Meta has introduced new AI-powered tools and improvements to its lead generation suite, targeting the valuable Q5 period—the post-holiday window from just after Christmas into January. This period is ideal for capturing ongoing demand with less competition, renewed budgets, and a fresh audience mindset. Advertisers who optimized for qualified leads during Q5 saw significant improvements, including a 25% lower median CPM, a 5.4% higher conversion rate, and a 26% lower cost per qualified lead compared to October.
Key Improvements and Features
Advantage+ leads campaigns are now globally available, offering an end-to-end automated solution that uses Meta’s AI to find cost-effective, high-quality leads at scale. This automation leverages audience, placement, and budget flexibility, resulting in an average 14% lower cost per lead and 10% lower cost per qualified lead. Advertisers can also create campaigns that generate leads through both website and instant forms, reducing cost per lead by 14-24%.
Simplified CRM integration with Conversions API is now easier through partners Zapier and Salesforce. Advertisers can send up to 100,000 lead events at no cost via Zapier, and Salesforce Sales Cloud users can directly connect their CRM to Meta’s Conversions API for the first time. The onboarding process in Events Manager has been streamlined, allowing advertisers to optimize for a single conversion event during ad setup, speeding results and reducing technical complexity. Using Conversions API for CRM alongside conversion leads performance goals reduces cost per quality lead by 19% on average.
New lead verification and nurturing tools help reduce spam and improve lead quality. These include SMS phone number verification, work email verification for instant forms, and testing of address verification. For example, The First Group, a Dubai real estate company, reduced invalid phone numbers by 45%, boosting quality conversion rates by 11%. Additionally, an automated AI agent for Messenger chats is being tested to provide instant, 24/7 lead nurturing, increasing high-intent messages by nearly 10%. Integration of third-party lead nurturing templates from partners like Manychat and Botcake is also being tested to automate and personalize post-submission conversations at scale.
Strategic Opportunity of Q5
Q5 is not merely a leftover season but a strategic advantage for lead generation advertisers on Meta. With less competition in ad auctions and renewed consumer interest, advertisers can leverage Meta’s AI-driven lead ads improvements and new tools to capture quality leads efficiently. This approach sets the stage for a successful start to the year and sustained momentum into peak seasons.
