Generating and Nurturing Facebook Leads

Originally published August 19, 2019 on the original SPEN10 blog. Lightly refreshed in October 2026: fixed broken links and noted where Facebook has changed. Meta has removed or consolidated some ad targeting options since this was written, so check the current Ads Manager for what's available.

Why you should generate leads on Facebook — and nurture them

You may be wondering, "How do I generate leads from Facebook?" or "If I already have some leads, should I be nurturing them?" The short answer to the second question is yes. Nurturing your leads means you get to know them, and they get to know you.

Once someone becomes a lead, they're no longer cold — but they still barely know you. Let's call them lukewarm. Nurturing them over time, so they learn who you are and what you do, greatly raises the chance they'll buy from you.

What exactly is a lead?

A lead is a person who gives you their contact information, allowing you to send them messages, value and content later on. The most common way to get leads is with an opt-in form. You can put one on your blog, or on its own in what's called a lead magnet funnel.

You can advertise either your blog or your lead magnet funnel on Facebook to generate leads. You can also share them on Facebook and other social networks to gain traction organically — but the organic route is usually much slower, especially at first, and done wrong it can do more harm than good.

Once someone joins your list, they're a lead, and you can send them information and offers at no cost. That's very powerful, because the whole system can be set up to run automatically.

The Facebook lead generation process

Here's the basic overview. You'll have a landing page where visitors can opt in. You then share the link to that page, either through paid Facebook ads or by providing value on Facebook — in groups or on your own profile.

Either way, when someone sees your link — from an ad or because you helped them out — they find you, and your link leads them to your landing page.

Generating paid leads on Facebook

I have a good amount of experience generating leads through paid ads, so let's start there. The first thing you need is an opt-in form. You can place it on an existing blog or website — the more traffic you already have, the better. But remember, you can start with no traffic. Everyone starts somewhere!

Once your opt-in page is ready, you can start creating ads and showing them to potential leads. Your ads should be congruent with your opt-in page: the style should match, and the ad copy should match what the opt-in page says.

Facebook lets you target a huge range of people. You can target by location, age and other demographics, and by interests and behaviors.

After defining your target audience, create the visuals — what people see when your ad appears. Text-only ads are possible but not recommended; lead generation is all about grabbing attention.

So at the very least, use eye-catching images, and use video whenever you can. Video tends to reach more people at a lower cost than images or text. More importantly, video gives you valuable data about who watches, which makes your future marketing better and cheaper.

When someone sees your ad and it grabs their attention, they'll click through to your opt-in page. Your conversion rate depends on how good your lead magnet is and how closely your page matches your ad. The better the offer and the more congruent the message, the more people will opt in.

Generating organic leads on Facebook

The other way is to generate leads organically. This takes longer, especially at first, because you have to build it up. Start by joining the groups in your niche. Then watch for people asking questions, and answer them as best you can.

Most groups will quickly ban you for dropping links or posting just to get people to visit your profile or lead magnet. If you post, provide real value without hinting at yourself, your business or your funnel. Done right, this is very powerful — people will go find you on their own.

If you go the organic route, I recommend turning your profile into a "profile funnel". Use your cover image to point visitors toward the link in your profile, and make sure that link goes to your opt-in page. Both your profile picture and cover image can have descriptions, so anyone who clicks them can find more information and your link there.

You can also point people in groups to your most helpful blog posts, as long as the group allows it — each with an opt-in attached.

Building a squeeze funnel

You'll need a page for collecting leads. A funnel is the fastest way to get going if you don't already have an established blog or website. A squeeze funnel is just two pages:

1. The opt-in page, where visitors enter their information in exchange for a free gift.
2. The thank-you page, where they land after opting in.

The thank-you page should explain exactly where to find their gift (usually their inbox). You can also add more information about your business, extra value, or an offer — but the main goal is to get them on your email list.

In 2019, I recommended ClickFunnels for building squeeze funnels (and every other kind of funnel). Of the site and funnel builders I'd tried, it was by far the easiest for beginners — a simple two-page funnel took about ten minutes with no tech skills.

Nurturing your leads

Once you have leads, communicate with them by providing value and getting to know them. Giving them valuable, free help early on means they get to know and like you, which increases the chance they'll buy from you later.

So what's the best way to nurture leads? Email marketing, of course! Once they're on your list, you can send them helpful content, promotions and offers with no ad cost. Just be careful, especially in the critical early stages.

Email marketing platforms let you set up automated sequences — for example, one email every day.

You can also set conditions. For example, send the next email in the series only after they open the previous one, or resend a slightly different version of the first email if they haven't opened it after a set time.

Many platforms also support tagging. You can tag leads based on their actions, which makes it easy to send certain emails to specific people instead of your whole list.

I recommended ActiveCampaign as an email platform — it's what I used at the time. I'd tried several others, and ActiveCampaign combined ease of use with one of the best feature sets and great deliverability.

Step one of nurturing: the welcome sequence

A welcome sequence is a series of emails sent automatically after someone joins your list. Four or five emails is common; it can be longer, but I recommend at least four.

The first email delivers the free gift they opted in for. You can send the next ones whenever you like — one, two or three days apart — but don't wait too long between them. People forget quickly who you are during these critical first days.

I send mine every 24 hours. That seems long enough not to be annoying, but short enough that they remember you. The most effective welcome sequence I've found is the "Soap Opera Sequence" from DotCom Secrets by Russell Brunson.

The Soap Opera Sequence tells a story over four or five emails, hooking the reader at the start of each one and ending on a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger sets up the next email, so readers expect it — and are often impatiently waiting for it.

Step two: managing your leads

Your email platform is also your lead management system. It sends your nurturing sequences automatically and lets you organize leads into lists and tags based on what each person does.

Keep track of this so you're not sending everyone the same thing no matter what. For example, if someone buys through one of your emails, tag them. Then you can stop sending them offers for what they already bought — or offer them something else instead.

It's also useful for handling people who never open your emails. You can set up your first email to send up to three times, changing the subject line and content each time so they don't get the exact same email three times.

If someone never opens any of them, remove them from your list after a set time. If they open one, send them on to the next email in your sequence. Lead nurturing is very effective when done properly.

Step three: keeping your list clean

Removing non-openers, as described above, keeps your list clean. Removing people who don't open three or four emails in a row greatly improves your open rates and deliverability.

Another way to keep your list healthy is to never buy email lists. Every person on your list should have agreed to receive your emails before you send them anything.

Bought leads are poor quality for you, no matter how good they were for whoever collected them, because those people have never heard of you. One day, out of the blue, they get an email from a stranger. That makes them very likely to report it as spam — and just a few spam reports can push all of your emails into spam folders, dramatically reducing your open rates.

The final step: your main list

The last step is to move your leads onto your main list. If they made it through the nurturing sequence and opened your emails, they're ready.

A great tactic many marketers use: start writing your main email sequence right after you finish the welcome sequence, before anyone has made it all the way through.

Have at least the first email ready, so when leads graduate from the nurturing sequence, they move straight into your main sequence. From there, you can write a new email once or twice a week (or even daily if you want).

From then on, the whole process runs like this: prospects opt in, they join the nurturing sequence, and if they open your welcome emails, they move to your main list.

As time goes by, your main list keeps growing — and you only have to write each email once, no matter how many leads go through your funnel and email system.

Questions?

Thanks for reading! If you need anything, email me at support@spen10.com.

P.S. If you're still not sure where to start, I recommend the One Funnel Away Challenge.

— Spencer

Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, SPEN10 may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I'm an independent ClickFunnels affiliate, not an employee, and these opinions are my own.