Leads are the lifeblood of any business and lead forms are currently one of the primary ways marketers generate leads.  Unfortunately, the average conversion rate on landing page forms is a measly 2.35%. Simply stated, contact forms are boring. They have the potential for a lot of friction and they are rarely memorable.  And while the main goal of your lead generation activities is to capture a qualified lead, your digital assets including ad copy, video, images and landing pages need to differentiate you and landing page lead forms don’t.  

Not All That Glitters Is Gold

Marketers are desperate to find effective alternatives that will make their brand stand out and in 2015 they thought they had found the golden ticket with Facebook lead generation ads. This ad type allowed advertisers to collect user information through a pre-filled contact form right in the Facebook interface (Facebook tracks and stores user information like name, email address, phone number, gender etc.).

This “friction-free” ad type generated tons of leads “cost effectively” and users didn’t have to click through to a landing page.  Marketers were in heaven until reports about lead quality started coming in. The lead forms were so easy to fill out that some users didn’t realize they were hitting the CTA button and others completely had forgotten they had filled the form out.  So  more fields were added to improve lead quality but it wasn’t the secret weapon marketers were hoping for.

Tip: Facebook Lead Gen Ads do remain a great email collection tool for top of the funnel leads.

Lead Tactic #1: Facebook Messenger Lead Generation Ads

In 2017 along came Facebook Messenger Ads which literally changed the way companies began communicating with users.  Messenger ads allow users to communicate with businesses the same way they communicate with friends, through messaging. Facebook Messenger touts over 1.3B monthly active users, with over 20B messages sent between users and businesses monthly and smart marketers have jumped on the “Messenger” bandwagon.  However, until a few months ago Messenger ads were a great conversation starting tool but not an accurate lead generation tool.  In August  of 2019 however, Facebook Messenger Ads matured into a full blown lead generation tool by offering new capabilities in their ad interface:

• Facebook’s amazing AI optimizes for leads by identifying users who are most likely to complete an entire chat flow (conversation). 
• Robust reporting  including the cost per lead based on a completed chat.
•  An automated  reminder is prompted within a 24 hour period, when a user fails to complete a chat flow. 

The below ad was created 100% through Facebook Messenger Lead ads.  No external tool was used. We collected all the lead data we needed in a simple, focused and user friendly interface making it an easy experience but not so easy that the user doesn’t remember doing it (which happened with the old Facebook Lead Generation ad type).

Lead Tactic #2: Facebook Chatbots

Facebook chatbots like ManyChat and ChatFuel offer a much more customized flow than a regular Facebook messenger ad flow where you are limited to a simple question and answer interaction.  With a chatbot platform you can ask multiple choice questions and set up rules to create a custom flow. In the video examples below we show how different scenarios can be played out using ManyChat depending upon a user’s choice.

Our client Rivas Medical Weight Loss, a group of successful clinics in the U.S. offers its users the ability to learn more about the Keto diet in this chat flow example:

In the second chat flow, a user chooses to “Get My Free Consult” instead:

Lead Tactic #3: Landing Page Chatbots

Messaging is big business and not just on Facebook.  Think Chatbots which takes messaging to your website and landing pages, delivering a completely personalized message. Think about the customer experience contrasting a lead generation form and a chatbot.  One is static, one flows, one is rigid, one is customized, one uses impersonal fields, one users natural conversation. Which do you think is going to convert better? Which experience do you think will be more memorable?  Chatbots aren’t replacing lead forms yet – but smart marketers will be investing heavily in Chatbots in 2020.

Our client, Expat Tax CPAs is a successful Expat Tax Accounting Firm supporting the needs of its U.S. expat clientele. In the example below, we asked users at Expat Tax CPAs  to choose their specific tax needs, giving them a personalized response based on their choices. We identified the user’s pain points and gave them a conversation which speaks to their needs. Plus it’s fun interactive and memorable.

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Lead Tactic #4: Google Lead Form Extensions

Didn’t I just tell you that lead forms are old school?  Launched last month, Google Ads is beta testing a new lead form ad extension for text ad campaigns.  Users can submit contact information directly into a lead form without clicking to a landing page. You can optimize the form with a custom header image, unique text and choose from a number of call to actions.  Using a webhook you call also send lead data into your CRM.

Unlike Facebook lead form ads users are actively searching in Google and thus have intent.

Transparency alert: This medium hasn’t yet proven itself as a “sure thing” because it’s so new – but we are watching it carefully.  Only time will tell but we are definitely intrigued.

Lead Tactic #5: Optimizing For Phone Calls

According to Brian Massey of Marketing Land, a phone call is worth between 500 – 1000% more in revenue than a completed form will generate.  By making some simple adjustments to our clients landing pages to optimize them for calls we have seen our clients call rates sky rocket.  We have been successfully using this strategy for our client Nusbaum Family Law, a successful family law firm in Canada. Here’s how: 

• Build unique mobile landing pages for click to call that are simple in design and load fast.
• Prioritize call to actions on landing pages over contact forms
• Create unique phone numbers for each ad channel and use call tracking software like CallRail to monitor your campaigns. 

Lead Tactic #6: Conversational Voice Technology

Voice is the future of lead gen. 

What if we took chatbots, with all their personalization and customization and added voice?

Companies like SayItNow.ai, a leading Voice Skills and Chatbot developer  in the UK are harnessing voice assistant technology for lead generation through integrations with Alexa, Google Assistant and Facebook Messenger – enabling users to experience instant, hands-free and friction-less  conversations that convert into a lead. Voice technology is aiming to replicate human conversations,bringing the benefits of talking on the phone into the user experience.

In the following example we see how Citroen leverages conversational voice technology with Alexa to book users to test drive one of their new DS-SUVs. Make sure your audio is on!

We have successfully leveraged these six digital lead generation tactics to increase our lead acquisition by 200% and you can too.  Let us know what next generation tactics you’re going to be using in 2020. We would be happy to mention you in an upcoming blog.