Create a campaign (Messaging conversations or Lead form)

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Conversa Labs

Last updated on Jul 16, 2026

Overview

The Conversa Labs campaign wizard creates the whole structure on Meta (campaign → ad set → creative → ad) in one go, always paused, so you can review it before publishing. It covers two objectives:

Messaging conversations — the ad button opens a conversation on WhatsApp, Messenger (your Page inbox) and/or Instagram, depending on the destinations you pick; leads land attributed in your inbox.
Lead form (Lead Ads) — an instant form opens inside Facebook/Instagram and every submission becomes a contact and a lead in Conversa Labs automatically.

Prerequisites

A connected Ad Account with a Facebook Page bound (see "Ads Manager: overview and connection"). Instagram is detected automatically when the Page has a professional account linked.
For the WhatsApp destination: the Page needs a WhatsApp account linked — follow Meta's official guide at Connect your Facebook Page to WhatsApp.
For the Instagram destination: the Page needs a professional Instagram account linked (how to link). The Messenger destination only needs the Page.
For Lead form: a Page admin must accept Meta's Lead Ads Terms of Service once — see the "Lead Ads" article.
An active payment method on the ad account (Meta payment settings).

The wizard's Objective step shows a live readiness checklist: every external prerequisite appears with the official Meta guide link so you fix it in the right place.

Step by step

In Ads Manager, open the Campaigns tab and click New campaign.
Objective — pick the ad account and the objective (Messaging conversations or Lead form). On messaging campaigns, tick the destinations: WhatsApp, Messenger and/or Instagram — each card shows the connected identity (number, Page or @username). With two or more destinations, Meta uses the automatic destination and sends each person to the app where they are most likely to reply. Pending setup shows here with the official guides.
Audience — search locations (country, state or city) with autocomplete, set age and gender. Select the account's custom & Lookalike audiences — or create a Lookalike on the spot from any existing audience (1% to 10% similarity, in your target country). To seed with YOUR data, create an audience from converted leads (or all ad leads): the platform hashes phone/e-mail and uploads them to Meta — it requires a one-time acceptance of the Custom Audience Terms, and the audience becomes a Lookalike source once 100+ people match (~1h) — the "Preparing" badge clears when Meta finishes. Hover an audience to delete it (removed on Meta too). Enable the Advantage+ audience to let Meta expand beyond the drawn audience, and pick placements: Automatic (Advantage+), recommended, or manual per platform — Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network and WhatsApp Status, each with its positions (feed, stories, reels, search, apps and sites). WhatsApp Status requires the Instagram story placement alongside; the wizard pairs them automatically. The audience estimate refreshes live.
Creative — write the primary text, headline and description, or tap the Maestro copilot ✨ on each field to generate/improve the copy with AI (it uses the objective, audience and Page as context). For the media, choose Image or Video: upload a file, pick one from the Media Library or use Create with AI to generate the creative with Maestro — add up to 3 reference images (from the Media Library or an upload) so the AI follows your product/brand style, and you preview, redo and adjust before using it. Text fields also accept voice dictation (microphone icon): speak and the transcription lands in the field, in the account's language. Videos (MP4/MOV up to 50MB) are processed by Meta; wait for the Video ready badge. On messaging campaigns, configure the welcome conversation (it applies to WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram): the message people see when the chat opens, plus a ready message or up to 4 frequent questions (each with an optional automatic reply). On WhatsApp-only campaigns you can additionally use an in-WhatsApp form (a published WhatsApp Flow from your inbox) and an optional call to action (Call now, View catalog or Visit website). Blank fields keep Meta defaults. For lead campaigns, select (or create on the spot) the instant form. The live preview shows the ad on the Facebook feed, Instagram feed and Stories — rendered by Meta itself.
Budget — name the campaign, choose a daily or lifetime budget (lifetime requires an end date) and optionally schedule start and end. Your account's minimum daily budget shows as a hint. For extra control, set an optional bid cap per result — blank keeps Meta's highest-volume strategy.
Review — check the summary and click Create (paused).

The campaign lands paused on Meta with the full chain. To go live, use Activate on the campaign list or detail.

Settings & options

Campaign detail — click Details on the list for KPIs, the mirrored structure (ad sets → ads → creatives), budget editing and the attributed leads.
Manual placements — Instagram is only available when the Page has a professional account linked (how to link).
Image — recommended 1080×1080 (feed) or 1080×1920 (stories); JPG/PNG up to 8MB.
Video — MP4 or MOV up to 50MB; Meta auto-generates the thumbnail (or use an image of yours as the cover).
Maestro copilot — the ✨ and Create with AI buttons appear for administrators when Maestro is active on the account. Image/video generation uses the Maestro agent's generative tools — enable them in the agent settings. With reference images, the AI edits/guides from your material (on video, the reference becomes image-to-video); voice dictation uses Maestro's native transcription.
Automatic draft — the wizard saves everything while you fill it in; if you close without finishing, reopening puts you right back where you stopped (or discard the draft to start clean).
Media Library — uploaded or AI-generated creatives are automatically filed under Ads → your ad account, ready to reuse.
Multiple ad accounts — connect as many accounts as you need; with 2+ connected, a switcher at the top picks which account feeds every tab (campaigns, KPIs and insights), and the choice is remembered.
Filters and period — on the Campaigns tab, search by name and filter by status (All/Active/Paused); on Overview and Insights, switch the period between 7, 30 and 90 days.
Quick and bulk actions — every row has icons to view details, activate/pause, open the campaign in Meta Ads Manager and delete (two-step confirmation). Select several campaigns (or Select all) to activate, pause or delete in bulk.

Use cases

A regional CTWA campaign placed only on Instagram stories for a flash promo.
A lead-form campaign capturing quote requests, with a custom question, flowing straight into follow-ups.

Tips, limits & best practices

Everything is born paused — review the preview before activating; nothing is spent until then.
Meta validates the campaign at creation: if something external is missing (Page WhatsApp link, lead terms), the error shows the exact instruction and the guide link.
Budgets use the account currency; respect the minimum daily budget shown in the wizard.
With a video creative, Next stays locked until Meta finishes processing (the Video ready badge) — publishing earlier would fail on Meta itself.

Troubleshooting

"account not ready for ctwa" — the Page has no WhatsApp linked. Follow the official guide and retry (or create the campaign with only Messenger/Instagram as destinations).
Instagram card disabled in the destinations — the Page has no professional Instagram account linked. Use the guide link on the card itself.
"account not ready for lead_form" — accept the Lead Ads Terms with a Page admin.
Instagram preview doesn't render — link a professional Instagram account to the Page.
Ad account disabled — check its status in Account Quality.