For years a landing page was the gold standard in online ad destinations, particularly for lead generation. For some a lead generation landing page was simply a destination url, an existing page already part of their site navigation and merely assigned as the designated landing page for an ad without any changes or optimization based on the campaign. But many marketers would spend countless resources crafting unique landing pages for each campaign, and sometimes for each piece of creative in that campaign. What started as a way to more easily track and convert customers could quickly become unmanageable. We’ve all been there. And you know what we say? Skip the landing page! Here’s why:
Time
Landing pages take a lot of time to design and develop. A lead generation landing page can be even more resource-heavy as it requires an interactive form and clear privacy policy. The copy needs to entice the lead to submit their information (as opposed to just “landing” on the page). And then there is the data capture, storage and subsequent confirmation page. And that’s just for one lead generation landing page!
Variation
Most marketers will run more than one campaign over the course of the year. Some will run multiple campaigns at once, varying audience targeting and creative. All those campaigns add up to multiple lead generation landing pages. Sure, you can cut down on some new page creation through link tagging and tracking. And you can certainly version landing pages off each other instead of reinventing the wheel each time. But still, you are left with a lot of orphaned lead generation landing pages that take time to create and can make for a confusing website management project.
Conversions
A lead generation landing page is intended to convince a potential customer to provide their personal data. The initial ad and offer are enough to interest them to click through to the landing page, which then sells them on the company and offer promise and provides the lead form for them to fill out. And this worked—for awhile. But in today’s fast-paced digital world of limited attention, users are clicking and browsing away from sites faster and faster. So a detailed, compelling landing page can actually be a deterrent to lead completion and conversion. Everything today is on-demand and in real-time. The more clicks you ask a user to make, the more likely you are to lose them.
Facebook Lead Ads
Image credit: Facebook
The biggest reason to skip a lead generation landing page? You don’t need one! Facebook Lead Ads have made the lead generation landing page nearly obsolete by building it right into the ad. You’ve got an initial ad and offer promise, an optional Context Card “landing page” with additional information, and a lead capture form with link to privacy policy—all contained right within your Facebook Lead Ad and shown in the Facebook Newsfeed. There’s no clicking away from their intended browsing site (Facebook) and often no need to even type their information in: Facebook prefills it with known profile data!
Facebook Lead Ads make it possible to save time and money while increasing lead completion, all without a lead generation landing page.