Email is powerful — but it shouldn’t work alone.
Marketers often treat email marketing and Facebook Ads as separate entities. That’s a mistake. The real growth lies in how they work together.
Used strategically, Facebook Ads can fill in the gaps that email leaves behind — and take your entire customer journey to the next level. From nurturing leads to recovering lost engagement, this duo can outperform either channel on its own.
Let’s explore how.
Why Merge Email Marketing with Facebook Ads?
The modern customer doesn’t stay in one place.
They open emails during their commute, scroll Instagram while waiting for coffee, and browse Facebook in between meetings. Attention is scattered, but patterns are consistent.
This creates a prime opportunity: synchronize your email campaigns with Facebook Ads to create repeated, meaningful touchpoints. Not just repetition, but relevance across multiple channels.
Done right, this approach increases engagement, improves conversions, and extends the reach of your brand without inflating your budget.
1. Retarget Email Subscribers with Custom Audiences
One of the simplest — and smartest — things you can do? Use your existing email list to retarget subscribers on Facebook.
By uploading your list and creating a Custom Audience, you unlock the ability to show targeted ads to your subscribers on Facebook and Instagram, even if they’re not opening your emails.
Use cases include:
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Re-engaging inactive subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in months, using tailored creatives.
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Promoting upsells or cross-sells to customers who already purchased a product.
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Offering exclusive content or discounts to VIP segments in your list.
To maximize this tactic, segment your email lists based on lifecycle stages or user behavior. A one-size-fits-all campaign wastes your targeting power.
Bonus tip: regularly refresh your Custom Audiences to reflect your most up-to-date subscriber data — especially if you’re syncing with your CRM or ESP.
2. Scale With Lookalike Audiences Based on Your Best Subscribers
This is where Facebook Ads go from retargeting to prospecting — and why email synergy becomes a force multiplier.
A Lookalike Audience uses your email list to find new users who resemble your existing subscribers. But here’s the nuance: the quality of your source list directly affects the performance of your Lookalikes.
Don’t just upload everyone. Instead, focus on:
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High-value customers who’ve made multiple purchases.
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Engaged subscribers who frequently open, click, and convert.
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Leads with a short time-to-conversion, suggesting strong intent.
Facebook’s algorithm will analyze their behavior, demographics, and online activity and find users who match. You’re effectively cloning your best leads and turning cold outreach into warm targeting.
This is one of the most efficient ways to acquire qualified leads at scale, while keeping your ad spend focused.
3. Match Email Messaging With Ad Campaigns
Consistency across channels increases trust and trust drives action.
When someone sees a message in their inbox, then sees a related message on Facebook, it reinforces your brand and your offer. It creates a sense of presence.
Here’s how to synchronize your messaging effectively:
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Promoting a webinar? Send an invite via email, and follow up with Facebook reminder ads featuring the speaker lineup.
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Running a product launch? Tease the new feature set through email, and drive urgency with countdown ads.
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Offering a limited-time discount? Introduce it in your email blast, then keep it top-of-mind with dynamic ads and deadlines.
Think about sequencing here. Not just sending the same message twice, but mapping the user journey and ensuring each channel supports the next step.
4. Reactivate Dormant Subscribers with Targeted Ads
Not everyone who joins your list is ready to buy. And over time, even interested subscribers may go cold.
Email open rates often dip due to email fatigue, spam filters, or plain old inbox overwhelm. But those same users are still active elsewhere — especially on Facebook and Instagram.
Use Facebook Ads to re-engage these dormant subscribers. Segment your list by engagement score (many email platforms support this), and create targeted ad campaigns designed to:
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Remind them of your value, with brand storytelling or user testimonials.
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Offer a reactivation incentive, like a unique discount code.
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Highlight what they’ve missed, using carousel ads to show new content or products.
This approach helps extend the life of your email list — and lets you continue nurturing leads who might otherwise be lost.
5. Build Multi-Touch Nurture Journeys with Sequential Ads
Most email campaigns follow a drip sequence. Why not do the same with your Facebook Ads?
Sequential advertising lets you tell a story over time, guiding users from awareness to conversion with timed, layered content.
For instance, say you’re selling a subscription service:
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Day 1–3: Introductory video explaining the service’s benefits.
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Day 4–6: Testimonial from a satisfied customer.
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Day 7–10: Promotional offer, tied to urgency or exclusivity.
Each ad builds on the last. Combined with your email sequence, this creates an omnichannel journey that keeps your message front and center — without being repetitive.
Key to success? Don’t duplicate emails in your ads. Instead, complement them. Let one channel introduce the idea and another reinforce it visually or emotionally.
6. Use Facebook Ads to A/B Test Email Concepts
Struggling to find the right subject line or CTA for your next email campaign? Use Facebook Ads as a rapid testing ground.
Since ads can get impressions and feedback in hours (not days), you can test:
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Headline ideas for open rate optimization.
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Value propositions to see which resonate most.
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Visual creatives to validate against audience response.
Then apply those learnings directly to your next email campaign. This cross-channel feedback loop gives you a serious edge over marketers working in silos.
Best Practices for Seamless Integration
Integrating email marketing with Facebook Ads isn’t just tactical — it’s strategic. But sloppy execution can still tank results.
Here are some fundamentals to get right:
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Keep data clean and compliant. Only upload opt-in lists, and regularly remove bounced or inactive emails.
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Coordinate campaign timing. Avoid bombarding users with the same message in both inbox and feed on the same day. Space it out for a natural feel.
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Segment aggressively. Not all email subscribers should see the same ads. Use behavior, stage, and interest filters to refine your targeting.
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Maintain consistent branding. Emails and ads should look and sound like they come from the same brand family — same tone, colors, and voice.
Still unsure how to build high-converting email lists to begin with? Check out our guide on using Facebook Ads to build an email list for your business.
Want to take it even further? Learn how to combine Facebook Lead Ads and email to create a game-changing performance funnel.
Final Thoughts
The future of email marketing isn’t more email — it’s smarter orchestration across channels.
Facebook Ads allow you to extend the life of your email strategy, amplify your reach, and add dynamic storytelling elements that email alone can’t carry.
When your subscribers see your brand across inboxes, feeds, and stories — with consistent, personalized messaging — you build familiarity and credibility. And that leads to action.
So, ask yourself: are your Facebook Ads working with your email marketing or working in a vacuum?
Start syncing your strategies. Measure the uplift. And watch your results compound.
