Showing Ads to People Who Abandoned Your Form

Whoever the cart abandoner is in e-commerce, the form abandoner is in a service business. They opened the quote form, filled a couple of fields, and left without sending. This person isn’t uninterested — they got stuck somewhere.

First find where the form is abandoned

Before spending on ads, look at the form itself. The three most common causes: too many required fields, asking for a phone number up front, and a field that breaks on mobile. Fixing these drops abandonment without any ad spend.

“Form opened” and “form sent” must be measured separately

Most accounts only measure “form submitted.” In that setup, abandoners are invisible and no audience can be built. Form open, or the first field being filled, should be sent as its own event; setup is on the form conversion tracking page.

The message should remove the obstacle

Telling this audience to “try our service” doesn’t work. They were already about to. Something that clarifies the process — how long it takes, whether it’s free, what happens next — performs far better.

A phone call often beats an ad

If the phone field was filled but not submitted, you may not hold that data; but if forms were submitted and never followed up, that’s where the real loss is. Call-focused ads and a fast response come before ad budget.

How we start. We first look at which step your form is being abandoned at. Reach out via the contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many fields is ideal?

The fewer the better; a name and one contact detail is usually enough for first contact. The rest can be collected in conversation.

Does this work with in-ad forms?

For forms that open inside the ad, opening and submitting can be measured separately; the setup is on the lead generation ads page.

Is it the same logic as cart abandonment?

Yes, the logic is identical; the difference is that with cart abandoners you can show the product again. On the service side you explain the process instead.