A Facebook lead is warmest in the first few minutes. If your follow-up emails live in MailerLite, that's where the lead needs to be, right away, not in a CSV you upload on Friday. Sending Facebook leads to MailerLite means your welcome email goes out while they still remember filling in your form.
This guide shows how to send Facebook lead ads to MailerLite step by step, in about three minutes, with each lead in the right group and your fields filled in. Then it compares Zapier and CSV imports, so you can pick what fits.
MailerLite has no built-in Facebook Lead Ads integration, so you connect the two with a lead delivery tool. In LeadSender: connect Facebook, choose Facebook Leads to MailerLite, pick your Page and form, paste a MailerLite API token, pick a group, match your fields, send a test lead and turn it on. Every new lead then becomes a MailerLite subscriber within seconds.
How to send Facebook leads to MailerLite with LeadSender
This is the quickest way to connect Facebook lead ads to MailerLite: no Zap to maintain, a new subscriber in seconds, and an email if a lead ever fails to arrive.
Start a free trial and connect Facebook
Start your 7-day free trial of LeadSender (no card needed) and sign in with the Facebook account that manages your Page. That lets LeadSender hear about each new lead the moment it's submitted.
Choose the MailerLite template
From Integrations, pick Facebook Leads to MailerLite. Then select your Facebook Page and the lead form to send.
Select your Pageand lead form
Connect MailerLite with an API token
In the builder's Select or connect MailerLite step, click Connect.
Click ConnectIn another tab, open MailerLite and go to Integrations, then API. Click Generate new token, name it LeadSender and copy the token. MailerLite shows it only once, so paste it into LeadSender straight away and click Connect. LeadSender checks the token with MailerLite before saving it, and keeps it on its servers.
Paste your API tokenPick a group
Once connected, open Add new subscribers to this group and choose the group these leads should join, like Buyers. Groups are read live from your account. No groups yet? Leave it on No group, or create one in MailerLite and click Refresh fields.
Pick the groupNew group or field? RefreshMatch your fields
In Match your fields, every field in your MailerLite account is listed, custom ones included. First name, last name, email and phone are matched for you. For any other field, click Match a field and pick the form answer that belongs there.
Match any other fieldSend a test lead and turn it on
Click Send a test lead. LeadSender adds your latest real lead to MailerLite and shows exactly what was sent. Want a brand new lead instead? Create one with our free Meta Lead Ads Testing Tool.
Exactly what was sent to MailerLiteOpen Subscribers in MailerLite and the lead is already there. When it looks right, click Turn on. From then on every new lead from that form, on Facebook or Instagram, is added within seconds.
Your Facebook lead, now a subscriberStart a MailerLite automation for every lead
Adding the lead is only half the job. The real win is the email that goes out by itself a minute later. Groups are how you get there:
- Create a group in MailerLite for these leads, for example
Facebook leadsor one per offer. - Pick that group in LeadSender, so every new lead joins it.
- In MailerLite, create an automation with the trigger When subscriber joins a group and choose the same group.
- Add your welcome email, a delay and a follow-up, and turn the automation on.
Running a buyer ad and a seller ad? Create one integration per form and pick a different group on each. Each lead then gets the emails written for the offer they actually asked about.
How your Facebook answers fill MailerLite fields
Email is the one detail MailerLite needs to add a subscriber, so every form you send should ask for it. The rest of the answers go into fields:
- First name, last name and phone are matched to MailerLite's own fields for you.
- Company, city, state, ZIP and country are there to match if your form asks for them.
- Custom fields you've made in MailerLite, like
BudgetorMove date, are listed too. Create one under Subscribers, then Fields, and click Refresh fields. - Repeat leads update the same subscriber instead of creating a duplicate.
Agencies can connect more than one MailerLite account and switch with Change account. Each connected account also shows on the Destinations page, where you can rename it.
LeadSender vs Zapier vs CSV import for MailerLite
MailerLite has no built-in way to receive Facebook lead ads, so the real choice is a dedicated tool, a general automation platform, or importing by hand:
| LeadSender | Zapier | CSV import | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | From $9.99/mo, 7-day free trial | From $29.99/mo (Facebook Lead Ads is a premium app) | Free |
| Speed | ✓ Seconds | Depends on plan | ✗ Whenever you import |
| Setup | ✓ About 3 minutes, guided | ⚠ Build and test a Zap yourself | ⚠ Download, clean and upload every time |
| Groups and custom fields | ✓ Read live from your account | ✓ Mapped by hand | ⚠ Columns matched on each import |
| Automations start instantly | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ Days late |
| Failed deliveries | ✓ Email alert, reason shown, one-click resend | Zap history | None |
Short version: Zapier works if you already pay for it and don't mind building the Zap. CSV imports cost nothing but leave every lead waiting. If you want each lead in MailerLite within seconds without maintaining anything, use LeadSender. More in LeadSender vs Zapier.
Using Zapier
With Zapier you create a Zap with Facebook Lead Ads (New Lead) as the trigger and MailerLite (Create or Update Subscriber) as the action, then map each field. It works, but Facebook Lead Ads is a premium app, so you need a paid Zapier plan, and every lead uses tasks from your allowance.
Importing a CSV
You can download your Facebook leads as a CSV and import it under Subscribers, then Import subscribers in MailerLite. It's fine for a one-off backfill of older leads, but nobody gets an email until you remember to do it.
When Facebook leads don't reach MailerLite
- “MailerLite rejected that token”: the token was mistyped, or deleted in MailerLite. Generate a new one under Integrations, then API, and connect again.
- “This lead has no email”: MailerLite needs an email for every subscriber. Add an email question to your form, or match the email answer to Email.
- A new group or field is missing: click Refresh fields in the Select or connect MailerLite step.
- Can't connect a Classic account: LeadSender works with the current MailerLite only.
- Nothing at all: check the integration is turned on, then send a test lead and read the result. Every attempt is listed in Run history with the reason.
Comparing options? See how Facebook lead ads integration works, with the 5 ways to send leads to Email, SMS or your CRM compared.
