Creating Facebook ads can be intimidating and seem like a daunting process. To help make it less overwhelming, we decided to break it down step by step. Keep reading to learn how to create a Facebook ad from start to finish.
Set Your Objectives
The first step in creating a Facebook ad is to set your objectives and determine what you want to achieve with the ad. Some sample objectives include increasing brand awareness, increasing consideration or increasing conversions. Facebook will provide suggestions and guidance as to which ad type is best suited to meet your chosen objective. After setting your objective, you can then choose the ad type that you would like to use, selecting from a range of options that are designed to meet your specific objective.
Define Your Audience
Defining your audience when creating ads is important, as you will not be able to reach your entire target market with one single ad. There are three audience tools Facebook provides to help in defining your audience: core audiences, custom audiences and lookalike audiences. Each of these categories assists in defining and creating different audiences, whether it be a new audience sorted by location and other demographics, retargeting an audience that has engaged with your business before or an audience that has interests similar to those of your customers.
Choose Which Platforms Will Display Your Ad
Facebook offers multiple options when it comes to choosing where to run your ad. Platforms where you are able to run your ad include Instagram feed, Facebook feed and Facebook Marketplace. You are also able to run your ad across Stories in Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. Facebook Ads Manager allows you to choose where to run your ad. If you decide to go with the automatic placement option, Ads Manager will place your ads where it believes they will perform best.
Set a Budget
Facebook ads are available under any budget, so make sure to set a budget that works for your business. You can choose from a lifetime budget, meaning that’s the maximum amount you’ll spend until the ad stops running, or select a daily budget to spend on your ad each day. No matter what you determine, you’ll never spend more than your set budget. Your budget can also be edited at any time, so if you decide that you would like to increase or decrease your budget, you can do so. Your account is charged each time Facebook delivers an ad to someone.
Choose an Ad Format
There are eight different formats to choose from for your ad, including photo, video, stories, messenger, carousel, slideshow, collection and playable ad formats. Look at your advertising goals to determine which format works best for you. A carousel ad of up to ten different images or videos each with its own link and copy may be useful if you are promoting a general brand story on the different services offered by your business rather than one specific feature. If you aren’t sure which ad format to choose, you can speak with a Facebook Marketing Partner to help you come to a decision.
Submit Your Ad
Once you have created your ad, you will submit it to the ad auction. The ad auction determines the best ad to show to a certain audience at a given point in time and takes place every time there is an opportunity to show an ad to someone. When the same person falls into the target audience of more than one ad, the ads containing that target audience are eligible to compete in the auction. The winner of the ad auction is the ad with the highest total value, which encompasses their bid, estimated action rates and ad quality. The ad with the highest bid is not necessarily going to win in the ad auction. Facebook actually subsidizes relevant ads in auctions, so more relevant ads typically cost less and see more results. This means that an ad that’s more relevant could win out against an ad with higher bids.
Manage Your Ad
Once your ad is running, you can measure and manage its performance using Ads Manager. Through Ads Manager, you are able to track campaign performance, view how your ad is reaching your audience and review your budget and cost of your ads. Ads Manager shows you more about your audience and how they are reacting to your ad, as well as which of your marketing efforts are working best to help meet your objectives.
Ready to take your business to the next level with Facebook ads? Social Ape is here to help. Contact our team today to get started!
