How to Generate Leads from Facebook: 9 Proven Strategies

Running Facebook lead generation ads for B2B and getting flooded with junk leads? 

You’re not alone. Many teams burn through budget on campaigns that look good but bring little return. They get irrelevant clicks, unqualified sign-ups, and inboxes full of noise.

Why does this happen? And how do you generate leads on Facebook the right way?

Facebook lead gen works when you combine precise targeting, solid data, and a clear strategy. Boosting posts or picking polished images alone won’t cut it. You must reach the right buyers with the right message at the right time.

This guide walks you through practical strategies to stop wasting spend and start generating high-quality leads on Facebook. 👇

What are Facebook lead generation ads?

Facebook lead generation ads are a built-in format designed to help you collect leads.

Instead of sending potential customers to a landing page, these ads open an instant form directly within Facebook or Instagram.

The form is pre-filled with the user’s profile information (like name, email, phone number), so it is quick and easy to complete. 

Here’s an example of a Facebook ad:

You can customise the form to collect the necessary data, like company size, job title, product interests or meeting requests.

For B2B sales and marketing teams, this creates a fast, mobile-friendly way to:

• Capture contact details for gated content or demos.
• Pre-qualify prospects with custom questions.
• Sync leads directly into your CRM or sales automation tool.
• Reach decision-makers where they’re already active.

The main benefit is that Facebook lead ads reduce drop-off. You’re not relying on someone to click through, wait for a site to load, and then fill out a form.

These approaches can support lead generation, especially in more complex funnels. But if your goal is to generate leads fast, with minimal friction and maximum volume, Facebook lead generation ads are still the most reliable starting point. 

A study of over 3,000 campaigns and $9.5 million in ad spend found that Facebook lead ads converted at a 12.5% rate, outperforming landing page campaigns by 2.07%. That’s why many B2B marketing and sales teams use lead ads as their primary capture tool on the platform.

How does Facebook lead generation work?

When a potential lead clicks your ad, a form pops up. It’s pre-filled with information from their Facebook or Instagram profile, such as name, email, phone number, and company name. All they have to do is review and tap submit.

That convenience is what makes Facebook lead generation work so well. The entire experience stays native: no extra load time, no switching tabs, and no abandoned forms due to poor mobile UX.

Behind the scenes, Facebook optimises your ad delivery based on who’s most likely to complete the form. You can layer this with detailed B2B targeting by job title, industry, company interests, or lookalike audiences built from your uploaded data.

For example, you can upload a list of your best-performing leads or closed-won customers from your CRM and let Facebook find users with similar traits. 

Or, if you’re using a B2B data provider like Cognism, you can extract a clean, verified list of ideal accounts and contacts and use that to build lookalikes. This way, you’ll reach people who perfectly match your ideal customer profile, even if they haven’t heard of you yet.

“You don’t need to be tech-savvy to use the platform and it seamlessly integrates into the tools you’re using already. Best of all, it delivers fast results. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it”

90%

reduction in lead list generation time

Joshua Silvera
Director of Sales Development @GWI

Once a generation form is submitted, the data goes straight into your CRM, email platform, or sales pipeline (via integrations or manual export). From there, it’s ready for your follow-up.

Types of Facebook lead generation

Facebook offers three types of lead generation ads. Each one matches how prospects prefer to engage—whether they fill out a form, chat in Messenger or Instagram, or speak to someone on the phone.

Here’s a breakdown of how they work:

1. Lead ads with forms

This is the most common and scalable format. These ads let you collect contact information using forms. 

You have three options here:

1. Instant forms

These are mobile-first forms that open natively within Facebook or Instagram. They auto-fill with profile data like name, email, and phone number. You can customise them to collect job titles, meeting requests, or product preferences.

2. Website forms

Instead of using Meta’s native form, you can direct people to one hosted on your website. This option is useful when collecting sensitive data (e.g. financial or health info) or showing extra product details before the interactive form.

3. Instant form add-on

This is a hybrid approach to generating leads on Facebook. You run a website campaign, but overlay an instant form as an optional step. This gives users a low-friction way to convert before reaching your site or continue to complete all the form questions if needed.

2. Lead ads that click to message

These ads open a chat window in Messenger or Instagram Direct instead of showing an ad form. You can use automated questions, live reps, or chatbots to collect a potential customer’s information conversationally.

You don’t need to code a chatbot; you can use Meta’s built-in templates. Set up a few prompts, like “What’s your company size?” or “What service are you interested in?” The conversation will flow from there.

This works best if your audience prefers chatting over filling in form fields. It’s also great for prospects in the middle of the funnel who might want to ask something or get a fast answer before deciding.

The best part? You can follow up directly in the same chat later. No bounced emails, no missed calls, just open the thread and continue the conversation.

3. Lead ads with calling

Sometimes, a direct phone call is the fastest path to conversion. Facebook supports multiple formats for phone-based B2B lead generation:

Call ads

Show a “Call Now” button that lets users call your business immediately. This is ideal for appointment booking, sales calls, or support for complex offers.

Request a callback

Users can select a preferred time for you to call them back. Works well for prospects who show intent but can’t talk right away.

Call add-on

It adds a call button to a website campaign, allowing users to convert by phone instead of submitting a form.

What is the cost of a Facebook lead generation campaign?

The cost of a Facebook lead generation campaign depends on your industry, target audience, and how well your ad performs. There’s no one-size-fits-all price tag, but here’s a realistic breakdown:

• B2C brands often see $2–$14 per lead because they target broad audiences and offer easy lead magnets like discounts or giveaways.
• B2B campaigns, especially those targeting decision-makers like CEOs or Procurement Managers, usually pay $20–$82+ per lead. For these campaigns, the audience is smaller, the competition is higher, and the stakes are bigger.

If you’re in a niche market (like enterprise SaaS software or medical devices), don’t be surprised if the CPL (Cost per Lead) edges toward the top of that range.

What drives these costs? Numerous factors, here are the major ones:

Audience size and targeting

Niche targeting often means higher CPL. Accurate B2B data from a provider like Cognism helps you build better audiences and cut wasted spend.

Lead form experience

Native Facebook forms (pre-filled) convert better than external landing pages, lowering CPL, especially on mobile.

Offer quality

A high-friction offer like “Book a 30-minute call” will convert fewer people than a gated report or checklist.

Creative and copy

Better ads mean a higher relevance score and lower costs. Weak or irrelevant ads get penalised in the auction.

Bidding and seasonality

Ads can cost more during busy periods (like Q4). Similarly, campaigns with manual bidding or optimised for quality leads will have higher upfront CPL.

How to set up Facebook lead generation ads

Facebook ad lead generation is technically simple, but getting great results requires strategic thinking and some testing.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to use Facebook for lead generation ads:

1. Go to Meta Ads Manager

Open Meta Ads Manager. Choose your ad account and click + Create to launch a new campaign.

2. Choose the right campaign objective

Select “Leads” as your campaign objective. This tells Facebook you want to collect lead info, not just clicks or impressions.

3. Select your conversion location

You’ll be asked where you want to generate leads. Choose:

• Instant forms (Facebook/Instagram native forms).
• Messenger or Instagram Direct (chat-based).
• Calls (to drive phone calls).
• Website (for external forms, needs pixel/conversion API).

4. Define your audience

Use custom or lookalike audiences, or set filters by location, job title, company size, and industry.

5. Set placements and budget

Choose automatic placements (recommended for most) or manual if you want to exclude specific platforms. Then define your daily or lifetime budget and bid strategy.

6. Create the ad

Upload your visuals (image or video), write compelling copy, and include a strong CTA (e.g. “Get Demo”, “Download Guide”, “Book Now”).

7. Build your lead form

If you’re using an instant form:

• Choose between “More volume” or “Higher intent”.
• Add fields like name, email, company, and job title.
• Include optional qualifying questions.
• Add your privacy policy link.
• Set up a thank-you screen or redirect link.

8. Connect your CRM or download leads manually

Set up an integration via tools like Zapier, HubSpot, or native CRM connectors. You can also download your leads from Ads Manager manually.

9. Review and publish

Check all settings, preview your ad, and hit Publish. Facebook will review your ad before it goes live.

How to use Facebook for lead generation?

The Facebook interface might look simple, but behind every high-performing campaign is a set of smart decisions. Here are nine proven Facebook lead generation strategies that work best:

1. Use a B2B data provider

Most Facebook ad targeting relies on interests, demographics, or behaviour. That’s fine for B2C. But B2B requires more innovative strategies.

If you’re trying to reach CTOs at mid-size SaaS companies, Facebook doesn’t make that easy by default. You’ll end up targeting broad groups with mixed intent, which means wasting budget on the wrong clicks.

Cognism’s data helps you fix that. You can export verified contact lists from Cognism with filters like:

• Job title: e.g., “Head of IT” or “Procurement Manager”.
• Company size: 50–500 employees.
• Industry: Finance, SaaS, Manufacturing.
• Location: UK, DACH, or any target market.

Here’s an interactive demo showcasing how this works:

Then, upload these lists to Facebook as Custom Audiences. Meta will match their data to user profiles, so you’ll target precisely the right people without relying on vague interest signals.

2. Use Facebook’s lookalike audience feature

Once you’ve uploaded a strong list of known decision-makers, use it to generate Lookalike Audiences. These are people who behave like your ideal customers, but you haven’t reached them yet.

With a clean email list from Cognism, you base your lookalike audiences on real buyer signals, not newsletter subscribers or past event attendees.

Use a source list of 500–2,000 highly relevant contacts for best results. The more specific your list, the better Facebook’s algorithm can find matching behaviours and traits.

Facebook lets you choose how closely your lookalike should match your source:

• 1% is the tightest match (best for quality).
• 2–5% increases reach, but slightly reduces match precision.

Try running A/B tests to find your CPL sweet spot.

3. Use interest targeting

Interest targeting is a type of Facebook lead generation that helps you reach cold ad audiences who aren’t yet aware of who you are, but are likely to care about what you offer.

In B2B, that means using job-related interests, tools, events, publications, and competitor pages as signals. 

We recommend starting with job-based categories. Facebook doesn’t offer perfect job title targeting like LinkedIn, but you can still zero in on roles through:

• Interests like “Financial Controller,” “CTO,” “Marketing Director”.
• Behavioural categories like “Business decision-makers”.

After you have tested job interests, go for tool and software interests. Target users who engage with platforms your target audience uses daily. 

For example, a payroll automation tool can target people interested in “QuickBooks,” “Xero,” or “Sage”. A B2B SaaS tool for marketers might include “HubSpot,” “Ahrefs,” or “Google Tag Manager”.

You can also include industry-specific pages and events as interests. For example, “SaaStr” or “TechCrunch” for tech buyers, “Money 20/20” or “Finextra” for finance audiences, “Construction News” or “BIM” for property and trade.

4. Launch separate Facebook lead generation campaigns for the identified audience

One of the most effective ways to improve lead quality is to stop running one-size-fits-all Facebook ads.

Instead, build separate Facebook lead generation campaigns for each audience segment you’ve identified, whether by job title, industry, company size, or buying intent. The more specific the match between your message and your audience, the higher your lead quality and conversion rate.

Here’s how to run this Facebook lead generation strategy:

• Group your ideal audiences by relevant traits. For example, IT Directors in mid-sized SaaS companies, HR Managers in fintech, or CFOs in the UK.
• Create a separate campaign for each group. This lets you tailor targeting, creative, offer, and copy to what matters most to them.
• Speak their language. A VP of Sales and an HR Manager care about different outcomes. Use job-specific pain points, business jargon, benefits, and CTAs.
• Match the lead magnet. Show an ROI calculator for finance roles, a compliance checklist for legal, or a hiring playbook for HR.
• Keep the forms simple but targeted. Ask only what’s needed for follow-up. Use dropdowns where possible to speed up the process.

This approach makes your ad campaigns feel less like ads and more like personalised value drops. It’s more work upfront, but pays off in terms of lead quality and lower cost per qualified lead.

5. Track metrics and adjust budgets

Facebook gives you dozens of metrics, but for Facebook lead generation, a few matter most:

• Cost per lead (CPL). How much you’re paying for each form submission.
• Lead quality. Are these leads converting to meetings or sales? (Track this in your CRM).
• CTR (Click-through rate). Indicates how relevant your ad is to your audience.
• Form completion rate. Shows whether people are dropping off before submitting.

Start by setting a benchmark CPL based on your historical data or industry norms. From there:

• Shift budget toward top-performing audiences and creatives.
• Pause underperforming campaigns early.
• Test new copy, formats, or offers before scaling spend.

Also, don’t treat the budget as fixed. If an ads campaign pulls high-quality leads below the target CPL, scale it. Likewise, if lead quality drops, reduce spending or rework the targeting.

To make your campaigns even more effective, here are some audit tips from Elis Tunaboylu, Paid Acquisition Manager at Cognism:

1. Compare campaign and advertising metrics weekly, bi-weekly and monthly.
2. Before pausing any creatives, ensure they didn’t generate any promising pipeline or Closed Won deals. You don’t want to miss that.
3. Compare the job titles, industries, or countries between the best-performing and worst-performing campaigns before excluding them.
4. Even in the top-performing campaigns, you might find irrelevant job titles or industries, even if you don’t target them. That’s why it’s essential to check every campaign.
5. A week later, revisit the campaign after excluding those job titles or industries to see how it affected the campaign.

6. Optimise for multiple platforms

Facebook lead generation doesn’t just happen on Facebook. Your ads can also run across Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network. Each of these platforms performs differently.

To get the best results:

• Design creatives that fit the platform. Use portrait visuals for Instagram Feed, vertical for Stories, and short-form copy for Messenger placements. Avoid one-size-fits-all designs.
• Split-test placements if needed. Run separate ad sets for Facebook-only vs Instagram-only if performance varies significantly.
• Exclude irrelevant placements. If Audience Network clicks never convert, exclude it and focus the budget on what works.

7. Test ad placements

Facebook lets you choose between Automatic Placements (recommended by default) and Manual Placements, where you select exactly where your ad runs.

Here’s how to test placements strategically:

Start broad, but monitor results by placement.

Facebook will show your ad across Feed, Stories, Reels, Marketplace, the right column, Messenger, and the Audience Network.

Review placement-level performance inside Ads Manager.

Look at CPL (cost per lead), CTR, and lead quality.

Exclude underperformers.

For B2B, placements like Facebook Stories or the Audience Network often deliver low-intent leads. You may want to exclude them after testing.

Prioritise high-performing ones

For many B2B campaigns, Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed, and Messenger Inbox perform best.

Keep mobile UX in mind.

Mobile-first placements often bring higher volume but can result in lower-quality leads unless your forms are well-optimised.

8. Prioritise engagement metrics

Click-through rate, cost per lead, and number of form submissions tell you part of the story, but not the whole picture. To run efficient B2B lead generation on Facebook, you must examine how people engage with your ads.

Pay attention to:

• Thumb stops (3-second video views). Do people pause on your video? If not, your hook isn’t working.
• Post reactions, shares, and comments. These show how your audience connects with the message. Low engagement often means your creative feels irrelevant or generic.
• Form opens vs. form completions. If people click your ad but don’t complete the form, your offer or design may need work.

High engagement directly affects how your ads perform in Facebook’s auction system. When your post gets more reactions, comments, or shares, Facebook sees it as more relevant, which can lower your cost per lead. 

Plus, it’s a fast way to test messaging. If one version sparks discussion or DMs while another falls flat, you instantly know where to double down.

9. Lead nurtures and retargeting

Generating a lead on Facebook is just the beginning. The real ROI comes from how you follow up. Most people who submit a lead form won’t be ready to buy immediately. That’s where lead nurturing and retargeting help.

Start by setting up retargeting campaigns. You can target people who:

• Opened your lead form but didn’t submit.
• Engaged with your Facebook or Instagram page.
• Visited your site from the ad but didn’t convert.

This lets you re-engage warm audiences with stronger offers, deeper product content, or testimonials.

In parallel, build a nurture flow for submitted leads. Sync your Facebook leads directly into your CRM or email tool, and start sending:

• Educational content relevant to their job title or industry.
• Case studies or social proof.
• Soft CTAs include “Want to see a live version?” or “Book a 10-minute intro chat.”

Timing matters, too. If the lead is a demo or pricing request, reach out within minutes of submission. Automate the first touchpoint with a tool like HubSpot, then follow up manually for high-value accounts.

The more relevant and timely your follow-up, the more likely they will remember you when they’re ready to buy.

Get better leads with Cognism 

Don’t waste your budget targeting the wrong people. Broad audiences and low-quality email lists often bring junk leads.

Cognism gives you access to GDPR and CCPA-compliant, verified B2B contact data, including job titles, seniority levels, industries, and firmographics. 

Here’s how to generate B2B leads on Facebook with Cognism data:

• Build custom audiences based on real buyer profiles.
• Create high-quality lookalikes that reflect your ideal customers.
• Set up precise targeting that avoids spray-and-pray ad spend.

This means better matches, more sales-ready leads, and a stronger pipeline. Book a demo and try Cognism’s verified data today. 👇