Back in June, Facebook announced that it was testing a new ad option called 'Lead Ads', which would enable advertisers to gather contact information and queries from potential customers by giving them the ability to collect such data from Facebook direct (with user consent). The process streamlines the customer connection process, particularly via mobile device, making it easy for people to quickly get in touch with brands and seek more specific information - users click on the call to action button in an ad and they're taken through the process, feeding the info back to that business.
The offering is designed to make it as simple as possible for brands to get customer data and facilitate more valuable direct connections - and now, Facebook has announced that Lead Ads are open to all advertisers, with a range of additional features to improve the offering's functionality and use.
Making a Connection
There are currently six call to action options for Lead Ads:
- Sign Up
- Subscribe
- Learn More
- Apply Now
- Get Quote
- Download
Based upon each, advertisers can build in additional questions and data collection points in order to improve the feedback they receive. When a user clicks on your Lead Ad, a form opens with the person's contact information automatically populated, based on the information they share on Facebook - like name and e-mail address (as per the above screenshots).
From the official announcement:
"Automatically populating the contact information that people share with Facebook makes filling in the form as fast as two taps: one click on the ad to open the form and another to submit the autofilled form."
Once users are in the Lead Ads window, they are able to edit what information they submit - nothing is sent to the advertiser till the user clicks the 'submit' button. But once they do, they're giving consent for that information to be used by that advertiser.
As part of the new additions to the offering, Facebook is now giving businesses the ability to customize Lead Ads with open-ended or multiple choice questions, enabling them to better tailor their data to be more applicable for their, specific purposes. For example (and as in the screenshots above), advertisers now have the ability to ask a question like "What info are you most interested in?" with a drop-down menu of options for response, enabling more focused data collection.
Advertisers now also have the ability to include a customizable disclaimer - so companies with pre-approved legal language can easily add their approved disclaimer to their Lead Ads.
CRM Integration
Along with the new additions to Lead Ads, Facebook has also announced that the new offering can be linked up with any Facebook integrated marketing platforms, including Driftrock, Marketo, Maropost, Oracle Marketing Cloud, Sailthru and Salesforce.
"If you work with one of our integrated marketing platforms, you can collect lead information in real-time, helping you keep up with customer expectations that once they reach out to a business, they will hear back quickly."
Advertisers with the Facebook pixel implemented on their website can also set lead ads to be shown to people likely to sign up for information, and are also able to measure cost-per-conversion from Lead Ads.
Leading the Way
To underline the value of Lead Ads, Facebook also provides three examples of brands who've seen success with the new offering so far, including Land Rover, Stuart Weitzman and Properati. Properati, a Latin American real estate company, probably provides the most interesting use case of the three.
"Lead ads were a game-changer product for Properati. In the past, we had tested similar products from other channels but they didn't work for us. Since testing lead ads, we have seen a 4x reduction in the cost per lead, with a more than 3x increase in the number of leads we normally generate in Brazil." - Gabriel Gruber, CEO, Properati
Such use cases are interesting to consider, and definitely there is a lot of potential value in making it easier for customers to get in touch and provide more detailed feedback, leading to a more direct connection with the brand.
As noted in Facebook's announcement, "these days people expect to be able to do everything from their phones". Lead ads make it easier for people to get in touch and get more information about products, in a streamlined, simple way, which both simplifies the process for the user and provides more additional lead data for the business. Targeted well, with the right call to action, lead ads could prove a valuable resource, and a great way to connect with new customers, bridging the gap between awareness and sales, just by giving them that extra prompt, that extra touchpoint to enable first contact.
Lead Ads for mobile are now available via Power Editor or through Facebook Marketing Partners (Jon Loomer has written a great guide on how to set up Lead Ads here). Lead Ads are also set to be made available in new formats, including video and carousel, and on desktop, in coming weeks.