If you haven’t created a Facebook (Meta) Lead ad campaign before, it may feel a little daunting. In this tutorial, I’ll walking you through how to create and run your first Facebook lead ad using the Facebook instant form add-on. You can use this method to generate leads via Facebook and Instagram.
I’m going to assume you already have a Facebook Business Page and/or Instagram account and Ad Account setup for your business, and we’re going to be using the Facebook Ads Quick Creation tool instead of the Guided Creation tool.
If you’re not already familiar with the Facebook Lead Ads as a format, find our more here.
Facebook Lead Ads are a powerful tool for businesses to generate high-quality leads and drive conversions. Introduced in 2015, Lead Ads have revolutionized the way companies collect leads on Facebook and Instagram. With Lead Ads, users can fill out a form directly within the Facebook platform, eliminating the need to visit an external landing page. This streamlined process increases conversion rates and reduces friction, making it easier for potential customers to provide their contact information. By using Lead Ads, businesses can collect leads at a lower cost, gather relevant information from prospects, and increase brand awareness.
The benefits of using Lead Ads are numerous. Firstly, Lead Ads allow businesses to reach a massive and high-converting audience, with over 3.05 billion monthly active users on Facebook. Lead Ads are optimized for mobile users, making it easy to reach people who are likely to interact with your brand. Additionally, Lead Ads reduce conversion friction, facilitating precise targeting and increasing conversions. With Lead Ads, businesses can also save time and money by automating the lead generation process and reducing the need for external landing pages. Furthermore, Lead Ads provide a fully customizable tool, allowing businesses to promote their products or services to a specific group of users while boosting brand awareness.
Log in to your Facebook Ads Manager account.
From your Facebook Ads Manager account, click on the Create button.
Choose Leads as your campaign objective.
Select Manual leads campaign as the setup option.
Name your campaign and set your budget.
When determining your ad spend, consider how it will affect the reach and effectiveness of your campaign. A higher ad spend can significantly enhance your campaign’s visibility and its ability to generate leads, especially for events with traditionally low attendance rates. I recommend starting with a minimum of $5 – $10 per day. However, if your budget allows, increasing your ad spend can accelerate the results and improve the overall performance of your lead generation efforts.
Click Next to move to the next section.
Name your ad set. The Ad Set is where you will choose the audience you want to target, so you may want to use a name that reflects this. Utilizing custom audiences can help you target specific groups, such as existing customers or lookalike segments, which can reduce customer acquisition costs and improve campaign efficiency.
Choose Instant Forms as your conversion location
Leave Performance goal set to Maximize number of leads, and make sure your Facebook page is selected.
Leave the Catalog section empty:
Budget & Schedule: you might like to set a hard end date if you don’t want to spend more than a certain amount. For example, you could set the end date for 1 week away in case you forget to turn the campaign off.
Now it’s time to build your target audience – the people you want to show your Facebook lead ads to. Targeting your current customers when building your audience can lead to more accurate targeting and the development of ideal customer profiles, enhancing the effectiveness of your marketing strategies.
Click Next
Add an Ad Name. I tend to use a simple naming convention here, such as “Ad 01”. Again, make sure your Facebook Page is selected and also set your Instagram account if you have added it to your Ads Manager account, otherwise, just use your Facebook page.
Optimizing Facebook lead ads for mobile users is essential, considering the significant number of users accessing Facebook on mobile devices.
Start building your target audience by selecting a geographic region. This could be a whole country, such as the “United States”, or it could be a more targeted local location. In this example I’m targeting “People living in this location” and San Francisco, California, with a 25 mile radius selected.
Identifying the right audience is crucial for ensuring your ad campaign aligns with your advertising objectives.
Narrow your target audience by age, gender. Primary language is optional.
You can define your target audience based on Demographics, Interests and Behaviours. There are 100’s of options in the Detailed Targeting section, so I suggest you take a look around at the options to try to find your ideal target audience. This targeting map will show you ~all~ most of the options available.
If you need some inspiration for ad copy and images, check out our post on How to Spy on Your Competitors’ Facebook Ads. Looking at successful ad examples can provide valuable insights into crafting effective Facebook lead ads that resonate with your target audience.
Click on the Ad Name to start creating your Ad. Make sure the correct Facebook Page is selected. If you have an Instagram account connected to your Business Manager account, you will be able to select it here. Otherwise, your Lead Ads will show up on Instagram as a sponsored ad on behalf of your Page, which is fine when you’re getting started.
Ad Setup: Here’s where you’ll need to have either a static image or a short video (under 15 seconds). Using a square or 1:1 ratio image or video will save you creating multiple formats for placements in Facebook & Instagram. This step is crucial in Facebook advertising, as it directly impacts your ability to engage and capture the interest of your target audience. Additionally, consider using carousel ads to present multiple offers, which can enhance your lead generation strategies by showcasing various incentives.
If you have a little bit of creative flare, then I recommend Canva for creating static Facebook ads for yourself. You can start with one of their square Instagram templates.
If you’d prefer a graphic design professional’s help, then I highly recommend 99designs.
Upload your image: Assuming you’ve created a single image, click on the Add Image button then the Upload button. Find the image on your computer and upload it. Click Continue once it’s uploaded. Using a single image can be beneficial for creating visually appealing ads that meet your campaign’s goals.
There have been volumes written on ad copy, so I won’t go too much into what makes good Facebook Lead ad copy.
Fill in your Primary Text, Headline and choose your Call to Action.
Use an appropriate call to action. As you can see in the image above, there are a number of options to choose from. In this Lead Ad example, I’m going to ask people for their Name and Email address before sending them to this very blog post. Yep, it can be as simple as that.
Engaging ad copy can significantly help in increasing brand awareness, especially when paired with content formats like short videos that align with your messaging goals.
If you’re struggling with writing ad copy, then you might try one of the many AI tools such as ChatGPT to help inspire you.
Time to create your lead form. This is the form people will see when they click on your ad. To get started, click the Create Lead Form button in the Instant Form section and name your form. This will make it easier to find later when you start creating multiple campaigns and forms.
Leave the More Volume default form type selected.
Fill in the Intro: Add a Headline and an introductory paragraph to reiterate what people should expect after they submit the form. By default, your form will use the image from your ad as the header image, but you can customise this image.
Add a headline that will appear above the form fields.
Customise your form questions: By default, your form will ask for the person’s full name and email address, but there are a heap more questions you can ask to better qualify your leads as you can see in the image above. Customizing the questions on your lead forms is crucial for capturing the necessary information to qualify new leads effectively. This customization can significantly impact the number of generated leads by simplifying the submission process and ensuring that the information gathered is directly relevant to your offerings. You can include custom questions tailored to your business needs, such as multiple choice questions, which can make the form more engaging and easier to complete.
Here’s a list of all the pre-filled fields you can use in your lead form. Using pre-populated fields can streamline the process by automatically filling in user data from their Facebook profiles, enhancing user experience and improving conversion rates.
In the above example, I’ve asked for the person’s first name, email address, and a response to a simple Yes/No question.
Link to your Privacy Policy: hopefully you have a privacy policy on your website. Add a link to it here. If you don’t use our Facebook privacy policy generator to create your own without the need for a website.
Customize your Thank You screen: this is what people will see after they’ve submitted their details. This could be as simple as “Thanks for sending us your details, we’ll be in touch shortly”, or as in this example, I’m asking people to click on the link to view the content.
Click the Finish Button to finish editing your form.
If you want more qualified leads and less volume, then check out how to use the Higher Intent Lead form option.
Click the Publish button at the bottom right of the screen to publish your Lead Ads campaign. 💥
There are two ways to access your leads:
Additionally, you can download your leads as a CSV file, which enhances data management efficiency. This allows you to easily sync generated leads with your CRM, supporting marketers in following up effectively and increasing conversion rates.
By efficiently managing these leads, your sales team can significantly improve their follow-up and deal-closing processes, leveraging real-time data to track and nurture leads through the sales funnel, enhancing response times to customer queries, and utilizing CRM nurturing sequences to engage potential customers effectively.
Make sure you regularly check on the performance of your campaign by viewing your Facebook ads manager reports. You want to keep an eye on your Cost Per Result which is your cost per lead generated.
Monitoring your advertising budget can help optimize your campaign’s cost per lead, ensuring you get the most out of your investment.
Congratulations! You’ve launched your first Facebook Lead Ad campaign. 🥳
When using Lead Ads, there are several common mistakes to avoid. One of the most significant mistakes is not optimizing ads for mobile users. With 98.5% of Facebook users accessing the platform through mobile devices, it’s crucial to ensure that Lead Ads are mobile-friendly. Another mistake is not using relevant and high-quality images in ad creatives. High-quality images can significantly increase the effectiveness of Lead Ads, while low-quality images can deter potential customers. Additionally, businesses should avoid using too many fields in their Lead Forms, as this can decrease completion rates. It’s also essential to test and optimize Lead Ads regularly to ensure maximum ROI.
Integrating Lead Ads with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is crucial for maximizing the effectiveness of lead generation campaigns. By integrating Lead Ads with a CRM, businesses can automatically sync leads, access lead data in real-time, and deliver personalized follow-up responses. This integration enables businesses to track leads through the sales funnel, nurture them accordingly, and increase conversion rates. With LeadsBridge, a popular integration platform, businesses can connect their Lead Ads with over 100 CRM systems, making it easy to manage leads and automate follow-up processes.
For the most up-to-date resources on creating lead ads using the instant form add-on, check out Facebook’s instant form add-on faq.
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