How to Use Facebook Messenger Ads to Generate Leads
A highly effective way of running lead-generation campaigns
Last year, I started working with solar companies. I was helping them generate leads through Facebook ads.
If you’ve ever used Facebook ads to generate leads, you will know that it's not easy. It looks really easy, and that's what makes it tricky.
While trying to figure out how to get the best leads for my clients, I discovered a new approach to generating leads, i.e. using Facebook Messenger.
In this article, I’ll break down my strategy and explain why it's much more effective than running normal lead-generation ads.
Types of Lead Generation Campaigns on Facebook
Broadly speaking, there are three primary ways of generating leads on Facebook:
1. Lead forms
A lead form involves using a prebuilt form on Facebook and helps in getting ‘cheap leads’. This is mostly because all the information is already prefilled in the form.
Even though the leads are ‘cheap’, they are crappy.
And by that I mean, really crappy.
I’ve spoken to agencies running lead form ads in different industries including solar, roofing, HVAC, Skin Care, and many more. And they all agree on the fact that leads generated from lead-form ads suck.
2. Landing pages
The second alternative that people usually use is building a landing page. People who use this approach argue that if the customer is visiting the page and making an effort to fill out the form, they must be really interested in the product that is being sold.
Wrong.
Even though landing page ads get better results than lead form ads. In my experience, after spending thousands of dollars on these ads, I’ve noticed the lead cost to generate such leads is extremely high and not really worth it.
They are better but the cost to get them doesn't justify their worth.
3. Messenger ads
While trying to figure out the best approach to generate high-quality leads, I came across Facebook messenger ads.
This approach involves using an automated bot to screen the leads not via a form or a landing page, but through Facebook Messenger.
This, in my experience, was giving me the best quality leads.
The leads were better in quality than the lead form ads and much cheaper than the ones generated using a landing page.
It had the best of both worlds.
Why messenger lead ads work better
Facebook lead ads have been around for a long time, and agencies and businesses have been using it extensively to generate leads.
Most of the time they use the two common ads that everyone is using i.e. lead forms and landing pages. Customers are tired of filling up forms on Facebook and advertisers are tired of getting crappy leads.
1. First mover's advantage of using Messenger ads
Messenger ads are something that no one is using. Almost 90% of agencies out there are neglecting it and that is why there’s a golden opportunity to run messenger lead ads right now.
Advertisers who are experimenting with messenger ads have a first movers advantage in an almost saturated industry.
2. Customers think they are talking to an actual person
Messenger ads involve a bot asking questions to the lead. This is a novel approach to led generation campaigns.
Most of the time, the customers feel they are talking to an actual person.
Even though the bot takes care of the entire conversation, sometimes you can jump in and take over when you feel the customer requires more attention.
And this personalized approach changes everything.
3. Easy follow-up with leads
When using messenger ads, you can track the conversations that the leads are having with the bot, and if you feel that a conversation was left incomplete, you can simply jump in and follow up with that lead later.
The bot can also automatically follow up with the leads asking them to finish answering the questions.
Summary
There are three primary ways of generating leads using Facebook:
Lead forms
Landing pages
Messenger ads
Most people stick to lead forms and landing pages and never experiment with messenger ads. But that's where the low-hanging fruit is.
Next time you create a campaign on Facebook, try the third option and see the difference in results, you will be surprised by the outcome.