Using Facebook Lead Ad Marketing To Find Foster Carers
LOCALiQ are currently running digital marketing campaigns for over a third of the County Council Fostering Departments in the Northwest of England.
From the councils we’re working with 50% of all inbound enquiries to fostering services departments were generated by LOCALiQ digital marketing sources. We generate more than one high-quality, inbound enquiry every day from a new potential foster carer for every council we work with, and last year we made local authorities an estimated annual saving of £1.3m in Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) fees, through digital marketing support.
So how do we do it, and how can you create a social media marketing campaign to drive enquiries from new and potential foster carers?
What does the consumer journey to find a foster carer look like?
From running fostering campaigns, we have found that the consumer journey for a foster carer entails:
- Becoming aware of fostering through digital channels
- Researching the minimum requirements and eligibility online
- Contemplating options e.g., short-term, long-term, and emergency care
- Considering all the key stakeholders
- Thinking about the financial implications and their personal commitments
- Seeking offline guidance from industry experts
- Applications and consultations
Using Facebook Lead Ads to Find Foster Families
Searching for new foster families is an extremely competitive feat – councils and independent fostering agencies are undoubtedly up against one another to try and find new foster parents in their chosen geographical areas. Furthermore, the recruitment process for becoming a foster parent from the first enquiry to becoming an approved carer takes 18 months on average. However, 24% of UK adults would consider fostering, and targeted social campaigns are a fantastic way to find them – a data-driven approach has been consistently proven to help identify child and carer matching.
We have worked closely with many councils and IFAs to generate new leads for them through targeted fostering campaigns, and experience has taught us that there is a golden solution which stands out from the others and works very effectively with proven results: Facebook Lead Ads.
Furthermore, we are a marketing partner of Facebook (get us), so we know our Facebooky stuff. Let’s dissect Facebook lead ads for fostering agencies and councils a bit further.
What are Facebook Lead Ads?
Facebook lead ads are a type of targeted, paid social advertising product that allows advertisers to collect chosen information from prospects directly within the app, instead of sending them to a landing page to fill out a form. Because of the convenience and speed of this for potential prospects, Facebook Lead Ads tend to generate a lot more leads than sending users off-page does. Because the lead form is so short and simple, it’s great for producing mobile conversions – after all, a huge 96% of Facebook visits are made on smartphones.
Facebook lead ad campaigns allow companies to target online users based on their online demographics and behaviours. By using granular targeting capabilities to find your target audience, you are using your marketing budget more effectively and only reaching online users who are going to be interested in what you are advertising. You can also use behavioural data acquired from previous marketing campaigns and apply it to your existing advertising campaign to find suitable leads.
And that is not all! Facebook lead ad campaigns allow advertisers to choose a call-to-action button most relevant to their goal, asking online users to either Shop Now, Book Now, Send A Message, Get A Quote, Apply Now, and many more call-to-action options. We have found that for fostering campaigns, the most effective call-to-action button is ‘learn more.’
Once the call-to-action button is clicked by a targeted user, they are presented with an in-app, on-page form which has been customised to the advertiser’s preference. This helps Facebook users request more information about fostering easily and quickly, without any pressure or inconvenience. Because the lead ad forms can be customised, the advertiser can use the form to uncover information they need from their potential prospect.
Users can quickly edit or confirm pre-populated information and tap submit. Your business will then receive all the information inputted from that lead, and you can then contact them and proceed to the next stage of the conversion journey funnel.
Customising Your Facebook Lead Ads Form
Advertisers can tailor their lead form to uncover the information they need most from a lead – such as certain contact information, and questions of their choice – you can also opt for multiple answer or free form fill questions.
You can populate the form with your chosen questions as you would with a purpose-built form on your website or elsewhere. By doing this you can uncover the information you need most from a prospect and use this information to convert them.
Why do Facebook Lead Ads work well for finding foster families?
You can target your ad to be served within certain postcodes, making your campaign’s reach extremely specific and granular. At LOCALiQ we have mosaic data to identify which demographic profiles, behavioural categories, and geographical areas a council or foster agency’s past and present carers fall into, and we then utilise this data for our Facebook Ad targeting.
Using strategic, specific targeting methods, we have used Facebook Lead Ads to connect fostering agencies and councils with new foster families. As well as using Facebook Lead Ads to run campaigns with more generic targeting pre-sets, we have used tailored targeting on marketing campaigns exclusive to fostering siblings, or older children, as well as to find specialist foster carers or promote Foster Care Fortnight.
Facebook Lead Ads campaigns are successful in acquiring new leads in the fostering remit because the targeting applied to them is specific, intelligent, and thorough.
Because of the lead form capabilities, foster agencies and councils can tailor their forms to find out exactly what they want to know about a potential foster carer and can then use this information to nurture them and convert them more easily – after all, finding suitable foster carers is a lengthy process, the average prospect will spend between 18 months and 3 years in the consideration and research phase of their journey before deciding on whether to foster.
Due to the creativity Facebook advertising allows, you can tailor your adverts visually to evoke certain emotions, which encourages new carers.
Recently we have used testimonial-style videos in our Facebook Lead Ad campaigns for fostering agencies and councils, which have worked well at driving new leads. We ensure that our visual messaging is relatable, encouraging, and personable to humanise our marketing and build engagement for our clients – people appreciate REAL stories and testimonials. Fostering is an emotional and sensitive subject and should be treated diplomatically.
How Facebook Lead Ads has worked for our fostering clients
When comparing Facebook Lead Ads to other lead generation tools and strategies, it comes out shining – Lead Ads is the clear top performer. When blended with other marketing solutions, leads produced are of extremely high-quality and are very likely to convert.
Which other marketing methods should authorities use to find foster carers?
Our campaign strategy for a local authority fostering service includes:
- Search Engine Marketing – Our award-winning SEM solution combines our marketing expertise and proprietary technology to optimise your marketing spend, driving more leads to your business. As both a Google Premier Partner and Bing Elite Partner, you are in good hands when it comes to your search marketing strategy.
- Social Media Advertising – Full-service Facebook advertising that puts your business in front of users who are most likely to become your customers. With experts in both Facebook marketing and the specific needs of your local business, we provide tangible results -not just likes -to help your business grow.
- Digital Display Retargeting – As part of Newsquest Media Group, the UK’s leading local publisher, LOCALiQ can put your brand in front of 30m+ UK users per month, and help you get the most relevant demographics with highly localised targeting options. Our On-Network Display options allow you to reach a loyal online audience in your local area on both desktop and mobile.
Can we help your organisation find new foster carers?
We understand the key pioneer values your carers are likely to have and know what messaging is most likely to appeal to them. We help local authorities to generate more inbound enquiries from potential new foster carers and hit their new carer approval targets through strategic digital marketing.
Our ambitions at LOCALiQ for fostering services are high, we believe every child growing up needs and deserves the love, care, and support of a family. We have a wealth of experience working with councils, delivering multiple fostering campaigns across the UK.
If you are a foster agency or council needing to find new foster carers and run a fostering campaign, you’re in the right place. Chat to us today about marketing solutions that are tailored to you and your cause.
