By lkolowich@hubspot.com (Lindsay Kolowich Cox)

Most marketers know that Facebook is more than just another social media platform. It’s an essential business tool for companies of every size and industry.

With a daily active user base of over 1.8 billion (98.3% or 1.73 billion of which are on mobile alone), you know Facebook can help you reach new audiences you may otherwise have been unable to get.

Facebook can also help you get found more easily in search, create a community around your business, promote the content you create, and develop a strong brand identity.

But what about using Facebook for lead generation?

Attracting new leads using Facebook — leads that might eventually turn into paying customers — is one of the most intriguing reasons to use Facebook marketing. However, many marketers still fail to use Facebook to source leads. You’d be losing out on reaching thousands or millions of potential customers if you’re one such marketer.

Even if you’re currently generating leads on Facebook, we all could probably use a little boost in our lead generation efforts. And that’s why we created this guide.

To make sure we’re all on the same page, let’s start with what a lead is (and isn’t) and the two types of leads you can generate on Facebook.

What is a Facebook lead?

A lead is a person who has indicated an interest in your company’s product or services by giving you their information in some way. A lead can show interest in various ways: by filling out a form to download an ebook, requesting a demo, or completing an online survey.

Unfortunately, simply liking a status update, photo, or video on your Facebook page doesn’t qualify someone to become a Facebook lead. That type of action doesn’t indicate interest in your company or product/services, as it’s possible they just liked your post because it had a cute puppy in it, you know?

Below, let’s review the two types of leads you can capture on Facebook and what their differences are.

The 2 Types of Leads You Can Capture on Facebook

There are two types of leads you can generate on Facebook: direct and indirect leads.

Don't miss this live virtual event with Facebook and HubSpot on how to grow your business faster than ever with Facebook.

Direct Leads

A direct Facebook lead is generated by sharing content that links directly back to a lead form on your website. Visitors then share information in exchange for an offer — whether an ebook, coupon, infographic, or any other piece of content. This form is typically on a landing page dedicated to that specific offer.

Indirect Leads

Indirect leads are generated by using Facebook on the path to conversion. For example, if you share a blog post containing a call-to-action to a landing page at the bottom of the post, your initial Facebook share indirectly leads visitors to that landing page.

While directly promoting landing pages is an instant gratifier of leads generated, …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron