You're generating leads!
Now, you have to give yourself a better chance of converting them by staying top of mind.
How you do this?
By using one of the most undervalued and underused tactics around — Facebook Pixel Retargeting.
Seriously, hardly anyone uses this tactic and it freaking blows my mind! I am sure by now you have heard someone talk about the Facebook (FB) Pixel. If you haven't then you are in for a real treat. The FB pixel is, in my opinion, the most powerful ad tool that FB has in its arsenal. And unfortunately, everyone also thinks that it is the most confusing tool to use.
"What is an FB pixel and how do I use it?" is easily the most asked question I get. So many LOs do not understand what it is, let alone how to use it, so they never get a chance to experience the lead generation success it can create.
My focus in this article is to take a "101" approach so that in the end you will know two things:
- What the FB Pixel is from a foundational level
- How you could use it in a simple ad scenario
That's it and nothing more. Just two things. When building on any marketing tactic, you need to understand the basics first as that build the foundation. Master the basics and then move into more complex and advanced ways to use the pixel.
What the heck is a pixel?
I am sure you have heard the term "pixel" in other areas that have no relation to FB or marketing. However, in this case, we aren't talking about the Google smartphone or the photo quality of a digital camera. Our only focus is on the world of FB marketing and how the pixel fits into it. So let's start with that.
A pixel is a "short snippet of code that you install on your website or landing page."
See how easy that was? That is all it is, just code.
Ok, I know it really isn't that simple and if you are a visual learner like I am, you want to see exactly what it is. I have put a sample pixel code below so you can visually see what I am talking about. I am begging you though, don't let it send you for a loop, make sure to read through to the end.
A Facebook Pixel Code example is like below. While you may not be able to read it, remember code is the universal language for computer programs, so this should work in some form or another.
< script > ! function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s ) { if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod ? n. callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments) }; I f(!f.fbq)f.fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0 '; N .queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=! 0; T .src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0 ]; s.p arentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'scri pt', 'h ttps://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.j s'); F bq('init', '46077402769346 1'); F bq('track', 'PageView '); < noscript>
Now, this is when people's eyes either "bug out" or "glaze over", I get it, but STAY WITH ME. Don't let all the numbers, letters, and symbols mixed complicate it for you. Why? Because you don't need to know what any of that means in order to use it. But I did want you to see what the code looks like in its default state. Now what I have done below is translate that pixel code above into plain English.
I am just going to chill until someone visits my website.
Oh! Looks like John/Jane Doe just visited my website.
Let me see if John/Jane Doe has an FB account.
John/Jane Doe does have an FB account! Sweeeet! I better record and track this visit in Frazier's FB ad manager in case he wants to target John/Jane with some FB ads down the road.
Does the code make more sense now? Hopefully, seeing that code from a human perspective will take the complexity out of what it does. Are you still a little confused? Try this. When I teach agents and LOs about the Pixel, I use this example below and it usually hits home every time.
Think of your website as an open house. Think of the Pixel as the sign-in sheet.
Mind, blown, right? When someone visits an Open House, an agent/LO has a sign-in sheet to record and track those people who visit. Why? So you can market to them later, among other reasons. The beauty of the FB pixel, as opposed to the sign-in sheet, is that it all happens automatically behind the scenes to EVERY visitor to your website without any user intervention. Pretty powerful and useful, right?
As as a consumer, you probably experienced this yourself. You went to Amazon or another website, looked at a product, and then magically saw exactly what you were looking for on Facebook. Right?
Now that we have a basic understanding of what an FB pixel is, let us look at a simple scenario on how you could use it. We will make a lot of assumptions in this scenario, but all of it based on real-life examples.
Assumptions:
- You have a website, landing, or squeeze page with "lead magnet" content
- You have a Facebook account
- You want leads
Scenario: Here is how you could use the pixel when using a Home Valuation lead magnet site. (You could easily have a site about Home Affordability, FHA, VA, etc..) But let's go We will break down the process into two parts.
1) Track & Record
Set up your Home Valuation Landing Page (WhatIsMyHouseWorth.com). You would then install your FB pixel on WhatIsMyHouseWorth.com. In the FB ads manager, you would tell the pixel to record and track all the visitors to WhatIsMyHouseWorth.com. You would also create a "custom audience" for all of that visitor data to be dumped into.
2) Using the Data
Now that you have a custom audience in the FB ads manager, you can then run "retargeting ads" to all those people who visited WhatIsMyHouseWorth.com. You do this if you didn't convert them when they first visited WhatIsMyHouseWorth.com.
That is it. The two parts of using the pixel in simple terms. Now let's see this in action.
John/Jane Doe visits WhatIsMyHouseWorth.com because they are interested in possibly selling their home. They are on the website but decide to not enter their information to get their home valuation. The next day John/Jane are watching some tantalizing food videos on FB, and in their news feed, they see an ad from WhatIsMyHouseWorth.com saying "Most people make the mistake of not knowing what their house is worth before deciding to sell. Click here to see our FREE report on what your house is worth." John/Jane start thinking, "Well we don't want to make any mistakes, and we do want to look into selling, let's go ahead and see what our house is worth."
Boom, you now have a converted them to a lead that you can then nurture to a listing.
The above scenario is just one example of the power in using the FB pixel for retargeting/remarketing to convert visitors to leads. Without any tracking on your website, you are losing out on leads and by extension, money. If you are still a little fuzzy and want an in-depth look, then you are in luck.
NEED MORE INFO? HousingWire is sponsoring our Facebook Retargeting Mastery webinar that is happening on November 13 at 10 a.m. PST. This will be a complete step-by-step presentation where we give you everything you need to know about this tool.
