How to Run Facebook Ads: 10 Easy Steps + Expert Tips

We talked to leading experts about how to run Facebook Ads. Here are their top tips, plus examples to show you how to build campaigns like a pro.

Running Facebook Ads can be tricky.

Wanting to see a good return on ad spend (ROAS) is one thing, but doing so without breaking the bank and actually getting results? That’s another story.

Wading through hundreds of tips and beginner’s guides for Facebook ads can be confusing and make you overthink every step.

So scratch all that and go straight to the experts. In this post, we’ll run you through the steps we use to help our clients reach their target audience, plus expert tips for creating scroll-stopping ads.

10 steps to run successful Facebook ads

Let’s start with our step-by-step guide to running Facebook ads:

1. Create an ad account for business
2. Set up your business page
3. Install the Meta-pixel
4. Go to Facebook Ads Manager
5. Select your objective
6. Select your audience
7. Set your Facebook ads budget
8. Create a compelling Facebook ad
9. Track and optimize your results
10. Build a report to share with the team

1. Create a business account

First, things first, you’ll need to create your Facebook Ads Manager Account to use Meta Business Manager:

• Go to the Meta Business Manager homepage.
• Click on ‘Create Account.’ If you already have a Facebook account, you can log in using those credentials. If not, you’ll need to sign up.
• Once logged in, follow the on-screen instructions to set up your business account. This includes providing business and contact information.

Then, you can handle all your Meta-related business items within the Meta Business Suite. In this hub, you can oversee things like Facebook pages, Instagram profiles, WhatsApp accounts, and anything else under the Meta sun.

(Image: Meta screenshot)

Think of this as a one-stop spot to manage all your business assets.

2. Set up your business page

To start advertising on Facebook, you need a Facebook Business Page.

(If you’ve previously set up a Facebook page, then skip this one. But if you don’t have an account, navigate back to “Ad assets” and select “Facebook page.”)

Here you’ll have the option to:

• Create a new Page
• Claim an existing Page
• Request to share a Page (in case you’re running ads for another business)

That last one is especially useful if you prefer not to integrate the Facebook page into a business or personal account.

(Image: Meta screenshot)

Then, Facebook will give you an option to add more specific information about your business, such as:

• Contact details
• Business location
• Operating hours

Potential customers may visit your page directly from your ads when they appear on their newsfeeds. Providing all the information you can about your business builds trust and authority.

3. Set up Meta Pixel

Meta Pixel (formerly Facebook Pixel) is a snippet of code added to your website that allows you to monitor visitor activity on your website after they view your Facebook ad.

This isn’t absolutely necessary – but here’s what you get out of this extra step:

• Improved ad targeting
• Enhanced ad performance tracking
• Optimized ad delivery
• Granular insights and analytics (e.g. scroll depth, button clicks, and form submissions)
• Cost efficiency
• Easy integration with platforms like WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace

Here’s how to get started with Meta Pixel:

1. Create your Pixel

• Log in to your Meta Events Manager
• Click on “Connect Data Sources” and select “Web”
• Click “Connect”
• Enter a name for your Pixel and click “Create Pixel”

2. Install the Meta Pixel on your website

There are a couple of ways to do this:

Partner integration

If your website is hosted on platforms like WordPress, Shopify, or Squarespace, Meta offers direct integrations.

• In Events Manager, after creating your Pixel, select “Use a Partner Integration.”
• Then, simply choose your platform and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup.

Manually

• After creating your Pixel, select “Install code manually”
• Copy the Pixel base code provided
• Paste this code into the header section of your website (just above the closing </head> tag) on the pages you wish to track
• Save and publish the changes to your website

3. Verify Pixel installation

You can use the Meta Pixel Helper Chrome extension to ensure the Pixel is correctly installed.

Simply visit your website and click on the extension icon – it will indicate whether your Pixel is active and functioning properly.

4. Set up events

• In Events Manager, use the “Event Setup Tool” to define and track these actions without additional coding

Pro tip: Meta Events Manager is gradually changing how your event data is shown. So if your data seems to have disappeared, don’t worry. Keep up with the dataset rollout to stay on top of your campaigns.

4. Go to Facebook Ads Manager

Facebook Ads Manager is where marketers create, manage, track, and analyze the performance of their Facebook Ads.

To navigate to Ads Manager, click the hamburger menu icon located at the top left corner of the screen (labeled as ‘All tools’).

(Image: Meta screenshot)

To start creating campaigns, select ‘Create.’

(Image: Meta screenshot)

5. Select your objective

After that, pick a campaign objective that aligns with what you hope to achieve with your ad. Options include:

• Awareness
• Engagement
• Traffic
• Leads
• Sales
• App promotion

Pro tip: If you aim to get specific results (like driving traffic, increasing engagement, or making sales), you’ll be charged per action taken. But if you just want to boost visibility (like getting more website visits), you’ll pay based on the number of times your ad appears.

(Image: Meta screenshot)

6. Select your audience

Audience targeting on Facebook Ads Manager can be a game-changer.

It allows you to include (or exclude) people based on their reported interests, age, or location, ensuring that you reach the audience that’s most likely to interact with your business.

For example, if you’re an athleisure brand, you could target folks who love to travel and hike and focus less on those who scuba dive or take hardcore backpacking trips.

Here’s how to select your target audience:

• Select the location, age range, gender, and language you’re aiming for. You can also pick or skip certain cities based on how big they are. If someone recently showed interest in what you’re selling, you can prioritize them.
• As you adjust your settings, look at the custom and lookalike audience size guide on the right. It shows how many people your ad might reach.
• The system will also estimate daily interactions and potential Page likes. If you’ve run ads before, these numbers might be more spot-on because Facebook knows your audience better. But remember, these numbers are just rough guesses, not promises.

(Image: Meta screenshot)

7. Set your Facebook ads budget

You then need to decide if you want a daily budget or a budget for the whole campaign (without overspending on ads).

The daily budget means your ad runs all day, and Facebook ensures you don’t spend more than you set. But you have to spend at least $1 a day. If you pick a lifetime budget, your ad will run for a certain time, and Facebook will spread out how much you spend over that period.

There are more ways to control how you allocate your budget. Check out what other businesses are doing to get an idea of how to approach your ad strategy.

If you’re not ready to show your ad right away, that’s okay. You can choose when to start and stop your ad and even pick the times it appears.

This way, you can show your ad when your new customers are usually online, helping you make the most of your money.

8. Create a compelling Facebook ad

Ad creative is a critical part of your ads, and how you write it will determine whether your ad will convert.

First, pick the type of ad you want to run. Then, add your ad’s text and visuals. Available ad types depend on the goal you set at the start. And ad placement is also important here.

Image ads are the most popular choice, but you can also leverage video, reels, and carousel ads depending on the campaign.

(Image: HawkSEM)

Check the preview to see how your ad will appear in different places on Facebook. If everything looks right, hit the “Publish” button to get your ad live.

Autumn Sullivan from MiQ suggests deconstructing a Facebook ad into its individual parts: text, headline, description, picture, and call-to-action (CTA). You should then clarify the role of each part.

“The main content should pinpoint what the customers are struggling with and present solutions,” says Sullivan. “Your headline’s job is to capture and retain their interest. The description is there to give more information and foster trust.”

She also adds that even though Facebook doesn’t give too many CTA choices, always pick the one that best aligns with the desired action you want the user to take.

9. Track and optimize your results

Once you launch, it’s time to monitor and optimize. You can do this from either Facebook Ads Manager or your ad software.

Facebook provides several important metrics to watch, which you can see in Ads Manager:

• Performance Metrics: Captures results, reach, frequency, and impressions.
• Engagement Metrics: Revolves around likes, overall page engagement, and interactions with individual posts.
• Video Metrics: Shows key indicators like total video views and the average portion of videos watched by viewers.
• Website Metrics: Measures actions on your website, such as checkouts, purchases, and items added to the cart.
• App Metrics: Includes data like app installs, how people engage with your app, and the cost per engagement.
• Event Metrics: Focuses on responses to your events and the associated cost for each response.
  Click Metrics: Shows total clicks, unique clicks, and the cost for each click.
• Settings Metrics: Delves into specifics such as start and end dates, the name of the ad set, delivery, and ad objective.

Tracking can be challenging, especially when you’re looking for data to increase sales.

When building Facebook Ad campaigns for our clients, we use our proprietary software, ConversionIQ, to identify the search terms high-converting audiences use so we can optimize ads and boost conversion potential.

Our tool measures conversions, such as average order value (AOV) and ROAS, which allows data-driven decision-making for your Paid Search program. Then as a cherry on top, you can get Landing page design and conversion optimization to turn those clicks into leads and sales.

10. Build a report to share with the team

Finally, after selecting an objective and running your ad for at least two months, it’s time to build reports to show campaign performance.

Here are the steps to create a report:

• Click on “Analyze and Report” from the main menu
• Go to “Ads Reporting”
• Click on “Create Custom Report”
• Open a saved report
• Choose “Save As” beside the save icon. Name your report and select “Schedule Email”

When running and tracking Facebook ads properly, you can extract info from ad campaigns that you can use to enhance other channels such as paid, SEO, and other social platforms.

Remember, while tracking all these metrics is vital, never lose focus on your main advertising goals. Evaluating Facebook’s clicks and conversions will always remain a top priority.

Facebook advertising checklist for beginners

• Create your Business Account
• Set up Meta Business Suite and Ads Manager
• Install Meta Pixel to track interactions on your website
• Select your Objective and Audience
• Set your Facebook Ads budget to measure ROI
• Create an ad that resonates with your audience
• Monitor performance and optimize
• Consolidate data, build a report, and share it with the team

Expert strategies for creating well-performing ads

Now that you know how to create your Facebook ad campaigns, here are some expert strategies to create compelling ads.

Don’t: Reinvent the wheel

Most ads you see follow a very simple problem-solution style framework – and it works.

Here’s how paid social expert, Nick Shackleford, explains this strategy:

“First, you need to have a hook. Find out what the hook is going to be, then present the problem and provide a solution,” Shackleford says.

“Next, answer these questions: what are the key features of that product or the solution you’re trying to sell? What are the hurdles that you need to overcome? Lastly, what is your call-to-action (CTA)?”

A mix of these seven variables is an excellent way to create compelling ads.

• Angle/Idea
• Hook
• Problem setup
• Solution
• Benefits (the big promise)
• Response to objections
• CTA

In short, remember: Be it Facebook, Messenger, Audience Network, or Instagram ads, it should be eye-catching and resonate with your target audience.

Do: Speak the audience’s language

Rule of thumb for building connections with your audience: “Speak the audience’s language,” says Bryan Clayton, CEO at GreenPal, “It’s not just about what you want to say; it’s about what they want to hear.”

Effective ad copy feels like you’re speaking directly to the consumer. By grasping who the readers are, you can tailor your message, tone, and wording to truly connect with them.

Do: Avoid being pushy or aggressive

“When it comes to advertising on Facebook, it’s important to strike the right balance. People don’t appreciate a pushy or aggressive approach,” advises seasoned content strategist, Sayem Ibn Kashem.

“It’s crucial to create ads that feel like a friendly conversation rather than a sales pitch. Be authentic, share your story, and showcase how your product or service can genuinely improve people’s lives.”

Kashem also suggests using captivating visuals that tell a story and catch people’s attention.

“Think of it as inviting them to a casual chat over coffee, rather than forcing a sales agenda on them,” notes Kashem.

“By creating ads that connect with and resonate with your audience, you’re not just selling products; you’re building relationships that can do lead generation and create conversions. It’s like finding common interests with a friend at a party – it just feels right.”

Do: Ensure your ad visuals and copy are in sync

Based on Wyzowl’s findings, 81% of marketers noticed a surge in sales with video ads. Furthermore, video ads were more successful in persuading 88% of consumers to purchase a product.

In short, people love videos.

Kashem posits visual elements should work in harmony with the copy. “Say I’m advertising a cloud storage service. Instead of using stock photos of clouds, I’d create a visual showing a stressed-out person turning relieved and happy after using our service,” explains Kashem.

“The visual echoes the ad copy, which might say something like “Never Worry About Losing Your Files Again.”

Pro tip: Meta Pixel reports track how many people watched your whole video ad and the average time they spent watching. Analyze the watch time, to make new videos the right length to get more results.

Do: Avoid setting and forgetting

Alexander Zuidam, the head of Sales and Marketing at upMention shared that “A Facebook ad campaign strategy is never a set-it-and-forget-it game plan.”

Facebook’s advertising features and algorithms are constantly evolving. “So it’s vital to adjust your messaging and how you target your audience quarterly,” he adds.

Zudaim also advises that you experiment with different types of content, ad formats, and ad targeting options.

“For example, we’ll leverage influencer marketing for three months,” explains Zudaim. “Then, for the next three, we’ll prioritize paid ad campaigns. This keeps our social media presence and messaging fresh and relevant for our customers.”

Clayton echoes this sentiment. “You don’t just launch a campaign and walk away, expecting results to roll in. You have to monitor those metrics. Make adjustments based on what the data is telling you.”

Do: Embrace an ROI and performance mindset

By focusing on ROI, you can prevent unnecessary ad spend and ensure the budget is spent in the right strategies that bring tangible returns.

“We take an ROI and performance approach when it comes to Facebook ads,” notes Rambod Yadegar, President of HawkSEM.

“Not only do we identify your target, and demographics, but we also look at important factors such as desired ROAS, cost per acquisition, scalability, and lifetime value of a customer.”

“Further, we track all steps of the customer journey with ConversionIQ to really understand what is working and how to optimize towards results,” adds Yadegar.

Pro tip: A/B test Facebook ads to improve your ad performance. Experiment with different ad formats and styles to help you pinpoint what improves engagement with the target audience.

Why advertise on Facebook?

According to Databox, over 90% of the marketers surveyed believe Facebook ads are at least somewhat effective at generating sales.

“Facebook ads are growing in popularity year over year and are a great platform for advertising to a specific target audience,” says Yadegar.

“We’ve learned that these ads are most effective when utilized in a comprehensive digital marketing strategy/campaign including, paid search, SEO, remarketing, and video, to name a few.”

No matter who your audience is, you’re likely to find them on Facebook. With the right social media marketing strategy, you can build a social media advertising campaign that reaches them.

Further reading: See how we helped ecommerce client Apotheke effectively position its products to its target audience and acquire new customers with advice from our paid social experts.

Benefits of Facebook advertising

Precise micro-targeting

Facebook’s powerful micro-targeting feature segments custom audiences and shows your ad to people most likely to be interested in your offer.

Serving relevant ads to potential customers makes your paid ads work harder for you.

Lower CPC cost

One benefit of building Facebook ads is you can have a lower advertising budget compared to LinkedIn, Instagram, or YouTube, where the average price you pay per click is $0.94. The Facebook ads cost varies but can be as low as $0.79 per click.

Built-in ads analytics

Facebook’s built-in ads analytics gives advertisers and marketers a comprehensive view of the vitality and success of their advertising campaigns.

This tool provides critical metrics, including impressions, reach, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), conversion rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS), to show the campaign’s health and overall effectiveness.

By continually analyzing this data, you can fine-tune your approaches and optimize Facebook ad campaigns, ensuring every dollar spent contributes to your desired outcomes.

The takeaway

Facebook ads can be a game-changer for big and small businesses looking to effectively engage their target audience. By following these expert strategies and tips, you can ensure your campaigns are set up for success.

However, keep in mind that while Facebook advertising offers a broad framework, the specifics will depend on your business’s unique requirements and goals.

To truly harness the power of Facebook ads, adopt a mindset of continuous experimentation, testing, and refinement.

Need a hand getting started? Talk to the Hawks.

This post has been updated and was originally published in December 2023.