#Meta Lead Ads

#What it is

A lead ad is a kind of Facebook or Instagram advert with a short form built in. A person taps the advert, and a form opens with their name and phone number already filled in. They tap once to send it.

This feature brings those people into Threadline as contacts automatically.

Admins set it up under Settings → Lead ads.

#The problem it solves

Without a connection, the leads from your adverts sit inside Meta's tools. Someone has to download them as a file and type or import them somewhere else. By the time you write to the person, hours or days have passed, and they have lost interest.

With this feature, each lead becomes a contact in Threadline within moments. An automation can then send them a WhatsApp message while they still remember your advert.

#How it works

1. A person fills in your lead ad on Facebook or Instagram.
2. Meta tells Threadline that a new lead arrived.
3. Threadline reads the answers and creates a contact on the WhatsApp channel you chose.
4. The contact is tagged lead-ads, and added to a group if you picked one.
5. An automation with the trigger A Meta lead ad form is filled in can then message them.

A lead with no phone number cannot become a WhatsApp contact. It is saved as a lead record only, and the page tells you.

#Before you start

You need:

• a Messenger channel connected in Threadline for the Facebook Page that runs the adverts. See Messenger Setup;
• a WhatsApp channel where the new contacts should live. See WhatsApp Setup;
• access to your Meta developer app.

#1. Add the connection in Threadline

1. Go to Settings → Lead ads and click Connect a Page.
2. Facebook Page (a Messenger channel). Choose the Page that runs your lead ads.
3. Create contacts on (a WhatsApp channel). Choose where the contacts should go.
4. Add them to a group (optional). For example "Ad leads".
5. Name of the phone question on your form. If your form's phone question has a custom name, enter it here so Threadline knows which answer is the phone number.
6. Save. Leave it switched off for now.

#2. Get Meta's approval

In your Meta developer app:

1. Open App Review and request the leads_retrieval and pages_manage_metadata permissions.
2. Give your Page access to the app.
3. In the app's webhook settings for the Page object, subscribe to the leadgen field. Use the same callback URL that you use for Messenger.

Meta's review can take several days.

#3. Switch it on and test

1. Back in Settings → Lead ads, switch the connection on.
2. Open Meta's Lead Ads Testing Tool and send a test lead.
3. Check Recent leads on the page. The test lead should appear, and a new contact should exist under Contacts.

#4. Follow up automatically

Create an automation:

• When: A Meta lead ad form is filled in
• Then: Send a WhatsApp template with your welcome or offer.

Use a template, not a normal message. The person has not written to you on WhatsApp, so there is no open 24-hour window.

#Opt-in: an important point

People who fill in a lead ad are not automatically marked as having agreed to marketing messages on WhatsApp. A template can only be sent to an opted-in contact.

If your advert's form clearly asks for that consent, mark those contacts as opted in on the Contacts page. Otherwise, get consent first.

#Good to know

• Recent leads on the settings page shows the latest leads received and whether a contact was made.
• A lead whose phone number already exists on that channel updates the existing contact. No duplicate is made.
• Remove a connection with Remove. Contacts already created stay.

#Common questions

No leads are arriving. Check that the connection is switched on, that Meta approved leads_retrieval, and that the Page is subscribed to leadgen.

A lead shows "No phone number, so no contact was made". The form did not collect a phone number, or its phone question has a custom name. Enter that name in the connection's settings.

The automation did not message the lead. The contact is probably not opted in, or the step is a normal message instead of a template.