Have you tested out Facebook Lead Ads yet?
We’ve been running some campaigns, and I wanted to share what we’ve learned so far.
Launched in late 2015, Lead Ads are very young on the Facebook platform, so we expect (or at least hope for) this to change and improve rapidly.
So far, here’s what we observe as a user in terms of benefits & shortcomings.
Benefits of Facebook Lead Ads
- All extensive targeting options available (lookalike audiences, demo targeting etc)
- Simple to set up & customize
- Decent reach / impressions
- Very reasonable cost per lead, often ranging $7-22 CPL
- Quality seems okay, i.e. not seeing an influx of “junk leads”
Shortcomings of Facebook Lead Ads
- Impossible to export leads to CRM or other relevant systems without custom API work or integration tools like Zapier. You have to go to your Facebook Company Page, download a .csv file containing your leads, and do what you will with that file. Sheesh.
- Only rigid form options available so far, e.g. no ability to define a custom call to action (must choose from phrases like “Learn More” or “Sign Up” etc)
- Clunky UI. For example, lead forms cannot be edited or changed at all once they’re built. Marketers can only delete & create new forms, making for a messy ad management experience.
Seems like they needed to launch this thing in a hurry. At the time of writing, the above drawbacks hindered Lead Ads from being a truly powerful and mature contributor to our clients’ digital marketing programs.
Tip: if you need to push Facebook Leads into your CRM (e.g. Salesforce) or into your email marketing software (e.g. MailChimp), a fantastic tool that helps marketers hook these systems together with no need for a developer’s help is Zapier. Check it out.
No, it’s not a sponsored plug — I’m just a fan of the tool. You will be, too.
The alternative is getting your technical team elbows-deep in Facebook API documentation. Nobody wants that.
So far, Lead Ads are a promising new feature. We’ll look for this to evolve into a more customizable/flexible solution in the near future.