A guide to Meta instant forms: Examples & how to create them

Using instant forms for your Meta lead generation campaigns can make your life easier in a few simple ways. 

First, they’re convenient. People can fill out the form right on Meta platforms without leaving the app. Meta can also auto-fill some of their info, so it’s faster for them and easier for you to collect data.

But when we look at top-performing instant forms, most are made by skilled marketers. Competing with them means you need a solid system behind your ads.

Managing and following up with leads is key. 

With automated data bridges, you can get instant alerts whenever a new lead comes in from your Meta ads, especially when you connect and automate your campaigns properly.

This guide will walk you through creating Meta instant forms, show a couple of instant form examples, and explain how to integrate them with tools like LeadsBridge for better results.

What are Meta instant forms?

Meta instant forms are powerful tools used in Meta advertising to easily collect leads directly from users’ social media feeds. They let people show interest in your business with just a few taps, and the results speak for themselves.

This can also be done without leaving the app, which helps reduce friction. These forms are mobile-friendly, load fast, and auto-fill using information from the user’s Meta accounts (Facebook, Instagram, etc.).

Details like name, email, and phone number might already be filled in if the person has previously shared that information with Meta.

How do they look? Take a look at this instant form example:

Anatomy of an instant form

When you set up a lead campaign in Ads Manager, you can select instant forms to collect leads. These are simple to use. You can set up different types of instant forms depending on your goals.

Instant forms usually have four main parts:

1. Introduction (optional): A quick intro about your product or service, so people know what they’ll get after filling out the form.
2. Questions: Ask the questions you need answered—at least one is required.
3. Privacy Policy: You need this to let people know how you’ll use their info, which helps build trust. You can link to your existing privacy policy.
4. Message for leads: Add a message and a button to encourage people to stay engaged after they submit their info.

The number of screens depends on how much info you include.

You can also add extra features to better understand your audience and achieve your goals:

• Custom questions: Ask specific questions important to your business.
• Conditional logic: The form can change based on how someone answers specific questions. Use these questions to better qualify your leads.
• Gated content: Let people download items like PDFs or images directly from the form.

Keep in mind that most advanced options like conditional logic, rich creative, and gated content are only available if you build the form in Ads Manager. In Meta Business Suite, you mainly get simpler contact forms focused on basic contact details.

In case you are looking for more info, you can find a breakdown of the anatomy of a Facebook ad here.

How to create an instant form on Facebook

When you create a lead campaign in Meta Ads Manager, you can choose instant forms as your way to collect leads. Here’s a step-by-step guide to set it up:

Step 1: Go to Ads Manager and create a lead ad.

Step 2: At the ad set level, choose “instant forms.”

Step 3: At the ad level, either create a new form or pick an existing one. If you’re making a new one, a form editor will guide you through the steps.

Step 4: Choose your form type:

• More volume: A simple, quick form.
• Higher intent: Adds a review step so people can confirm their info before submitting. These forms only show on Facebook and Instagram mobile feeds, not on desktop.
• Rich creative: This option lets you add images, branding, and product details.

Step 5: Add an introduction, questions (you can include up to 15), and any pre-fill info you want to use.

You can also turn on SMS verification so people have to confirm their phone number with a one-time code before the form is submitted. This helps cut down on fake or low-quality phone numbers.

Step 6: Include your privacy policy link and any legal disclaimers.

Step 7: Finally, create a message for leads to tell them what happens next, and add a call-to-action button if needed.

Once people fill out the form, you can download the lead info from Ads Manager, your Page, or Lead Center in Meta Business Suite. The best course of action for managing your incoming Facebook leads is, however, to connect your lead ads to a CRM system. More on this in a few paragraphs.

How to edit an instant form on Facebook

The first thing to note here is that you cannot edit an existing instant form after it has been published. However, you can edit a form if it is still saved as a draft. To make changes to a published instant form, you must duplicate the form, apply the edits you need, and then republish it.

That said, you can easily edit it through either Meta Ads Manager or Meta Business Suite. Here’s how:

Editing an instant form draft in Meta Ads Manager

1. Go to your lead ad in Meta Ads Manager.
2. At the ad level, find the instant form section where all your forms are listed.
3. Hover over the draft form you want to edit and click Edit.
4. Note: The option to edit will only appear for forms saved as drafts.
5. Make the necessary changes, then:
   • Click Save draft to save the updated draft.
   • Click Publish to finalize and activate the updated form.
   • If you’re still working on the form, save it as a draft to continue editing later.

Editing an instant form draft in Meta Business Suite

1. Open Meta Business Suite.
2. Click All tools, then go to Advertise and select instant forms.
3. Switch to the Draft forms tab.
4. Find the draft form you want to update and click Edit.
5. Apply your changes, then:
   • Click Save draft to save your changes for further editing.
   • Click Publish to activate the updated form.

How to create an instant form on Instagram

When you set up a professional account on Instagram, you’ll unlock a number of perks. Among them is the ability to run ads from your account and use Meta tools to create ads that show up on both Instagram and Facebook.

There are three ways to run ads on Instagram:

1. Directly from Instagram: Once you switch to a professional account, you can boost your Instagram stories, feed posts, and reels right from your Instagram profile.
2. From your Facebook Page: If you manage a Facebook Page, you can link your Instagram professional account to that Page and create ads that appear on both platforms.
3. Using Meta Ads Manager: Ads Manager gives you more advanced tools to create and manage ads on Instagram and Facebook.

Before running your ads, make sure to switch to a professional account on Instagram. Depending on your location, you may also need to connect your Instagram account to a Facebook Page you manage to run ads directly from Instagram. Learn more about Meta ads best practices here.

How to test your Facebook instant form (with Meta + LeadsBridge)

Before you send real traffic to your instant form, you should 100% test that:

1. The form works and collects the right data.
2. Your integration (Meta connection to your CRM, email, etc.) is actually receiving those leads.

You can do that in two layers:

• Test inside Meta (Facebook’s own testing tools)
• Test with LeadsBridge (your bridge + destination app)

1. Testing your instant form inside Meta

Meta gives you a built-in Lead Ads Testing Tool. It lets you create fake “test leads” on a form without running real ads.

Here’s the simple flow:

1. Open the Lead Ads Testing Tool

Go to the Lead Ads Testing Tool in Meta for Developers (you’ll need a Meta developer account and access to the Page).

2. Pick your Page and form

Choose the Facebook Page that owns the instant form. In the Form dropdown, pick the exact instant form you want to test.

3. Preview and submit the form (optional but useful)

Click Preview Form. The form pops up in a modal. Fill it with test data and submit it like a normal user. Once complete, close the preview.

4. Create the test lead

Back in the testing tool, click Create Lead. Meta now generates a test lead for that form (often with a dummy email like test@fb.com behind the scenes).

5. Check if the lead arrives

If you already have your integration set up (webhooks, LeadsBridge, CRM, whatever), check your destination app to confirm the test lead shows up with the right fields.

6. Important limitation: one test lead per form

Meta only lets you have one test lead per form at a time. To run another test on the same form, click Delete Lead in the testing tool first.

Then you can click Create Lead again to generate a new test.

Also, you can’t use this tool while your app is stuck in “developer mode”. For full webhook testing, your app needs to be live.

2. Testing your instant form with LeadsBridge

Now let’s talk about how to use the Facebook lead ads Testing Tool via LeadsBridge.

The goal here is:

• Confirm the bridge itself works (linking Meta to your destination app).
• Confirm real test leads from Facebook actually make it all the way to your CRM, Google Sheets, email tool, etc.

LeadsBridge recommends a two-step test flow.

Step 1: Test the bridge inside LeadsBridge

This tests the bridge plus field mapping without Facebook involved.

1. Go to the bridge that connects Facebook Lead Ads to your destination app (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce, Google Sheets, Mailchimp).
2. Go to the mapping and testing screen: In the setup flow, you’ll see a Test or Test connection button on the field mapping step.
3. Run a mock test from LeadsBridge by clicking Test connection. LeadsBridge sends a fake lead (a mock contact) directly to your destination app, using the current mapping.
4. Check your destination: Open your CRM, Google Sheet, or email platform. You should see the test contact with fields filled in correctly.

This step proves that LeadsBridge is authenticated correctly with your destination app. And that your field mapping makes sense (no missing required fields, no weird formats).

If the test fails here, you don’t even need to bother Meta yet – fix the bridge first.

Step 2: Test the full flow with Meta’s Lead Ads Testing Tool

Once the bridge passes its own test, you test the full chain:

Facebook instant form to your favorite marketing tool.

Here’s how:

1. Open Meta’s Lead Ads Testing Tool: Same tool as in section 1A.
2. Select the right Page and form:
   • Page: the one connected in your LeadsBridge bridge.
   • Form: the exact instant form that your bridge is listening to.
3. Create a test lead: Optionally, click Preview Form and fill in custom data. Then, click Create Lead. Meta now generates a test lead tied to that form.
4. Wait a few seconds and check your destination. LeadsBridge picks up the test lead from Meta. It then pushes it to your destination tool. You should see the new test contact with the data from the form.
5. Repeat if needed, but remember the one-lead rule: Meta only allows one test lead per form per user. To create another one:
   • Go back to the testing tool and click Delete Lead.
   • Then click Create Lead again.

If that works, you know your instant form, Meta, LeadsBridge, and destination app are all talking to each other correctly.

Benefits of using Instagram CRM integrations

An automated Instagram CRM connection helps you get the most out of your Instagram advertising. With an Instagram CRM integration, you can:

• Allow multiple team members to view your Instagram ad results since all your data is automatically transferred to your CRM.
• Send follow up messages automatically to as many users as you’d like, at once.
• Automatically score and qualify leads.
• Track key metrics and see how well your marketing campaign is performing.
• Improve customer service by giving personalized replies and solving issues fast.

Here are a few of our popular integrations:

Instant formInstant form examples on Facebook and Instagram

Facebook instant form example by Cosentino Group

Cosentino Group is a Spanish company that makes sustainable design surfaces for homes and businesses. They wanted to generate more qualified leads.

To do this, they ran Meta lead ads with instant forms and turned on the mobile phone SMS verification feature. 

After someone filled out the form, they received a text with a code. They had to enter that one-time code to confirm their phone number and finish the form.

This extra step helped filter out fake or low-intent leads, since only people who were really interested would complete the verification.

Results:

• 32% decrease in invalid phone numbers
• 2.2X increase in conversions compared to campaigns without SMS verification

By adding SMS verification to their instant forms, Cosentino got cleaner data, better leads, and stronger results from their Meta campaigns.

Facebook lead ad example by Aldar Properties

Aldar Properties is a luxury real estate developer in the UAE. They wanted better leads from Facebook. People who would actually convert by booking a visit.

So they connected their CRM to Meta using the Conversions API and switched their Facebook lead ads to optimize for conversions (appointment bookings). This helped Facebook show ads to people more likely to book a viewing.

Results:

• 3X lower cost per appointment booking
• 6X more appointment bookings
• 38% less drop-off between leads and people interested in viewing a property

By syncing their CRM and focusing on conversion leads, Aldar turned more Facebook leads into real property visits.

But what about smaller brands? Do Facebook ads work for small businesses? Find out everything you need to know here.

GymNation’s instant form example on Facebook and Instagram

GymNation used ads that directed people to their website. However, they wanted to gather more high-quality leads at a lower cost. This leading gym chain was able to gain a 64% increase in leads by using Facebook and Instagram lead ads with instant forms. They also reduced their cost per lead by 39%.

They tested two types of lead ads:

• One opened to an instant form directly within Facebook or Instagram, where contact details were auto-filled.
• The other directed users to a form on their website.

Ads with instant forms on Facebook and Instagram brought in more leads at a lower cost. This is a testament to the effectiveness of keeping users within the platform for quicker and easier lead capture.

BYJU’S instant form advertising results

BYJU’S wanted to increase interest in its after-school programs among parents and encourage them to choose BYJU’S as their preferred education provider. They ran testimonial video ads featuring parents, with a ‘Get a Call Back’ button leading to an instant form. Take a look at this Facebook instant form example by BYJU’S.

This made it easy for parents to submit their contact info without leaving Facebook, streamlining lead collection.

The outcome:

• 7.9-point higher ad recall
• 4.3-point lift in consideration
• 3-point increase in action intent
• More efficient collection of high-quality leads using instant forms

Facebook instant form example by Phoenix Truck Driving School 

Phoenix Truck Driving School ran Meta lead ads with a “Learn more” button that opened an in-app Instant Form on Facebook and Instagram. 

The form auto-filled with the user’s contact details from their profile, reducing friction and making sign-ups faster. They then routed submissions to a fulfillment center to follow up and enroll prospects. 

In an A/B test, they compared their usual complex, manually built lead campaign against an automated Meta Advantage+ leads campaign with a simplified setup. The Instant Form + Advantage+ approach delivered:

• 36% lower cost per lead
• 53% increase in total leads versus their usual manual campaign.

Facebook instant form example by Female Invest

Female Invest is a Danish guidance service for women investors. The company aimed to close the investment gender gap by offering educational resources and webinars on personal finance and investment. 

To attract more participants to its free webinars and drive subscriptions, Female Invest used Facebook lead ads and instant forms with conversion leads performance goal.

Female Invest targeted adult women in Denmark with personalized ads. This method allowed the company to focus on generating higher-quality leads, leveraging pre-filled forms, and integrating them with a CRM system to improve performance and measurement. 

This approach simplified the sign-up process and increased the relevance of the leads the brand generated.

Results:

• 7% increase in leads.
• 6% lower cost per lead.

Facebook instant form example by Clikalia Mexico

Clikalia Mexico is a digital real estate platform that makes buying and selling homes faster and simpler. In Mexico, they wanted better-quality leads from Facebook by focusing on people actually likely to book a property viewing.

So they integrated their CRM with Meta’s Conversions API and switched their lead ads to optimize for conversion leads instead of just lead volume. This helped Meta find people more likely to convert, not just click.

Results:

• 11% more total leads
• 10% lower cost per lead
• 2.1X increase in reach

By syncing their CRM and focusing on conversion leads, Clikalia got more leads, paid less, and reached more of the right people.

Facebook instant form example by Universidad Villanueva

Universidad Villanueva is a private university in Madrid that sought to attract potential students by generating high-quality leads for its admissions team. The university tested Advantage+ shopping campaigns alongside its existing Facebook and Instagram campaigns to boost its marketing efforts.

They also used automation and machine learning through Advantage+ shopping campaigns. This strategy helped simplify their campaign management while improving targeting and efficiency. The A/B test compared its traditional manually managed campaigns with the automated Advantage+ campaigns, using the same creative elements across both setups.

Results:

• 66% lower cost per action with Advantage+ shopping campaigns.
• 3.7X higher conversion rate than the usual campaign setup.

Benefits of integrating Meta instant forms with LeadsBridge

Automation is the backbone of your lead generation strategy. Integrating Meta instant forms with LeadsBridge is an intelligent way to boost your lead generation efforts.

When you create an interconnected data technology stack, you can automate the process of moving leads from Meta (Facebook and Instagram) to your CRM or email marketing tools. This offers much more than meets the eye.

Here are the top 5 benefits of connecting LeadsBridge with Meta:

1. Instant data updates: You’ll get your leads in real time, allowing you to follow up with them quickly.

2. Save time: You can automate repetitive tasks so your team can focus on more important work.
3. Reduce errors: No more manual data entry, which lowers the risk of mistakes.
4. Better targeting: You can improve your conversion rates by using the conversion leads performance goal. This helps you optimize your audience segments, boost the effectiveness of your lead forms, and bring in higher-quality leads.

5. Track customer journeys: You’ll be able to build a connected system where you can easily see the full customer journey with all your data in one place.
6. Send Instagram and Facebook leads to email for free. Learn more here.

You can use LeadsBridge to create Facebook lead ads-CRM integrations and Instagram lead ads-CRM integrations. This makes your marketing campaigns even more efficient by allowing you to access your lead data as it comes in.

Final thoughts

Meta instant forms are easy to use. But the reason they’ve become so popular is that they’re a powerful way to collect valuable lead data. As we saw with the previous instant form examples, they can also help you get more conversions and understand your customers better.

Once you’ve got your leads, managing the data is just as important. That’s where LeadsBridge comes in. Connecting lead ads allows you to easily sync your lead data with the rest of your marketing tools. 

With just a few clicks, you can automate your workflows and let LeadsBridge handle the data for you.

Connect Meta instant forms and LeadsBridge today and watch your business grow!