9 Steps To Generate Solar Leads From Facebook Ads

This is your detailed step-by-step guide on how to use Facebook Ads for solar leads. 

We often see Cost Per Solar Lead (CPSL) under $5. That’s right, when set up correctly, a $100 budget for Facebook solar ads can easily generate 20 leads.

Not bad, right? 

A low CPSL is the first step in a great solar Facebook campaign. These leads need to be quality otherwise, they won’t sell. 

As a Solar Facebook ad agency specialist, we know what sells solar installations. We offer 90 solar leads in 90 days promise. Book in a call to learn more or continue reading for a complete guide on how to set up a profitable ad campaign.

What is a Solar Lead from Facebook?

First up, let’s get the basic question out of the way. What do we mean when we say “solar leads from Facebook ads”?

A lead for a solar company is someone, usually a homeowner but sometimes a business owner, who has shown interest in getting solar panels installed for their property.

They were scrolling on Facebook, saw your unforgettable and compelling solar ad and clicked on it to learn more information.

They went to your landing page and entered their personal information, property address, energy bill or average power consumption, and any other information you need to accurately quote a solar job.

(We work with you to ensure your landing page captures all the necessary information).

Now you have the contact information of your new solar lead and can reach out to them to continue the sales process.

That’s how Facebook Ads generate solar leads at a high level. Let’s dive into things a bit deeper.

Do Facebook Ads Work For Solar Companies?

Yes, they do work. They just need to be set up correctly, monitored and consistently optimized.

Many agencies and freelancers don’t understand the solar industry (that’s why we only work with solar companies) so there’s often a slow period of trial and error.

This testing period often sees high Cost Per Solar Lead and low lead quality, due to the campaign not being optimized.

Once you get the right messaging and creatives (images, videos, etc) in your ads, correct audience targeting and campaign setup completed, you should see leads from $5-10, per lead.

Making sure your campaign is running smoothly is a consistent job, otherwise your ad will start to deteriorate. We will talk more about “Solar Ad Fatigue” later in this article.

3 Different Types of Solar Leads from Facebook Ads

Not all solar leads from Facebook Ads are the same; which one you should target depends on your specific strategy.

Typically, every lead falls into 1 of 3 buckets.

1. Information Request: A person requests more information on your solar installation services. They could want more information on a range of questions related to solar, such as:

• Typical cost of solar installation
• How many panels will their home/business need
• Current rebates/incentives

We can help answer many of these questions on your landing page with Frequently Asked Questions. 

2. Quote Request: These types of leads are very common for solar companies. People are looking to get a solar quote from your company.

You will need specific information to handle this quote to tailor a unique solar installation for their home or business. This information should be collected on the landing page to reduce how many follow-ups you need to make.

3. Demo or Consultation Leads: These leads want a solar demonstration/consultation from your team. 

Depending on the specific types of solar leads you’re after, you will have to fine tune your landing page and information collected to suit.

So How Can We Use Facebook Ads for Solar Leads?

Okay, so you’re looking to get DIY solar leads through Facebook Ads? Here’s the step-by-step guidebook on how it works.

#1 – Identify Your Target Audience

Identifying your target audience is crucial to profitable solar ads. You’re wasting money if you’re targeting the wrong people who don’t want solar or aren’t in your service area.

The first step is choosing your target location so that only people in your service area see your ads. 

That way, you’re only speaking to those who you can actually serve. 

Say you install residential solar panels across all of Texas, but don’t want any leads coming from the city of Austin. You should target all of Texas, but exclude Austin through the location targeting options.

You should also narrow down your audience through interests and behaviour. 

Target those that have shown interest in solar energy, are environmentally conscious or are looking to save money on energy prices.

You can Create an “interest-based ad campaign” for this to narrow the focus to those who will be quality leads.

#2 – What’s Your Budget?

The bigger the budget, the more leads you’ll get. You’ll typically get leads faster, as there’s more budget per day to get your ads out there.

For a semi-competitive area, the absolute minimum Facebook ad spend for solar campaigns we suggest is $1,000 USD. That’s around $33 a day.

At minimum, that should get you somewhere between 70-100 leads a month. 

Remember, more budget means more ads are showing, which gets your “ad fatigue” sooner.

#3 – Solar Ad Creatives

This is where your campaign makes or breaks.

Boring ad creatives get ignored. Your images or videos should stop people scrolling in their tracks.

We always suggest being honest in your ad campaigns. For example, we spoke with a company owner that hired an agency that created ads offering “free solar panels”, which was extremely misleading.

Not only do you hurt your company image, but you’re also making selling solar panels very difficult for someone expecting it to be free.

Make sure your solar ad creatives have a few important aspects to them:

• Eye-catching visuals: Your ads need to stop people scrolling. Grab people’s attention with images that showcase your solar services. 
• Inform people: Your ad text needs to excite people to take that next step. Why should they contact you? Tell them why!
• Focused content: Less is more. Write your ad text concisely and focused to what people need to know and what sells people, but don’t lie or mislead.
• Use social proof: Consider using reviews, testimonials, and other ways to generate trust with a reader.
• Include a strong Call To Action: A Call To Action (CTA) show tells people exactly what the next step is. Don’t leave it open-ended. Tell people what you want them to do.
• Unique selling points: What separates your solar company from the rest? Do you donate to charity, plant trees, etc? Use your unique selling points.
• Test, test and test: Don’t be afraid to have a little fun here. It will make your company stand out among the noise of the solar industry.

Pro tip: Visit Facebook’s ad library to see what type of ad creatives your competitors are using. This should give you plenty of ideas!

#4 – High Converting Landing Page

Next, set up a high converting landing page.

You need to generate trust and nudge people closer to actually getting in touch with you.

Include reviews/testimonials, a detailed FAQ section and a professional landing page design that excites leads to take that next step.

Even if they don’t complete your landing page contact form, there are ways to collect information directly from Facebook forms that allow you to contact a person directly.

#5 – Setting Up Your Facebook Solar Campaign

Now you have all the elements created, it’s time to plug it all into the Facebook campaign manager, set up the Facebook pixel and turn it on.

We see great results with Facebook and Instagram solar ads running together. The one campaign will automatically send ads to Instagram as well, unless you manually turn it off.

#6 – Organize Your Solar Leads Automatically

With our solar Facebook ad clients, we set our campaigns up with a free Client Relationship Management (CRM) dashboard.

This is so you have a central location to manage all your leads.

Once you’re getting 3-5 solar leads every single day, you’ll need to be organized to keep on top of everything.

Our Solar CRM system does exactly that for you, and we recommend automatically feeding the lead data directly from Facebook to your CRM.

#7 – Follow Up With Your Leads ASAP

Having the quickest “Time To Lead” is important in a high conversion rate. 

That means, you want to be in touch with your leads within the first 24 hours. This is because people are looking for solar information/quotes now, not in 3 weeks.

The sooner you contact someone, your chances of a solar sale skyrocket.

#8 – Swap Out Ad Creatives When You See Solar Ad Fatigue

The more people that see your ad again and again “fatigues” your solar ad. If someone hasn’t got in touch with you by the 4th or 5th time they see your ad, chances are they aren’t a good fit.

Ad fatigue reduces how effective your campaign is, as fewer people are contacting you.

To combat this, change out your ads if you start to notice a decline in your leads over the space of a couple of weeks. 

A good way to tell if you have ad fatigue is by monitoring your Cost Per Result (CPR) in the Facebook ad manager. Say your CPR was hovering around $6 for the first month, but the second month it dropped to $18 CPR and keeps declining.

Chances are that you’re experiencing ad fatigue.

You can also view the “Frequency” of your ad. This is how many times people typically see your ad. If this number is above 2.5 or 3, it’s likely time to swap out those ads.

#9 – Close Those Solar Jobs

Finally, your sales process is the last step in a profitable solar Facebook ad campaign. 

After all, you can have all the solar leads in the world, but if you’re not closing them, you’re not making money.

Once that deal is closed, mark them off in your CRM so you can keep track of the ROI your campaign is performing.

FAQ’s On Facebook Ads For Getting Solar Leads

Here are the most common questions we get asked from clients and people learning more about generating solar leads with Instagram and Facebook Ads.

Facebook Ads For Solar Leads – Do You Need Help?

Interested in Facebook ads for solar leads but don’t have the time to do this yourself? Contact the solar marketing specialists and we’ll make sure you get quality leads, as quickly as possible.

We only work with solar companies and our founder, Ben McLaughlan, is a qualified electrician who understands the solar industry deeper than any other agency.

Book in a call today to learn more and to get started.