Meta is testing a new feature – promotional ads – with the aim of helping brands to have more direct contact with their consumers through Facebook.

According to the company, it will be easier for consumers to take advantage of discounts on a first purchase, and promotions offered by brands.

The various lead gen form updates will make it easier for users to connect with companies through simplified information sharing tools.

What are promotional ads?

As published by Meta:

“ Promotional ads can help people find opportunities to save on products and deals from brands they love. Starting in the US, UK, Canada and India, select advertisers on Facebook will be able to better engage people through a variety of features that make it easier to find, apply and manage deals that are relevant to them, such as seasonal sales, first purchase discounts and holiday promotions.”

The idea is that, as users see an ad with a special promotion on Facebook, they can click to claim the offer where the discount code will be automatically applied, instead of manually entering it as normally when checking out.

In a demo made by Meta, the company showed that when a user clicks on a sponsored post on Facebook, they are taken to a page with a list of products with a discount tag in the bottom right corner where they can claim the 15% discount, as shown in the example above.

This can be a great way to drive direct sales in the Facebook app, helping consumers and businesses close deals faster.

One thing that stands out about this approach is how effortless it all seems—almost dangerously so if you’re prone to impulse shopping. No need to memorize codes or even type them in, just a tap and you’re done. It almost makes physical coupons feel like ancient relics, tucked away in dusty kitchen drawers, never to see the light of day again.

Of course, a more streamlined deal-hunting process works both ways: consumers love convenience, but brands also get valuable data about who’s grabbing these promos, when, and how often. The feedback loop is tighter than ever. It’s pretty easy to see how this could lead to more targeted offers popping up in your feed—sometimes uncomfortably accurate, like Facebook just read your mind about that blender you idly mentioned to a friend.

New lead generation products

Meta also announced a variety of lead generation products, in order to make lead ad products more dynamic, allowing the question and answer forms made by a store to be automatically updated according to what people respond with.

One example shown by the tech giant was of an educational institution asking questions like: “What degree are you interested in?” and based on these answers, the next questions would be updated automatically, guiding the consumer to obtain more precise information about what they are looking for.

And soon, Meta will also provide advertising stores with the ability to overlay snap forms on the web page of your business in the in-app browser.

With this, consumers who click on some rich media format on a company’s page will be able to easily send their information through the instant form using the automatic filling features from Meta, which automatically extracts a person’s information based on what they’ve previously provided Meta, such as name, email address, etc.

The company said Instant Forms and Conditional Questions are being tested in the US market on Facebook and will be offered globally by summer. 

These Meta updates will certainly help small and large businesses to maximize their lead generation processes, through the simplified flow of information collection and further enhancing the possibility of closing sales, especially with the discount feature. This is a way to generate value in updates that really benefit both sides of the story.