Create a Meta Engagement Ad That Opens a Chat

An Engagement ad can send people straight into a conversation on Messenger, Instagram Direct or WhatsApp. A conversation form can greet them and answer common questions automatically before your team steps in.

What you need

• A connected Facebook Page.
• For Instagram Direct, an Instagram account linked to that Page.
• For WhatsApp, a WhatsApp number added to that Page.

If none of these messaging apps is available, choose another objective such as Website Traffic or Lead Generation.

Build the campaign

1. Go to Marketing > Ad Manager > + Create Campaign, choose Facebook, then Start from scratch.
2. Choose the objective Engagement. The conversion location is Messaging Apps and the goal is to maximize the number of conversations.
3. Choose the Facebook Page and Instagram account.
4. Under Messaging Apps, tick one or more destinations. With several selected, Meta shows each person the app they are most likely to use.
5. At the ad level, open Create new or select a Conversation form and choose Create Conversation Form.
6. Add a name, a friendly greeting, 3 to 5 quick replies or FAQs, and an automated answer for each. Click Create.
7. Check the preview for each selected app.
8. Add media in single or carousel format, and set the button to Send Message.
9. Set your budget, schedule and audience, then review and publish.

Track the results

Open Statistics to monitor conversations. Conversion API events for Instagram DM can be configured separately in Workflows if your reporting needs them.

Good to know about destinations

If only WhatsApp is available, the ad runs only where people can reach you on WhatsApp. If only one app is available, the ad still shows across placements but replies come through that single app.

Good to know: Connect your messaging channels to Conversations so replies from every app arrive in one inbox.