What Are Lead Generation Ads?

The purpose of digital marketing is actually capturing potential prospects and turning them into leads and potential customers. With the high rise of ads on almost every social platform, these new technologies have opened the door to users being exposed to advertising without them realizing it. Now, ads have become one of the most effective ways to attract potential customers. But what are lead generation ads, exactly? Do they attract a wider prospect base than any other marketing techniques? 

Stay as we explain the entire idea behind lead generation ads and their key components.

What Are Lead Generation Ads?

Lead generation ads are a unique type of ads that your company uses to collect prospect data from various channels to get in contact with them and potentially turn them into loyal customers. The purpose of lead generation ads is to collect enough data of the people who click on the ads.  The data collected is either: 

• Personal data: name, age, demographics, gender, and location
• Contact information: address, phone number, and email
• Psychographic data: behavior, needs, and interests

Key Components of Ads for Lead Generation

You can’t fully understand what are lead gen ads if you aren’t familiar with their key components. Knowing how to create a captivating and engaging lead generation ad basically gets half of the job done.

To attract potential customers, your lead generation ad should have the following essential elements:

• Eye-catching, attention-grabbing, and relevant headlines
• High-quality media to grab attention
• Clear and concise copy that focuses on the benefits
• Strong Call-to-Action (CTA)
• Lead capture form with essential field only
• Value proposition or offer

Benefits of Lead Generation Ads

When done correctly, lead generation ads can maximize your brand’s ability to reach target prospects. Besides being an excellent strategy for both new and already established businesses, some of the advantages closely connected with lead generation ads are the following: 

Reaching out to more qualified leads

Lead generation ads allow you to seperate qualified from unqualified leads. Only a person interested in the service or product you offer will click on the ad and fill out the form that follows.  A qualified lead is someone who is actually interested in your service or product. As a result, you can expect your conversions and sales to increase.

Not only do ads improve the quality of your leads, but they also increase conversions and sales.

Gathering valuable information

Gathering valuable information about your target group will allow you to adjust your overall marketing technique according to their needs and preferences. An added value to lead generation ads is that they collect data that is valuable for your marketing campaign and the products and services you offer. It will allow your business to make data-driven decisions for improvement.

Defined target audience reach

Another benefit of lead generation ads is that they are customizable, and the various platforms allow you to choose what audience to reach. You can adjust who sees the lead gen ads by using different points of differentiation.

Limitations of Lead Generation Ads

Running a lead generation ads campaign also comes with certain limitations. To begin with, lead generation ads are designed only for the sole purpose of collecting data. If you don’t know how to use that data, they won’t do you any good. 

Furthermore, you can’t rely on lead-generation ads alone to increase your customer base. To get real results from lead generation, your sales department should use inbound or outbound lead generation strategy to turn potential prospects into customers.

Also, digital advertising costs money. It is predicted that companies worldwide will spend $667.58 billion in 2024. Considering that there are more affordable and even free options to generate leads, running a lead generation ads campaign might seem pricy.

As an alternative, search engine optimization is one highly effective way to generate leads on a budget. If you partner with us, our Lead Gen experts can create a tailored strategy to increase your online presence and generate high-quality leads.

Best Platforms for Lead Generation Ads

There are various options, which can be divided into two broad groups: social media platforms and search engines.

Here are some things you should consider when choosing a platform for generating leads with ads:

• Find out what platform your target audience mostly uses
• Align the type of content you want to share with the advertising platform
• See whether the platform offers the tools and features you need, such as targeting options, ad formats, and analytics
• Check if the platform’s budget requirements comply with your planned spending
• CRM integration options

Most importantly, you should check how will the platform ads collect data. For instance, on certain platforms, you can use ads to redirect the user directly to your website. Another option is integrating a lead form within the platform, and the user can fill it out directly from there without being redirected.

Search Engine Lead Generation Ads

Leads can be generated by purchasing ads on a particular search engine. There are various search engines people all around the world use, but Google is, without competition, the one with the most users.

Google Ads offers various ad formats and customization options. You can choose between nine different formats such as text, responsive, image, app promotion ads, video, shopping ads and call-only ads.

In addition, depending on the people you like to target, you can choose between having your ads on the Google search network or the display network. The conversion rates vary between the two, as the average conversion rate on the search network is higher than on the display network.

One factor that determines the effectiveness of a Google Ads campaign is the click-through rate (CTR). An average successful campaign has a CTR between 3% and 5%.

Other than Google, other available search engines for lead generation include:

• Bing
• Yahoo!
• YANDEX
• DuckDuckGo
• Baidu

Social Media Platforms For Lead Generation

Social media platforms can be effective for running ads and generating leads. Each platform has a unique user base and can be used for a specific purpose. Also, the type of content that users mostly engage with and like seeing differs from one platform to another.

Facebook Ads

Facebook is the most popular social network in the world, with 3 billion monthly active users. With such a wide audience that can be reached through Facebook, there is no doubt that it is the number one social media platform marketers use.

There are many advantages of utilizing Facebook ads for lead generation, including:

• Collecting data from diverse audience
• Integrated high-intent lead forms
• Advanced targeting system and ad features
• Collected data is easily integrated with CRM
• Optimized for both desktop and mobile users
• Retargeting options for reconnecting with your audience
• Affordable and customizable tools
• Suitable for all various content forms
• Click-to-call options

LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn also has a marketing solution specially designed for lead generation. The social media platform offers targeted reach by using professional demographic data. LinkedIn is a platform for both B2B and B2C lead generation. 

According to the LinkedIn Audience 360 study, the audience that can be reached on the platform has twice the buying power of an average web audience. In addition, lead generation ads can be shown on the desktop, in the newsfeed or sent directly in messages.

What’s more, LinkedIn has made the filling out of the lead generation forms seamless. LinkedIn lead forms can be pre-filled with profile data, making the prospect experience straightforward and time-saving.

As for you as a business, LinkedIn has excellent tools for lead generation management, marketing automation, and CRM integration.

Instagram Ads

With the merger of Facebook and Instagram under the leadership of Meta, you can create your lead generation ads by using the Meta Ads Manager. Just like with Facebook, Instagram offers advanced targeting options which will contribute to more qualified leads.

If you want to generate leads using Instagram ads, you will have the opportunity to reach a vast user base. Instagram is best for generating leads using visually engaging formats. You can create compelling ads that will capture the attention of users and motivate them to engage.

Measuring Success and Analytics

All lead generation ad platforms have analytic tools that provide valuable metrics. Different metrics can measure the success of lead ads. The most useful are:

• Conversion rates: percentage of users who saw the ad and filled out the lead form,
• Lead-to-customer conversion rates: percentage of leads that became customers,
• Lead quality: the potential of the lead to become a profitable customer,
• Click-through rate: number of clicks received on the ad,
• Engagement: how much and how has the audience interacted (likes, shares, mentions, comments etc)

Best Practices for Lead Generation Ads

Here are some final tips and tricks that might help you reach the desired outcomes of your lead generation ads.

• Target the right audience
• Align the content with the needs and preferences of the target audience
• Create a simple and short lead form
• Ask only valuable questions
• If possible, integrate the lead generation forms with your CRM
• Pay attention to the behaviour of the user after filling out the lead form
• Don’t create other distracting ads
• Add visuals to attract the target audience
• Use your budget wisely
• Run lead-gen ads on different platforms

Conclusion

Let’s wind up what are lead generation ads. In a nutshell, it is a vital component of modern marketing strategies that is used to attract leads and gather information through advertisements. 

The ads can be placed on different platforms, typically either on social media or search engines. By understanding what they are, their limitations, and possibilities, you can make an informed decision about your business and start generating leads as soon as possible.