Automating Appointment Booking with Facebook Lead Ads, Zapier, OpenPhone, Gmail API, and Calendly
Overview
Automating your lead follow-up process saves time, boosts conversion rates, and creates a smoother experience for your prospects. In this guide, you'll learn how to automatically send personalized Calendly scheduling links to leads who respond to Facebook appointment ads, using a stack of:
- Facebook Lead Ads for lead generation
- Zapier as the automation bridge
- OpenPhone to send text messages
- Gmail API to send emails
- Calendly to book appointments
Part 1: Set Up Your Facebook Lead Ad
- Create a Campaign in Ads Manager with the goal: Leads.
- Under Ad Setup, choose Instant Form as the lead method.
- In the form:
- Ask for Name, Email, and Phone Number.
- Add custom questions if needed (e.g., preferred time for a call).
- Add a Privacy Policy URL and Thank You Screen.
Once published, run a test using Facebook’s Lead Ads Testing Tool.
Part 2: Connect Facebook to Zapier
- Create a Zap on zapier.com.
- Trigger:
- App: Facebook Lead Ads
- Trigger Event: New Lead
- Connect your Facebook account.
- Select your Page and Form.
- Test trigger by submitting a sample lead.
Part 3: Send a Calendly Link
You have two main options:
A) Text the link with OpenPhone
B) Email the link with Gmail
Let’s set up both.
A) Send Email via Gmail API
- Action:
- App: Gmail
- Action: Send Email
- Connect your Gmail account (OAuth required)
- Compose email:
- To: use lead’s email from Facebook form
- Subject: "Let’s Book Your Appointment"
- Body: Include your Calendly link
- Example:
Test the action.
B) Send SMS via OpenPhone
- Action:
- App: OpenPhone
- Action: Send Message
- Connect your OpenPhone account (via API key)
- Message template:
Map phone number from Facebook form, test, and confirm.
Optional: Delay, Filter, or Qualify Leads
You can add extra steps in Zapier:
- Delay by Zapier → wait 10 minutes before follow-up.
- Filter → only send links if phone number is present.
- Path → send different Calendly links based on answers.
Bonus: Add to CRM or Google Sheets
After sending the scheduling link, you can:
- Push the lead to Google Sheets for tracking.
- Add the lead to a CRM like HubSpot or Pipedrive.
- Send a Slack/Discord notification to your team.
Wrap-Up: End-to-End Flow
- A user submits a Facebook Lead Ad form.
- Zapier catches the new lead.
- Zapier sends a Calendly link by email (Gmail API) or SMS (OpenPhone).
- Optional: Track lead, filter, or follow up with other apps.
Example Use Case
You're running Facebook ads to get coaching clients. Instead of manually reaching out, your automation instantly emails or texts each lead a booking link to grab a spot on your calendar. No manual effort — just qualified, scheduled leads waiting on your calendar.