Getting started with Meta Ads

Estimated 7 minute read

Updated Jul 31, 2025, 12:00 AM EST

You will learn

Learn how to integrate Meta Ads with Klaviyo. The advertising integration with Meta provides 2 main features:

Sync lists and segments to Meta as custom audiences so that you can advertise to these subscribers, as well as create Lookalike Audiences.
Sync subscribers who sign up via Meta lead ad forms to Klaviyo.

Add the Meta Ads integration

Before you begin, make sure you have admin access to the Meta ad account for custom audience syncs, or Facebook access with full control of the Facebook page for lead ad syncs. You need both if you plan to use both features.

In Klaviyo, select Integrations.
Click Explore apps and search for Meta Ads, then click on the card.
On the next page, click Install.
Next, click Connect to Meta Ads. You will be directed to Meta to log in, if you haven't already.

Review and accept Meta's terms of service, if needed.
Confirm your Meta login using the personal Facebook account tied to your Meta business account. Follow Meta's prompts to grant Klaviyo access to the business account you want to sync. We recommend accepting the default permission options.

If you encounter issues with Meta Ads permissions, consult our article Troubleshooting Meta Ads sync, credential, and authorization errors.
Back in Klaviyo, you'll be asked what data you want to sync: select custom audiences, lead ads, or both. Then, click Next.

For the custom audience sync:
1. Select the ad account you want to use.

Click Add connection, then select a Klaviyo list/segment and a Meta custom audience to connect. The syncs you create must be one-to-one between Klaviyo lists or segments and Meta custom audiences.
Add more connections if desired.
When you're done, click Next if you also selected lead ads. If you selected only custom audiences, click Complete setup.

For the lead ad sync:

Choose a subscription option that matches the consent collected by your lead ad form. If you subscribe leads to email or text messaging and the selected list uses double opt-in, new subscribers must confirm their subscription before they are added to the list. Do not subscribe adds leads to the list without subscribing them to marketing.

Select the Facebook page you want to use.
Click Add connection, then select a Meta lead ad and a Klaviyo list. Under Subscription, choose Subscribe to email, Subscribe to text messaging, Subscribe to email and text messaging, or Do not subscribe.

Add more connections if desired.
When you're done, click Complete setup.

You'll receive a success message that your Meta Ads account is now connected to Klaviyo.

Data from lead ads syncs to Klaviyo in real time, while custom audiences can take 24-48 hours to update in Meta. This is due to a delay in Meta accepting and processing profiles from Klaviyo.

More about the custom audience sync

When planning your custom audience sync, be sure to choose a list or segment with over 100 profiles; Meta requires a minimum of 100 profiles to create a custom audience.

As profiles are added to or removed from your list or segment, Klaviyo syncs those changes to the connected Meta audience on an ongoing basis. Klaviyo sends email addresses for Meta to match to Facebook or Instagram accounts, so the audience size may differ from the size of your list or segment.

You can also add a custom audience sync after initially integrating:

Select Integrations > Meta Ads, then open the Custom audiences tab.
If you haven't set up custom audience syncing yet, click Get started and select your Ad account.
Click Add connection, select a Klaviyo list or segment and a Meta custom audience, then click Save.

To edit an existing connection, click its linked list or segment name to open its integration settings. Update the Meta custom audience, then click Save.

More about the lead ad sync

You can sync lead ads using the same lists as your custom audiences. You can also set up more lead ad connections after initially integrating:

Select Integrations > Meta Ads, then open the Lead ads tab.
If you haven't set up lead ad syncing yet, click Get started and select your Facebook Page.
Click Add connection, select a lead ad, a Klaviyo list, and a Subscription option, then click Save.

When you connect a Meta lead ad to a list in Klaviyo, future sign-ups sync according to the subscription option and the list’s opt-in settings. If you want to add contacts that signed up before you created the lead ad connection, export them from Meta and import the contacts into Klaviyo.

Want to learn more about collecting subscribers via lead ads, including how to edit existing connections? Check out our article How to sync Meta lead ad subscribers to Klaviyo.

The Filled Out Lead Ad metric

Whenever someone submits a connected lead ad form, Klaviyo tracks a Filled Out Lead Ad event. To view the activity timeline, go to Analytics > Metrics, filter by Meta Ads, select Filled Out Lead Ad, then open Activity feed. The metric appears only after a lead ad submission has synced. If you do not see it, check that someone has submitted a connected lead ad form.

You can use the Filled Out Lead Ad event to build segments and trigger or filter flows. For example, you may want to create a welcome series flow for new Meta leads - just be sure to filter them out of the list's main welcome series.

The example below shows a flow triggered by the Filled Out Lead Ad metric. This flow also contains a trigger filter that only captures customers who fill out the ad with AdId 1234567.

All new Meta leads who are added to a Klaviyo list will also have this Filled Out Lead Ad metric attached to their individual profiles. If a profile already exists associated with the lead's email address, Klaviyo won't create a duplicate, but instead will start tracking Meta Ads data on the person's existing profile.

Any questions or additional fields on your lead ad form will also sync to Klaviyo for each new lead. These form responses will get recorded as custom properties on the lead's Klaviyo profile.

Manage your ad integrations from the Lists & segments tab

You can create or update Meta custom audience syncs (or syncs for any other advertising platform) from within Klaviyo’s Lists & segments tab.

To do this:

In Klaviyo, select Audience > Lists & segments.
You’ll see ad platform icons in the Integrations column for each list and segment connected to an ad integration audience.
To see more details for a given list or segment, click the three dots and select Linked integrations.

You’ll be brought to the Integrations tab found within the list or segment’s Settings tab.
Here, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Connect a new ad integration.
- Activate or deactivate a sync for the list or segment.
- Add a new sync for the list or segment, and select the corresponding Meta custom audience.
After making any changes, click Save.

Best practices

Custom audiences

You can use the existing data in your Klaviyo account for targeted Meta ads as well.

Some common segments for retargeting in Meta include:

Cart abandoners
Target customers who started a checkout in the past 7 days, but haven't placed an order in the past 7 days, with an ad that echoes the message or discount you provide in your abandoned cart flow.
Winback
Target customers that haven’t purchased in a while featuring popular or trending items.
Re-engage
Target inactive subscribers with a relevant ad featuring items they’ve viewed on your site or featuring a limited time offer promotion.
Cross-sell
Target customers who have bought one product (e.g., pants) with a different but complementary product (e.g., shirts).
New customer
Target those that have visited your site but never purchased to encourage first-time conversions.
Cross-channel
Target those you're already reaching by email with a relevant ad that reinforces the message and has a similar call-to-action (CTA).
Lookalike
Take a VIP list or segment in Klaviyo and create a lookalike audience in Meta to reach new leads that resemble your best customers.

Lead ads

In Klaviyo, you can create a segment of VIP customers or otherwise engaged subscribers. You can build this segment based on different criteria, such as:

Website activity
Use Active on Site and Viewed Product metrics to segment frequent site visitors.
Purchase behavior
Use a Placed Order metric and apply a frequency and/or a timeframe filter to capture loyal customers (for example, everyone that has placed at least 2 orders in the last 6 weeks).
Lifetime value
Use the Revenue metric to segment those that have purchased over a certain amount over all time.

Sync this VIP segment to a custom audience in Meta. Once you do this, you can create a lookalike audience to try to find new customers with similar interests and attributes. Target this audience with the same introductory offer you would run on your website, except in order to receive it, all they need to do is fill out the form attached to your lead ad.

From here, when these new leads come into Klaviyo through your lead ad, you can trigger a targeted welcome series flow to get these new prospective customers to use their offer.