Lead Generation Ads: A How-To (& Why) [Podcast]

On this special Marketing O’Talk podcast, part of the Search Engine Journal Network, host Greg Finn was joined by an all-star cast to discuss lead gen forms, their function within a marketing strategy, tips and tricks, and more!

• Michelle Morgan, Director of client services at Clix Marketing, co-founder of Paid Media Pros
• Joe Martinez, PPC Legend, notable marketing writer and speaker, co-founder of Paid Media Pros
• Mark T Saltarelli, Digital Marketing Manager at Cypress North (& Marketing O’Clock regular)

You can also watch the video version of this podcast on the Search Engine Journal YouTube channel.

What Are Lead Generation Ads?

Lead generation forms (aka lead gen ads) are a great way to gain pertinent information about users who are interested in your product or service. Lead generation ads get these forms out in front of the user in a convenient, easy-to-fill-out way.

“Lead gen ads are kind of the step in between advertising platforms and your website. It’s one of those things that we can use to generate leads, hence the name, instead of sending someone all the way to your website.” Michelle explains, “When somebody clicks on a lead gen ad in the LinkedIn or Facebook news feed, it opens up a form right in the feed… It cuts out your website as the middleman and makes the experience a bit more cohesive for the user.”

Joe then expands on the way that lead generation forms function. “It gives [the user] a bit of a teaser [of what they will find on your website]… they clicked on the call to action extension to open the lead form, and there’s some information that’s on the advertiser’s side to make it appealing for the user to want to fill out the information.”

Mark adds some insight into what type of companies these ads are best suited for. ”Lead gen ads are best suited for any business that is using a traditional B2B cycle… and anyone where you’re going to fill out a lead form and follow up with sales. Anywhere that you are using a form in marketing, you can replace with a lead gen ad.”

Lead Gen Insight & Strategies

The team then goes on to discuss their insight and strategies surrounding lead gen ads.

• How lead gen ads cause less friction in the lead gathering process, and why that’s so valuable.
• What you should know about the leads that are generated.
• When you should use a lead gen form over a standard ad that sends a user to a landing page where a form is housed.
• Why you would choose to use a lead gen ad.
• How lead generation ads function on different platforms.
• The importance of communicating with your sales team.

Lead Gen Ads Tips/Tricks & Tools

The team then moves onto some of their personal tips, tricks, and tools for creating successful lead gen ads.

• Use custom questions to give your sales team more information, and to give the user more time to stop and think about the form they are filling out.
• Continue to nurture leads after generating them, whether that be a soft touch, or having the sales team contact them right away.
• Test multiple lead form variations to see what performs best.
• Pay attention to the post-fill-out experience, how will you engage with your users now?
• Make sure lead forms are properly integrated with your CRM platform.

Listen to the full episode for more tips and tricks for how to best create and execute lead generation ads!

Marketing O’Clock releases new digital marketing news podcasts every Friday morning along with “Marketing O’Talk” deep dive discussions each month.

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Featured Image Credit: Samantha Hanson