With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is one of the most powerful platforms for running ads and driving leads. However, once you get those leads, communicating with them and nudging them down the sales funnel can be challenging on Facebook alone.
That’s where WhatsApp comes in. With over 1.5 billion users, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app globally. It allows you to engage leads in a more personal and direct way, nurturing them from cold leads into warm, sales-ready prospects.
In this guide, we’ll explore step-by-step how to convert Facebook ad leads into WhatsApp contacts to boost sales.
Benefits of converting Facebook leads to WhatsApp
Here are some of the main benefits of funneling your Facebook leads into WhatsApp:
- More personal connection – WhatsApp allows you to have an intimate, 1-on-1 conversation with leads which helps build trust.
- Higher response rates – Messages sent on WhatsApp have open rates of 90%+ compared to just 20-30% for email.
- Real-time communication – You can have quick conversations with leads on WhatsApp vs delayed emails.
- Richer communication – Share images, videos, documents easily on WhatsApp to keep prospects engaged.
- Lead nurturing – Drip feed useful info & provide great service over WhatsApp to convert leads.
- Mobile-first experience – With WhatsApp being mobile-only, you can reach leads conveniently on their smartphones.
By moving your cold Facebook leads into the warm environment of WhatsApp, you can boost conversions significantly. Now let’s see how it’s done…
Step 1: Create a Facebook Lead Ads campaign
If you don’t already have a Facebook Lead Ads campaign running, the first step is to create one to start generating leads. Here are the steps to set it up:
- In Facebook Ads Manager, click the “+ Create” button and choose “Lead Generation” as the objective.
- Choose the audience you want to target with your ads. Select interests, behaviors, demographics, etc that represent your ideal customers.
- Design your ad creative. Make compelling ad images, videos, and text that will get high engagement from your target audience.
- Set up your Lead Gen form. This is what people will fill out to convert into leads. Ask only essential questions.
- Place your payment info and daily budget. $50-100 per day is a good starting budget.
- Set campaign to “Active” and launch it! Your ads will now start being shown to your selected audience.
Once your Lead Gen campaign is live, Facebook will automatically show your ads to the most relevant people and generate leads for your business. Now we need to get those leads into WhatsApp.
Step 2: Export Facebook leads
As leads come in from your campaign, you need to export them out of Facebook Ads Manager so you can import them into WhatsApp.
Here are the steps to export your Facebook leads:
- In Ads Manager, go to the Leads section to see all the leads generated.
- Click on the 3 dots next to any lead and choose “Export Leads”.
- Select date range (ex: leads generated in past 7 days) and pick “CSV” as the export format.
- Choose which lead fields to export (name, phone, email, etc).
- Click “Request Export”. Facebook will email you the CSV file when ready.
Do this export regularly, such as once a week, to get all your latest leads out of Facebook.
Step 3: Prepare leads for WhatsApp import
Next, we need to prepare the exported Facebook leads for import into WhatsApp.
Open the CSV file in Excel or Google Sheets and do the following:
- Delete any columns you don’t need like Lead ID, Lead Gen Form, etc.
- Ensure there are columns for First Name, Last Name, Phone Number.
- Format the phone numbers in E.164 format: [country code][area code][7-digit number]. Example for US: +14151234567.
- Save the updated CSV file to import into WhatsApp.
Your CSV should now only have the essential columns – First Name, Last Name, Phone Number – with phone numbers formatted correctly.
Step 4: Import leads into WhatsApp
Now it’s time to get your leads into WhatsApp. Follow these steps:
- Open WhatsApp Business on your desktop.
- Go to the Contacts tab.
- Click Import and choose your updated Leads CSV file.
- Map the CSV columns to respective WhatsApp fields.
- Click Import. All your leads will now be added as WhatsApp contacts!
Your Facebook leads are now on WhatsApp ready to be engaged. Segment important leads into lists to start conversations.
Step 5: Engage leads on WhatsApp
Now that your leads are on WhatsApp, it’s time to engage them in personal conversations and nudge them down the sales funnel.
Here are some tips for engaging your Facebook leads on WhatsApp:
- Add them to relevant WhatsApp lists like “Product A Leads” based on their interests.
- Send personalized messages introducing yourself and your business.
- Ask questions to learn more about their needs. Deliver tailored solutions.
- Share helpful articles, guides, product samples to provide value.
- Follow up consistently and answer any questions and objections.
- Offer limited time discounts to create urgency.
Keep having meaningful conversations until leads convert into customers! With its personal touch, WhatsApp can convert even cold Facebook leads into happy customers.
Track WhatsApp metrics
To refine your process of generating and converting Facebook leads with WhatsApp, it’s important to track metrics like:
- Facebook: Cost per lead, lead volume, lead quality score, landing page conversion rate, etc.
- WhatsApp: Message delivery rate, response rate, engagement rate, contact growth rate, conversion rate.
Analyze these metrics regularly to see how well your Facebook-to-WhatsApp process is working and make improvements.
Optimizing your Facebook and WhatsApp campaigns
Here are some tips to optimize both your Facebook Lead Ads and WhatsApp engagement for better results:
- Test different audiences, creatives, and messages.
- Tweak placements and budgets to increase reach.
- Watch out for high CPL – lower bids and tighten targeting.
- Review high quality scoring leads – create Lookalike Audiences.
- Retarget people who started but didn’t submit the form.
- Personalize messages with first names and lead info.
- Keep conversations focused but natural – avoid sounding robotic.
- Ask questions and listen to leads to build connections.
- Share mobile-optimized content that provides value.
- Save frequently used responses as quick replies.
- Follow up with leads who aren’t responding.
By constantly optimizing and innovating with your Facebook and WhatsApp campaigns, you can generate higher quality leads and convert them more effectively.
Tools for managing the process
Doing this entire process manually can become time-consuming as lead volumes grow. Here are some tools to help manage the workflow more efficiently:
Facebook Lead Ads Tools
- AdEspresso – Helps optimize campaigns through granular targeting and bidding.
- SharpSpring – Pulls Facebook leads automatically into marketing automation workflows.
- HubSpot – Syncs Facebook leads to contacts database for immediate follow-ups.
WhatsApp Management Tools
- Chatlayer – Auto-sync Facebook leads to WhatsApp and segment into lists.
- MailerLite – Set up WhatsApp signup forms, auto-messages, and journeys.
- Apphitect – Queue and schedule WhatsApp messages to contacts at scale.
The right tools can save you hours managing campaigns and engaging with leads. Test different options to see which work best.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some common questions about converting Facebook leads to WhatsApp:
Why should I use WhatsApp in addition to Facebook messaging?
WhatsApp has much higher open and response rates compared to Facebook Messenger. People treat it more like SMS texting vs social media messaging. The personal nature of WhatsApp helps convert more leads.
How do I integrate WhatsApp with my CRM?
Many CRMs like HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Zoho provide native integrations or Zapier integrations with WhatsApp Business. This syncs your WhatsApp chats to CRM profiles for centralized lead management.
Is there a way to automate WhatsApp messaging?
Yes, tools like Chatlayer enable auto-syncing leads from Facebook to WhatsApp lists, automated welcome messages, and lead nurturing journeys with tailored content.
How quickly should I follow up with leads on WhatsApp?
It’s best to follow up within the first few minutes or hours, while the lead is still warm. Quick responses on WhatsApp when people expect it can drastically boost conversions.
Can I import leads from other sources like ads or site forms into WhatsApp?
Absolutely. As long as you have phone numbers, you can import leads from any channel like Google Ads, webinars, landing pages, etc into WhatsApp using the same process described above.
Conclusion
Adding WhatsApp into your lead generation and conversion workflow can give phenomenal returns compared to using Facebook alone.
With this guide, you have all the steps to seamlessly capture leads from Facebook Lead Ads and nurture them into sales with personalized WhatsApp conversations.
The human touch of WhatsApp combined with the targeting power of Facebook is an unbeatable combination!
So put these tactics into play for your business and get ready to see explosive growth. Just remember to respect people’s privacy, get opt-in consent, and communicate value on WhatsApp.
Now over to you – go make those Facebook ad dollars really work hard for you with clever WhatsApp automation. Excited to see the amazing results you achieve!