Harness the Power of Facebook Lead Generation Ads for Your Service-Based Business (Tips for Success)

It can be difficult for service-based companies to convert users into leads through Facebook. The reduced targeting capabilities of Facebook made it more difficult to target the right users. And since Facebook loads company sites directly within the app, page speed (which can be a challenge for even the most seasoned marketer) has become even more important.

At BrandCraft, one of our core values is agility, and we believe that every challenge represents an opportunity. One of these opportunities for our service-based friends is utilizing Facebook lead generation ads.

Below, we’ll dive into the different types of lead generation ads plus share tips on how to get the most out of lead-focused campaigns.

Basics of Facebook Lead Generation Ads

Facebook lead generation ads offer lead-focused businesses the opportunity to gather user information. As well as have a user make a phone call straight from Facebook. This can boost conversion rates significantly by removing the website. Conversion-focused marketers know all too well how removing a dreaded point of friction can impact conversion rates.

There are two primary opportunities within Facebook regarding lead gen ads: have a user click on a form or click to call. Both of these options represent unique opportunities depending on your company’s services and your sales funnel.

Option #1: Form-Focused Lead Generation Campaigns

Using a form-fill campaign can be a powerful way to collect lead information that easily passes to an inside sales team. The ads appear to the user like any other Facebook post. When the user clicks on the ad, instead of going to a website, they get an instant experience form. This form loads within the app and has all their information pre-filled in.

As most marketers can tell you, getting users to fill out a form—with accurate information—can be the hardest part of the job.

With Facebook lead generation ads, everything is prefilled with accurate account information. This feature removes a point of friction in the buying journey. Once a user hits the “submit” button, a button to access content or visit the company’s website appears.

Tips for Form-Fill Focused Lead Gen Campaigns

• Provide Something of Value: To help customers feel more comfortable with providing their information, it’s good to give them something in return. This can look like discounts, content, free consultations, etc. Remember that what you’re providing as value should be equal to the amount of information you’re requesting.
• Set Clear Expectations: One common annoyance as a consumer is when a company asks you to do something without setting clear expectations on what happens next. Let the user know what will happen after they submit their information. Whether that’s a follow-up call, an email, or a fruit basket. Make it clear what the user should expect.
• Have a Strategy to Gather User Info: After the user submits their information, your company needs to have a strategy to gather that data and make use of it. Facebook integrates with many popular CRMs (customer relationship management) systems. This allows you to import the data automatically. If your company doesn’t currently make use of a CRM, you can always download the leads from your Facebook page.

Option #2: Click-to-Call Focused Campaigns

For some of our service-based clients, the social media marketing goal is to get a user on the phone to schedule an appointment or speak with a sales member. In these cases, a click-to-call focused campaign can be powerful.
Click-to-call campaigns operate the same as a form-focused campaign. The primary difference being instead of an instant form experience, the user is prompted to call.

Advertisers can remove points of friction for users and drive them to the point of conversion they’re most focused on.

Tips for Call-Focused Campaigns

• Schedule Ads for When You’re Open: Utilize Facebook’s scheduling option to avoid wasted ad spend. This gives you the ability to stop driving phone calls when you’re not in the office. It’s important to remember that you must use the lifetime budget option when using Facebook’s scheduling tool.
• Utilize Call Tracking for Your Phone Number: Unfortunately, Facebook ad tracking isn’t ideal for click-to-call campaigns. They’ll report the number of link clicks (users clicking the “call now” button), but they won’t report the number of completed calls. Using a call-tracking service (similar to CallRail) can help to fill in the reporting gaps and provide more detailed information about the call quality.

Conclusion

So, there you have it, friends. While it can be difficult to generate leads through social media marketing for service-based businesses, Facebook lead generation ads provide great options for marketers to get in front of users. These options even remove friction points that keep users from entering your sales funnel.

Ready to work with a digital advertising agency that specializes in social media marketing? BrandCraft is just a phone call away, and we know the top Facebook lead generation techniques to get users to take action. Contact us today to schedule a time to chat.