Why bother
A new lead from a Facebook or Instagram form is stored inside Meta. Unless something sends it on, it waits there until somebody opens the leads list and looks.
That’s fine if you check it every ten minutes. Nobody on a job does. And the longer an enquiry waits, the less likely it is to become a conversation at all, as the research in our speed to lead guide shows.
Sending each lead to WhatsApp fixes both ends: you see it on your phone straight away, and the customer hears back while they’re still thinking about the job.
What you need
- A Facebook Page you manage, with access to its leads.
- A lead ad using one of Meta’s instant forms.
- An automation tool that can listen for new Facebook leads. Make and Zapier both can.
- A way to send WhatsApp messages from that tool: the WhatsApp Business Platform, either directly from Meta or through a provider.
- A message template approved by Meta, for any message your business sends first.
The four steps
1. Put the right questions and consent on the form
Ask for the phone number, the job, the area and the timing. Add a line of consent saying you’ll contact them on WhatsApp about their enquiry. WhatsApp’s rules require people to opt in before a business messages them, so don’t skip it.
2. Catch the new lead
In your automation tool, start a new workflow with “new lead” on your Facebook form as the trigger. Connect your Page and pick the form. Then send a test lead from Meta’s lead ads testing tool and check that it arrives.
3. Send the alert to your own phone
Add a WhatsApp step that sends the lead’s details to your number: name, phone, job, area and timing. This is the step that changes your reply time.
4. Send the customer a first reply
Add a second WhatsApp step, to the customer, in your business name: you’ve got their enquiry and you’ll ring shortly. Because your business is starting the conversation, it has to use an approved template.
WhatsApp rules worth knowing
- Opt-in. People must agree to hear from you on WhatsApp. Put it on the form.
- Templates. A business can only start a conversation with a pre-approved template. Once the customer replies, you can message freely for 24 hours.
- Cost. Meta charges for template messages, and rates vary by country and by type of message. Check the current pricing before you launch.
- The number. A number on the WhatsApp Business Platform is set up differently from the app on your phone. Check how your provider handles that before you move your main number.
Mistakes that cost leads
- Phone numbers in the wrong format. WhatsApp needs the country code. An Irish mobile entered as 087 has to become +353 87 before the message will send.
- No test after a change. Editing or replacing the form can break the link to your automation. Send a test lead every time.
- Alerts going to one person. If they’re off, the lead waits. Send to a second number as well.
- Treating the automatic reply as the reply. It buys you time. The call still wins the job.
- Nothing after day one. Add a reminder for any lead that hasn’t been marked as called.
The other route: ads that open WhatsApp directly
Meta also offers ads that open a WhatsApp chat instead of a form. The customer messages you first, so your reply doesn’t need a template.
The trade-off is detail. There is no form, so you learn less before the conversation starts, and someone has to be there to answer. It suits jobs that begin with a quick chat. A form suits jobs where you want to filter before you ring.
If you’d rather not build it
This is the first piece of what we set up for every client: an instant WhatsApp reply to the customer, the lead on your phone with one-tap buttons to update it, reminders if it hasn’t been called, follow-ups after visits and quotes, and tracking back to the ad that produced it.
See WhatsApp lead follow-up, or how it fits with Facebook ads for roofers.