Okay, it’s 7:22 a.m. and we are back.

I’ve just prepared this video, and I want to get over the hurdle of being consistent with producing content. So this is it. And I think there’s a lot of value we can share in a few minutes. This won’t be a 26-minute one, so I should probably get started.

Today we’re talking about speed to lead—and why this is one of the biggest reasons you never close social media leads. There’s more to it than this, but speed to lead is a huge factor. Even with our clients—despite the unique style of advertising we run—they’re still vulnerable to this if it isn’t handled properly.

So what does speed to lead actually mean? It’s the time it takes you to make contact with a lead after they submit their details and opt in.

And here’s why it matters so much—especially in solar, but honestly in any social advertising.

There are basically two scenarios:

Scenario one: Your ad was the first solar ad they engaged with. In that case, props—you got someone scrolling social media, with no immediate intent, to engage with solar. That usually means your creative was different, specific, and compelling.

Scenario two (and this is far more common): Your ad was not the first solar ad they engaged with.

Because of how Meta targeting works, once someone engages with anything solar—or anything in the “save money on energy” category like heat pumps, insulation, etc.—they start getting bombarded with similar ads.

This is a real example of my feed after engaging with one solar ad. Every third post is solar. Every ad is solar. And to be honest, none of them really grab attention. They’re busy. They’re cluttered. They’re mostly stock imagery or roof photos. There’s no core value proposition. Nothing builds rapport.

That’s what your prospects are experiencing.

And this creates one of the biggest issues in social lead generation: a lack of differentiation.

That’s why you get comments like:

• “I don’t remember filling that out.”

• “Which company are you again?”

• “What was the price in the ad?” (even when you didn’t even mention a price)

They’re seeing so many solar ads that it’s completely understandable they can’t remember who is who.

Now, for our clients, this is less of an issue because we do things like genuinely creative ads that always feature the owner or a member of the team. That builds rapport. People work with people—not panels on a roof. They remember personality, not stock photos.

So if someone connects with you, they’re more likely to remember you—even if you’re a little slower to that first touchpoint.

But even with ads like that—ads that look completely different to most of what you see in the solar market—there’s still a strong correlation between speed to lead and results.

When we speak to potential clients, and especially when they’re qualifying for our hero offer (where we cover the ad spend), one of the requirements is this:

We expect you to call leads within an average of 15 minutes.

That’s a requirement for our guarantee because we know how pivotal it is to the success of the campaign. Without that stipulation, we could do everything perfectly—and if the client is slow to contact leads, the results won’t come through. And that’s not something we can solve purely through marketing.

In the future, we may bring the calling process in-house (some providers do this, and it’s fantastic), but we don’t have the resource for that right now. And honestly, our clients are usually excellent on the phone. They know the technical side. They know the context. They know the area. They know that they installed on the next road seven doors down. They’re going to be more effective at booking the survey—if they’re fast.

So here’s the real data.

Client A:
51% call pickup rate
33% survey booking rate
Average speed to lead: 197 minutes (just over 3 hours)

Client B:
54% call pickup rate
46% survey booking rate
Average speed to lead: around 126 minutes (just over 2 hours)

Client C (real data from one of our clients):
75% call pickup rate
77% survey booking rate
Average speed to lead: 2 minutes

Let that sink in.

If Client C gets 10 leads, they book surveys with seven or eight of them—because their average speed to lead is two minutes. They get a notification and they call immediately, no matter what they’re doing.

Whether it’s 9:00 p.m.
Whether it’s 7:00 a.m.
Whether it’s the middle of the workday
Even if they’re on an installation

They call. They get it done. And because of that, they see those results—and it has a knock-on effect throughout the entire pipeline.

So what do you do to increase speed to lead?

First, the obvious one: call faster.

Then, automate what you can:

• SMS

• Email

• WhatsApp

Quick tip: WhatsApp has far higher engagement than SMS ever will. And it’s richer—you can send media, and you can include a call button right inside the message.

What we do is send really warm WhatsApp videos that are completely unedited. A lot of our ads use quite an intense editing style, but the lead follow-up video is natural and simple.

And here’s the pivotal part: if Tom from Infinite Energy was on the ad, the lead now receives a WhatsApp video from Tom that they instantly recognise. There’s connection. There’s continuity. It feels seamless.

Compare that to what happens with most installers:
They run a still image ad with panels and a price.
The prospect completes a generic lead form that looks like everyone else’s.
Then they get an automated text—if they’re lucky—or a call from someone they don’t recognise.

Nothing connects the dots. The only thing linking the stages is “solar,” and even that sometimes gets lost.

This continuity is massive.

Next: you need an out-of-hours strategy. A lot of social leads come through out of hours. You’ll even see leads between midnight and 4:00 a.m.—it’s crazy.

We’ve tested excluding those times, but you’d be surprised how good some of those leads are. For now, we keep them in, and we plan around it.

Finally: use a good CRM.

There’s nothing worse than a lead coming in and your brain immediately goes:
“Ugh, I’ve got to open the CRM… it’s slow… the fields are clunky… I’ll do it later when I’m on my laptop.”

That one thought destroys speed to lead because it gives you an easy excuse to delay.

And last: make your whole approach memorable. It doesn’t replace speed to lead, but it does reduce the damage when you’re not perfect.

Hope that was useful.

If you want a copy of the document as we build it out, go to the link in this post: offer.solaronsteroid.com/magnumopus.

And if you want implementation of everything we’re discussing as we continue producing content, go to the same link, continue through the process, answer a few more questions, and we’ll be in touch if you’re qualified.

Awesome. Appreciate you. Much more content to come.