How to successfully set up Facebook advertising campaigns?
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How to set up Facebook Ads step by step on your own?
Create a Facebook Business Manager account
Facebook Business Manager is a tool that centralises all aspects of ad setup and management. What do you need to do?
Sign up. Create a new account for your organisation by entering your company name, email and other required details.
Add your Facebook page: If you already manage a business page, add it to your Business Manager account. You can do this under "Business Settings".
Enter payment details: Add your company details, credit card or other payment method under "Payment Methods".
Before setting up and launching your ads, it is important to prepare thoroughly: fill in all the necessary details, add a business page, WhatsApp account, configure the Facebook Pixel and verify the website. These steps ensure data accuracy, avoid technical problems and avoid limiting or blocking the ad account.
Define the purpose of the advertising campaign
It is very important to have a specific campaign objective, as Facebook knows its users very well. For example, if you choose the campaign objective "Sales", Facebook will show your ad to the people who are most likely to place an order on your website. If you choose "Traffic", on the other hand, the ad will be shown to people who are most likely to visit your website but not make a purchase. Therefore, choosing the right target is critical to achieve the desired results.
The objective of the advertising campaign will determine the entire strategy. Facebook offers several main objectives:
Awareness: raise brand awareness and increase reach.
Traffic: drive users to your website or other external resource.
Engagement: encourage activities such as likes, comments and sharing.
Leads: collect contact details of potential customers using specific forms or tools.
App Promotion: Promote the download or use of your app.
Sales: Increase sales through conversion promotion, catalogue ads or messaging (in Asian countries, these are the primary conversion targets e.g. Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp).
Currently, Sales and Leads are the most effective and results-oriented campaign objectives offered by Facebook. "Sales campaigns are great for directly driving sales of products or services, while Leads campaigns help you get in touch with new potential customers, which is especially important for business growth and building long-term customer relationships.
Select your ad targeting
A well-defined target audience is one of the key ingredients for successful advertising. It allows you to reach exactly the people who are most relevant to your offer, improving the effectiveness of your ads and reducing unnecessary spending. Understanding your target audience helps you to personalise your texts, choose the right advertising formats that resonate with potential customers. For example, knowing their age, interests, behavioural habits and the problems you want to solve can help you create content that speaks directly to them and motivates them to take action. For example, visit a website and make a purchase.
Demographics: Please specify age, sex and location.
Interests and Behaviours: use Facebook's database to select users who are interested in your products or services (e.g. sporting goods, tourism, health products, business management, mums, property owners, students and many other interests and behaviours).
Custom audiences: upload a list of existing customers or create lookalike audiences to reach new customers with similar characteristics.
Remember that targeting is not static - it needs to be regularly reviewed and adjusted in the light of campaign results and changing market conditions. The more precisely you define your audience, the more likely you are to achieve your campaign objectives and get a better return on your investment.
Choose the right advertising format
Facebook offers a variety of advertising formats, each with its own unique application. Depending on the objective of the campaign - whether it's lead generation or product sales - there are specific formats to help you achieve the desired results. For example, lead generation campaigns often use form-filling ads, while sales campaigns benefit from dynamic product catalogues or carousel ads that showcase multiple offers at once.
Image ads: image ads are simple but very effective if you want to convey a clear message immediately. They rely on one strong visual element that captures the viewer's attention and makes the message easy to understand. This format is perfect for campaigns that focus on a specific product, service or offer, such as discounts, promotions or events. For image ads to be effective, it is important that the visual material is high quality, clear and emotionally engaging.
Video ads: video ads are ideal for telling stories, showing a product in action or creating an emotional connection with your target audience. They allow more complex messages and use both visual and audio elements to amplify the effect of the ad. Short, dynamic and attention-grabbing videos can effectively reach audiences, especially on mobile devices. For example, a product demonstration or a customer testimonial video can significantly increase trust and motivate action.
Carousel ads: carousel ads are versatile and particularly suited to situations where you need to show several products or narratives in one ad. This format allows users to view multiple images or videos, each with its own title, description and link. It is an excellent solution for presenting product collections, highlighting different benefits or giving a step-by-step explanation of how a particular product or service works.
Collection ads: collection ads are specifically designed for e-commerce. They combine a video or image with product catalogue elements, allowing users to quickly view and purchase products. When a user taps on an ad, it expands into a fully optimised experience that is tailored to mobile devices. This format is ideal for showcasing a wide range of products or new collections, giving users the ability to easily browse and purchase directly from the ad.
Prepare the visual content of your ad
Currently, short video ads are strongly dominant, as they attract attention and convey the message effectively. Video ads can make great use of videos that have already achieved excellent results organically, thus increasing their impact in paid ads. However, it should be noted that for different niches and target audiences, picture format ads still work well, especially if they are of high quality, visually appealing and precisely match the desired message. When choosing the right format, it is important to focus on what speaks best to your audience.
Visuals: use high-quality images or videos that immediately catch the viewer's attention. Show your product or service at its best - clear, detailed and attractive. Remember that well-designed visuals are the beginning of your advertising story, motivating the viewer to find out more.
Headlines: make short, powerful headlines that grab attention and create curiosity. Examples such as "Save 20% today only!" or "Try it for free!" compel immediate action. Don't be afraid to be specific and catchy - your headline should stick in the mind from the first second.
Descriptions: Provide a clear and concise description of the offer that highlights the value to your customer. Focus on the key benefits and call to action, e.g. "Our offer - until the end of the week only!" Persuasive text can convince them that your product is exactly what they need.
CTA (call to action): A strong and precise call to action is the driving force behind your advertising. Phrases like "Sign up", "Start today" or "Order with 20% discount" not only encourage action, but also create a sense of urgency to act right now. A clear and compelling CTA - and your advertising works for you!
Free Canva templates for your promotional visuals!
Choose your budget and campaign duration
To effectively calculate your Facebook paid advertising budget, there are several factors to consider:
The purpose of the campaign: depending on whether you want to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic or stimulate sales, the budget may vary. For example, conversion campaigns usually require a higher budget than reach campaigns.
Audience size and competition: narrower and more specific audiences (specific) can increase costs as there is more competition for these audiences. Broader audiences may be cheaper but less effective.
Ad quality and relevance: High quality and engaging ads tend to have lower costs because they resonate better with the audience and get higher relevance scores from Facebook's algorithms.
Budget type: Facebook offers two budget types - Daily and Lifetime. If you choose a daily budget, e.g. €5 per day for 10 days (€50 in total), you will spend ~€5 on advertising each day. On the other hand, if you choose a Lifetime budget of €50 for 10 days, Facebook will spend on advertising as much as the ad looks promising on that day, up to a total of €50.
Testing and optimisation: Start with a smaller budget to test different audiences and ad formats. Based on the results, gradually increase the budget for the most effective campaigns.
Frequency of ad impressions: Showing too many ads to the same audience can reduce the effectiveness of the ad. Monitor and adjust the frequency of ad impressions to avoid spending unnecessary advertising budget.
Although the accepted rate in the Latvian market is around €20 per day or ~€600 per month, this is not always appropriate for all niches or advertising purposes. Specific or carefully designed offers can often achieve good results with a smaller daily budget. This is especially true when the target audience is very well defined or the content is optimised for maximum attention-grabbing.
However, when it comes to A/B testing campaigns, the budget can be even smaller. For example, €5 per day for a specific test is often enough to assess which version of an ad performs better. This approach not only saves resources, but also allows effective experimentation before investing more budget in the optimal version of the ad. The key here is to strategically plan and analyse the data to maximise the return on investment, regardless of the initial budget.
Review and run an ad
Before final approval of the ad, it is essential to carry out a thorough check to ensure that everything is in place for a successful launch. This step is crucial as even small errors can have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the ad or the user experience.
Make sure the visuals and text are: Check that the images or videos are of high quality, properly placed and eye-catching. Make sure the text of the ad is clear, precise and relevant to the interests and needs of the target audience.
Check your targeting settings: Make sure you have carefully selected the right audience - age, interests, location and other parameters. Accurate targeting is essential for your ad to reach the right people.
Check links and technical parameters: Make sure all links work smoothly and lead to the right destination, such as your website, login form or e-shop. Incorrect links or technical problems can lead to loss of potential customers.
Review your budget and display settings: Make sure you have selected an appropriate daily or lifetime budget and specified the display period to suit your campaign objectives.
Rushing often leads to mistakes that negatively affect the effectiveness of ads and the user experience, such as incorrect links leading to an inappropriate product or landing page, creating confusion and losing potential customers. Often, ads are copied from one campaign level to another without links and descriptions being checked or updated, which can result in a call to action but a link that does not match the offer. Such carelessness reduces credibility and effectiveness, so careful checking is essential for a successful campaign.
Analyse the results
When your ad is active, use Meta Ads Manager to track performance:
Ad results: number of clicks, cost per click (CPC), impressions and audience reached.
Conversions: How effectively you are achieving your goal.
Optimisation: Based on your results, improve your ad content, targeting or budget settings.
