The Ultimate Duo: Using Facebook Ads and GoHighLevel to Boost Your Business

The Ultimate Duo: Using Facebook Ads and GoHighLevel to Boost Your Business

1. Why Facebook Ads Are Perfect for Lead Generation

Facebook is the ultimate goldmine when it comes to reaching potential customers. With over 2.8 billion users, you can bet your audience is hanging out there. But the real power? Facebook’s AI modeling. Facebook uses sophisticated algorithms that leverage machine learning to constantly refine and improve who sees your ads. It’s not just about demographics anymore; Facebook’s AI learns from users’ behaviors, interactions, and preferences, meaning it’s always working in the background to find the best audience for your business.

At NextLevel, we’ve seen this AI-driven approach work wonders for our clients. In fact, our wide-open campaigns—which use no interest-based targeting at all—have consistently outperformed those that rely on specific interest targeting. While it may feel a bit slow to start, we’ve found that Facebook’s AI model improves with every dollar spent and usually stabilizes after about a week. The key here? A little patience pays off big time.

Now, let’s talk budget. Our clients at NextLevel aren’t working with million-dollar marketing budgets; we’re usually working with $1,500 to $5,000 per month. From our experience, a modest budget of $25–$50 per day is more than enough to determine a winning ad set within about a week. Once we find a winning ad, scaling is a breeze. We can seamlessly increase the budget to $100–$200 per day when the asset is performing well, without any major dips in performance.

Why Facebook Ads rock for lead generation:

• AI-Powered Audience Selection: Facebook’s AI models continuously refine who to show your ads to, getting smarter with each interaction.

• Leave Targeting Open: While you can target very specific niches and areas inside of Facebook, leaving your targeting open and allowing Facebook’s AI or Advantage+ Audience to find your audience (where applicable) is usually the preferred method. This helps the algorithm work its magic and deliver better results.

• Cost-Effectiveness: You don’t need a massive budget to get started. In fact, $25–$50/day is enough to start seeing what works, and scaling to $100–$200/day is a smooth process once you find a winning ad.

Think of Facebook’s AI as a personal shopper who knows exactly what you need before you even walk into the store—it’s that good at finding your ideal audience!

2. How GoHighLevel Complements Facebook Ads

Now that you’ve got leads flowing in from your Facebook Ads, the next crucial step is ensuring all of that valuable information goes straight into your CRM without you lifting a finger. That’s where GoHighLevel (GHL) comes in. The beauty of GoHighLevel is its ability to seamlessly sync with Facebook to automatically capture the data submitted via your Facebook Lead Forms.

However, before the magic happens, you’ll need to map your Facebook Lead Form inside GoHighLevel. It’s a quick and easy process. By navigating to the "Integrations" section of GoHighLevel, you can map the form to match your CRM fields. Simply connect the instant form to your custom fields or the standard fields already present in your CRM.

Once mapped, every lead that comes in through Facebook will automatically populate into your CRM, where your automations take over. These automations—whether they’re sending follow-up emails, SMS reminders, or guiding the lead through a nurturing pipeline—will run on autopilot, from the moment the lead enters the system until they reach your desired destination.

Here’s how GHL and Facebook Ads work together:

• Mapping Integration: Map your Facebook Lead Form to GoHighLevel by going to "Integrations" and linking your form fields to the CRM’s custom or standard fields.

• Automated Lead Capture: Once mapped, leads automatically populate into GoHighLevel without any manual input, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

• Hands-Free Nurturing: Set up automations once, and let them run indefinitely, nurturing leads through emails, SMS, and more, until they convert.

Mapping your Facebook Lead Form is like programming your thermostat—you only do it once, and then it keeps things running comfortably without you lifting a finger

3. Creating Effective Facebook Ads for Lead Generation

How to create a Facebook Ad that truly resonates with your audience will always depend on who you’re talking to. But through our experience at NextLevel, we’ve found that while beautiful, eye-catching ads are important, an effective ad goes much deeper than just aesthetics. The most successful ads address the pain points that customers in your business niche experience every day.

Whether it’s competitors charging sky-high prices, poor customer service, or subpar workmanship, calling out these issues in a relatable way helps potential customers feel seen. Your ad should be a solution to the frustrations they face.

In terms of ad format, we’ve noticed that video ads tend to perform slightly better due to their dynamic nature, but don’t count out static image ads—they still have their place and can be very effective depending on the context. The key isn’t just in how the ad looks but in how honest and relatable it feels. Being transparent, vulnerable, and honest about what you offer and how you’re solving problems for your clients consistently leads to the best results.

Our key takeaways for creating effective ads:

• Address Pain Points: Speak directly to the frustrations your audience faces (pricing, service issues, lack of quality, etc.).

• Format Choices: Video ads often perform better but don’t dismiss the power of a well-done static image ad.

• Be Honest and Relatable: Ads that are transparent and authentic—showing vulnerability and real solutions—are the ones that build trust and perform the best.

Creating a Facebook ad is like writing a rescue note to your customers: “Hold on! We’ve got the solution to those high prices and poor service!

4. Tracking and Optimizing Campaign Performance

Metrics are invaluable, but they’re only helpful if you know what they’re telling you. When running Facebook ads, you’ll encounter a lot of numbers, but for lead generation ads, there are a few key metrics you should focus on to gauge performance. Understanding these will help you make smarter decisions and optimize for better results.

The most important metrics for Facebook ads are:

• CTR (Link Click-Through Rate): This tells you the percentage of people who saw your ad and clicked through to your landing page or offer. You want this to be over 1% for a lead generation ad to know it’s engaging enough to drive interest.

• CTR (All): This includes all clicks (not just link clicks) on your ad—whether they clicked on the image, liked the post, or visited your page. A good baseline is over 2%. Anything lower might suggest your ad isn’t capturing enough attention.

• Conversion Rate: This measures how many of those clicks convert into leads. For a lead generation campaign, a conversion rate of 10% or higher is generally a good sign that your offer is compelling.

• CPM (Cost per Mille): This is the cost to show your ad to 1,000 people. CPM can vary widely based on your business niche and how competitive your market is, but we typically see $15 to $65 CPM as an average range.

• Cost per Lead (CPL): This one will fluctuate based on a number of factors—and whether or not it is an acceptable CPL will depend on your ticket price, your sales skills, your lead nurturing process, etc. There’s no “one size fits all” for CPL, but monitoring it closely will help you refine your strategy.

Our baseline metrics for successful lead generation ads:

• CTR (Link): >1%

• CTR (All): >2%

• Conversion Rate: >10%

• CPM: $15 – $65 depending on your niche

• CPL: Varies depending on ticket price, closing skills, and lead nurturing processes.

Diagnosing and Fixing Common Ad Metric Issues

Your metrics are more than just numbers—they’re telling you a story about what’s working and what’s not. Here’s how to diagnose some common issues and adjust your strategy:

1. High CTR (All), but Low CTR (Link):
   If people are clicking on the "See More" to read your full ad but not engaging with it, it’s likely your ad copy isn’t converting. This suggests your headline or first line is strong, but the body of your text isn’t convincing enough to close the deal. Consider revising your full ad text to be clearer, more compelling, or address your audience’s pain points more directly.

2. High CTR (All) and CTR (Link), but Low Conversion Rate:
   If lots of people are clicking through but very few are converting into leads, the issue may lie with your lead form, offer, or landing page. Your ad is doing its job, but when users arrive on your page or form, something isn’t clicking. Try simplifying your lead form, improving the page design, or reworking your offer to make it more enticing.

3. High CPM:
   A high CPM can occur for a few reasons:

   • Your ad copy or creative quality may not meet Facebook’s internal (and often invisible) quality standards.

   • You may be in a highly competitive niche, meaning others are outbidding you for audience attention.

   • Facebook rewards ads that generate high engagement with lower CPMs, so if your audience isn’t engaging, your CPM may climb. Rework your targeting, ad copy, or creative to make it more relevant and engaging.

4. High CPL with Negative ROA (Return on Ad Spend):
   If your CPL is high and you’re not seeing a positive return on ad spend, you’ll need to review multiple factors. Consider:

   • Increasing CTR or Conversion Rate by refining your ad copy, landing page, or offer.

   • Lowering overhead costs or finding ways to boost your product price or closing rate.

   • Test different audiences, ad placements, or even try reworking your nurturing process to increase conversions.

Ad metrics are like a GPS for your campaign—ignore them, and you’re likely to end up in the middle of nowhere with an expensive detour!

5. The Key to Success: Testing, Testing, and More Testing

One thing to remember in the world of Facebook Ads is that nothing stays perfect forever. Your ads will eventually go stale, and campaigns that once performed like magic can slowly lose their effectiveness. That’s why the mantra for success in digital marketing is always testing, testing, and more testing.

Whether it’s your ad creative, landing pages, or lead forms, continuously optimizing and tweaking each part of your funnel is crucial. You don’t want your potential customers seeing the same ad for months or years—they’ll tune it out faster than you can say "unfollow." Refreshing your ad creative regularly keeps things interesting and helps prevent audience fatigue.

And if a campaign dies down? Have a backup ready to launch so you’re not scrambling to restart momentum. Test different images, videos, and messages, and rotate them to keep things fresh.

Don’t forget to optimize your landing pages and lead forms. Even small improvements—like adjusting the layout, reducing the number of fields on your form, or tweaking the headline—can make a huge difference. A 1-2% boost in conversion rate may not sound like much, but when you have hundreds of clicks coming in, it can lead to a significant increase in leads and sales.

Why Testing Matters:

• Ads Go Stale: Keep your ads fresh and engaging by testing new creative and messaging regularly.

• Backup Campaigns: Don’t rely on a single campaign. When one dies down, be ready with something new.

• Landing Page Optimization: Small improvements in your landing page or lead form can have a big impact on conversion rates, especially with high traffic.

Testing your ads is like dating—if it’s not working out, don’t be afraid to move on and try something new!

Conclusion

Facebook Ads, when paired with GoHighLevel, can be an incredibly powerful tool for generating and nurturing leads. By leveraging Facebook’s sophisticated AI, you can ensure your ads are being seen by the right audience, while GoHighLevel takes care of the lead nurturing process seamlessly.

Remember, it’s not just about creating beautiful ads; it’s about speaking to the pain points of your audience and continuously testing and optimizing your campaigns. With a strong strategy and a commitment to improving your ad performance, landing pages, and lead forms, you’ll be well on your way to driving more conversions and growing your business.

Keep testing, stay flexible, and let the data guide your decisions—success is just a click away!

If you are in the market for a CRM that has the capability to do everything talked about in this post, and you're ready to take your business to the NextLevel, then come book on our demo calendar! https://systems.nextlevelcrm.io/democalendar

Or read more about our CRM and sign-up here! We have a program with our CRM as an add-on where we will manage, test, and oversee your ad-campaigns for your business! If you want to take a stab at it yourself, get access to our ad-manager platform in NextLevel Systems where you can launch our proven templates and manage your own Facebook ads yourself!

https://systems.nextlevelcrm.io/

If you would like to signup for a powerful CRM outside of NextLevel Systems and build it out from scratch completely by yourself, or maybe you would even like to start building a CRM agency and servicing your own clients, use our link to signup! It would really help us out as we would get a small affiliate % every month 😊

https://www.gohighlevel.com/?fp_ref=amir-zamani33

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