1,586% More Conversions at 1/8th The Cost

Do you rely on lead generation to bring in new business? Leads are the lifeblood of many companies… and the email address is both the modern day phone number and business card.

Is your primary lead gen channel your website’s Contact Us form? Is your call-to-action one of the following?

• • Get in touch!
  • Let’s talk.
  • Request a free consultation

Then read on… We’ve helped many companies get their lead gen off the ground when very few to no leads were coming in… all the way to scaling to hundreds of leads per day… and decreasing cost per lead to a mere eighth, 1/8th, of the price!

Or maybe you’re already running lead form campaigns and looking for ways to crank up their ROI and decrease your cost per lead. Check out the best practices below. Implementing just one of these extra options can double your conversion rate.

What are Facebook Lead Ads?

Facebook Lead Ads(also called Instant Forms) are a relatively new lead capture tool. Traditionally, a user would click on an ad, visit your website, browse around… and then maybe submit a contact form. With Facebook Lead Ads, users cut to the chase and immediately submit their contact information. These are available on Instagram as well.

What do Facebook Lead Ad Forms Look Like?

They’re awesome because they solve two of the biggest technical hurdles in lead generation:

1. Web page load time: Google reports that most sites lose half their visitors while loading. That’s INSANE, and when you’re being charged by the click (CPC), you must essentially double it to find your real CPC.
2. Filling out contact information: Typing in and double checking email addresses and phone numbers is a PAIN, especially on mobile. Facebook & Instagram lead forms will auto-populate a user’s information from their Facebook profile into the lead form.

It’s frustrating to pay a bunch of money for advertisements, only to find that visitors are clicking on your ad, but then dropping off at some point in the conversion process. Ugh. All these ad dollars spent and no ROI. How many times have you, as a user, given up on a webpage because it took too long to load? How many times do you ‘X’ out of a tab because it’s taking too long. Or how many times do you close an app? We do it all the time and don’t even realize it. Lead Forms are the solution.

Secondly, think of a time that you were away from home, maybe walking to a meeting, maybe at the gym, and you needed to send a long response to a work message. I’m sure your reaction was “I’ll wait till I get home when I can sit down at my computer and type out my best response”. Contact forms are typically much simpler than that, but the same psychological factors are at play… I’ll do it later.

That’s the biggest psychological hurdle that you need to mitigate… Facebook and Instagram Lead Form Ads do that very well.

Keep in mind that the MAJORITY of website traffic now MOBILE. Mobile is convenient and mobile is highly accessible. But filling out contact forms on your phone is a nightmare. Mobile is slow. It’s terrible at multitasking…  and notifications constantly distract us away from what we’re doing, the average person receives 63 notifications per day. Again, Facebook AUTO-POPULATES CONTACT INFORMATION. Literal game changer.

When are lead form ads most effective?

• • Poor performing websites (slow, unsecured, trust issues).
  • Unfamiliar brands or websites (users stay in the platform–on Facebook/Instagram).
  • A sales process that is high-touch or requires follow-up.
  • Don’t have a shopping cart or self-checkout function.
  • High ticket offers.
  • List-building initiatives.
  • …and almost any lead gen process.

Hacking Lead Gen

Great, so now you’re familiar with lead ads and maybe you’ve started running a campaign are seeing some results. Ready to take it to the next level? Ready to start seeing real ROI. Hell yes. Ok, let’s dive into the good stuff.

Basic Lead Gen Principles: If you’re just getting started with lead gen.

1. 1. Make it as simple as possible… Statistically, for every additional input field, there is some percentage of users that will drop-off and not submit. You likely only need their email address.
   2. Add a time-constraint or scarcity… a reason they should submit NOW. Conquer the “I’ll do it later”
   3. Follow up ASAP… the longer you wait the more your call-to-action fades in your prospects mind.

Advanced Facebook Lead Gen Tips

Increasing ROI…

1. 1. Retarget users who open the form but did not submit.
   2. Send an automatic follow-up.
   3. Provide an option to contact you immediately.
   4. Add a second call-to-action, up-sell, or cross-sell.
   5. Hone your targeting and messaging.
   6. Retarget on other platforms (LinkedIn).

1. Retarget users who open the form but did not submit.

Facebook has some of the most advanced retargeting options all around and it’s true with Lead Ads as well. Be sure to create at least one ad set that retargets users who opened your lead form, but didn’t submit.

We recommend retargeting ads to use a different offer and different selling point. Either they just didn’t get around to submitting or there’s some reason they didn’t convert from the first interaction. Take a different angle, add another constraint (ie. time is running out), or sweeten the deal (they’ve already indicated some interest opening your form… capitalize on this warm audience!).

Also, make sure to exclude users who have already converted from any other audiences in use.

Retarget Lead Ad Forms: People who opened but didn’t submit form

2. Send an automatic follow-up.

Remember, the longer it takes you to make contact with the prospect, the more their memory fades.

Facebook integrates with a number CRMs out of the box. If your CRM is on that list – great, connect the systems and make sure new leads receive an immediate follow-up.

If you’re not on that list or don’t use a CRM… don’t worry. My favorite option is actually Zapier. There’s so much you can do with it. Zapier can transfer data to nearly any system, it can backup your leads to a spreadsheet, and you can send messages right from there.

Collecting phone numbers instead of email addresses? Use an automatic text messaging service. Text messages are opened 98% of the time!

3. Provide an option to contact you immediately.

You’re collecting leads… but some percentage of people will be hot and ready buyers. Maybe they’re in need of your solution NOW.

Make it easy for them to escalate themselves. List a phone number and email address on the Thank You page.

4. Add a second call-to-action.

This is game changer that most advertisers pass right over. Just like providing them an option to contact you… why would you ever put a brick wall at the end of the customer journey?

Instead, provide a second call-to-action. Such as:

• • Like Our Page.
  • Start Free Trial.
  • Receive 10% Off Now.
  • Invite A Friend.

They’re already a hot prospect, interested in your offer and you’re top of mind. Let them upsell and cross-sell themselves. There’s always some percentage of people who will want more.

See the screenshot above for an example.

5. Hone your targeting and messaging.

Currently the only “When You Get Charged” option is Impression for Lead Ads. That means your charged every time Facebook shows your ad to someone. Every time, no matter if they click, convert, or scroll right on past to the next dog meme.

That’s different than CPC (cost-per-click), where you only get charged when someone engages. CPC is great because you can call out your target audience or disqualify other audiences right in your ad copy. “Marathon runners can decrease soreness with…” (Your average treadmill user is less likely to click) or “Homeowners with lawn care issues can try…” (Condo owners or renters are less likely to click). Typically we use these to call out demographics we can’t target.

Watch your conversion demographics like a hawk. If you notice that older users account for more of your conversions? Then limit the age range of your targeting. Notice that you receive very few leads on the weekends (commonly for B2B campaigns, when people are not in that mindset on the weekends)? Then limit your campaign to only run during workdays. Optimize towards the sweet spot and you’ll eliminate wasted impressions and wasted ad dollars.

It’s better to be more specific in targeting of your lead ads. If you see that your ads are not showing, then expand, but keep in mind you’ll be charged each time your ad is shown.

Check out this example above from the first day of a campaign. On day one we immediately see that woman 25-34 are the best converting age group. If this trend continues, hone your targeting and messaging to this specific demographic. Update your targeting to be women 25-34. Update your images to use young women, speak directly to them and use wording they understand and resonate with.

6. Retarget on other platforms (LinkedIn).

Once you have their email address, they’ve indicated interest. Keep that lead warm with display ads on other platforms, such as the Google Display Network, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

These are great opportunities for lead nurturing while your salesperson hurries to make contact. Did the lead sign-up over the weekend? Many times they’d forget by Monday, but if you retarget maybe they’ll have seen your logo a handful more times and by the time Monday rolls around you’ll still be top of mind.

So, we’ve covered a lot here from information about Lead Ads to tips and best practices for optimizing your campaigns. Lead Ads are still new and a great opportunity to get ahead of your competition. Go give them a try and let me know if you have any questions!

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