How to Create Instagram Lead Ads

Generating leads doesn't have to mean sending potential customers away from their social feed. With Instagram Lead Ads, you can gather valuable contact information right inside the app, creating a smooth, frictionless experience for your audience. This guide provides a complete, step-by-step tutorial on how to set up and launch your own Instagram Lead Ads, from choosing the right objective to designing a form that converts.

What Exactly Are Instagram Lead Ads?

Instagram Lead Ads are a specific type of advertisement designed to collect information from potential customers directly within the Instagram app. When a user taps your ad's call-to-action button, instead of being sent to an external website, a native form pops up pre-filled with information from their profile, like their name and email address. They review the info, hit submit, and you have a new lead. It's that simple.

The entire process is quick and optimized for mobile, which minimizes the drop-off that often happens when you redirect users to a separate landing page. You're asking for their details right at the moment of peak interest, without making them wait for a page to load or fill out a clunky form on a tiny screen. This makes lead ads perfect for a wide range of goals, such as:

• Building your email newsletter list.
• Signing people up for webinars or events.
• Offering downloadable resources like e-books, guides, or checklists.
• Scheduling consultations, demos, or quotes.
• Providing access to exclusive discounts or early-bird offers.

Because the barrier to entry is so low, lead ads can be one of the most cost-effective ways to grow your contact list and fill your sales pipeline with interested prospects.

Before You Get Started: Your Lead Ad Checklist

Before jumping into Meta Ads Manager, there are a few foundational pieces you need to have in place. Getting these sorted out first will make the campaign creation process much smoother.

• A Facebook Business Page: While you're running the ad on Instagram, everything is managed through the Meta ecosystem, which is connected to your Facebook Page.
• An Instagram Professional Account: Your Instagram profile must be set to either a Business or Creator account. You can easily switch this in your Instagram settings if you haven't already.
• Connected Accounts: You must connect your Instagram professional account to your Facebook Business Page. You can do this within the settings of either app.
• Admin or Editor Access: You'll need the appropriate permissions on the Facebook Page and the associated Meta Ad Account to create and manage campaigns.
• A Website Privacy Policy: This is a non-negotiable requirement from Meta. Because you are collecting personal data, you must provide a link to a privacy policy on your website. Make sure you have one ready before creating your form.

How to Create Instagram Lead Ads: A Step-by-Step Guide

With the essentials out of the way, you're ready to build your campaign. Here's a detailed walkthrough of every step in Meta Ads Manager.

Step 1: Navigate to Meta Ads Manager

Open up Meta Ads Manager and click the green "+ Create" button on the main Campaigns tab to start a new campaign.

Step 2: Choose the 'Leads' Campaign Objective

Meta will present you with several campaign objectives. For this type of ad, you want to select Leads. This tells Meta's algorithm that your goal is to find people most likely to submit their information through a form. After selecting your objective, give your campaign a clear, descriptive name (e.g., "eBook Download - Lead Gen - Q4") so you can easily identify it later.

Step 3: Configure Your Ad Set Settings

The ad set level is where you define your budget, schedule, audience, and placements. This is where you tell Meta who you want to reach and where you want your ad to appear.

Conversion Location and Performance Goals

First, find the "Conversion" section. For your lead collection method, choose Instant Forms. This ensures the native lead form will pop up within the app. Your performance goal should be set to Maximize number of leads to start.

Budget and Schedule

Set a daily or lifetime budget that fits your marketing goals and a start and end date for your campaign. A good starting daily budget is often between $10 and $20, which is enough to gather data without too much risk.

Audience Targeting

This is where you zero in on your ideal customer. You can target based on:

• Location: Target users in specific countries, regions, cities, or even zip codes.
• Demographics: Set age and gender parameters.
• Detailed Targeting: This is where you can include people based on their interests (e.g., "yoga" or "digital marketing"), behaviors (e.g., "frequent travelers"), or job titles.
• Custom & Lookalike Audiences: If you have data already, you can upload a list of existing customers to create a Custom Audience or find new users who are demographically similar to your best customers with a Lookalike Audience.

Start with a relatively broad audience and let Meta's algorithm do some of the work. You can always narrow it down later based on performance data.

Placements

This is a critical step for an Instagram-specific campaign. By default, Meta chooses "Advantage+ Placements," which runs your ad across all of Meta's platforms (Facebook, Messenger, etc.). Instead, select Manual Placements.

Deselect all platforms except Instagram. Within Instagram, you can choose where your ad appears, like the Feed, Stories, Reels, and Explore page. It's often best to tailor your ad creative to a specific placement (e.g., a vertical video for Reels/Stories vs. a square image for the Feed) for the best results.

Step 4: Design Your Ad Creative

Now for the fun part: creating the ad that users will see. At the ad level, you'll choose your visuals and write your copy.

• Ad Format: You can select a Single Image, Single Video, or a Carousel (multiple images or videos users can swipe through). Video content, especially motion-graphic templates or short, talking-head clips, tends to perform very well on Instagram.
• Visuals: Use high-quality, eye-catching imagery or video. Avoid stock photos that look generic. Your creative needs to stop someone mid-scroll. For Stories and Reels, always use a full-screen vertical format (9:16 aspect ratio).
• Ad Copy: Write compelling text that grabs attention.
  • Primary Text: This is the main caption. Clearly state your offer and its value. What problem are you solving for the user? Why should they give you their info? Use a clear, concise hook in the first sentence.
  • Headline: A short, punchy headline that reinforces the offer, such as "Download Your Free Guide" or "Get 20% Off Your First Order."
• Call-to-Action (CTA): Select a CTA button that aligns with your offer. Common choices for lead ads include "Sign Up," "Download," "Learn More," "Subscribe," or "Get Offer."

Step 5: Build Your Instant Form

In the "Instant Form" section of the ad creation panel, click "Create Form." This is where you'll build the mini-landing page for lead collection.

1. Settings: Give your form a descriptive name (e.g., "Social Media Checklist Form"). In the settings tab, you can also change the form's language if needed.
2. Form Type: You can choose between More Volume and Higher Intent. "More Volume" is a quick, two-tap process best for most campaigns. "Higher Intent" adds a review screen where users must confirm their information, which can reduce the number of leads but increase their quality. Start with "More Volume."
3. Intro: This is an optional first screen of your form. You can use it to add a background image from your ad, a headline, and a short paragraph or bullet points to reinforce the benefits of your offer.
4. Questions: This is where you'll select the information fields. The form automatically suggests Pre-fill Questions like Full Name and Email, which are ideal because they're auto-populated from the user's profile. You can also add other fields like phone number or city. Most importantly, only ask for what you absolutely need. Every additional field you add increases friction and lowers your conversion rate.
5. Privacy Policy: Here, you must add a "Link Text" (e.g., "Privacy Policy") and the URL to your website’s privacy policy page. The form won't work without this.
6. Message for Leads: This is the thank you screen. Customize the headline and description to confirm that the user's information has been submitted. This is also where you add a final CTA button. You can link to your website ("View Website"), prompt them to call your business ("Call Business"), or link to a file ("Download"). If you promised a free resource, this is where you link directly to it.

Once your form is complete, hit "Create Form."

Step 6: Review and Publish Your Campaign

Take one final look at your campaign, ad set, and ad settings. Check for typos, make sure the right form is selected, and confirm your budget is correct. Once everything looks good, click the green "Publish" button. Your ad will go into Meta's review queue and should go live shortly.

Now What? How to Access and Manage Your New Leads

Congratulations, your ad is live and collecting leads! But how do you access them? You have a few options:

• Manual Download: You can download your leads as a CSV file directly from Meta Ads Manager (at the Ads level, look for the "Leads (form)" results column) or from your Facebook Page under the "Meta Business Suite" > "All Tools" > "Instant Forms" section. This works but requires you to check regularly.
• CRM Integration: For a much more efficient workflow, you should connect your lead form directly to your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or email marketing platform (like Mailchimp, HubSpot, or Klaviyo). In the Instant Forms library on your Facebook Page, you can set up integrations to automatically send new leads to your system. This allows for instant follow-up, which is vital for converting leads into customers.

Best Practices for Instagram Lead Ads That Actually Convert

Creating the ad is one thing, getting it to perform well is another. Here are some final tips to maximize your results:

• Have an Irresistible Offer: People won't give you their contact information for free. Offer genuine value - a high-quality resource, a compelling discount, or exclusive access. Your offer is the single most important factor in your campaign's success.
• Keep Your Form Short: Ask for only the essentials. Full name and email are usually enough to get started. The fewer fields, the higher the completion rate.
• Use Mobile-First Video: Vertical videos tailored for Stories and Reels consistently outperform other formats. Keep them short, add captions (as most people watch with sound off), and put your hook in the first three seconds.
• Follow Up Fast: The value of a lead drops dramatically after just a few hours. Set up a CRM integration and an automated welcome email that delivers your offer immediately. This shows professionalism and keeps your brand top-of-mind.
• Test Everything: Don't be afraid to experiment. Test different ad copy, headlines, visuals, and even different form questions to see what resonates best with your audience.

Instagram Lead Ads are an incredibly effective tool for any business looking to grow. By removing friction and meeting customers where they are, you create a powerful engine for building your email list and fueling your sales funnel.

Final Thoughts

By following these steps, you now have a repeatable blueprint for creating Instagram Lead Ads that attract and capture high-quality leads directly within the app. It's a powerful way to turn casual scrollers into engaged prospects for your business without ever making them leave their feed.

Of course, successful ads are often built on a foundation of strong organic content. When your audience already knows, likes, and trusts you, they're much more likely to convert. That's where we developed Postbase to come in. We created our platform specifically to help brands master modern social media - especially video-first formats like Reels and Stories that work so well for ad creatives. By using our tool to plan and schedule engaging organic content consistently, you warm up your audience so that when your lead ad appears, it feels like a natural next step from a brand they already value.