A Step by Step Guide To Facebook Advertising 

Facebook is undoubtedly one of the biggest social media networks used by billions of people across the globe. As per Backlinko, Facebook has around 1.9 billion daily active users on it. Plus, 2.9 billion users are active on the platform on a monthly basis. 

Facebook is the most widely used social media platform across the world. This validates the fact that Facebook advertising is an excellent way to get your message in front of millions of people out there! 

So, here is a Facebook ads guide informing you everything you need to know about Facebook advertising, such as the type of Facebook ads and how to develop a good ad campaign. 

Let’s Begin With Different Facebook Ad Types 

1. Image Ads 

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If you’re just starting with Facebook paid advertising, you can easily create an image ad in a few clicks by boosting an existing post with a picture from your Facebook page. Image ads are usually simple, but that doesn’t mean they need to be boring. 

2. Video Ads

Video ads mostly run on the Facebook Feed and Stories, or they can even appear as in-stream ads in the middle of long videos. Video ads can be in the form of demo videos showcasing how to use a product or service. 

You can be quite creative with video ads. You don’t need to necessarily use already shot video footage. You can use interesting animations and GIFs in your video ads to capture your viewers’ attention and explain your product or offer. 

3. Carousel Ads 

A carousel ad can use upto 10 images or videos to promote a product or service. These types of Facebook ads are widely used for showcasing different features/benefits of a single product, or to market a variety of products. You can even use all the images together to form one large panorama image. 

Besides, each image or video can be assigned a separate link or button.

4. Poll Ads 

This Facebook ad format is specially designed for mobile users, that includes two-option poll in an image or video. A separate link can be added for each poll or option. You and your audience are able to see the total number of responses to each poll choice. 

5. Collection Ads 

Collection ads are paid Facebook ads which are mainly for mobile devices. These allow you to promote five images or explainer videos that customers can click to purchase a product/service. 

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These ads are paired with Instant Experiences and allow consumers to purchase different products without leaving Facebook. This is how people can shop easily online whenever they want to. 

6. Slideshow Ads 

Slideshow ads are in the form of short videos that are created from a selection of images, photos, text and video clips. 

These types of ads have attention-grabbing motion similar to videos, but use 5 times less internet data. Therefore, these easily load even on a slow internet connection. 

You can use Ad Manager to create your Facebook ad and add text and music to it. 

7. Instant Experience Ads 

These have a full-screen ad format that loads almost 15 times faster than a website on mobile devices outside Facebook. 

Instant Experience Ads usually feature a video at the top and a carousel at the bottom. 

The users can also link different Instant Experiences together so consumers can access the mobile content more instantly. 

8. Dynamic Ads 

These ads allow you to market targeted products/services to the customers who’re more interested in them. 

For example, if a consumer visits a product page or adds a product in their shopping cart on your website, but doesn’t make a purchase. Then, you can use dynamic ads to advertise your product on your customers’ in their Facebook feed. 

This convinces the potential customer to buy your product, and can be a really effective Facebook marketing approach. 

9. Lead Ads 

Lead ads are mainly designed for mobile devices. These ads are mainly created to allow people to provide you their contact details without a lot of hassle. 

These work excellent for gathering newsletter subscriptions, asking people to give more information about themselves, signing people up for trial versions of your product/service. Besides, these are a superb way to feed your sales funnel. 

10. Messenger Ads 

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Facebook Messenger Ads provides you access to the billions of people using Facebook in a month. While creating an ad, you just need to select Messenger as the apt placement, as well as Facebook feed. 

You’re also allowed to run ‘click-to-Messenger’ ads in your Facebook feed. These types of ads feature a call-to-action button that opens your Messenger conversation. Customers can use it to communicate with your customer service representatives or salespersons. 

11. Stories Ads 

Stories ads have a full-screen vertical video format specifically meant for mobile devices. It allows viewers to watch vertically without turning their screens. 

Below is an example of a Story Ad:

12. Augmented Reality Ads

These types of ads use animation and different filters to let consumers interact with a brand. For instance, a filter that helps people to try and see how a particular lipstick shade would look on their lips, or how a pair of glasses would suit their face.

Augmented Reality Ads also helps you widen your reach. These allow consumers to click selfies using the filter and share them on their respective social networks. 

One such example is Mac Cosmetics that allows consumers to use a filter to try different lipstick shades offered by the brand. 

How To Create Facebook Ads - Step-by-Step Guide 

If you already use a Facebook business account, you can directly go to Facebook Ads Manager or Business Manager to create your Facebook ad. Follow the below steps if you’re using Ads Manager:

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Step 1 - Pick Your Objective 

Sign into Facebook Ads Manager and choose the Campaigns tab. Now, click on Create to create a new Facebook ad campaign. 

Facebook provides 11 main marketing objectives to align with your business goals:

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• Brand Awareness - Introduce the brand to new customers
• Traffic - Attract traffic to a particular webpage, application or Facebook Messenger
• Reach - Make your ad reach as many people as possible
• Engagement - Reach a wider audience to boost engagement on a post or to increase Page Follows, as well as attendance at an event, etc
• Views - Get more audience to watch your videos
• App installs - Get your audience to install your app 
• Lead generation - Attract prospective customers to your sales funnel
• Conversions - Get your audience to take an action on your website (For eg - buy your product or subscribe to the list)
• Store traffic - Attract local customers to physical stores
• Catalog Sales - Connect your product catalogs with the Facebook ads in order to showcase ads for the items they most likely wish to purchase
  
  

Step 2 - Choose A Name for Your Campaign

Always name your Facebook ad campaign and categorize your ad in categories such as politics, credits, etc. 

You can also set up an A/B Split Test by clicking on Get Started in the A/B Test section in order to set the particular ad as your control. You can pick various versions to run against the ad once it's published. 

Step 3 - Fix Your Budget & Schedule

Now, you must name the ad set and pick the Page you wish to promote. 

Then, you need to decide the amount of money you want to spend on your ad campaign. You can pick a lifetime or daily budget. If you wish to schedule your ad in the future, pick the start and end dates, or you can make it Live at that very moment. 

Remember that running Facebook paid ads on a schedule is the best way to spend your budget since you can serve your ad only when your target audience comes on Facebook. Besides, you can set a schedule only if you create a lifetime budget for your Facebook ad. 

Step 4 - Target Your Customers/Audience

The first step is to add your audience, most likely people who have already interacted with your business online or offline. 

Begin by picking your target location, gender, age and language. You can pick to include or exclude cities above a particular size. 

While you make your selections, look closely at the audience size indicator on the right side of the screen, which gives an idea of your potential reach of the ads. 

These are the two fields to make your audience as specific as you pick:

• Detailed Targeting - This field works best if you wish to include or exclude the audience on the basis of demographics, behaviours and interests. You can be specific here. 

• Connections - You can exclude or target people who already have a connection with your Facebook Page, app or any event you held. For instance, if you wish to reach a new audience, you can select ‘Exclude people who like my Page’. 

Step 5 - Pick Your Facebook Ad Placements

The best choice for people who’re new to Facebook advertising is Automatic Placements. 

Once you choose this option, Facebook automatically places your ads across platforms like Facebook, Messenger, Instagram. 

Once you gain experience, you can place your Facebook ads in specific locations. Your options may include the following:

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• Type of device: Desktop, Mobile or both
• Platform: Instagram, Facebook, Messenger or Audience Network
• Placement Type: Feeds, In-stream (videos), Stories, Messages, In-article, Apps
• Operating systems & Mobile devices: iOS, Android, Feature phones 

Step 6 - Setting Brand Safety & Cost Control

Go to the brand safety section to avoid any kind of inappropriate content to appear with your ad. For instance, you can add block lists and avoid sensitive content. 

You can also optimize your bidding type and ad bidding strategy. You can begin with the default options if you’re new to Facebook advertising. 

If you have experience, you can adjust the options to align your budget strategy with your campaign goals. 

Step 7 - Create Your Ad

First pick your ad format, then add the text and media for your ad. The formats will differ on the basis of campaign objectives you chose back at the start of the entire process. 

Wrapping Up 

Facebook advertising is an essential way to connect with your target audience as Facebook is the world’s biggest social networking platform. Roughly, there are 2.93 monthly active users currently on Facebook. 

That’s a huge number. Through Facebook ads, you can get your message in front of the right audience. The people who really want to purchase your products or services. 

If you wish to get the desired results, you must understand the various Facebook ad types and how to use them. 

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