We often feel like our job here at Advantly consists of a lot of clean up. Cleaning up low quality (and sometimes, even harmful) advertising that our clients have experienced in the past.
We hear horror stories of shady and dishonest lead generation practices daily. These stories unfortunately do not surprise us because we stumble across these ad campaigns all of the time. It amazes us that companies would put themselves and their reputation at risk by participating in some of these tactics.
Sadly a lot of companies are not even aware that they are involved with these questionable practices because they have hired a lead generation company that they think has their best interest in mind.
How Generic, Shared Leads Are Seriously Hurting Your Business and Your Brand
We work with a lot of solar companies so of course we pay close attention to solar advertising. There is a lot of questionable advertising out there that gives solar a bad reputation and makes consumers very weary about even engaging with solar ads. Take the following Facebook ad as an example:
We apologize for the obnoxious red arrows but we really wanted to make this clear because it gets worse. You see all of those negative comments? Would you want your solar company to be associated with that? This ad is being run by a lead generation company that sells the same generic leads to 5+ other solar companies.
Let’s go a step further. Clicking on the ad takes you to the following generic (and unhelpful) landing page:
3 Major Things Are Wrong Here – And They’re Providing Poor-Quality Leads
- Drop-Down Fail #1:
First of all, the “Monthly Average” drop-down box is defaulted to Yes. Unless they read the small text underneath the drop-down that explains what that field even means, prospects will have no clue what that drop-down is asking, and simply keep it set to Yes. Our guess is these leads are being passed onto to the solar companies as qualified leads. After all, the consumer “chose” Yes for their electric bill being over $150, right? Most people probably have no clue what that is even asking. - Drop-Down Fail #2:
You see that “Roof Adequate” drop-down box? Yeah, so that is the same situation. What the heck does “Roof Adequate” even mean? Unless the prospect reads the small text under the drop-down (again – unlikely), chances are they will simply keep that set as the default Yes. Even if they did read that small text, how is the prospect supposed to know the adequate amount of sunlight needed? - “Qualified Lead” Fail #3:
It gets even more entertaining. The final question asks “Is the Homeowner Available for a No-Cost, Free Property Site Visit Consultation Within Next 2 weeks If Needed?” Notice how there is only 1 choice? Yep! They have to click yes to continue, even if they may not be available in the next 2 weeks. Our guess is that these are being passed onto the solar companies as prospects agreeing to an appointment. Really??
More “Qualified Lead” Fails
It doesn’t end there. Clicking the “Next” button takes you to another form that requests additional information. Take a look:
Under the “Day Phone” input it has the following description: “Please Privode us the Best Number to Reach you At”.
Can you tell me what “Privode” means? Yeah, it really is spelled that way.
Let us blow up that “Consent” section for you so you can read what it says:
You see all of those solar companies listed there? Yeah, so those are all of your competitors that are getting these same leads. How nice is that? If it were us we would be a little concerned to be listed there as one of those companies. I suppose it doesn’t matter though as long as the prospect “Privodes” a phone number 
Yes, shared and generic leads are much cheaper than quality and exclusive leads. But, have you heard the saying “You get what you pay for”? Paying for this kind of advertising doesn’t only get you a bunch of low-quality leads (that, incidentally, are also sent to a ton of your competitors), but it is also harmful to your brand.
Wasted time, money, and reputation.
If you are looking for an alternative solution that has your best interest at heart, check out the Advantly results driven advertising system.