Two ways to apply from an ad
When someone clicks on a recruitment ad, there are two possible paths.
| Facebook form (built in) | Landing page | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the candidate goes | They stay in Facebook or Instagram | They land on a web page |
| What they fill in | First name, surname, phone, email, with no question about the job | Their contact details, then questions about the job |
| What you receive | Contacts, with no answers to read | Applications with their answers, and a ranking |
| At Rafa | Open door (€0) | Plus and Max |
Neither is “the best”: they do not serve the same purpose.
My three form ads
| Ad | Country | Days | Spend | Applications | Cost per application |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew member, fast food, Épernay (Burger King) | France | 12 | €20.48 | 30 | €0.68 |
| Bike or scooter technician, Paris | France | 4 | €12.61 | 24 | €0.53 |
| Sushi chef, Berlin | Germany | 14 | €69.97 | 12 | €5.83 |
Three ads, three different orders of magnitude. The weighted average of the three (€1.56) hides more than it says. What I can state: in France, for two very accessible jobs, an application came in at under one euro. For a rarer job, in another country, it cost six times more. Why? I only have hypotheses (job, country, duration, season) and three ads are not enough to tell them apart.
For the Paris ad, ad delivery stopped after four days: the figure is that of a start, not of a settled pace.
Épernay in detail, day by day
From 10 to 21 September, a single ad, a form with no questions:
| Moment | Spent | Conversions counted by Meta |
|---|---|---|
| First day | €6.65 | 14 |
| After 2 days | €10.66 | 20 |
| After 4 days | €12.59 | 22 |
| After 12 days | €20.48 | 31 |
My database counts 30 recorded applications; Meta counts 31. Depending on the source, the cost is €0.68 or €0.66: I go with my database. The price of 1,000 views (impressions) stayed low (€3.09), and 7.4% of clicks, all clicks combined, turned into an application, against 2.9% on my 2026 landing page ads.
One detail that matters: most of it came straight away. After the first four days, the ad spent about €0.99 a day for 9 conversions in 8 days. Spend dropped after two days, from €6.65 to about €1 a day. I have no certain explanation: perhaps the audience in such a small area runs out quickly.
What you lose with the form
With no questions, I know nothing about the candidate apart from their name and contact details. None of the 30 Épernay applications could be scored: there was nothing to read. The sorting is done on the phone, by you. And a contact obtained in two taps cools off quickly: it is the speed of the first call that makes it useful.
So which one should you choose?
My view, based on these measurements and on what I see with my clients:
| You are recruiting | I recommend |
|---|---|
| An accessible job, many possible candidates, a quick need | The Facebook form: the most contacts at the lowest price |
| A qualified profile, a job that needs explaining | The landing page with questions: fewer applications, but you call the ones that match first |
| A training programme or a little-known job | The landing page: it does the explaining |
Open door, my free plan, uses the Facebook form: €0 subscription, up to 20 applications per 30-day period, phone number hidden (packs let you unlock it).
In summary
- Facebook form: the candidate applies without leaving the app, with no question about the job.
- Three ads measured: €0.53, €0.68 and €5.83 per application. An order of magnitude, not an average.
- The form gives volume and no sorting. The page gives answers to read for about €10 per application.
- The format follows the job: accessible, form; qualified or needing explanation, page.
