Generate Leads And Conversions Through Paid Social Advertising

“How to generate leads?” is probably the most commonly asked question by anyone who starts a business, especially those who choose the info product industry. 

I mean, you won’t go door to door offering people your course or a virtual seat in your webinar… Though I guess, technically, you could, but that isn’t the most efficient approach.

So, how do you generate leads? There are two ways: the long, organic way and the shorter, more effective way through paid social advertising.

Organic lead generation occurs when people discover your brand through unpaid channels such as blogs, SEO, communities, and social media content. 

Lead generation through paid social advertising, on the other hand, is exactly what it sounds like – when a business pays for its content to appear in front of its target audience on social media platforms. It is the quickest and most effective way to see results.

Today, we’ll explore how paid social advertising works and some of the best platforms for it. Let’s dive in!

How Does Paid Social Advertising Work?

Let’s take a look at this from A to Z – From choosing a platform to run your ads to analytics. Of course, understanding your target audience – demographics, interests, behaviors, and preferences – should be number one on your to-do list before you run any ads. 

• Choose The Right Platform(s): Depending on your preferences, your product, and your target audience, you can choose the best platform for your ads. There are multiple, and you know them all – Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTok, etc.
  
  You also don’t have to stick to just one – the more platforms you use to promote your product or service, the more exposure, engagement, and conversions you’ll get.
  
  
• Set Up The Campaign And Choose Ad Format: Choose the ad format that aligns with your goals.
  
  For example, image ads are good for brand awareness and engagement; carousel ads are great for sharing testimonials or multiple products at once; video ads are effective for storytelling and redirecting people to sign up for a consultation or webinar; and lead ads can collect contact info without users leaving the platform.
  
  
• Set Your Budget: Figure out your daily and campaign lifetime budget – that is, how much you want to spend on your campaign per day and in total throughout the duration of the campaign.
  
  Did you know that platforms can spread out your budget on their own? That means you only have to set up the total budget, and the platform (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) will optimize ad spend on daily performance. On days and times when activity is low, the spending will be low, and when activity increases, so will the daily budget until the total budget runs out.
  
  Once you’ve decided on your budget, choose your bidding strategy –  whether you want to pay per click, per impression, or per conversion.
  
  By the way, you can learn more about bidding strategies by studying performance marketing.
  
  
• Launch Your Ad And Optimize As You Go: Once your ad is live, you can monitor its performance and adjust the content and budget in real-time. Pay attention to the click-through rate, cost-per-click, conversion rate, and return-on-ad-spend.
  
  You can leverage A/B testing and run multiple ad variations simultaneously to see which ad performs better and adjust the other one to perform on par.
  
  If your ads receive engagement but not conversions, you can retarget those who did not convert with different kinds of ads.
  
  If/once your ad performs up to your expectations, you can increase your budget to maximize results and profits.
  
  

Best Platforms For Paid Social Ads

Below is a list of the platforms, ad types, and best practices for maximizing your ROI when implementing paid social advertising. 

• Meta Ads: Facebook and Instagram ads are best for lead generation, retargeting, and conversions. Both of them offer various ad types, such as carousel, image, video, lead, and retargeting.
  
  Your ads could direct users to a lead magnet (free ebook, webinar, or free trial), turning them into warm leads that are much easier to convert into paying customers.
  
  If those users don’t convert the first time, you can leverage retargeting and convert them in the future. You can also increase your reach to lookalike users, increasing your exposure and likely leading to even more conversions.
  
  Meta ads are best for promoting lead magnets, courses, coaching programs, and digital downloads.
  
  
• YouTube Ads: Best for high-ticket items like courses, long-term coaching, and long-term or lifetime subscriptions.
  
  It offers in-stream ads, which are skippable but can redirect viewers to a VSL (video sales letter) or a webinar; discovery ads, which appear in YouTube search results; and bumper ads (6 seconds), which cannot be skipped.
  
  You can redirect people to landing pages, webinars, or contact forms, target competitor audiences (people who might be watching related content), and retarget people if necessary.
  
  
• TikTok Ads: These are best for lower-ticket or free items that will serve as lead magnets, such as free templates, PDFs, lists, and cheat sheets.
  
  TikTok offers three ad formats – collection ads (which can showcase multiple products, services, or testimonials), in-feed video ads, and spark ads (which boost organic content).
  
  The TikTok ads can redirect people to landing pages where they can purchase a low-ticket product or receive something for free in return for their contact information. 
  
  
• LinkedIn Ads: LinkedIn is mainly for B2B (business-to-business) sales or promoting educational things to people, like certifications, programs, and courses.
  
  Ad formats that LinkedIn offers include sponsored content, lead generation forms, and message ads.
  
  The best way to obtain customers through LinkedIn is to offer something of value for free at first (e.g., a webinar, a workshop, an invite to an event, or a downloadable guide) and then upsell later.
  
  

Closing Remarks 

Acquiring leads and business through paid social advertising is the quickest way to see a return on investment. Testing multiple platforms, ad types, and formats is essential to reaching your end goals (increased leads, conversions, and engagement).

Once you have tested, analyzed, adjusted, and proven that the ad you are running works, you can increase your total budget and let the platform you’re using distribute it for you for more effective results. 

By the way, are you subscribed to Vavoza Insider yet? ‘Cause we share useful and actionable marketing tips with you weekly! 

Always Be A VIP!

– Steph