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Should You Be Using Facebook Lead Ads?

Should You Be Using Facebook Lead Ads?

Social Media
Are you looking to promote service department deals, offer test drives, or even just grow your email subscription list? Facebook might have a solution for you, for a price. If the social media site is one of your current ways to drive traffic, Leads Ads are an innovative tool that collect information from users interested in your business, and if you aren't using Facebook to drive traffic, you should be.
 
What Are Lead Ads?
            Lead Ads are customizable forms that allow users to show interest in your business. They also allow you to collect information and follow up with prospective customers. These ads can be used to promote new products and models, or even to schedule service appointments and test drives.
 
How do they work?
            Lead Ads appear in people's news feeds on Facebook (you've definitely seen ads in your own Facebook feed!) The ads are targeted to specific audiences according to who you want to focus on. You can target by several aspects, from geography to professions. 
            As the ads are seen, people will have the option to click on a button like “schedule a test drive” or “see more.” The button pulls up the form and it will already be populated with their name and email address (which is awesome). You can even add questions like car make, model, trim, year, and what dealership they've been to. Just remember, the more questions you ask the less likely someone is going to fill them all out. 
             Facebook collects the information and allows you to download lead reports in real time for easy management. Because users are sharing personal information, Facebook does require all advertisers to link their business website’s privacy policy when creating Lead Ads. 
 
What You'll Like About Lead Ads:
  • Appear quickly
  • Smartphone-friendly forms
  • Don't make users leave Facebook to submit
  • Audience targeting for better results
  • After submitting, there is an option to continue on to your website.
 
What's the Downside of Lead Ads:
  • They tend to be a bit more expensive per lead than other campaigns.
  • They're not recommended for new dealerships, or ones with a small amount of followers. People will be more likely to participate when they know who you are. 
  • There's a fine line between too many questions that will lower conversion rates, and not enough questions that will result in poor quality leads. 
 
How do I get the most bang for my buck?
  • Narrow it down.
Think quality over quantity. Target the people who are likely to be interested. Your audiences can be created to resemble current customers, by age, profession, location, and much more.
  • Keep it short.
Try not to use open-ended questions (the questions where they type their own response). Facebook suggests using multiple choice questions, they are quick to answer and you get specific answers. Also try to stick to three questions max (besides name and email). 
  • Be realistic with budgets.
Facebook offers manual and automatic bidding. While manual allows you to set specific times the ads will run, automatic ads will be seen when Facebook believes the best audience is looking. The biggest thing is know what you can spend. If your budget is too small, your campaign won’t be effective no matter how fantastic your ads are.
  • Make the ad for your customers.
What visuals do your clients want to see? What words are going to get them interested? 
  • Follow up on the leads.
Responding to customer inquiries quickly and consistently gives you the most bang for your buck and shows the customers you're paying attention. What's the point of spending money to get leads if you don't follow up?
 
            Facebook Lead Ads take care of some of the heavy lifting of gathering leads, but it’s up to you to decide if these campaigns are right for your business. It’s important to think about your customers, and what will interest them. 
 
By Katelyn Siegert, HPR Marketing Assistant Account Manager
 
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