Advertising on Facebook requires decision making with precision. Whichever image, caption or price you use for a Facebook ad campaign can determine whether it hits or misses the target.
To start, you’ll need to answer the following questions so that you can take appropriate measures toward your next Facebook ad: Who is your audience? How much to budget for running a monthly campaign? Are your image dimensions to scale? And will your ad be mobile optimized?
For Wix site owners, you can reach new customers, boost sales and get results with Facebook Ads by Wix. This built-in Facebook marketing solution lets you create a Facebook ad campaign with powerful AI. That means your ads are continuously optimized to make the greatest impact on your audience.
Without skipping any steps, this beginner’s guide to advertising on Facebook will help you keep all your campaign details in line with your goals. From creating an account with Facebook Ads Manager to setting a budget and monitoring your ad’s performance post-production, we’ve got you covered.
Types of Facebook ads
Before we delve into the multi-faceted Facebook advertising process, a big part of your success depends on the kind of Facebook ad you use. These ads can help you create brand awareness, increase engagement and drive sales. Decide which one is the right option for you and your business.
Dynamic Collection
The collection ad format directs customers to your products based on their interests and previous purchases. When customers click on your ad, they'll be taken to your store's product page. This option is ideal for making sales and bringing your goods to a wider audience.
Image
Image ads draw people to your business by using an enticing, professional shot image. This can be great for promoting an event, sale or special offer. Use it to keep your brand on your customers’ minds.
Video
Videos are the best way to attract attention when advertising on Facebook. You can use a video maker to produce a video that explains who you are, what you offer and how your offerings can help customers. You can also check out video polling, a feature that lets you include a survey in your video to boost customer engagement.
Slideshow
If you don’t have the budget or time to make a video, create a slideshow of photos to achieve a similar effect. Slideshow ads load quicker than videos, can be made in minutes and are another great way to showcase your products.
Carousel
Display up to 10 products or services in a single Facebook ad. You can also use this to show different details about a single product.
How to advertise on Facebook
01. Get on Facebook Ads Manager
One third of the global population actively uses Facebook, which is why 7 million businesses use the social media platform to market their goods. With this in mind, setting up Facebook Ads Manager is the starting point for advertising on Facebook and across all its apps and services. First, head to your Facebook homepage and on the left side of the page, click ‘See More’ to expand the menu and then select ‘Ad Manager’ to get to your ad account settings.
At this point, you’re in the section of your Facebook account where you’ll choose an ad type and select which photos or videos you want to advertise. The Ad Manager is a place to monitor your ad’s performance and modify your campaign based on the analytics Facebook provides.
If you started your blog, created your business or online store with Wix, you can set up your Facebook ad campaign from your Wix dashboard in just a few clicks.
02. Set clear goals
When advertising on Facebook and managing your social media marketing strategies, you’ll want to make sure your long and short-term business goals are clear. In fact, Facebook offers 11 marketing objectives based on what you want to achieve in your ad campaign, such as brand awareness, website traffic, engagement, lead generation and conversions.
When you select any of these options, Facebook will display an ad format that could work best for reaching your goals. If you haven’t already defined what those are, here are some questions to help you determine your ad objectives:
What are your overarching business goals?
What do you hope to accomplish with this specific campaign?
Do you want to drive traffic to your business?
Do you want to promote your product or service locally?
Are you notifying your customers about a sale or promotion?
How does this campaign fit with your overall marketing strategy?
03. Check out the competition
To advertise on Facebook, you’ll also want to take a look at your competitors. Learn which type of ads worked for them, and which didn’t. Look out for content that catches your eye and makes you click.
Get a feel for the tone of voice that businesses use. Take note of which ones inspire engagement by looking at their likes and comments. Finally, create a list of ads that generate high levels of engagement by writing down what makes these ads stand out—and use these ideas to build your own campaign.
04. Know your audience
A major factor in launching a successful Facebook ad campaign is making sure the right people see it. Facebook charges you per impression and per click, so you have to be strategic. Understanding your target audience and their intent will help you make better decisions and ensure that your ads resonate with the right people—the ones most likely to purchase your products.
If you create your ad on Facebook Ads Manager, start by imagining your ideal customer. Are they male or female? How old are they? Where do they live? What do they do? What are their interests? If you can, try to define them as much as possible. This will narrow down the group you target, and in turn make your ads more successful.
You can learn more about your target audience by looking at your current customers. Review previous sales to find things your customers have in common.
With Facebook Ads by Wix, you just need to define your audience by gender, age, interests and location. Wix’s AI can figure out the rest by reviewing users’ online footprint. Wix will even use this data to automatically create lookalikes and retargeting audiences for your ad campaign.
05. Plan a budget
Determine how much money you’ll invest in your advertisements. Then, plan your campaign run time. If you’re creating your ad through Facebook Ad Manager, you can decide how much to spend per day. Depending on the amount, Facebook will show your ad to a different number of people. Start small until you are able to better optimize your ads and ensure they reach your target audience. Once you see clicks turning into sales, lean in and increase your budget.
When you create a Facebook Ad campaign with Wix, you can choose your monthly budget, starting at $79/month. Once you set it up, your work is done. Wix’s AI will learn, test and optimize your ads automatically to reach your target audience.
While it can take time to create an effective campaign, thousands of businesses built on Wix have already seen success with Facebook Ads by Wix. For example, Eat to live, not to die uses the tool as one of its biggest sales drivers. This health and wellness website already had a very substantial Instagram following, and tapped into that sales potential by advertising on social media. As a result, it saw a 332% increase in sales coming from Instagram.
06. Create your ad
As mentioned earlier, depending on your original objective, Facebook suggests an ad format that could potentially fulfill that goal. For example, if you’re hoping to increase web traffic, you might be presented with an image ad or carousel, allowing people to scroll through more than one image.
Facebook provides the following image recommendations for each type of ad format. Whichever ad you choose, you’ll need to check that your photos fit those design requirements for advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and any other Facebook app.
Additionally, you can learn how to take perfect product photos and use them to your advantage with our own expert guidelines:
Use good lighting: Quality lighting ensures the item and its details are clearly visible. Try to avoid harsh shadows. Wait for a cloudy day to achieve a softer look or use a reflector or diffuser.
Stand out from your background: The item you want your viewer to focus on should clearly contrast with its background. Consider using solid color backdrops. Try not to get too creative. Let the product be the main subject of the photo.
Make it match your brand: Use photographs that are aligned with your brand identity. Add a logo watermark to your photos, but keep it subtle. Don’t let it distract from your product.
Avoid common photography mistakes: Take professional photos. Make sure they aren’t grainy, blurry or cropped awkwardly.
Make it pop: Don’t be scared to use bright or bold colors. Your images need to grab the attention of shoppers and make them want to buy.
Avoid using too much text: Facebook doesn’t allow photos that include text covering more than 20% of the image. Edit down your text. Put any extra information in your ad description.
Facebook Ads by Wix lets you create an ad campaign in a matter of minutes. Matan Holi, a Wix user and owner of Plant It, explains “It took 4 minutes to set up my ad campaign and, in a few days, sales increased 10x what I invested.” Plant It grew their business over the course of a few months, earning over 1,000% ROI.
Here’s how you can create a paid ad campaign for your business with Wix:
Log into your Wix account.
Head to your site dashboard, select Marketing Tools, then Facebook Ads to get started.
Your site dashboard will promptly connect your site to Facebook.
Choose whatever you want to feature on your ad campaign and describe your target audience. Wix will automatically optimize your ad to target potential customers.
Select your campaign budget, keeping in mind it will run for a minimum of 2 months.
Preview your Facebook ad to make sure the images look great on all platforms before you publish.
Track and measure your Facebook ad campaign performance. Wix’s algorithm will show you how to get the best results.
07. Perfect your content
Similar to your images, the quality of your text can make or break your ad campaign. The best Facebook ad examples use carefully crafted captions that ensure their business looks professional, and while convincing people to pay attention to their offerings.
When writing your ad description, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Write a clear call-to-action. Your customers need to know exactly what you want them to do next. Use a call to action that creates urgency. Encourage people to make that purchase now, not later. Reassure them that buying from you is the best option and that you can offer something your competitors can’t.
Clearly explain what you offer. Text is there to provide your customer with more information. If your text isn’t complimenting your image, revise it. Look at your ad from the perspective of someone who has never heard of your business. Do they understand what you sell? Can they tell what makes you unique? Is your product’s value clear?
Avoid typos. A misspelled word or even an ill-placed comma can distract from your message and make your business seem unprofessional. Before publishing, have someone else look over your text.
Attract attention. Your text needs to entice casual shoppers. So think about your customers' state of mind and how they feel. Then, tap into this emotion with simple and clear language that drives them to take action. Convince them that it will be worth their while to take a look at what you’re selling.
Speak your customers’ language. Try to use a language that is unique to your target shoppers. Emojis can make your ad feel friendlier, but make sure they work with your brand.
When advertising on Facebook, strong messaging can create quick results. Bonsie's text offers a clear, urgent call-to-action. It encourages customers to click on their products and visit their eCommerce website. Their ad campaign brought in nearly 400% ROAS.
Pro-tip: The Wix's AI needs time to learn about your audience to optimize ad performance. In other words, give your ad time to perform before making adjustments to it.
08. Use Instagram
Have beautiful product images? Don't forget about Instagram marketing. Instagram users are 58 times more likely to engage with branded content than Facebook users, according to research.
Instagram ads are also ideal for targeting millennial audiences. In fact, more than half of Instagram users are under 34. So if you’re targeting this age group, this could be the platform for you.
To start, make sure to connect your Facebook and Instagram accounts. You can do this by tapping the settings icon on Instagram. Then choose Accounts and tap Linked Accounts. Select Facebook and log in.
If you're using Facebook Ads by Wix, your ad will automatically be shared on your Instagram account.
09. Boost conversion
Even if your ad is a hit on Facebook, your campaign's success is measured by sales. Use these tips to turn your casual shoppers into buyers:
Simplify the process: Make your shopping experience as smooth as possible—from ad click to checkout—the fewer clicks the better.
Create a clear call-to-action: When customers reach your store’s product page, it should be immediately clear what they need to do next. Create a direct call to action, like Buy Now or Add to Cart.
Use a familiar design: Make your customers feel comfortable completing a purchase by matching the tone and look of your ad to your brand identity. This way customers will recognize your business and feel comfortable purchasing from a site they know and trust.
Write quality product descriptions: Write product descriptions that are both informative and engaging. Tell customers specifics about your product, like dimensions and materials. Include relevant SEO keywords to increase your chances of being found on Google. Highlight how the product will be of value to your customers.
Display your policies: People feel more confident purchasing products when they know the store’s policies. Let them know your shipping and return policies from the outset, so you can set clear expectations.
Add payment options: Simplify the process for customers to complete their purchase. Offer secure and flexible payment options to streamline purchasing.
Recover abandoned carts: Get shoppers who abandoned their carts to complete their purchase. Create an abandoned cart automation and send emails reminding customers to check out.
Take a look at Sim Racing Studio’s purchase funnel.
When you arrive on their product page, you see a clear call-to-action directing you to Add to Cart. The product page features multiple images. You can zoom in to view different parts of the product. The description breaks down exactly what you’ll receive when you make the purchase. It explains how to use the product and even includes a video link to experience it.
Their cart page is also customer focused. It offers buyers multiple payment options and shows the exact shipping cost before checkout. A smooth checkout flow like this helped Sim Racing Studio generate 16,000% ROI from their Facebook Ad campaign.
10. Optimize your ads
The longer your ads run, the more you will learn about your target audience. Enhance your campaign using this information to ensure your ads reach their highest potential.
If you created your campaign on Facebook, embed Facebook pixel on your site. You can use your data to retarget site visitors and encourage them to make a purchase or target existing customers to build loyalty. Create a Lookalike Audience to target people with a similar online footprint as your customers. Use split testing to try out different images, copy and audiences and see what brings in more sales.
If you created your ad campaign with Wix, all this optimization is done for you. You can simply sit back and track your ad's impact on revenue. From your dashboard, you'll get detailed analytics on ad views, conversion rates and the effect on your sales.
If over time you're not seeing the conversion rates you were hoping for, tweak your ad text or be more specific with the way you define your target audience.
If your ads are getting clicks but not sales, try to figure out why. Ask yourself the following questions, based on your answers you’ll be able to get a clearer picture of how your ads are performing and make necessary changes.
Are potential customers thrown off by your shipping rates?
Is your return policy unclear?
Are your ads overpromising or misleading?
Are customers unable to reach out to you with questions?
Does your site look professional?
Does your checkout flow need to be simplified?
Most importantly, don’t give up. It takes time to build a successful campaign.
How to advertise on Facebook FAQ
How do I advertise on Facebook as a beginner?
First we recommend learning as much as you can about the different ways to advertise on Facebook, and their expected outcomes. How do these align with the KPIs you hope to achieve with your Facebook advertising? As a beginner there are ways to make the process easier, by using a third party, such as Facebook Ads by Wix, to help you run your campaigns. We also recommend starting small, and scaling your ads as you understand the process and data better.
How do I advertise on Facebook for free?