Lead generation best practices for financial services advertisers
Create demand with high‑quality prospects and nurture relationships to drive applications, funded accounts, and policies.
Common lead generation challenges
- Lead qualification: Identify high‑value prospects across banking, credit, insurance, and wealth products.
- Trust & credibility: Build confidence around security, compliance, and outcomes.
- Consumer education: Simplify complex products with clear benefits and next steps.
- Data privacy: Collect only what’s needed and handle it securely across systems.
The four pillars of financial services lead generation
Create and capture interest with frictionless forms and compliant messaging by product line.
Segment by product interest, timing, eligibility, and intent signals.
Re‑engage with reminders, education sequences, and transparent value props.
Sync to CRM, route to advisors/agents, and track outcome stages.
Generate leads across multiple conversion locations
Website forms
Drive to your site and collect lead information there. Use website forms when you need to ask sensitive or policy‑restricted questions (e.g., income range) that you prefer to handle directly.
Instant forms
Offer a quick, mobile‑first experience that auto‑populates fields and showcases benefits, eligibility, and disclosures.
Tip: Running both can lower cost per lead and expand reach by accommodating user preferences.
Optimize acquisition with automation and AI
Smart Targeting
Reach people likely to respond based on behavior, interest, and financial goals.
Creative Optimizer
Continuously test messages, disclosures layouts, and proof elements to improve response.
Placements+
Automatically find cost‑efficient placements across feeds, video, and messaging surfaces.
Product Catalog Ads
Showcase multiple products (cards, accounts, policies, portfolios) from a single ad unit.
- Start broad with Smart Targeting for each product line.
- Launch 1–2 evergreen creatives per product with clear value and disclosures.
- Enable both website and instant forms where feasible.
- Add messaging or call add‑ons for urgent questions.
- Rotate proof points: ratings, NPS, testimonials, or third‑party security badges.
- Expand placements once early CPL stabilizes.
Diversify with a secondary conversion option
Website + add‑ons
Layer an instant form or call add‑on to your website flow to improve capture rates.
Destination optimization
Let the system select instant form or messaging based on user preference to increase reach.
Invest in your first‑party data strategy
Conversions API for CRM
Share lower‑funnel outcomes from your CRM (e.g., qualified, appointment set, approved) to improve optimization for quality.
Conversions API for web
Share server‑side events (e.g., application start/submit) alongside client‑side web signals to maximize coverage of key actions.
Adjust the customer experience to drive different outcomes
Instant form customization
- Form type: Choose more volume or higher intent (with a review step).
- Rich creative: Add brand colors, about, product details, and reviews.
- Gated content: Incentivize with exclusive resources or promo codes after submit.
Conditional logic
- Filter and route by eligibility, timing, product, and region.
- Use proxy questions where direct asks are restricted; keep compliance in mind.
- Hand off to call centers or advisors based on responses.
Follow up with new leads quickly and clearly
Branded Calling
Display your business name and logo on outgoing call screens to lift answer rates and reduce spam concerns.
Messaging follow‑ups
Continue the conversation in‑thread to answer questions, share disclosures, and schedule appointments.
Operationalize lead management tasks
CRM integrations
Connect Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, or use workflow tools like Zapier/LeadsBridge/Make.
Google Sheets sync
Lightweight teams can auto‑sync new instant‑form leads into a shared sheet.
Leads Center
Manage, track, and re‑engage leads without a full CRM; apply tags and reminders.
Financial services campaign setup overview
Conversion locations
- Website forms
- Instant forms
- Website + instant form add‑on
- Website + call add‑on
- Destination optimization (instant form + messaging)
Automation and AI
- Smart Targeting
- Creative Optimizer
- Placements+
- Product Catalog Ads
Data and goals
- Conversions API for CRM + Web
- Optimize for Leads and Conversion Leads
- Test website vs instant vs hybrid setups
