins and activity on Pinterest.
2014: Image-based networks, social CRM, micro-video & more

The Internet sure came a long way, didn’t it? Now that you’ve taken a stroll through the major changes that happened throughout the year, let’s take a look at the top marketing trends to watch out for in 2014.
Google+ will finally shine (yes, really)

1Google+ is hardly the leader of the pack when its number of monthly users (359 million) is compared to Facebook’s (a whopping 1.15 billion). However, Google is ramping up its efforts to appeal to those who want to gain a competitive edge in terms of SEO and search engine relevance to build their network.
More people to invest heavily in social media

2No ifs ands or buts: More and more companies are looking to enrich their social media presence to the extent of hiring experts to man their campaigns rather than delegate the task to a junior-level employee. Business owners will increasingly embrace social media networking as a means to:
Build their brands
Create viral advertising campaigns
Instill customer loyalty
Reward customers
Reach out to more people, even those from untapped audience demographics
Image-based networks will rule

3That’s right. While video giants YouTube and Vimeo continue to dominate, image-centric sites like Pinterest, Tumblr, Mobli and the likes will soar and businesses will aggressively leverage their built-in shareability.
Increasing need for social CRM

4Social CRM is the product of a perfect marriage between social media and web connectivity. More businesses will realize the importance of this tool, which encompasses benefits such as the ability to:
Manage social networking accounts from the CRM platform
Monitor and track current conversations and trends revolving around your brand
Analyze, track and scale your social media activities to bring profitable results
Micro video will prove to be more exciting than YouTube?

5Instagram might have hit the jackpot when it added a new video feature. Twitter followed suit with its very own Vine. The latter allows users to post 6-second long videos, a smart move that kind of capitalizes on the speed and fun concept made popular by Snapchat. Think of the value you can off customers in creating and sharing videos in the blink of an eye!
Foursquare might slink away into oblivion … or will it?

6There are predictions saying that Foursquare might not make it to see 2015, citing stale traffic figures and financial problems in 2013, but we think that this location-based entity is not quite ready to die a premature death. Sometime in October, Foursquare made a bold move in rolling out self-service ads targeted to small businesses.

This opens a whole new world of convenience for self-reliant business owners who want to create ads without enlisting help from the Foursquare team. Apparently, this move pleases business owners like David Feit, Sky Room’s marketing director, who was looking for better ways to spread the news about the location of his luxury rooftop bar. With the self-serve ads feature, he was delighted to reach out to potential customers and pay only for actual check-ins. Other businesses have since benefited from the move, so we think that there may be hope for Foursquare yet to co-exist along with other social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Hype will give way to simplicity

7In a bid to woo customers, innovative marketers are shying away from loud, brash messages. More efforts are being made to create social media marketing campaigns that mirror that of Pinterest where minimalist beauty is king. Forbes revealed that consumers are increasingly being immune to the overly garish sensory input churned out by marketers who were too eager to take advantage of our highly digitized lives. In order for a marketing strategy to penetrate through consumers’ stubborn mindset, the campaign message (as well as accompanying aesthetics) needs to be clear, concise and simple – a far cry from the flamboyant efforts that are fast losing effectiveness.

AVOID A SOCIAL CRISIS WITH ONE SIMPLE QUESTION

There is so much fear wrapped up in social media for brands. Fear from legal, compliance, leadership, sales, marketing, technology, you name it and they are all a little scared of it in some way. And I have found through so many conversations with people who want to do a good job at social that the fear is all around making a mistake. Brands are terrified of becoming the next <insert latest brand who messed up in social>. Fear in humans causes insulin to pump through our bodies and produces fight or flight. We react in dramatic ways to fear. We can dodge fists or throw them ourselves. But, fear in brands causes paralysis. And in social, paralysis might be worse than making a gaffe. Brands want a social safety net. It is the #1 reason real time marketing isn’t adopted en mass today. There is no fail-safe. But then I realized, I have the answer.

Before I get there, you should know, in my personal and professional life I have a rather famous retort for people who say dumb, offensive, racist, sexist, or generally tacky stuff to me. It’s called “The Out-Loud Voice”. It goes like this: “Tracey, those glasses look terrible on you.” Me: “Oh, I’m sorry, but maybe you didn’t know. That was your out-loud voice.” It is shockingly effective in getting people to realize they should have considered an internal monologue for such thoughts. Because sometimes not everything that passes through the brain pan needs to be expressed externally. And as evidenced by years of experience using this retort, it totally works. And I realized, with the help of Nichole and Falls, that this should be a concept employed by social media community managers everywhere. Let’s call it: The “Out-Loud Voice” litmus test. And with that, a social media fail-safe is born!

In real time, the Out-Loud Voice litmus test it is a quick affirmation that could be the last check before something is posted online. And let’s be honest, what you post on social as a brand is very much out loud even if it is only written word. And without a doubt, most branded social media gaffes could have been prevented with this test. If the last person to read a post before it was approved and went live, took a look and said; “Hmmm, if I said this out loud in the middle of Manhattan (Kansas), would I offend a segment of the population?” If the answer is “Yes. Yes it would offend a segment of Manhattan, Kansas.” Or even if it is a “It is possible that if I said this out loud a segment of the population would be offended.” Then, it doesn’t go live.

It is a simple test. Takes 30 seconds to implement and can save lives! OK, maybe not lives, but it could certainly save jobs! The Onion, Home Depot, Kenneth Cole…the list goes on and on, but, had any of these brands applied the out-loud voice test, they may have saved hours of time apologizing for their poor taste and the damage to the brand. Not to mention the countless blog posts calling them out on a large-scale #fail.

OUT-LOUD VOICE TEST PRIMER

When to apply the “Out-Loud Voice” test:

All. The. Time. You should apply this test to any update, response to a customer, blog post, tweet, email, LinkedIn group comment. Basically, it is the old American Express slogan of social media posts. “The Out-Loud Voice test, don’t use social without it.”

How to apply the “Out-Loud Voice” test:

You see, as more and more brands adopt real-time marketing; the out-loud voice litmus test is an incredibly valuable tool. For example: You’re a community manager. You see something that is happening in pop culture and it might be begging for a quippy, even snarky social media post. You craft a post. Then, you re-read the post and ask: “If this were in my out-loud voice, would I offend a wide swath of our customers?” And then post accordingly.

Who should use the “Out-Loud Voice” test:

Everyone. Community managers, leaders, interns, customer service and agencies should all be using this test to manage their communications with customers. Basically, the entire world could benefit from this short test. Let’s be honest, this is not just good for brands, it is good for people too. I would be very happy to never, ever read another insane rant from someone I went to high school with, but I digress. The point is the Out-Loud Voice test is good for everyone and would make social media a better place.

The Out-Loud Voice test: Love it. Use it. Live it.

Mobile Social Media Exploding According to New Research

Are you looking for the latest trends in social media marketing?

Has your business kept up with the growing mobile social media opportunities?

New research seems to show all roads leading to mobile. Whether we’re talking about Facebook, YouTube or the latest new toy, Snapchat—research shows that well-executed mobile strategies will offer the biggest payoff for marketers.

Here’s a summary of the latest research…
#1: Facebook Mobile is Largest Source of Social Traffic

According to Shareaholic’s Social Media Traffic Report (October 2013), publishers saw average referral traffic from Facebook mobile grow 253% between September 2012 and September 2013!

There are two reasons for this. First, as of September 2013, 874 million people used Facebook’s mobile app, up by 45% from the year before. Second, smartphone use has reached critical mass here in the U.S. (53% of Americans are smartphone owners).


Mobile is a powerful source of social traffic.

We’ve talked about this before, but it’s important enough that it bears repeating. Your number-one priority at this point is to figure out how your Facebook marketingfits into your mobile strategy. Start by taking the following simple steps:
Make sure your status updates are short and to the point. Long status updates will turn mobile users away (unless you’re Mari Smith!).
Shorten your links using bit.ly or any other URL-shortening tool.
You already know how important it is to use plenty of visual content on Facebook. However, it’s equally important that images are easy to understand. Some infographics that marketers post on Facebook are very difficult to see on a mobile screen.
#2: Geo-Targeting Puts Mobile on the Map

Perhaps the most exciting advance in mobile marketing is geo-targeting—being able to pinpoint the exact whereabouts of your customers so you can deliver relevant ads.

According to eMarketer, brands are extremely eager to make their ads more contextually relevant and so spending on geo-targeted ads is growing rapidly.



Marketers are eager to spend more money on geo-targeted ads.

Actionable Marketing Tips:

If you have a physical location, you should consider investing in geo-targeted adsas part of your mobile strategy.

Since most U.S. ad buyers are looking to make their dollars stretch, geo-targeting and couponing could be great opportunities to explore. With almost 100 million Americans redeeming digital coupons in 2012, there’s clearly a large and growing mobile user base that marketers can target better.

Consider a couponing strategy based on Foursquare or Facebook Places, andensure that customers redeem at a high rate by offering something relevant and worthwhile.
#3: Snapchat and Instagram Gain Social Currency

Although Facebook remains the number-one photo-sharing site on the Internet,Snapchat is driving impressive photo-sharing traffic with 350 million photos per day!

A Pew Research survey found that 9% of cell phone owners now use Snapchat and 18% of cell phone owners use Instagram.



Photo sharing has become an essential part of the online social experience. Image source: iStockphoto

These numbers might seem small, but Snapchat and Instagram are relatively new platforms that have not been fully explored. Still, they’re growing at a rapid pace, represent real-time engagement and with the right approach could offer marketers big opportunities to reach new customers.

Actionable Marketing Tips:

Photo and video sharing have become an integral part of the online social experience. Here are some tips you could copy from pioneering marketers:
Discounts—NYC-based yogurt shop 16 Handles ran a promotion using Snapchat. First, they asked customers to take a Snapchat image of themselves eating one of their yogurts on site and send it to the company’s Snapchat account. Then the company automatically sent a Snapchat image of a discount coupon back to the user’s account. Finally, the user would have to wait to open the snap containing the discount coupon until he or she was at the register and ready to redeem it, because once the image is opened it automatically deletes itself 10 seconds later.
Events—Encourage your event attendees to take Snapchat pictures or videos from the event location and share them with their friends. This creates excitement and buzz as users share their experiences of your event among themselves.
Share insider information—Send “leaked” images of your latest product or information to your most loyal customers to create excitement and interest around your brand (tip of the hat to Amy Birch at Social Media Today).
Check out these additional tips for using Instagram.
#4: Use of Video for Marketing Is a Must!

Video is everywhere! It’s even in your customers’ pockets (or purses) in the form of mobile apps for Vine, Instagram, YouTube and more recently Snapchat (see #4 above).

In fact, a recent poll conducted by eMarketer found that 93% of marketers had used video for online marketing, sales or communications at some point in 2013, up from 81% in 2012. Falling costs of video production plus the elimination of barriers to video content distribution have made this trend possible.



Use video in your marketing, sales or communications.

Here’s an interesting narrative about the state of video in 2013.



Actionable Marketing Tips:

When developing your video strategy, think about where your customers are in the sales process (their “customer journey”) and then create several videos that align with the different stages:
For brand awareness, you should have a video to introduce potential customers to your brand or service.
When they decide that they want to know more about your brand,consider offering them a “solutions overview” video to address some of their challenges.
Toward the end of the customer journey, you should have several product videos to demonstrate how your product works or what benefits it offers. Cisco makes over 1000 videos per year, just to make sure that their prospects understand the product throughout all phases of their customer journey.
#5: Social Media Skills Lacking

Social media is no longer optional for most organizations in the U.S. But there’s a problem—lack of training! A survey by Altimeter Group found that basic employee skills in social media use are seriously lacking.

Only 18% of those surveyed believed that employees have a good or very good understanding of social media or the organization’s social media policies. 61% of organizations have zero or ad hoc training programs for social media.

Untrained social media employees can cause significant problems for your business—for example, damage to your brand’s reputation, disclosure of confidential information and even regulatory or compliance violations.



Employees are not getting proper social media training.

Actionable Marketing Tips:

Here are some proven ways to train your employees in social media marketing:
Define clear objectives for using social media.
Establish safeguards to protect both employees and customers in relation to social media use; for example, a social style guide and a clear social media policy.
Provide professional training to empower employees to use social media tools; for example, Social Media Marketing World is coming up in March 2014 and is a great opportunity to train your employees and managers.

Here are some more ideas for training your staff.

Over to You

What do you think? Which of these social trends will you adopt? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.