Lead generation ads and how to get quality leads

Two years ago (November 2021), Google Ads introduced P-MAX campaigns to replace Smart Shopping campaigns. Since then, P-MAX campaigns have become a valuable tool for e-commerce clients, often resulting in better ROAS for e-commerce advertisers than previous campaign types.

But for lead generation (lead generation) advertisers, achieving the same success is more difficult.

P-MAX campaigns utilize a full-funnel approach to drive endpoint conversions. This algorithm uses signals from previous users to build a profile of who converts and who doesn’t. We then use that data to identify new potential converters and serve them ads, such as text ads, banner ads, and product listing ads, throughout the conversion journey.

With e-commerce, the P-MAX algorithm can help you build a better profile of who is buying, who isn’t, and how much money they’ll make if they do. It becomes easier. This information is clearly available on the Google Ads platform. However, for clients who generate leads, determining the actual revenue generated can be more difficult.

For example, an advertiser with a home services business might count “free quote” form submissions as conversions, but the system won’t know which of those form submissions result in realized revenue for the business. you can’t.

Phone calls also introduce another level of uncertainty. Most advertisers count call conversions over a period of time, but not all calls during that period result in scheduled reservations. And the phone call under that symbol may actually lead to a reservation.

How to get quality leads with lead generation ads

One of the dangers that P-MAX campaigns are susceptible to for lead generation advertisers is spam. When the algorithm finds an easy source of spam leads, it exploits it by sending more traffic to that source. A lead generation client saw a 20x increase in conversions from his P-MAX campaign overnight, only to find that his form submissions were filled with gibberish. I noticed.

Google recommends that advertisers add reCAPTCHA to their website forms to improve quality.

However, a more effective method is to link your CRM to Google Ads and only import conversion data from eligible users into your system. Some CRMs can report accurate revenue numbers from some leads. Similar to revenue tracking for e-commerce advertisers, this allows the algorithm to reward high-revenue conversions more highly than low-revenue posts.

Here are some examples of what our clients have used to improve the quality of conversion data imported into Google Ads.

• Client A has linked their HubSpot account to Google Ads and is only importing form submissions that are vetted as conversions. This forces the algorithm to completely ignore any spam submissions that may get through.
• Client B also uses HubSpot and has transformations set up for each step of the sales lifecycle: MQL, SQL, contracts, and won deals. Each step is assigned a set value, and the closed transaction becomes the actual transaction amount. This will increase your overall ROAS, but the client wants to make sure he values ​​qualified leads because he is B2B and cannot get a large number of lead submissions.

Regardless of CRM, there are other solutions that allow lead generation advertisers to protect the quality of leads imported into Google Ads.

Although the NexHealth booking platform is hosted on its own domain, it can direct users back to a confirmation page on an advertiser’s site, allowing healthcare advertisers to track online bookings as conversions in Google Ads. The confirmation URL on the advertiser’s site acts as a conversion trigger and users only reach that page if they complete the entire booking process, reducing spamming.

For calls, in addition to relying on target call duration, platforms like CallRail and CallTrackingMetrics allow you to tag calls as qualified leads before they are imported into Google Ads. Listening and evaluating calls may take time, but the value of identifying which Google Ads clicks are driving positive results will likely outweigh the time it takes.

These platforms also have AI technology that extracts keywords and phrases from conversations to identify which calls lead to conversions. A medical client counts conversions when the word “appointment” or the address of one of its locations is used during a call.

While the value of P-MAX campaigns to lead generation advertisers cannot be ignored, the success of these campaigns is 100% dependent on the quality of the conversion data fed back into the algorithm. There may be some initial work required during setup, but the extra effort will pay off as you begin to take advantage of the features of P-MAX Campaigns.