When any business running lead generation campaigns, Facebook advertisers have two options: use the conversion campaign objective to send prospects to a dedicated landing page, or use the lead generation objective to convert leads on Facebook. To run effective ad campaigns on Facebook, it’s important to know the differences between these two methods and the results to expect.
Let’s cover the basics of Facebook Lead Ads and landing pages and the benefits to each.
Facebook Lead Ads
Facebook Lead Ads have been around for a couple of years and are not new, though many advertisers are still unsure of how to use them effectively.
Lead Ads can be found in a person’s news feed. When they scroll through, the ad pops up along with a call to action. When the person clicks on the CTA, a form opens up and the person fills out their information. The info is submitted and the person becomes a lead.
Lead Ads are informative and provide users with:
- A form to fill out
- A description of your form
- Questions to qualify leads
- Your privacy policy
- A review option
- A thank you screen
The benefit to Lead Ads is that the user can convert without leaving Facebook or waiting for a new page to load. It’s fast, easy and streamlined, with just 6-8 touches needed. Not to mention, you get plenty of information to qualify your lead.
Facebook Landing Pages
An alternative to Lead Ads is landing pages. If your campaign goal is to acquire leads, you’ll need to send users to a landing page to fill out a form. Just like Lead Ads, you can ask the same form questions and qualify the lead using the same information. The difference is that you direct the person to a landing page outside of Facebook.
Generally speaking, physically directing a user off-site means longer wait times, more touches and more information. While this may seem to deter people from filling out your form, it can increase the quality of your leads. After all, they are waiting for the page to load and going through more touchpoints to convert.
Is There a Winner?
In the end, there is no clear winner between Lead Ad campaigns and landing page campaigns. Lead Ads seem to result in more lead volume, whereas landing pages result in higher quality leads.
It does appear that Lead Ads are underutilized, probably because marketers are used to traditional conversion campaigns. So, if you haven’t given them a try yet, be sure to add Lead Ads to your social media marketing mix. You might be surprised by the results they deliver!
