Back in 2015, Facebook announced Lead Ads as a way to collect leads without sending users to your website.
In this post, we’ll talk more about what Facebook lead ads are, how they work, how to set them up, and things to consider.
Let’s explore…
How it Works
Facebook lead ads look like any other link ad when presented to a user. But, once clicked, the user isn’t redirected to a website. Instead, it immediately loads an Instant Form.
The advertiser determines what information they want to collect, from standard contact information to creating custom questions. When possible, Facebook will prefill answers for the user that can be pulled from their profile (things like name and email address). The user can still edit the prefilled answers.
As a result, completing a form becomes significantly easier for the user. No web page to load. No concerns about mobile usability or poor design. The barrier is cut dramatically with prefilled answers.
Create a Campaign and Ad Set
To create Facebook lead ads, you need to utilize the Leads objective.
Within the ad set, make sure that Instant Forms is selected as your conversion location.
You’ll set up your targeting and placements the way you normally would.
Ad Creation Basics
When you create your ad, you’ll have the option of using a carousel or single image/video.
We’ll walk through this while using a single image, but make sure you understand the image dimensions and character limits.
The initial ad setup for a Facebook lead ad is nearly identical to the setup for a typical link ad.
You’ll provide an image or video, primary text, headline, description, and a call-to-action button.
You can create a new instant form or select from one you previously created.
Create an Instant Form
I wrote a detailed guide that walks you through the process of creating an instant form. Make sure you read it, because it’s dense!
There’s a whole lot covered here, including:
- Form Types: More Volume, Higher Intent, Rich Creative
- Custom Questions
- Conditional Logic
- End Screen: Go to Website, View File, Call Business, Redeem Promo Code
Collecting Leads
Once your campaign runs and you begin collecting leads, a link will appear within the ad-level reporting under “Results.”
Click that…
You’ll be able to download new leads, download leads by date, or use your Leads Center within your Facebook page. The files are XLS or CSV format. This may be sufficient for low volume, but understand that these leads just sit there unless you are using integration to automatically sync to your CRM.
Facebook has a ton of integration partners to help accomplish this.
We won’t go through all of the details here, but I use Zapier for my CRM integration with Facebook lead ads.
Potential Disadvantages
There are a few things to be aware of with Facebook lead ads.
1. CRM Integration. As just mentioned above, this isn’t as seamless as it probably should be. You need to set up a solution in most cases, particularly if you have any volume or if registrants expect an immediate response.
2. Quality Concerns. The easier you make something, the more you need to worry about low quality. If answers to your questions can be prefilled from a user’s profile, the registrant may not look to be sure that information is accurate and current. They may provide an old email address. Or, they may simply click through quickly without even realizing they submitted something.
3. Optimization Options. As mentioned earlier, you need to use the Lead Generation objective to get access to lead ads, and you can only optimize for leads. That means you can’t utilize lead ad forms while also optimizing for engagement, clicks, reach, and other options. That feels like a missed opportunity.
4. No Website Traffic. Yes, it’s nice to make things easier. But, sometimes it’s also nice having control and getting that website traffic. While the final step can send people to your website, they aren’t required to do that (they already completed the submission anyway). So, you might lose some cross-sell opportunities as a result.
While that means you can’t take advantage of website custom audiences in this case, you are able to create Lead Form Engagement custom audiences based on people who opened, submitted, or didn’t submit your form.
Additional Resources
There is plenty that can be learned about lead ads. Here are a few links for additional reading:
- A Guide to Instant Forms
- Redeem Promo Code for Lead Forms
- What is a Good Cost Per Lead?
- Use Conditional Logic to Improve Lead Quality
- Results: Testing Quality Leads from Instant Forms vs. Website
- How to Get High Quality Leads from Facebook Lead Ads
Your Turn
What do you think of Lead Ads? Are you using them? What results are you seeing?
Let me know in the comments below!
