Generating leads can be a tricky scenario for any business. With so many different elements to consider, it can be a dilemma knowing where to start and what the best options available to you are. Should you pursue online or offline solutions? How much is too much for a lead? Do you have enough resources available to follow up with each potential customer? These are just a few of the things to take into account.
The priority of lead generation is to not only get high-quality leads who will eventually convert further down the marketing funnel, but to do so for the cheapest cost possible. The digital world is one of the best places to look for generating leads. You don’t have to worry about expensive offline solutions such as print, radio or television advertising and their limited reach. Instead, anyone can create an account on one of the popular advertising platforms. What separates you from the rest is your expertise in creating tailored campaigns and managing your budget efficiently.
You need to make sure that you prioritise a platform which suits your business best. Here are some of the best digital platforms to choose for your lead generation campaign.
Facebook has ascended into the most powerful platform for online advertising. With more than two billion active users each month, this social media platform can be used to target pretty much anyone across the globe. One of the most powerful aspects of Facebook is the ability to import your customer data. You are able to target previous customers or find new leads who the system determines are ‘similar’ to your previous customers. The platform even allows you to create Lead Ads, an objective type where potential customers can enter their contact details without having to go to a landing page.
While Facebook is a fantastic choice for advertising, its popularity does mean that you will be facing tough competition. You might be in luck if your business is within a niche industry, otherwise you will have to create highly-tailored campaigns and consider ways to win the bidding auction. You should also consider that while the Facebook community is massive, it is used as a personal channel and not every ad impression will be someone looking for a particular product or service at that moment of time.
Twitter still has a long way to go to be a real force in the advertising world but is slowly catching up. The platform has been rapidly introducing features from other services over the past few years including the ability to target previous customers and a lookalike audience. The community is also increasing with more older users jumping onboard having previously been dominated by the younger generation. As some businesses fail to see what Twitter can offer, this can be an incredible opportunity to jump head in reaching new customers.
Twitter still lacks in a number of areas when compared to other giants such as Facebook. Targeting options can be quite lite, such as wide-spanning locations being grouped into the same category. You don’t have too much control in terms of how your creative looks, with most objective types appearing as a standard tweet. Twitter also removed their Lead Generation Ads format last year, meaning that it’s even more important to get your message and landing page spot on.
Google Ads
Google Ads, formerly known as AdWords, is one of the longest-standing advertising platforms. Google is the most used search engine in the world and serves one purpose, to present searchers with answers to a query. You won’t find a better option for delivering an ad to a person looking for a specific product or service. The results will be based on real-time intent and not past account data like other social platforms.
While Google Ads is extremely targeted, it can be very competitive, even for niche terms. You may find yourself bidding higher per click than you would like. As the ad only appears when a targeted phrase is searched, your daily impressions will be unpredictable. Google Ads also doesn’t offer the luxury of the ad appearing under the umbrella of a branded account.
LinkedIn can be an extremely effective platform for lead generation campaigns for B2B purposes but less so for consumer-related products. The main advantage you have with this platform is that any time sometime accesses it, they will be doing so with business intent at the forefront of their mind. You are able to narrow your targeting down based on a person’s industry, company name, experience and education history, to name but a few.
One of the biggest downsides to LinkedIn is that the minimum bid is £1.50 per click which means your landing page will need to produce a high conversion rate to make it a worthwhile opportunity. Plus, while we have talked about how specifically-targeted LinkedIn can be, a good portion of its users will be browsing the platform for employment prospects and won’t necessary be in a position to follow through with a B2B purchase.
Reddit is generally a newcomer to the advertising world and still has a lot of improvements to make. While you shouldn’t be putting all your eggs in one basket here, the lack of competition could make this an interesting opportunity for experimenting. You are able to target people who have recently interacted with or subscribed to a particular subreddit which can lead to tailored results.
The ads approval system on Reddit is manual and their policy is quite restrictive, so you may find yourself waiting a full day only to find that your ad hasn’t been approved. With this platform still continuing to grow, there are a lack of features especially in regards to targeting, and a lot of the subreddits will be too small in size to target. Unlike most other advertising services, you can only bid per 1000 impressions and not link clicks as of yet.
Summary – Which Lead Generation Platform Is Best?
While the title of this article suggests that there’s a straightforward answer for which platform is best for your lead generation campaign, unfortunately there isn’t one. As we have explored above, there are too many dynamics at play to be able to make a simple decision. Ultimately, the choice is yours to make depending on your business’ requirements and the industry you’re involved in.
While it can be quite competitive, Facebook is probably the safest option to start a lead generation campaign where you can find the most in-depth options in terms of targeting and creative format. Twitter is ideal for consumer-related products and as it continues to grow, is certainly a platform to keep your eyes on. If you are looking to sell B2B services, give LinkedIn a try but beware of high bidding and the need to get your selling points spot on. While Google Ads will attract leads with specific intent, this is a competitive platform which may require high bids that don’t fit your budget. Last of all, experiment with Reddit and identify if it has potential for long-term value for your business.
Now that you know the pros and cons of each digital platform, you’re ready to begin planning your lead generation campaign. As a specialist lead generation agency, we can help you reach millions of potential customers and generate high-quality leads for your business. We will work with you to identify your audience, set up a highly-targeted campaign and provide ongoing management of the campaign including thorough reporting and analysis. We’ve worked on everything from legal lead generation campaigns covering PCP claims and diesel emissions claims, to property investments and fitness equipment.
Give us a call on 0151 236 4857 to see how we can get you the leads you’re after. Alternately, click here to send us a message via our contact form and we will be in touch to discuss your requirements. For more news and tips from Activate Digital, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and follow our LinkedIn page.