As mentioned in previous blogs, using the tools Google provides for your search ads is essential if you want to get the best return on your investment. In todays example, we look at how the lead form extension can help you generate enquiries without a person even needing to visit your website.
What are lead form extensions?
The idea behind lead form extensions is to make it super easy for search engine users to submit their details. Typically, these lead forms will show up as a tab underneath your regular ad.
Once a person clicks on the lead form tab, a form will expand out where they can add some basic details about themselves, in return for an action (quote/download/call etc) allowing advertisers to get in touch.
The data they provide can either be directed to your CRM via a webhook or, stored within the Google Ads platform.
What are the benefits?
Studies have shown that the less friction you have in your user journey, the higher your conversion rate will be. Lead form extensions greatly speed up the user journey, allowing someone to submit their details from the search engine in as little as 6 clicks compared to potentially 20+ clicks for your website.
So, if you can offer something compelling within your lead form extension, you can generate additional leads at no extra cost to your search activity. What counts as compelling? More on that next.
How can hotels use them?
There are several ways a hotel could use lead form extensions, with some being far more effective than others.
On one end of the scale, let’s say you are looking to generate more wedding enquiries, you could just create a simple enquiry form for people to ‘enquire now’. This will convert but maybe not as much as you like. Why? Because people are committing to an enquiry, which they may not be quite ready for.
Alternatively, you could generate more wedding enquiries by offering people a price list for your weddings, this way, the person gets the price list immediately and then one of your team can reach out to this person afterwards, potentially getting the conversation going. The key distinction here is that within the latter example, the person is not committing to a conversation, instead they are just stating they’d like a price list, a much easier micro-commitment that will convert better.
Lead form extensions aren’t just great for weddings though, they can be used for almost anything. Take the below list to get those creative juices flowing for your first lead form extension:
• ‘5% Off Your Room Booking’ (increase your email list)
• ‘FREE 3 Night Stay Giveaway- Sign Up’ (increase your email list)
• ‘Download Our Spa Price List’ (Spa enquiries)
• ‘Get A Quote For Your Conference Event’ (Conference enquiries)
• ‘Want To Join A Great Team? Enquire Now’ (Job applicants)
1. The first step is to add a lead form extension to your ad library. To do this, you need to go to the ad extensions tab and then select lead form extensions from the drop down. Once you click this, make sure to associate it with all the campaigns you want it to appear for.
2. The next step is to add your title and description. Make sure to keep this to the point and descriptive.
3. Once you have done this, your next step is to decide what information you want from the person viewing the form. Less is more so, if you can help it, try and use the minimum number of fields. You can also add qualifying questions, which may be needed if you are getting lots of low-quality leads. If you want to be really awesome, you can also add a background image.
4. The final step is to add some text and the download url (you will need to add the pdf to your website then provide the link url here) for the thank you page. A nice message to make them feel good will suffice.
As mentioned previously, the data will automatically be stored within Google Ads. If you would like to add it to your own CRM, I’d suggest checking out this helpful article by Zigma.
Conclusion
Boom – you’ve smashed it! You now have lead form extensions available to serve on your ads. All that’s left to do is wait and keep an eye on your lead form submissions. This really is just the tip of the iceberg too – there are so many ways you can enhance your search ads to produce better performance. Oh, and if there is anything we can do to help, our doors always open!