Article Reviewed by a licensed insurance professional: Sam Meenasian (CA dept of insurance license #0F75955).
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Key Takeaways
- Engage customers through meaningful conversations on Facebook, not just posting for clicks.
- Build a local proof loop by sharing real success stories and avoiding deceptive testimonials.
- Utilize Messenger effectively: automate responses and streamline lead generation with the 3-Screen Method.
- Avoid boosting posts; refine outreach strategies based on data while maintaining secure lead information.
- Create decision-driven content by highlighting key topics each week to foster deeper connections.
5 Key Things to Remember
Don’t think about your social media outreach as just posting for clicks. You need to make sure that you have a conversation with your customers. Messenger is a great option for your “front desk” communications with customers. Meta offers powerful ad targeting and great target customer identification services.
Retargeting can be helpful if you understand why you are doing it and what the benefits could be. Your biggest wins will come from content that answers buyer needs and questions.
Facebook is still one of the most important social media platforms out there. There are 3.48 billion people active on Facebook on any given day. Imagine having the potential to reach out to that many people using any other means of advertising. You probably can’t because it would be highly unlikely that you could ever connect with so many people all in one place through any other form of outreach.
Small business is still the backbone of the American economy. There are still 34.8 million small businesses in the US as of 2024. This guide will offer you five key secrets that you need to have in mind and use to your advantage as you leverage Facebook for your brand.
Build a Local Proof Loop
Facebook advertising and outreach often fail because people just treat Facebook like a bulletin board where they announce things to other people and then just walk away.
Facebook is best used with a local proof loop in place. You can create this kind of local proof by offering proof of real jobs, real success stories, or real products, having conversations with your consumers, booking work through the app, and offering more proof when you have been successful and are looking to add more clients to your roster.
Be cautious when using testimonials. You need these claims to be reasonable and not deceptive. Making false claims can get your business into lots of trouble. The FTC offers guidance about what kinds of claims are allowed so that you don’t wander into common pitfalls related to this kind of marketing.
Be aware that harmless posting can turn into a legal situation if someone alleges that you lied to them and promised them something that you didn’t deliver on. You can also link to your disclaimer information in all of your outreach if you are worried about people getting upset about misunderstanding your ads.
Use Messenger the Smart Way
Messenger can be like your front desk staff that you don’t have to pay for. You can set your messenger app to display lots of relevant information automatically when someone reaches out to your company. You can also use messenger to generate leads and follow up with potential customers.
The 3-Screen Method is the best way to use Messenger. You should use the instant reply functionality to relay important information quickly. You then use screen 2 to find out the location, the type of job you are needed for, timing, to gather data like photos, and to get a callback number.
The third screen is for booking estimate appointments, having customers make a deposit, or routing them to a phone call with a rep.
You should always have the most common questions that you get asked as an FAQ that is submitted with each automated reply. You should also be sure that you don’t promise anything with your messenger conversations. You will want to keep things limited to the facts that you can act on and not promises about things that you don’t know yet.
Don’t Boost Posts
There is no benefit to boosting posts within the Facebook platform. You need to have a pipeline mindset, not a response to a lack of response mindset. If a post isn’t generating interest, it’s time to move on to refining your outreach in a more effective direction. You would never try to use the same poor-quality leads twice in any other environment, so why do so by boosting posts?
Even if your post has been a success, advertising to the same people over and over again will annoy them, especially if you are using the exact same post over again. You need to make sure that you choose a primary offer to share with people, like booking an estimate, scheduling a service, or getting a quote. You then offer a conversion path like a lead form, and then you track things.
If the data shows that this combination of outreach is working, make new posts that use the same recipe, but don’t boost old content over and over again. You cannot accurately track interactions with boosted posts anyway, so they are not useful to you if you are trying to collect useful data from your efforts.
Remember that if you collect information from lead forms or sign-up sheets, you need to store this information securely. You don’t want to run into a data breach situation because of your lead generation process.
The FBI reported losses in excess of $16 billion in 2024. You need to take the potential for a breach seriously.
Retargeting That Really Works
You will want to retarget ads and outreach, but you need to do it right. You need to time-box audiences to remain within time periods, such as 7 days for hot leads, 30 days for warm leads, and 90 days for cool leads. You should also cap frequency. No one wants to see your ad 20 times or more. You need to use your budget the smart way.
Make sure to exclude recent customers and leads so that you don’t annoy people and make them unwilling to engage with any future outreach about your company.
A sequence ad can help you to do this. You should make one ad that has a proof image and a short explanation. Your second ad should have education information and your third should offer a means to convert, like quoting or booking an appointment.
Be aware that housing, employment, and credit or financial products are sensitive topics due to various types of legal oversight. Don’t wander into territory that can get you in trouble with the law.
Create Content That is Decision Content
Most content online these days is either entertainment content or announcement content. What you need to do is create content that forces a choice onto your audience. You need to pick four variables and rotate outreach using them on a weekly basis.
You should use what it costs, lessons learned, what to check, DIY vs Pro, how to choose a vendor, what can go wrong, permits and inspections content, timelines, maintenance that you should do, and meet the team content. These kinds of content share about your business, help create personal connections with your audience and help you to stand out from the crowd. When you are reaching out to other professionals, you should do specs discussions, how to pick products, sizing guides, scope clarity, deliverables, and other more technical content.
Never ever borrow images that you do not own. Don’t use customer photos without written permission. Be careful not to share personal information in completed job photos as well.
How to Set up a Facebook Routine
If you want to stay on top of your Facebook posting, set a good routine that you can stick to. On one day, you could spend about 10 minutes posting proof. In the middle of the week, take another 10 minutes to post decision-based content. At the end of the week use 10 minutes to post an invite conversation like a poll or a request for DMs to reply.
Any business owner can find the time to do this. Add other content when you have exciting announcements, like how you have hired a new staff member, how you are changing your hours, or how you are taking on new kinds of work or services.
You can internally link to anything else within your site that you think is relevant. Be careful not to post a ton of links to your products. You want to focus on the single item that you are “selling” in each post.
At USA Business Insurance, we know what it takes to run a successful company. You can count on us for affordable insurance products and an ongoing partnership that will make creating a thriving business a reality for you and your team.
