How to Generate Leads With Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads can help small businesses reach potential customers and generate leads without relying solely on organic traffic. However, simply boosting a post or putting an advertisement in front of a large audience doesn’t guarantee enquiries.
To generate leads with Facebook Ads, you need a clear objective, the right audience, a compelling offer, effective ad creative, a simple conversion process, and consistent tracking.
A typical lead-generation journey might look like:
Facebook Ad → Lead Form or Landing Page → Lead → Follow-Up → Customer
Each step needs to work together if you want your advertising budget to produce meaningful business results.
What Are Facebook Lead Generation Ads?
Facebook lead generation campaigns are designed to encourage potential customers to provide their contact information or take another action that indicates interest in your business.
Depending on your campaign, you could ask prospects to:
- Submit an enquiry
- Request a quote
- Book a consultation
- Download a resource
- Register for an event
- Request more information
- Express interest in a product or service
The important part is to offer something relevant enough for your target audience to take action.
1. Define Your Ideal Customer
Before creating your campaign, determine exactly who you want to reach.
Consider:
- Location
- Age range
- Interests
- Industry
- Job role
- Business size
- Customer needs
- Previous interactions with your business
For example, a business consultant targeting small business owners may want to reach decision-makers who are actively looking for help with business growth, marketing, sales or operations.
The more clearly you understand your ideal customer, the easier it becomes to create relevant advertising.
2. Choose the Right Lead Generation Offer
People are unlikely to provide their details simply because an advertisement asks them to. Give them a reason to respond.
Depending on your business, this could be:
- Free consultation
- Quote or estimate
- Strategy session
- Downloadable guide
- Checklist
- Assessment
- Product demonstration
- Special offer
The offer should solve a genuine problem or provide useful value to your target audience.
For example, instead of an ad saying: “Need better marketing? Contact us.”
You could offer: “Get a free marketing assessment and identify the biggest opportunities to improve your lead generation.”
The second option gives the prospect a clearer reason to act.
3. Create Facebook Ads That Get Attention
Your ad needs to compete for attention in a busy social media feed. Effective Facebook Ads generally have:
- A clear message
- Strong visual content
- A relevant offer
- Concise copy
- A clear call to action
Start with the customer’s problem or desired outcome rather than immediately talking about your business.
For example:
Problem-focused: “Getting website visitors but not enough enquiries?”
Then explain how your offer can help. Test different combinations of headlines, images, videos and messaging to find what resonates with your audience.
4. Use the Right Campaign Objective
Choose an advertising objective that aligns with what you actually want to achieve.
If your goal is to generate enquiries, your campaign should be structured around lead generation rather than simply maximising post engagement. Your objective should connect to a measurable business outcome.
For example:
- Goal: Generate qualified enquiries
- Campaign: Lead generation
- Conversion: Completed form
- Business outcome: Qualified sales opportunity
This makes it easier to evaluate whether your advertising is actually working.
5. Choose Between Facebook Lead Forms and Landing Pages
There are two common ways to collect leads from Facebook advertising.
Facebook Lead Forms
Lead forms allow users to submit their information without necessarily leaving Facebook.
They can make the process quick and convenient, particularly on mobile devices.
You might request:
- Name
- Phone number
- Business name
- Specific information about their needs
Keep forms relatively simple. Asking for too much information can discourage people from
completing them.
Landing Pages
You can also send Facebook users to a dedicated landing page on your website. This gives you more control over:
- Page design
- Messaging
- Information
- Branding
- Conversion elements
- Tracking
Landing pages can be particularly useful when your offer requires more explanation before someone submits an enquiry.
6. Make Your Landing Page Match Your Ad
If you’re sending traffic to your website, the landing page should closely match the message in your advertisement.
For example:
Ad: “Get a Free Business Growth Assessment”
Landing page: “Book Your Free Business Growth Assessment”
The visitor should immediately understand that they’ve arrived at the right place. Your landing page should also have:
- A clear headline
- Concise benefits
- Relevant supporting information
- Trust signals
- A prominent call to action
- A simple enquiry form
A great advertisement can’t compensate for a confusing landing page.
7. Target the Right Audience
Targeting too broadly can waste your advertising budget by showing ads to people who are unlikely to become customers. However, overly narrow targeting can also limit your campaign and make it difficult to reach enough potential customers.
Start with a clear understanding of your ideal customer and test different audience approaches. You can also use audiences based on interactions with your business, such as people who have:
- Visited your website
- Engaged with your Facebook Page
- Watched your videos
- Interacted with previous advertisements
- Joined your customer database
8. Retarget People Who Have Already Shown Interest
Not everyone who clicks an advertisement will become a customer immediately. Someone might:
- Visit your website
- Read your content
- View your services
- Start a form
- Watch a video
and leave without converting.
Retargeting allows businesses to advertise to people who have already interacted with their business, depending on the available audience and tracking setup. These audiences can be valuable because they have already demonstrated some level of interest.
9. Follow Up With Leads Quickly
Generating a lead is only the beginning. Your follow-up process can have a significant impact on whether that lead becomes a customer. Depending on your business, follow-up could involve:
- Phone calls
- SMS
- Sales consultations
- Automated responses
Make sure leads know what happens next.
For example: “Thanks for requesting your consultation. Our team will contact you within one business day to arrange a suitable time.”
A clear process provides a better customer experience and reduces the chance of leads being forgotten.
Read What Is Email Automation?
10. Track Your Facebook Ads Results
Don’t measure your campaign solely by the number of leads. You should also consider the quality and value of those leads. Important metrics can include:
- Impressions
- Click-through rate
- Cost per click
- Leads
- Cost per lead
- Landing page conversion rate
- Qualified leads
- Appointments
- Customers
- Cost per acquisition
- Revenue
- Return on ad spend
For example, Campaign A might generate 100 leads at $10 each, while Campaign B
generates 30 leads at $20 each.
At first glance, Campaign A looks better.
But if Campaign B produces more qualified leads and customers, it could ultimately provide a better return.
How Much Should You Spend on Facebook Lead Generation?
There is no universal Facebook Ads budget that works for every business. Your budget should reflect factors such as:
- Customer value
- Profit margins
- Expected conversion rate
- Target audience
- Competition
- Sales cycle
- Marketing objectives
Start with a budget you can sustain long enough to collect useful performance data.
The goal isn’t simply to generate the cheapest leads. You want to generate qualified leads at a cost that makes sense for your business.
FAQs
Can Facebook Ads generate leads for small businesses?
Yes. Facebook Ads can help small businesses reach targeted audiences and generate enquiries, registrations, consultations, and other types of leads.
What makes a good Facebook lead generation ad?
A good lead-generation ad typically has a clear audience, relevant offer, compelling creative, concise messaging and an obvious next step.
Are Facebook Lead Forms better than landing pages?
Neither is always better. Lead forms can make submitting information easier, while landing pages provide more control over the customer experience and messaging. The right option depends on your offer and audience.
How much do Facebook lead-generation ads cost?
There is no fixed cost. Costs vary depending on factors such as audience, competition, campaign objective, ad quality, industry and conversion rate.
How do I get higher-quality leads from Facebook Ads?
Improve your audience targeting, make your offer more specific, clearly explain who the offer is for, and use your lead form or landing page to qualify prospects where appropriate.
How long should I run a Facebook Ads campaign?
There is no universal timeframe. Campaigns need enough time and budget to collect useful data, but businesses should also monitor performance regularly and make changes when the data indicates a problem.