We will explain to you what exactly lead ads are and why you should use this highly effective function for yourself.
"B2B decision makers also sit on the couch at night and surf through Facebook."
Lead ads can be placed on social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Since the end of 2019, Google Ads offers this option as well to generate contact requests. Whereas previously leads could only be generated by visiting the company website including a contact form. Forms with this special advertising format can now be integrated directly into the ads and the respective platforms. This enables you to enter lead data quickly and directly.
As soon as a person clicks on the lead ads, a form will open that asks for user-defined information (e.g. e-mail address). On Facebook for example it’s possible to display a thank you page. This depends on the settings of the network.
The special feature of Facebook or LinkedIn: The displayed form is automatically filled out based on the shared information. For example, the email address by which the user is registered on Facebook appears independently in the "email address" form field and the user doesn’t have to fill in the information manually. Especially for users of mobile devices, filling out forms is often cumbersome, and AutoFill makes it a real relief. A further advantage: Incorrect entries can be reduced, and you have a qualified database which you can use later.
Smooth user experience
The decisive advantage here is that the forms are integrated within the platform and the users do not have to leave the platform to fill in the form.
This is a hurdle that should not be underestimated and there are fewer interruptions due to a change of website.
Another benefit for you and your prospects: Every social media platform is optimized for use on mobile devices. And therefore, automatically the advertisement you want to place. With less effort than before, you can reach users on computers and especially mobile devices.
Uncomplicated lead generation
For many companies the generation of qualitative leads is one of the most important marketing goals. With this method you can easily collectfor examplee-mail addresses of interested parties and generate leads.Younow save time and resources to create an extra landing page that would otherwise have to be linked to. The process of data collection can be made much more efficient. There is also a whole new flexibility when placing campaigns. You can now easily start campaigns without having to check in the first step whether a corresponding page already exists on your website.
Efficient and simple approach to your target group through targeting
Social media is used by many people at any time of the day and you can reach your target audience on the couch in the evening, not just during office hours. Users can also connect with the company whenever they want. Now the question arises how to reach your target group.
In order to reach the right users, social media platforms offer extensive targeting possibilities and thus enable you to precisely address your desired target group.
Among other things, you can build up targeting or retargeting lists in the respective platforms in order to continue to work with them.
Custom audience based on (non-)completed forms
Using the list, you can not only highlight people who have filled out your form, but you can also capture the target audience who have only looked at or clicked on your ad without filling out the form. With this information you have several additional options to address the form dropouts again with advertising and still convert them into a lead.
Custom audience based on website visitors
Another option is your website custom audience. Your own website visitors are marked by a pixel on your website, corresponding to the respective platform, in order to find and address them later this network.
Look-a-like-audience based on completed forms & website visitors
If you have already collected user data, you can use it to address your look-a-like audience. This way you can reach a target group that is similar to your website visitors or previously generated leads but has not yet resulted in a contact request.
Before you place a lead ad, it should be clear what you want to achieve with it. Should users register for further information or newsletters or do they receive certain content, such as e-books or whitepapers, in return for entering their data? It is essential that the ad clearly communicates what the interested party is registering for and what they will receive from you in return.
Our tip: A successful lead ad must convince the user in the news feed or on the search results page. He should be able to recognize the core message immediately and be convinced by it.
As previous mentioned, it is not always a question of the sheer mass of leads. Rather, a balance between volume and quality is the decisive success factor.
Many leads without relevant background information may look promising at first glance but can prove to be useless - at the latest when they are handed over to Sales - if important information is still missing or incorrect information has been provided.
However, if your focus is exclusively on the qualitative aspect and you ask for too much information in the form, the number of incoming potential interested parties is drastically reduced and you may lose new contacts.
Our tip: Install only a few necessary hurdles at the beginning, also to increase the users' feeling of security.
This means that only very important form fields should be added to your lead ad at the beginning. You can then gradually adjust and test whether the traffic remains the same with more form fields or whether there are more terminations for example. This way, you can approach slowly and get a good feeling on what to "expect" from your target group and how much information is necessary for you to be able to continue working with it later.
With this method, two lead ads running in parallel with different text or image content are activated. You can then use interactions and interaction rates to compare them and analyze the preferences of your target group. The conclusions you draw from this will be useful in the long term when planning your lead ads.
Our tip: Alternate regularly with different content pieces (e.g. Whitepaper A and Whitepaper B) and place them in parallel. Long-term testing and analysis will pay off.
Facebook Lead Ads
Our tip: If you select Higher purchase intention, your form will be supplemented by a review preview where users can check and confirm their information.
LinkedIn Lead Ads
Our tip: Choose a clear, meaningful name for your campaign group, especially if several employees or departments of your company are involved in the campaigns. This way everyone knows which campaign it is
Step 1 Here you cansetbasic settings for your campaign:
Step 2 Set up ads: can you create the actual ad with form
Google Lead Ads
If you include these tips and tricks in the planning of your lead campaigns, nothing should stop you from a successful lead generation.
However, if you still want expert advice regarding B2B campaigns, our TrustedTargeting team will be pleased to help you implement your campaigns. With a team of online marketing specialists, we can provide you with competent advice at any time and successfully implement your lead ads. A benefit is our valuable B2B database of numerous industries, which enables us to address your target group on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Ads.
Get informed now and generate valuable B2B leads in no time with the Trusted Targeting Tool: 1 interface - 5 ad networks - 159 segments. Reach Messe München's high-quality B2B target groups on Facebook, Google & Co. All in one marketing tool and for every expert level.