Your ad’s conversion location and performance goal impact its effectiveness. Choosing “website” or “instant forms,” “purchase” events, or “leads” events influence who sees your ad and what kind of prospects you attract. This guide explains how to pick the correct conversion location, which events to optimize for, and how these choices differ for e-commerce and lead generation businesses. By following these tips, you align your campaign settings with your actual goals, improving overall results.
Conversion Location for Ecommerce
Use Your Website as the Conversion Location:
If you sell products, always send interested users directly to your website. When people click your ad, they feel excited and motivated. Sending them straight to the product or checkout page leverages that excitement. During these high-emotion moments, they are most likely to buy.
Some e-commerce owners consider using messaging apps to spark conversations first, hoping to guide users toward the right product. However, this extra step often introduces delays, giving prospects time to doubt or lose interest. Directly pointing them to your site preserves momentum and shortens the path to purchase.
Select “Maximize Number of Conversions” as Your Performance Goal:
With e-commerce ads, always optimize for conversions. Avoid optimizing for landing page views or link clicks because that tells Facebook to find people who often click but rarely buy. By choosing “Maximize number of conversions,” you instruct Facebook to find buyers, not just browsers.
Choose the Purchase Event:
When selecting your pixel event, pick “Purchase.” Although you could choose “Add to Cart” or “Initiate Checkout,” doing so leads Facebook to find people who often add to cart or start checkout without buying. Optimizing for “Purchase” ensures the algorithm focuses on customers who complete the full journey. This reduces wasted spend and increases return on ad spend.
Conversion Location for Lead Generation
Main Options – Website or Instant Forms:
For lead generation, you have two main conversion locations:
Website: Similar to e-commerce, you send people to your site, where they complete a form or scheduling action.
Instant Forms: These forms exist within Facebook’s platform, letting prospects submit details without leaving Facebook or Instagram.
Website Leads Approach:
When sending leads to your website, follow the same principle as e-commerce: “Maximize number of conversions.” Set your pixel to track the desired high-intent action—often a “Lead” event if you have a lead magnet form, or a “Schedule” event if you want booked calls.
If you offer a funnel with multiple steps (e.g., a free e-book, then a thank-you page suggesting they schedule a call), test whether optimizing for “Lead” or directly for “Schedule” yields better results. Sometimes optimizing for the final action (like scheduling) works best; other times focusing on initial leads first is more effective.
Instant Forms Approach:
Instant forms simplify the lead submission process because Facebook auto-populates fields with the user’s data. This lowers friction, often increasing the number of leads at a lower cost. However, these leads may be less committed, requiring more aggressive and immediate follow-up.
Always choose “Maximize number of leads” when using instant forms. This ensures Facebook finds people likely to complete the form. Since these leads can be lower-quality, you must have a strong, quick follow-up system—call them within minutes, send multiple follow-up messages, and be persistent.
If your business cannot handle rapid lead nurturing or lacks automation tools (like GoHighLevel) to streamline follow-up, you might prefer website leads. Website leads may cost more, but they often show higher intent, reducing the time and effort needed to convert them.
Comparing Website vs. Instant Forms for Leads
- Website Leads:
- Pros: Higher intent, often better quality leads. People who take extra steps usually are more serious.
- Cons: Slightly more friction, potentially higher cost per lead.
- Instant Forms:
- Pros: Very low friction, often more leads at lower cost.
- Cons: Lower lead quality, requiring immediate, persistent follow-up to convert them into customers.
Decide based on your sales process. If you can promptly respond and nurture, instant forms might yield good results. If not, stick to website leads.
Practical Tips
- E-commerce:
- Conversion Location: Website
- Performance Goal: Maximize number of conversions
- Event: Purchase
- Lead Generation (Website):
- Conversion Location: Website
- Performance Goal: Maximize number of conversions
- Event: “Lead” or “Schedule” (test both to see which yields better appointments or quality leads)
- Lead Generation (Instant Forms):
- Conversion Location: Instant Forms
- Performance Goal: Maximize number of leads
- Be ready for fast, intense follow-up. Call leads immediately, send SMS or emails, use automation tools if possible.
Conclusion
Choosing the right conversion location and optimization goal aligns your campaign with real buyer or lead behaviors. E-commerce thrives on sending users directly to the website and optimizing for purchases. Lead generation can work well with website-based lead forms or instant forms, depending on your follow-up capacity. Always aim for “Maximize number of conversions” or “Maximize number of leads” rather than clicks or views. By applying these guidelines, you help Facebook target the right audience, shorten the path to conversion, and improve your return on ad spend.