This Facebook ads guide will provide you with the most up-to-date tips for successful advertising on Facebook.

With close to three billion monthly active users as of January 2023, Facebook continues to be a leading social media platform. Over time, Facebook’s advertising options have developed significantly, adapting to the needs of its extensive user base. As a result, marketers have had to continually refine their approaches to ensure they achieve optimal results.

What are Facebook ads?

Facebook ads are paid posts that businesses use to promote their products or services to Facebook users. These ads come in various formats, including images, videos, and carousels. Similar to Instagram, Facebook ads are displayed throughout the platform, appearing in users’ feeds, Stories, Messenger, Marketplace, and other sections of the app.

When setting up Facebook ads, businesses allocate a budget and bid on the cost per click or per thousand impressions their ads receive. Although Facebook ads often resemble regular posts, they are distinguished by a “sponsored” label that indicates they are paid content.

Additionally, these ads typically offer more interactive features than standard posts, such as call-to-action buttons, links, and product catalogs. Incorporating Facebook ads into your marketing strategy is essential if you want to increase your brand’s visibility to a broader audience. A reliable social media marketing expert can assist in managing and optimizing your ad campaigns for maximum effectiveness.

Types of Facebook ads

Facebook offers a variety of ad formats to suit different marketing goals. Here is a closer look at each format:

Image Ads

Image ads are the simplest Facebook ad format, featuring a single image to promote products, services, or brands. Ideal for campaigns with strong visual content, these ads can be used across various placements. They work well for both brand awareness and product promotion, but they’re best suited for conveying straightforward messages with high-quality imagery.

Video Ads

Video ads allow businesses to showcase their offerings through a single video. Effective for product demos and tutorials, these ads can run up to 240 minutes, though shorter videos under 15 seconds are recommended for better engagement. While engaging, video ads require more time and resources compared to image ads.

Stories Ads

Stories ads utilize a mobile-only, full-screen vertical format, maximizing screen space for immersive engagement. With creative tools like stickers, filters, and augmented reality, Stories ads offer more freedom and cater to mobile users’ preferences. They’re highly effective as mobile users increasingly engage with Stories content.

Messenger Ads

Messenger ads appear within Facebook Messenger, providing a personal touch by blending with users’ conversations. These ads encourage interaction, allowing users to start a chat with your brand directly. They are particularly effective for small businesses aiming to create local connections and initiate conversations.

Carousel Ads

Carousel ads allow you to display up to ten images or videos in a single ad, each with its own headline and link. This format is perfect for showcasing multiple products or features, guiding users through a story, or highlighting different aspects of a single offering. It’s versatile and interactive, driving user engagement.

Slideshow Ads

Slideshow ads are made up of 3-10 images or a single video played in a loop. They’re a great alternative to video ads, using up to five times less data, making them ideal for areas with slower internet connections. Slideshow ads are easy to create and offer a lightweight, engaging way to tell your brand’s story.

Collection Ads

Collection ads provide a mobile-friendly, immersive shopping experience, displaying a range of products in a full-screen format. Users can browse through your offerings and make purchases directly from the ad. This format is particularly effective for large businesses with extensive product catalogs, offering a dynamic shopping experience.

Playables

Playables give users a free, interactive preview of your mobile game before downloading. This format allows potential players to test your game directly within the ad, increasing the likelihood of quality downloads. It’s an effective way to engage your audience and attract players who are genuinely interested in your game.

Instant Experience

Instant Experience ads, previously known as Canvas Ads, are interactive, mobile-only ads that allow users to engage deeply with your content. These ads support various interactive features like carousels, image zoom, and tilting. They offer a rich, immersive experience, ideal for capturing users’ attention and driving engagement.

How to Post Ads on Facebook?

If you already have a Facebook business page, you can go directly to Meta Ads Manager (previously known as Facebook Ads Manager) to set up your Facebook ad campaign. If you haven’t created a business page yet, you will need to create one first.

Ads Manager is your central hub for running ads on Facebook and Messenger. It offers a complete set of tools to create ads, decide when and where they will appear, and monitor the performance of your campaigns.

Step 1: Begin Creating Your Ad

Once you’re logged into Ads Manager, you’ll land on your dashboard. To start a new campaign, ad set, or ad, simply click the “Create” button.

Step 2: Select Your Campaign Objective

Facebook will prompt you to choose a campaign objective from six available options:

Awareness: Introduce your brand to a broader audience.
Traffic: Direct users to a specific webpage, app, or Facebook Page.
Engagement: Target individuals most likely to interact with your business, such as by sending a message or engaging with your content.
Leads: Acquire new potential customers for your sales funnel through messages, phone calls, or sign-ups.
App Promotion: Encourage mobile users to install your app or perform specific actions within it.
Sales: Identify and reach people most likely to purchase your product or service.

Select a campaign objective that aligns with your goals for this particular ad.

Step 3: Set Up Your Campaign Settings

In this step, you’ll name your campaign, specify if it falls under any Special Ad Categories, and complete the other campaign details.

If you wish to conduct an A/B split test, you can enable the “Create A/B Test” option. This will allow you to test different versions of your ad once it’s live.

Step 4: Determine Your Budget

Next, navigate to the Ad Set options. Here, you’ll decide on your specific performance goal and how much you’re willing to spend to achieve it. You can choose between a daily budget or a lifetime budget.

Daily Budget: Your ad will run continuously throughout the day, with a minimum spend of $1.00 per day.
Lifetime Budget: Your ad will run for a specified time period.

If you plan to schedule your ad for the future, set the start and end dates, or choose to make it live immediately. You also have the option to schedule your budget in advance, allowing you to increase spending during high-traffic periods.

Step 5: Define Your Audience

When it comes to targeting your ad, you have two main approaches:

Outline basic details like age, location, and language, then let Meta’s Advantage+ technology automatically find the right audience for you.
Use Facebook’s traditional audience targeting options to manually build your audience.

For beginners, it’s often best to allow Facebook’s AI to handle the targeting. According to Facebook, the Advantage+ audience typically delivers better results at a lower cost—approximately 28% lower average cost per click, lead, or landing page view.

Effective targeting is essential for maximizing ROI, and Ads Manager offers a wide range of targeting options to help you reach your ideal audience.

Step 6: Select Your Facebook Ad Placements

Next, determine where your ad will be displayed. You have two options: let Facebook automatically select placements using Advantage+ or manually choose them yourself. If you’re just starting out, Advantage+ is a good option.

Once you gain some experience, you can review your ad performance and switch to manual placements for finer optimization. The options available for manual selection depend on your campaign objective and may include:

Device Type: Choose between mobile, desktop, or both.
Platform: Decide whether your ad will appear on Facebook, Instagram, Audience Network, Messenger, or a combination.
Placements: Options may include Feeds, Stories, Reels, in-stream videos, search, messages, overlay and post-loop ads on Reels, in-article, and external apps and sites.
Mobile Devices and Operating Systems: Target specific devices like iOS, Android, feature phones, or all.
WiFi Connection: Opt to display the ad only when the user’s device is connected to WiFi.

Step 7: Create Your Ad

In this step, click into the Ad options. Select the ad format that best suits your campaign objectives. Then, input the text and media elements for your ad. The available formats will depend on the campaign objective you chose earlier in the process.

Follow the design recommendations and prompts provided by Facebook based on the ad type you’ve selected.

Use the preview tool on the right side of the page to ensure your ad appears correctly across all potential placements. Once satisfied, click the green Publish button to launch your ad.

Step 8: Track Your Ad’s Performance

After your ad is live, monitor its performance through Ads Manager. Pay attention to key metrics such as results, reach, engagement, video views, website actions, and other relevant data.

Useful Article: Facebook Marketing Strategy: Tips for Business Success

Wrapping Up: Facebook Ads Guide

This Facebook Ads guide highlights essential steps for creating successful campaigns. By applying these tips, advertisers can enhance their ad effectiveness and achieve better results on the platform.

Facebook Ads Guide: Tips for Effective Campaigns