Why you should learn about Google Lead Forms

Putting a lead generation strategy in place is important for every business but getting high quality leads isn’t always easy. Traditionally, the process of generating leads would include sending people to a landing page where they fill out their contact information. Sending people to a separate page is costly and is starting to become obsolete. A slow loading landing page can be the end of the lead. Now platforms are creating ads specially designed for mobile users so users can become a lead in just a few clicks. Just like LinkedIn and Facebook, Google has developed its own lead form for Google ads. When learning how to use Google ads, you should also learn more about the Google lead form as an important part of the process for advertising.

What Is the Google Lead Form?

Google lead form extensions are ads that are designed to help your business get leads directly from the mobile search results page as a customer searches for a service or product, or when typing specific keywords. There are a number of Google ad lead form examples to work for any business. Some include private schools offering a brochure to attract students to its study programs or an auto dealer providing a test drive or auto quote.

LeadStream Agency, in Montréal, provides the Google Lead Form extensions services and optimization. 

What Are the Benefits of a Google Lead Form Extension?

When doing Google ads, the lead form extension lets you bypass sending a user to another page and you are able to get their contact information instantly. You are able to link to your website in the submission message if prospects want to learn more about your brand or offer. 

The extensions are pre-filled in order to make it faster and easier for users to give you their contact information. 

The form extensions are optimized for mobile navigation and designed to be high performing. This means you don’t have to do any extra work on your side in order to get them mobile optimized. 

The forms are easy to customize to best fit your marketing goals. You are able to integrate it with email software or a CRM so that new contacts show up once they have signed up. The lead form extensions are relevant to users since Google bases the ads on their previous search patterns.

What about the limitations and disadvantages of Google Lead Form Extension?

Even though there are a lot of benefits of Google lead form extensions, there are also some limitations it helps to be aware of.

Currently lead form extensions can only be used on search campaigns on mobile. You are also only able to create lead form extensions on the campaign level and aren’t able to create them on the ad group or account level.

Some industries may not be eligible for the extension. For example, industries such as healthcare that need to collect sensitive information can’t use lead form extensions.

It’s important to be aware of the strict data collection policies that Google has, as well as the local legal requirements of your users. While you are able to get basic information you need for the lead, there are limited form field options and Google doesn’t provide a lot of customization that you would have with a landing page.

You also don’t have access to the useful user data you would have with a landing page and aren’t able to see how users interact with the page to give you other branding opportunities.

How Do You Get the Information from the Form?

Google gives you two different options to reach out to leads who have given you their information. You are able to download leads as a CSV. The Download Leads button allows you to get the contact information. Keep in mind Google only stores leads for 30 days so you will need to download the leads on a regular basis.

You can also put leads directly into your CRM with a webhook URL. Once you integrate with your CRM, you should be able to send test data in order to view results.

Be sure to check within your CRM that you are getting the test data in the right format.

Since the leads will delete after 30 days, when you do a direct download it’s best to integrate with your CRM if that option is available to you.

It also makes it easy to track the lead throughout the whole conversion process.

How Do You Create Lead Form Extensions?

Using Google lead form extensions allows you to simplify the process of getting user information and place the forms within the ad.

When a user sees the ads and they are signed into their Google account, they are able to click on the call to action and have a Google hosted form that already has their pre-populated information.

This makes the process complete with a single tap.

Create the CTA/Action Call

There are eight different calls to action you can choose from. These include get a quote, contact us, book now, apply now, sign up, subscribe, download, and get an offer. You want to pick the call to action that makes the most sense and clearly states what you want your customers to do.

Create the Form

Creating this form just takes a few seconds. In order to do so, use the “Ads and Extensions” tab on your search ad account.

You are then able to select the information you want to collect, including name, phone number, email, and zip code. You are able to use a background image that appears as the lead form screen. This background image is optional.

Your business name and headline must be 30 characters or less and your description can be 200 characters or less. You are able to choose up to 10 different fields in your form to be populated to ask for work information or contact information.

Google will say that these questions may be prefilled with the customer’s information when it’s available so that it’s more likely the customer will submit the form.

Finish with a Thank You Message

You are also able to have a form submission message that users see after the form is submitted. Many advertisers use this message to include a thank you note.

Privacy Rules and Data Collection

Just like other data collection, Google lead forms are also subjected to ad policies that protect personal information.

The extension should also include a URL that links to your privacy policy page in order to explain how you will use the information you receive from the form. In order to comply with Google ad policies, there are also some other rules.

You are not able to use any previous information that was collected without consent, misuse information in order to get an emotional reaction, or collect any Social Security numbers, tax IDs, credit card numbers, or user health stats.

There are also some other limitations when it comes to the forms. You aren’t able to use any promotional language in the business name field. For example, you can’t add “Buy Now at Joe’s Auto Dealer.” 

Advertisements for healthcare, medicine services, politics, gambling, alcoholic beverages, or adult-oriented products are not allowed. Those that violate these rules can have their entire account suspended.

The extensions are also subject to other external privacy regulations, such as the GDPR for any European countries.

Advertisers aren’t able to run campaigns for EU users who haven’t given consent to use their information.

Track Your Google Lead from Capture Through Conversion

You should want to get leads that convert into sales so it’s important to track the results by monitoring conversions. 

By tracking conversions, you can get a better understanding of the return on your investment and better allocate your marketing budget. In order to track new leads collected, you should know more about the sales funnel and use conversion tracking tools. 

A conversion might not necessarily be a purchase but can also include an app download, phone call with a sales rep, or a newsletter sign up. Your marketing manager will determine what action is considered a conversion. 

In this Google lead form example, a marketing company might use a lead form campaign to drive leads to receive a free eBook about improving their social media strategy. Once the user submits his or her contact info, they get the eBook and are then invited to get in touch by booking a social media marketing consultation. 

The company can start track each call booked as a conversion in order to determine how effective the lead form is. Many companies will typically run similar advertising across multiple channels so it’s important to know which one is giving you the better conversions.

Utilize Google Analytics in addition to the conversion tool in order to get the best results.

Google lead form is a powerful tool to use when it comes to lead generation. Using a combination of lead form and Google ads, you can improve your marketing strategy to not only get more leads but also better quality leads. 

When looking for a Google Ads agency, be sure that the Leadstream agency can help you utilize Google lead forms to your advantage.