What are Facebook Lead Ads and how do they work: the ultimate guide

Facebook Lead Ads: what is it and why to use it, how to create a campaign and how to generate leads, tips and examples
Facebook
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9/5/2022
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6 min. read

Have you ever visited a website in search of information only to be forced to fill out arduous forms and endure several site redirects? This repels quite a few potential clients. Even though lots of individuals would like to learn more about your company, they are still reluctant to fill out time-consuming forms. Facebook Lead Ads provide the solution to this problem. It is the instrument developed by the social network in order to overcome this barrier and, hence, improve marketing techniques.

What is Facebook Lead Ad

Lead Ads are a sort of advertising that enables businesses to obtain data about their clients straight from mobile ads. They do not send traffic to a landing page; instead, they show promotional offers to the targeted users without ever quitting the FB app. Besides, Lead Ads gain all the data the business needs in a few simple taps. Advertisers can offer bonuses for answering the questions like store discounts, gift cards, free shipping of orders, free guides, PDF books, or brochures. Thus, this instrument helps companies to overcome people’s unwillingness to fill out forms and visit unknown websites.

How do FB Lead Ads work?

At first glance, Facebook Lead Ads are no different from ordinary advertising links. But when a person clicks them, he is not directed to any other website — he remains in the same app. The instrument loads an instant form, where a person can get acquainted with the brand’s products or services, current promotions, options for placing an order, and more. Advertisers determine themselves what kind of data their prospective clients should get and in what form. Along with the promotional content, Lead Ads contain an online form to be filled in. Where possible, Facebook prefills answers using the findings from the customer’s profile. Thus, the process of filling out a form becomes much easier and faster. Users have neither to load additional webpages, nor to lose time answering a lot of questions. Prefilled information cuts the barrier and blows up the fill rate. Moreover, the usability and design of the page remain the same, which enhances customers’ loyalty to the brand.

Why use Facebook Lead Ads?

Facebook Lead Ads provide companies with the help needed to find prospective buyers, who could be interested in the goods or services they offer. Using the instant form, businesses obtain important contact details, such as emails, telephone numbers, places of residence, and many more. Thus, Facebook Lead Ads allow businesses to address a number of challenges:

  • identify potential new clients and generate leads;
  • collect subscriber data for newsletters;
  • promote the downloading of white papers or brochures;
  • understand the preferences and needs of prospective customers;
  • increase customer enrollment in promotional programs;
  • obtain the best conversion rate with improved quality of leads at a far cheaper rate.

The Pros and Cons of Lead Ads

Like any other promotional tool, BF Lead Ads have their strong and weak sides.

Pros

  • Ease of use. Customers’ information is automatically filled in; users can answer questions without the involvement of a third-party site.
  • High efficiency. FB Lead Ads collect data more quickly, accurately, reliably, and with less effort compared to other advertising platforms.
  • Profitability. The instrument provides advertisers with more quality leads and a higher click-through coefficient at a far lower cost. - Security for users. Online forms are accessed without leaving Facebook’s secure network, therefore customers no longer have to be concerned about the security of the third-party network.
  • More precise targeting. Through hobbies, interests, occupation, demographics, and geography, advertisers can target their target audience with more accuracy.

Cons

  • Risk of getting poor-quality leads. This results from the simplicity of sending an application: many users, who are not really interested in your offer, can leave their contact data just out of interest. When you address them with your product or service, they are very likely to say “No”.
  • Complex processing of the results. Facebook collects all leads into a single file, and it takes quite a while to process this information, especially if there is lots of traffic. Advertisers have to link up to specialized utilities that deliver collected data to CRM.

How to set up FB Lead Ads

1.To launch a campaign, log into Facebook and open the “Ads Manager” section. Once here, click Create. 2.Pick Lead Generation as the goal of the ad. Click “Next”.

fb 1.png The interface of FB Ads Manager

3.Specify your FB Business Page. Click View Terms and then confirm that you agree with the social network’s terms and conditions.

4.Utilize the Dynamic Creative option. This is a method of programmatic advertising in which the promotional message is updated in real-time under the predefined rules. Dynamic creative takes images, titles, descriptions, and other advertising elements and optimizes them to deliver better results for each display of the ads.

5.Narrow down the market space by targeting your prospective customers. Use the following parameters:

a. Location — fine-tune your target audience based on where people live or travel.

b. Demographics — select the desired age, gender, family status, and language.

c. Interests — your prospective customers may be interested in sports, music, art, movies, traveling, etc.

d. Behaviors — target the people who perform certain actions, for example, order food delivery from restaurants.

e. Connections — select the users who have a connection to your brand in one way or another, for example, write reviews of your products.

fb 2.png Define the audience for your FB Lead Ads

6.Set the Budget and Schedule. Specify your overall budget and daily spending capacity, and note how long you intend the advertisement to run.

7.Set Ad Placements. Decide on the devices (mobile phones, desktops) and the platforms where the advertisements should be displayed. Instead of manually picking the places for the ads, you may use automatic placement.

8.Name your ad. If you are going to create multiple campaigns, give them different names. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to tell them apart and keep track of them.

9.Specify your social media accounts. If you only want your ads to be shown on Facebook, this will be provided automatically.

fb 3.png Select Lead method and choose the page you want to promote

10.Decide on Ad Format. There are several options to choose from: picture, video, carousel, or slideshow. Advertisers are allowed to add multiple images or clips to one advertisement. There is also the Instant Experience format which involves the creation of full-screen, mobile-optimized promotional mini-webpages.

11.Enter your text and upload media. Describe the subject of your advertisement and the offer for customers. Add headlines and relevant URLs and upload media files (photos, videos, GIFs, etc.).

12.Indicate your Call to Action (CTA) preference. There are six variants of call to action buttons: “Sign Up”, “Subscribe”, “Learn More”, “Apply Now”, “Get Quote”, and “Download”.

13.Establish Destination — where a customer will be sent after he has clicked your ad’s call to action button.

14.Make the Instant Form. Pick the most suitable form type in compliance with your purposes. Decide between “More Volume” and “Higher Intent”.

15.Set the list of questions. You can use standard (about jobs, hobbies, etc.) and custom ones. An instant form can have up to 15 questions.

16.Set the link to your Privacy Policy.

17.Build up your tracking system.

18.When everything is ready, click Finish, check your instant form, and submit it by pressing Confirm.

Your ad will start running and gathering leads once it has been authorized.

Facebook Advertising tips

Offer an attractive and competitive reward.

People generally are more inclined to provide their personal data if you are willing to repay them. Make sure the reward you offer is valuable and compelling to your prospective clients. A competitive reward, such as a discount code or free shipping, emphasizes the importance of the insights people provide. Examples of prestigious rewards:

  • monthly newsletter subscription;
  • discounts for goods or services;
  • pre-purchases;
  • free trials;
  • short-term deals;
  • early access to the material;
  • free guides;
  • PDF-books;
  • gift certificates for a specific sum;
  • samples of goods, souvenir products.

Pay special attention to ad design. Since most individuals learn best visually, design is crucial. Compared to words, we remember visuals significantly more quickly. Therefore, do the following:

  • make sure there are your brand symbols in the photos;
  • show photos of people using your items or services;
  • check that the graphics relate to the content and CTAs;
  • use short videos — they are very popular among social media users;
  • select large print and simple typography without an abundance of ornamentation;
  • use contrast to attract users’ attention.

Maintain a simple form. The simplicity of the form improves the completion rate. Each new question increases the likelihood of someone quitting the ad. Thus, the signup form should be brief and direct, without unnecessary questions ‘for future use’.

Plan a follow-up strategy. Follow-up is the most important phase in lead retention, and it is obligatory if you want to keep your clients. Develop a follow-up plan and stick to it. For example, as soon as a user has submitted your FB Lead Ad form, you can send thank you and welcome emails. Another variant is making a phone call; the ideal time window to do this is between 12 to 24 hours after the form completion.

Test and improve. Try to use a variety of texts, graphics, and calls to action to make the ad as effective as possible. You can take advantage of the Lead Ads Testing Tool, which helps to effectively plan marketing strategies. Testing helps advertisers figure out what is best suited for their ads; they get the opportunity to attract more purchasers and grow revenue.

Read how to use the FB Lead Ads Testing Tool in our blog.

How much do FB Lead Ads cost

Different researchers provide different insights into the cost of FB Lead Ads. Their results depend on the data sets they used for the investigation.

fb4.png According to Wordstream, FB Lead Ads prices are different in different reports

There are several factors determining the cost of ads on Facebook:

tabela fb.PNG

Other factors influencing FD Lead Ads cost involve click-through rate (CTR), your bidding principles, and the daily budget.

Сonclusion

  • Facebook Lead Ads help businesses attract targeted customers to the funnel and, therefore, boost sales. This instrument is far more effective in comparison with other forms of advertising.
  • Lead Ads do not send traffic to a landing page; instead, users are shown an instant form with prefilled answers. They are asked to check the information and add anything that is missing. Thus, the advertiser gains all the necessary data in a few simple taps.
  • This type of ad helps to overcome users’ reluctance to fill out online forms and drives sales. Besides, it allows advertisers to obtain valuable data concerning their prospect customers.
  • To roll out the campaign, open “Ads Manager”, mark lead generation as the objective, specify your target users, add images, text, and call to action, set the budget and schedule, and draw up an online form with all the necessary questions.
  • Get assured you offer a competitive reward for filling out your questionnaire. Pay special attention to the design of the ads — it should be attractive to your prospective customers. Develop the follow up strategy and test multiple creatives to select the most effective one.

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