Ads to Chat connects every conversation that begins with an ad click to your follow-up service and marketing, and reports the results back to the ad platform, forming a complete funnel you can continuously optimize. Once connected, agents can see which ad a contact came from right in the contact profile, marketers can use "Ad Source" to automatically trigger follow-up journeys, and post-conversation conversions can be reported back to the ad platform to optimize ad delivery.
This feature is designed for brands that rely heavily on paid advertising for customer acquisition and use both MAAC (marketing automation) and CAAC (live agent + AI support). It currently supports Meta Click to Message ads, with Google support coming soon.
This feature works with Meta Click to Message ads, covering WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.
Not supported: lead-generation ads with instant forms (Lead Ads) do not start a conversation, so they are not covered by Ads to Chat.
Google click-to-message ads (→ LINE / WhatsApp) are coming soon; this setup guide will be updated once they are available.
How it works: the complete ad funnel
Once connected, a single ad click flows through the following four stages in sequence, forming a closed loop of "Delivery → Conversation → Service → Remarketing":
WhatsApp / Messenger / Instagram
Shown in the contact profile's 【Ad Source】
Triggered by "Ad Source"
Prerequisites
Ads to Chat links several stages—ad → conversation → journey → reporting. Before you start setting it up, please complete the following preparations:
- Connect your conversation channels to CAAC: The channels you plan to advertise on must first be connected in CAAC. 👉 Tutorials: Tutorial | Adding a WhatsApp Channel, Tutorial | Using the Facebook Channel in CAAC, Tutorial | Using the Instagram Channel in CAAC.
- Create a Click to Message ad in Meta, and set its destination to the same channel account you connected above. When creating the ad, choose an "Engagement / Messaging" objective and set the destination to the account connected to CAAC. For implementation, refer to Meta's official guides: Click to Message Ads Overview, Create ads that click to WhatsApp; if the destination is WhatsApp, first link your WhatsApp Business account to a Facebook Page.
- Have admin permissions in Admin Center, and ensure your Facebook account is a business admin of the ad account (required when authorizing the Meta Ads connection).
- If you have not used Customer Journey before, we recommend familiarizing yourself with the basics first. 👉 Feature Description | Omnichannel Customer Journey.
If your Click to Message ad destination (WhatsApp number / Page / IG account) is different from the channel connected to CAAC, the system cannot record the ad source and the journey will not trigger. Make sure the ad lands on the same channel you connected.
Setup steps
Step 1: Connect Meta Ads in Admin Center
Go to Admin Center → Applications → Data Integration, then open the 【Meta Ads Integration】 page from the Meta Ads card and click 【Connect Meta Ads】 to complete Facebook authorization and sign-in. After authorization, the system automatically loads the ad accounts accessible to that authorization—there is no need to enter an account ID manually.
The 【Meta Ads Integration】 page also has a 【Conversions】 tab, where you can map Meta dataset events to uploadable conversions (for example, 【Starter Message】). We recommend configuring which result events to actually upload in the Customer Journey in Step 2 below, as this better matches each campaign's conversion definition.
Step 2: Build the post-ad flow in Customer Journey
Create a new journey in MAAC Customer Journey, and use the following two nodes to link "trigger" and "upload conversion":
Trigger node 【Meta ad conversation】: Triggers when a contact starts a conversation from a Meta Click to Message ad. You can set the trigger scope to 【All Meta ads】 or 【Specific ads】, and specify the Ad account and Ad.
Action node 【Upload Meta Ads conversion】: After the journey determines whether a contact has completed the goal, it uploads the conversion event to Meta. You need to select a Dataset and Conversion event.
The Meta conversion events you can upload are as follows:
| Conversion Event | Use Case |
|---|---|
| LeadSubmitted | The contact submits lead details such as a sign-up or inquiry |
| QualifiedLead | Assessed as a valid opportunity through the conversation |
| ViewContent | The contact views specific content or a product |
| ReviewProvided | The contact completes a review / feedback |
Do not upload "starting a conversation" itself as a conversion to Meta—this dilutes Meta's optimization signal and inflates costs. We recommend uploading the actual results that occur after the conversation (for example, "QualifiedLead" in the table above) so that ad optimization is more accurate.
📌 Each contact can trigger the same journey at most once per hour. If you have not yet connected a Meta Ads account, the node shows a reminder with a 【Connect now】 link. The 【Google ad conversation】 and 【Upload Google Ads conversion】 nodes are coming soon.
👉 For a complete journey setup example, see the "Ads to Chat" scenario in Use Cases | Customer Journey Feature Application Guide.
📌 Tip: You can add a 【New tag】 node after the trigger node to automatically tag contacts who come in from an ad (for example, with the ad campaign name), making later segmentation and remarketing easier.
Step 3: View the ad source in CAAC
After a contact starts a conversation from an ad, agents can see the 【Ad Source】 section in that contact's profile panel (shown under the Meta Ads tab), which includes the ad's Campaign, Ad Set, Ad Name, and Click Time—so you can identify the source without switching to the conversation inbox.
Confirm the setup is working
After completing the setup above, we recommend confirming the feature works correctly as follows:
- Use your own device to click the Meta ad, start a conversation, and send a message.
- Go to that contact's profile in CAAC and confirm the 【Ad Source】 section shows the ad's information.
- Go to MAAC Customer Journey and confirm the journey's trigger count (traffic) has increased.
📌 Conversion data in the ad platform dashboard is delayed (see the note below), so do not use whether the numbers appear immediately as your verification criterion.
How data appears in the ad platform dashboard
Once connected, you will see two layers of data in Meta Ads Manager:
| Data Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Platform-native messaging ad metrics | Such as messaging conversations started and cost per conversation, calculated automatically by Meta |
| Conversions you upload | Shown as standard conversion events (such as QualifiedLead) in the conversions / results columns |
Uploaded conversions are not reflected in the Meta dashboard in real time; there is a delay, and Meta does not currently provide a specific delay time. Review your results with this expectation in mind, and do not conclude that an upload failed just because it does not appear immediately.
👉 For metric definitions and optimization recommendations, see Meta's official documentation.
FAQs
Q: Which ad platforms and channels are currently supported?
Currently, Meta Click to Message ads are supported (covering WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram). Google click-to-message ads (→ LINE / WhatsApp) are coming soon.
Q: Is the conversion data shown in the ad platform real-time?
No. Conversions uploaded to Meta are delayed and not reflected in the dashboard in real time, and Meta does not provide a specific delay time.
Q: Which event should I upload as a conversion?
We recommend uploading downstream conversions that happen "after" the conversation (for example, "LeadSubmitted" or "QualifiedLead" listed in the table above) rather than "starting a conversation" itself, to avoid diluting Meta's optimization signal.
Q: Will a single contact trigger the same journey repeatedly?
A single contact can trigger the same journey at most once per hour.
Q: What should I do if the ad source does not appear in the contact profile, or the journey does not trigger?
Please check that: (1) the Meta Ads connection is complete in Admin Center; (2) the ad is a Click to Message type; (3) the conversation channel is connected to CAAC.
Q: What is the difference between the 【Conversions】 tab in Admin Center and the 【Upload conversion】 node in the journey? Which should I use?
Both upload conversions to Meta, but they serve different purposes: the 【Conversions】 tab in Admin Center maps Meta dataset events to uploadable conversions (such as "Starter Message" = starting a conversation) and is an account-level mapping setting; the journey's 【Upload Meta Ads conversion】 node uploads downstream conversions that occur after the conversation (such as "QualifiedLead") based on whether the contact completes the goal in the journey. We recommend using the journey node to upload downstream post-conversation conversions as your primary result signal (see Step 2).
Q: Does using Ads to Chat incur extra costs?
Ads to Chat itself does not incur an additional charge. However, conversations that enter WhatsApp after an ad click are billed under Meta's conversation-based pricing (the same as your existing WhatsApp operations; the charge is collected by Meta). For detailed rates, refer to Meta's official billing documentation.
Q: If a customer clicks the ad but does not send a message, will the journey trigger?
No. The journey trigger and ad source record are only created after the customer actually opens a conversation and sends their first message; clicking the ad without sending a message does not trigger the journey and does not create a contact record in CAAC.