One of the best ways to make a lead generation ad stand out is to speak directly to the user. This can be achieved in varying ways, using site cues based on ad placement, retargeting off past browsing behavior and narrowly defined demographic targeting that allows you to make certain assumptions. But perhaps one of the easiest way to stand out is to be timely, using current events, holidays and seasons to your advantage.
Seasonal Offers
Not every industry or business will be able to operationalize this, but if there is any way to tie your lead generation offer into a holiday or current event, do it. Retailers have been doing this forever, capitalizing on all kinds of holidays as a reason to discount merchandise. Why shouldn’t you? Every day has a different random holiday to commemorate, and social media makes many of them far more well-known than ever before. You can also tie into news headlines (but be prepared to act fast!) or simple weather patterns, crafting “warm up” and “cool down” offers. Anything to make your lead generation ad seem timely for today.
Timely Headlines
If you can’t go as far as a seasonal offer, a well-timed headline can go a long way. And it’s a lot easier to switch out then a whole new offer and corresponding creative! Tweak your messaging to call out the weather, upcoming holiday or local news. Since the headline is probably the easiest part of a lead generation ad to change, you can vary by region or audience targeting as well. Take your existing offer and give it a twist with a new headline, such as an Independence Day offer that frees them from the competition. Or heat things up with special savings this summer. The idea is to give new life to old campaigns easily.
Appropriate Visuals
The image that accompanies your ad is typically the first thing the audience sees. So if you can vary the visual to match a timely topic or event, the likelihood of a click increases. So even if you can’t change your offer to be seasonal, your creative can make it appear that way. This can include adding seasonal or holiday items into an image of your whitepaper, or changing your logo colors to fit the season. Targeting will come into play here, particularly if you want to address weather patterns.
Geographic Clues
Image Credit: Facebook
To really double down on targeting, don’t limit your seasonal references to broadstrokes that target a large area. Instead, regionalize based on city, state or small state groupings and vary your creative based on geography. Start with a few states that share weather patterns and work towards unique ads for a smaller area. This allows you to customize ads based on a very specific area and target sporting events, local colors and specifics that will speak to a narrow audience and jump out as meant “exclusively for them.” Imagine if you could change out your logo colors or background of an image to celebrate the local football team’s winning season? Everyone in that area would certainly notice your ad!
Seasonal Site Placement
If changing out ad creative isn’t feasible at the moment, you can target seasonal interests instead. Perhaps certain websites or Faceebook interests are more relevant at different times of the year. For example, a New England business probably selling pool supplies will be looking at a different mindset in January versus July. Think about how your ad will appear in the context of the rest of the site and position for each season.