The Purpose Driven Strategy Test – Facebook Lead Generation

by Suzanne on Sep 10th, 2010
in Tags: facebook lead generation, lead generation form, purpose driven strategy, static fbml app, strategic blogging
Posted in Facebook, Text

At the beginning of this week, I put together a new tab using the Static FBML app along with a lead generation form.   So far, so good, right?  Well, this wasn’t just ANY lead generation form.  It was a strategically planned one – one with more to it than just praying to get a new lead or two.

Yes, there was more to this than met the eye.

Just like any business venture and plans, each move should be thought through and done with specific purpose.  During a recent webinar Chris and I held about Strategic Blogging, I explained this by envisioning yourself sitting in a restaurant waiting for the waiter to bring you exactly what you want without ever ordering anything.  How will that ever happen?  IT SIMPLY WONT!

So why would you expect anything different within your business ventures?

Unfortunately, this is the way many business people, whether they are real estate agents or not, conduct their business plans – without a strategy.    In my mind, this MUST NOT be the way any part of your online marketing and lead generation tools are put to use – no matter how trivial you think they may be.  Like a Lead Generation Form on Facebook, for instance…

Ok, so without further ado, here’s the purposefully driven strategic test I put into action on Monday of this week.

If I were to take the free application that Jotform provides us tech savvy agents (and, dare I say, social media specialists?!) and create a lead generation form that does more than just ask for someone to leave their name and number, for either no apparent reason or for some other non-attention grabbing purpose, what would that be?  How would that differ than just your usual run-of-the-mill “Contact Us” custom tab on Facebook?  What would I offer instead?

Something of value.  Something tangible.  Something that is desired by many.  Something that can not only give you, but also them something back in return.  A win-win, right?  YES!  All of these… but what would that look like?

There’s nothing new about this – restaurants have been doing this for dozens of years – leave your business card in the fishbowl and you could win a free dinner for two…  So why not on Facebook?!

When I compare the results from a basic “leave your information below” contact form on Facebook versus the “win a custom form for your Facebook fan page“, it was like night and day.   Leads trickle in from my basic form on a weekly basis, however, within the first few hours of posting an update about my giveaway (only accessible via my lead generation form on facebook), I had dozens of leads.  As of today, the last day of my giveaway, I have received close to 60 new leads since adding the purpose drive strategically created lead generation form on Facebook!

So, think outside the box – imagine what you can giveaway or reward your new or returning fans with.  Is it a monthly giveaway?  Keep in mind the longevity of Facebook updates too – you’ll probably want to remind people of your reward program/promotions on a regular basis; an update on Facebook usually stays “above the fold” for several hours (depending on how many friends you have)!   However, don’t get too carried away either!

Let us know how you put this to the test too!  Oh, and the winner of the Custom Fan Page Lead Generation Form for this week is…..

Dan DeMarchis of Long & Foster, Fredericksburg, VA

Congratulations, Dan!

The correct answer to the question of how much had 50-64 year olds increased in their use of social media between APril 2009 and May 2010, was 88%!    How can you put that information to use within your  social networking efforts!?