What Is SMS Verification on Facebook Lead Forms?

SMS verification checks a person’s phone number before their lead reaches you. After filling in the form, the person must enter a one-time passcode sent to that number; only then can they submit. Meta’s aim is twofold: you get the person’s current mobile number for follow-up, and fake submissions from spam bots and bad actors get filtered out before they become leads.

How does verification work for the person filling in the form?

1. They complete your instant form, including a phone number.
2. They’re prompted to enter a one-time passcode. Meta’s article describes this twice in near-identical paragraphs: one says the code is sent “via mobile”, the other says “via WhatsApp”.
3. The WhatsApp paragraph adds that if the WhatsApp code doesn’t arrive, they can receive an SMS text code instead, and that they can choose SMS over WhatsApp if they prefer.
4. They enter the code and, once it verifies, submit the form.

Once someone verifies a number, Meta won’t ask them to verify that same number again for 90 days. A different number means verifying again. People who enter a landline number can’t verify, so they can’t submit the form.

How do you turn it on?

1. Create a Leads campaign and choose Instant forms as the conversion location at the ad set level.
2. At the ad level, create a form or select an existing one.
3. In the Questions section, click + Add category under contact information and select Phone number from contact fields.
4. In the Destination section, check Require SMS verification to submit form.
5. Complete the ad and click Publish.

For a Higher intent form, turn it on in the form editor instead: under Form type, select Higher intent and check Require leads to verify their phone number with a one-time passcode. Meta says that if you enable it in the form editor, the option won’t appear in the Destination section. It may be switched on by default for eligible advertisers, and you can untick it.

What are its limits?

Limit	What Meta says
Required field	Phone number must be a required contact field, or the option is greyed out
Work numbers	Selecting work phone number doesn’t enable verification
Placements	Ads with verification only deliver to Facebook and Instagram placements on mobile devices
Countries	Not available in Iraq, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Uzbekistan
Volume and cost	Turning it on may affect the number of leads and your cost per lead

How do you see who verified?

Downloaded leads data gets a column named phone_number_verified. “True” means the number was verified, “false” means it wasn’t. If you switch verification on after the campaign was published, leads submitted before then show false. Meta notes that leads retrieved through a CRM integration may not include this column.

FAQ

Does SMS verification reduce the number of leads?

It can. Meta says enabling phone number verification may affect the number of generated leads and the cost per lead. People who can’t complete verification, such as those entering a landline, can’t submit the form and aren’t counted as leads or included in your leads data.

Can I use it with conditional logic?

Yes. Meta says conditional logic is supported alongside phone number verification, so you can use conditional questions to further qualify leads while also checking their mobile number. Phone number must still be a required contact field on the form.

Do people have to verify every time they see my ad?

No. Meta says once someone successfully verifies a phone number, they won’t be prompted to verify that same number again for the next 90 days. If they enter a different phone number, they go through verification again.