In 2015 Facebook launched its newest form of advertising – Lead Ads. While it has been a few years since its creation, Lead Ads are just now starting to gain traction in the business world. Facebook ad campaigns are multi-functional and Lead Ads are no different. Defined by Facebook as “a way to collect information from people interested in becoming your customer,” here is how it works.
You create an ad of your choice targeted to your intended audience. Clicking on the ad, the potential subscriber answers your designated questions and then is forwarded to a form with their information already entered (Facebook pulls this information from their profile). They are prompted to agree to your company’s policy information and upon a confirmation click, are added to your email list. All of this is done through the Facebook website or app. It is perfect for mobile use and incredibly efficient! Lead Ads are a viable way to increase your email list due to immediate completion of the form- increasing your chances of subscribers becoming actual customers. Now what do you do with your collected leads? You can either download them straight from Facebook or connect your ads with your customer relationship management (here at Datachieve we use MailChimp). A subscription will automatically send your set confirmation email to the recipient. Lead Ads work especially well for businesses selling a service; such as classes, consulting, or appointments. However, the sign-up form centered aspect could be beneficial for those companies looking to expand their email list by offering a coupon in exchange for the subscriber’s contact information.
Like any ad product, there are pros and cons to Lead Ads.
Pros:
- Facebook’s assistance. They help you set up a budget through an automatic service that allows you to get the most views possible for your bid per ad and they assist you in setting up your ad to the best possible audience.
- Easy setup (too long of a form takes away the efficiency aspect of the ad).
- Customizability to set up any form of questions you like.
- You can create any type of illustrative/photo/video for the header.
- Your Lead Ad can automatically add the new subscriber to your CRM which, in turn, can send a “Welcome” email, coupon, or link.
Cons:
- The customer is not automatically redirected to your site after they submit their contact information and must click a link to visit.
- A privacy policy is mandatory (but you can make it as long or as short as you like).
Now, if the idea of creating this form and privacy policy sounds like too much for what you are trying to achieve, consider a Facebook Carousel Ad. Carousel Ads are singular ads that have multiple screens that you swipe through (within the ad). You can have up to 10 pictures of content (aka up to 10 screens to swipe through). Carousel Ads are most efficiently used to show a step by step process, how to, or a progression of information or pictures. Much like Lead Ads, these can be used for coupons but instead of the ad pulling up a form, it directs the customer to either your website where they can access the coupon via email subscription or to automatically download the coupon. Unfortunately, you cannot combine the Lead Ad format with Carousel Ads.
Part of finding out which ads work best for you and your business is through trial and error. So patience is key when you begin testing out your options! Take a look at the Lead we recently completed for Roasthouse Pub! The videos play automatically as Facebook users scroll through their news feed and, when a viewer opts in, they are added to the Roasthouse mailing list and receive a discount coupon by email.
Paige Kutzera is a rising sophomore at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA. She is pursuing a double major in Communications and Food Marketing. She currently interns at DatAchieve Digital where she is gaining production and web