How to Create Facebook Ads: 7 Practical Steps to Get Started

Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms worldwide. It’s not just a place for people to connect and share information, but also a powerful tool for promoting your business.

Over time, Facebook has evolved into a trusted platform for business owners to market their products and services. You can create ads using Facebook Ads, which showcase your business across various Meta platforms, including Instagram. Running ads on Facebook is super easy. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create Facebook Ads you can follow!

How to Create Facebook Ads

Facebook offers an advertising service to help promote your business effectively. Sure, it’s a paid feature, but the advantages of Facebook Ads are absolutely worth it.

One key advantage is the vast audience reach it provides. According to Statista, there were 194.81 million Facebook users in Indonesia in 2023. This huge number presents a significant opportunity to expand your market, connect with new customers, and boost your brand’s visibility.

So, if you’re interested in running ads on this platform, you can easily do so using Facebook Ads Manager. Here’s how to create an ad on Facebook.

1. Set Up a Facebook Page

The first step is to create a Facebook Page. This is because you can’t use Ads Manager with a personal account. The same applies if you’re managing ads for someone else—you’ll still need admin, editor, or advertiser access to set up ad campaigns on their business account or page.

Here’s how you can create a Facebook Page for your business:

1. Go to the Facebook Page.
2. Fill in key details about your business, such as its name, category, and a brief description to make it more credible to your audience. You can also add information like your address and operating hours if needed.
3. Once you’ve entered all the business information, click the ‘Create Page’ button.

2. Set Up Your Facebook Ads Manager Account

You’ll need an Ads Manager account linked to your Facebook Page to run effective Facebook advertisements. Here's how to do it:

1. Go to the Facebook Ads Manager page.
2. Fill in the required information by clicking ‘Go to Account Overview’.
3. Select ‘Add Payment Method’.
4. Enter your currency and location to complete the payment setup for Facebook Ads by Meta.

3. Start Creating Your Ad

Once you've filled in the information and successfully logged into Ads Manager, you’ll see a performance dashboard displaying all your campaigns, ad sets, and ads. Here, you can also track the results achieved for your business page.

To run Facebook ads, simply click the ‘Create’ button on the left to choose the type of ad you want to make.

Next, you’ll see a list of objectives to help you align your ad with your needs and audience. Select the best option so Facebook can identify and direct the ad to the right audience. Here’s a quick overview of each objective to help you decide:

• Awareness: To ensure your ad stays top-of-mind with your audience.
• Traffic: Aims to drive people to your website, app, or Facebook event.
• Engagement: To boost interactions with your website, post, or shared link.
• Leads: Encourages audiences to take actions like filling out forms, signing up, or making a purchase.
• App Promotion: To reach users interested in downloading your brand’s app.
• Sales: Drives people to your website, encouraging them to purchase your product or service.

Once you've selected your ad objective, click ‘Continue’ to move forward with the setup process.

4. Set Your Budget and Bidding Strategy

Facebook Ads is built on three main elements: Campaigns, Ad Sets, and Ads, each requiring proper configuration. At the Campaign level, you can set your ad budget. To do this, scroll down until you find the ‘Advantage Campaign Budget’ option.

If you'd like to allocate your budget based on audience targeting at the Ad Sets level, you can turn this option off. On the other hand, enable it if you prefer to manage the budget at the Campaign level. Here, you’ll have two types of budgets to choose from.

• Daily Budget: The amount spent daily tends to stay the same.
• Lifetime Budget: Daily spending can vary, but the total budget is set for the entire ad period. If you choose a Lifetime Budget, you must set the ad duration at the Ad Set level.

Once you've chosen your budget type, the next step is to select a bidding strategy. Here are some options to consider:

• Highest Volume: Facebook will aim to get as many results as possible within the set budget. These results could include visits, conversions, sales, or others, depending on the objective you choose.
• Cost per Result goal: Ads will be optimized to hit a specific cost per result but will still prioritize the total number of results. Cost per result refers to the cost for each outcome generated by your ad.
• ROAS goal: Facebook will optimize the results based on your target revenue.
• Bid Cap: Sets the maximum bid you're willing to pay for your ad during the campaign.

If this is your first ad, it’s best to go with the Highest Volume option. This allows Facebook's algorithm to understand your ad and audience better, maximizing your results. After that, click the 'Next' button.

5. Choose Your Audience and Ad Placement

The next step in creating Facebook Ads is selecting your target audience at the Ad Set level. When creating Facebook ads, think about the type of audience that would be most interested in your business, product, or service. You need to look for common traits among them and use this information to reach similar audiences.

For example, if your target audience is young men with an edgy style living in Jakarta, you can set the age range between 23 and 35. On the other hand, if your main customers are women who are into fashion trends, hairstyles, nail art, and love shopping at small boutiques, you can tailor your ad to catch their attention.

Set your ad's target audience with this tutorial:

1. In the 'Audience' section, click the 'Edit' button.
2. Choose the location for your target audience, which can be a specific country, city, or region.
3. Set the age range and gender of your target audience.
4. In the 'Detailed Targeting' section, add other characteristics such as interests, demographics, or behaviors. For example, if you’re targeting people interested in fashion trends, simply type 'fashion' in the 'Detailed Targeting' field. You can also select custom audiences using the Facebook Audience Insights feature. This feature allows you to discover the behaviors, interests, and demographics of your current customers or website visitors. By using this tool, you can create more precise custom audiences based on real-time data from your Facebook page or website traffic.
5. Scroll down to the 'Placement' section to choose where your ad will appear.

In this case, there are two ad placement options you can choose from. The first is 'Automatic Placements,' which will show your ad to the audience most likely to take action. The second is 'Manual Placements,' which lets you choose exactly where your ad will appear, whether it’s on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or the Audience Network.

If you choose ‘Manual Placements,’ you can specify the exact location of the ad on each platform selected. For example, if you want to show your ad on Instagram, you can select Instagram Stories only.

After selecting your preferred ad placement, click ‘Next’ to move on to the Ads level.

6. Upload Your Ads

Once you've set the budget at the Campaign level and selected the ad sets at the Ad Sets level, the next step is to prepare and upload your ads at the Ads level.

In this section, you need to prepare your ad assets, which can be photos or videos in various sizes. The ideal size for Facebook Ads is 1080 x 1080 pixels for assets displayed in the Feed and 1080 x 1920 pixels for assets placed in Stories. Here’s how to do it:

1. Choose the identity to display with your ad. You can select the 'Facebook Page' and 'Instagram Account' that match your business.
2. In the 'Ad Setup' section, you can upload new ad assets or use an existing Facebook/Instagram post that was previously uploaded organically.
3. Click 'Create Ad' to upload new assets or 'Use Existing Post' to use an organic post.
4. If you choose to upload new assets, select 'Manual Upload' under 'Creative Source'.
5. Pick your preferred ad format: ‘Single image or video’, ‘Carousel’, or ‘Collection’.
6. Upload your assets by clicking 'Add Media.' You can add photos or videos.
7. Once you've selected the media type, you’ll enter the library with all your available assets. Click 'Upload' if you want to add a new asset.
8. Hit the 'Next' button and crop if necessary, then click 'Done'.

In the 'Media' section, you can adjust the size of each placement selected at the Ad Sets level. Make sure to match the media size with the ad placements, as explained earlier.

Next, write the text that will appear with your ad assets. This includes:

• Primary Text: The caption that will appear with your ad.
• Headline: The title text.
• Description: A short text beneath the headline.
• Call to Action: The button below the ad.

If you choose specific objectives like Sales or Traffic when creating your ad, you'll need to enter the website URL that users will visit when they click the ad.

Once you've completed all these steps, Facebook will review the ad to ensure it meets the guidelines. After that, click 'Publish' to make the ad go live with the settings you've configured.

7. Check Ad Status and Performance

Once the ad has gone through the review process and is running on Facebook, you can monitor its status and performance.

To do this, open the Facebook Ads Manager dashboard, where you’ll find performance reports for all three elements (Campaign, Ad Sets, Ads). To view specific data you want to focus on, select relevant metrics by clicking on 'Columns.'

You’ll then see the complete metrics, including results, reach, impressions, cost per result, the amount spent, and ends (the ad’s status).

That is the step-by-step guide on how to create Facebook Ads to promote your business. By using Facebook Ads, you can expand your reach and increase your brand visibility to attract more potential customers. To achieve this, take advantage of the advertising features available to optimize your business promotions and make sure they hit the right target.

Additionally, it's important to create engaging content for your ads that grabs your audience's attention and encourages higher interaction. The content should reflect your brand identity with a clear message and visuals that resonate, so your audience can easily recognize and get interested in your business.

To create high-quality content designs, you can use various services by VISUWISU. Our team can help you develop content tailored specifically for different social media platforms, including Facebook. Plus, VISUWISU's creative team can assist you in crafting eye-catching ads that will captivate your audience.

So, what are you waiting for? Contact VISUWISU now for a free consultation about social media design services that can boost your business appeal!