Do you want to know how to do Facebook ads for your business?
Do you need a step-by-step guide on how to run an ad?
Do you look at all these successful companies and wish that you could play with the big boys but don’t even know where to start?
If this sounds like something familiar, I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be like this.
I’m going to walk you through step by step everything that you need to know about running an ad campaign on Facebook. I’ll cover what types of ads are available, how much they cost, which one is right for your business, how much time it takes, and so much more—everything!
I guarantee that if just one piece of information you took away from this article, it will have been worth your time.
So what are we waiting for? Let’s get right into it!
Step 1: What Kind of Business Are You?
You need to figure out the first thing before doing Facebook ads is what kind of business you have. I know this may seem silly, but you must answer it correctly because the result will affect how your ad performs and how successful it ultimately becomes.
There are four main types of businesses: service-based businesses, eCommerce based, lead generation, and ad agency/consultancy ads. Here they are in more detail:
Service-Based Businesses:
If your company is service-based, keep reading because we’re going to want all your attention on this one! This type of business uses Facebook ads most frequently for lead generation purposes.
For example, if you were a lawyer, people could potentially look at your ad and become interested in learning more about your services. When they click on the ad, it will take them to a particular landing page to fill out their information to get more information about how you can help them.
E-Commerce Businesses:
This type of business runs Facebook ads all the time because that’s just part of their goal with using social media. They are typically looking for something definite, so when people click on their ad, they are taken instantly to the product page where they can shop away!
This is so effective because it saves them money since they don’t have to pay for traffic or send people to other pages within their site. All the e-commerce company has to do is run the ad, and people will come directly to them!
Lead Generation Businesses:
If you are looking for leads, then this is what you should be running your Facebook ads through because it’s perfect for lead generation.
The individuals who click on your ad will either be sent straight to a landing page or taken to a squeeze page where they have the opportunity to enter their information in exchange for whatever it was that got their attention in the first place.
This could be an e-book, video series, or something else that led them there for you to build a relationship with them! However, if you are trying to sell them anything right away—you’re doing it wrong.
Ad Agency / Consultancy Facebook Ads:
If you are a marketing company, advertising agency, PR firm, or anything of the sort—this is the type of Facebook ad campaign you should be running.
The objective here is to build brand glory and authority within your niche for people to think of you whenever they need any help with their campaigns!
You can do this by choosing one sizeable well-known brand in your industry and then doing a cost per impression (CPM) ad showing up under the newsfeeds when specific keywords are searched.
The best part about using an ad agency is that they typically offer free banners and other creatives so that you don’t have to pay for them out-of-pocket!
However, if there aren’t any in your area, you can always hire someone to make them for you!
I am Al Amin, Meta Certified Digital Marketing Associate also Meta & Coursera certified Social Media Marketing Professional.
I studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Digital Marketing Specialization and Search Engine Optimization Specialization from the University of California.
Let’s move on to the next step—choosing your audience!
Step 2: Choose Your Audience
Now that we already know what kind of business we are running and how it should be run let’s get into more detail on choosing your target audience.
This will affect which ad campaign you should use. Here are the facts behind each one of them:
Demographics Targeting -
First up is demographics targeting where you choose a specific demographic to target by selecting either male or female, age group 18-25 up to 65+, location (both country and city), an education level (less than high school diploma up to a doctoral degree), and even specific job titles.
Interest Targeting -
Next up is interest targeting, where you choose a specific interest that you want the people who click on your ad to have for them to be interested in what you’re advertising!
You can start this by searching a general term such as “music,” or you can search for a more specific phrase like “Justin Bieber songs.” Once you’ve typed it in, Facebook will show similar pages related to what you entered into their system!
From there, select any of the ones that come up under “Pages Likes,” and they’ll automatically be added to your targeting list.
Behavioral Targeting -
If none of those choices work out pleasingly for your business, then you can go ahead and choose behavioral targeting instead! This option is great for companies trying to sell products or services based on an individual’s specific interests, behaviors, or characteristics.
And if you’re looking to get more likes on your Facebook page—this is also what you should be using since it will help generate more engagement with the people who came after clicking on your ad.
Step 3: Create Your Ad
Now that we already know how many ads we want to run, which ones are best suited for our business, who we want them shown to, and where they should be shown—it’s time to create our ads!
But before any of that happens, there are a few questions that need answering first. Here are the main points that you should consider before even creating your first Facebook Ads:
- Do I need to use an image? And if so, what should it be of?
- Does this ad have a call-to-action, or can I leave one out entirely?
- Who is my target audience for this specific campaign?
- What are the goals behind running these ads—just brand awareness, conversion to sales, etc.?
How many impressions do I want to get with this ad? If you don’t know how much it costs per impression (CPM), choose “lower than 5 cents” since anything above that number will usually cost too much!
Step 4: Set Up Your Conversion Tracking
Now that your ads are fully set up and running, you must closely watch them determine how well they’re working. To do that, you need to know how it is tracking the success of each one! This is where conversion tracking comes into play.
You may already have some conversion tracking setup if you paid for an ad agency or even an extremely tech-savvy friend or colleague to help you run all of these ads—but if not, then making it work properly might take more time than initially anticipated!
Here’s what you can do:
First off, head on over to Facebook Ads Manager, which should be the easiest way for you to track everything without worrying about anything else.
From there, click on the top-left corner of your screen that says “home.” Then, choose whatever ad you want to track and select “View,” which will pop up a new window.
From there, go a bit down to where it says “Pixels” and copy & paste the unique code that Facebook gives you into any website that you have—this can be your thank you page or even an order confirmation page for simplicity!
Step 5: Review Your Ads Performance
Now comes when all of this hard work previously put in pays off by either stopping running certain ads altogether since they are no longer cost-effective or they are working so well that we need to start scaling them out.
This is a prominent part of any campaign because we need to know the results! The only way we can do this is by looking at past conversions and seeing how much revenue was put into the ad.
For example, I might be running an ad that costs $10 per like or share—and if it ends up converting to a sale worth $40, then the ad is working!
Step 6: Stop Running Ads That Aren't Working.
After enough time has passed and you’ve collected data on all of your ads for however long you decide, it’s time to stop running those ads that aren’t providing the intended conversions!
But how will anyone ever know about our business unless we keep throwing money away? Here are some ideas:
I still ask myself, “Is it possible to add a different image or sentence to this ad?” If so, then do it! I promise you that small changes can make a huge difference.
I often have multiple ads running for the same product, service, or business—this is because some will perform more satisfactorily than others depending on where they’re being shown and who they’re being shown to.
So if one of my campaigns isn’t converting well for some reason, I’ll switch them over to another campaign while removing any duplicate ads from the new campaign altogether.
Step 7: Scale Your Ads That Are Working Well
Now that we’ve figured out which ads are working without spending too much money let’s get more of them running! The trick here is not going overboard and spending a bunch of money in a short period.
Instead, we want to start small by doubling compared to the starting budget, which you’ve already determined to be reasonable—and then continuing to add more ads until it’s performing poorly or you can’t afford any more!
Frequently Asked Questions of How To Do Facebook Ads:
Answer: This is a tricky question that depends on multiple factors. If you are trying to increase your brand awareness, getting even one or two likes might be enough depending on the number of fans you already have engaged with your content.
However, if you’re trying to sell something, you might need a lot more depending on the product.
Answer: Many factors go into this question, but it depends on your target audience and what you want to accomplish with your ads.
In my experience, if you have a specific goal in mind, then the average cost per click is around $1.00.
However, if you have no particular purpose and you’re just testing different ads at once with a small budget to see who responds well to your ads, then it could be less than a dollar or more than $2.00!
Answer: The amount you make from an ad will depend on the product or service you’re selling.
For example, if I’m using Facebook ads to sell my latest book, then it’s probably going to have a more subordinate conversion rate than some t-shirts or something similar.
However, if I were attempting to sell a $2,000 couch, it would probably be higher than the book!
Answer: I like to aim for around $5.00 per 1,000 impressions (CPM). However, depending on how much you’re paying per click and conversion, this number could change drastically.
If you’re paying $2.00 per click and conversion, your CPM should be much lower because you desire to get as many clicks as achievable for the best return on investment!
Answer: This answer will depend on how your ads are performing overall. If they have a poor click-through rate, your ads will be less likely to show up for people because they aren’t attracting attention.
However, if your CTR is good and you have a decent amount of likes and a small budget, then it’s possible that your ad could start showing up often enough to where you’re paying only $0.02 per 1,000 impressions!
Final Thoughts of How To Do Facebook Ads:
In conclusion, running Facebook Ads is one effective way for companies and individuals to get their product, service, or business out there.
Remember that the only proper way to make this work is by correctly understanding your target audience and what will sell best to them.
And don’t forget that conversion tracking matters a ton when it comes down to making sure everything works out well in the end!
Have anything else that you’d like to add? Let us know in the comments below!