Online advertising has always followed a simple formula: an ad drives customers to a landing page where they are enticed to buy a product or schedule a consultation. The closer the ad and the landing page work together, the more effective your ad becomes.
(Don’t remember what a landing page is? We’ve got you covered)
Facebook lead ads will change all of that.
Lead ads look identical to regular ads. Heck, they can even be video ads or carousel ads. The difference is that when someone clicks on the ad, they won’t be taken to an external URL. Instead, a small pop-up form will appear asking for someone’s name, email, or any other information. It’s a very innovative type of advertisement that makes Facebook more accessible.
Pros
Saves you time
Landing pages are definitely easier to build than regular websites, but they can still be time-consuming. One of the most important tenets of online advertising is that your advertisement has to match your landing page visually. Designing and tweaking multiple landing pages to match different ads can become a serious time sink.
Less work for our audience
As advertisers we have to assume that our audiences have very short attention spans. Even if they are interested in what you’re selling, they may give up halfway if they feel like the process is complicated, confusing, or just taking too long.
Instead of clicking your ad, reading through a landing page, and manually filling out a form, lead ads will PRE-FILL the form based on information from their Facebook account. They can automatically fill out their information in seconds they need without ever leaving the page.
Many opt-in options
Fellow Canadians (eh?) like us will understand the sting of Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (or CASL) when it comes to collecting emails or personal information. Lead Forms can allow you to add custom disclaimers to make sure you’ve asked all the right questions and covered your tracks. (Don’t know what CASL is? Check this out)
Cons
Limited design
The lead form is simple and clean, but visually, it can’t compare to a gorgeous looking landing page. Other landing page mainstays like videos, full-width headers, and testimonials aren’t possible using these lead forms.
No editing
A minor gripe, but after you create a form, you cannot go back and edit it. Your only options are to duplicate an existing one or start from scratch. This isn’t a big deal, but it can be annoying.
Limited reach
A significant chunk of our clicks and impressions actually come from Facebook’s display network, not Facebook itself. Lead form ads only target desktop and mobile users on Facebook, so this may result in a smaller audience for your clicks.
Our verdict?
Honestly, Facebook Lead Ads are too cool to pass up. Don’t dump all your landing pages just yet, but we strongly recommend split-testing a portion of your ads and checking if there’s been any improvement to your conversion rate.
