Facebook Ads: the 2023 guide to advertising on Facebook

The e-commerce sector has undergone significant change as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Facebook is now one of the most widely used social networking platforms in the world. It has become an essential tool for businesses and e-tailers to connect with potential buyers online. Did you know that by 2021, over 1.6 billion people worldwide will have connected with a business via Facebook?

If you're an entrepreneur with a large online market, creating Facebook Ads campaigns is bound to be of interest to you. This advice-packed guide provides all the resources you need to create Facebook Ads and understand how they work, whether you want to reach a wider audience, increase your business' visibility, retarget people who visited your website but didn't convert, or use the social network's advertising capabilities as a sales funnel for your business.

The guide covers the following main steps:

• Why advertise on Facebook?
• How do you set up your Facebook Ads account?
• Types of objectives that Facebook Ads can help you achieve
• Types of Facebook Ads for each business objective
• How to create a Facebook ad
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1. Why advertise on Facebook? 

Facebook is one of the biggest social networking platforms in the world, providing access to over 2 billion active users. But what can the American company bring to the table in terms of online advertising? Here are the 5 main benefits that Facebook Ads can bring to your marketing strategy and your business:

• Robust analytical capabilities: Facebook Ads offers robust analytics on your target audience that you won't find anywhere else. You'll be able to make the right decisions when setting up your Facebook Ads campaigns.
• Micro-targeting capabilities: Facebook Ads allows you to 'micro-target' your audience based on their age, interests, behavior, relationships, location, and demographic characteristics.
• Remarketing opportunities to interested audiences: On Facebook, it's possible to retarget, or remarket, to contacts who have interacted with you but who haven't yet converted into customers.
• Find new audiences: Once you've found an audience that interacts with you and converts thanks to your Facebook Ads, it's easy to generate new prospects with similar behaviors and interests by using the "similar audiences" function in Facebook's Business Manager campaign manager.
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2. How to Set Up Your Facebook Ads Account

To manage and monitor your ads and their performance, you need a Facebook Ads account.

Setting up an account is pretty straightforward. After logging in to Facebook's Business Manager, follow a few steps to create a Business Manager account and add a Facebook Ads account. If you need more guidance, refer to the Facebook site for the procedure.
Once you've set up your Facebook Ads account, it's time to examine and understand the different types of objectives that Facebook campaigns can help your business achieve.
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3. Types of Objectives for Facebook Ads

Before creating a Facebook Ads campaign, you need to have a precise marketing objective and match it with the types of ads offered by Facebook to achieve the desired results.

Choosing the right type of Facebook ad will provide you with the data you need and help you convert your audience into loyal customers.

Before delving into the types of ads offered by Facebook Ads, let's take a look at the three main objectives that Facebook ads can help you achieve:

• Awareness Objective If you want your audience to know more about your business and how you can add value to their daily lives, your marketing objective is to increase brand awareness. This will be an advert at the very top of the funnel in which you address everyone interested in your sector of activity.

For example, if you have an environmentally-friendly cosmetics business, you could create an awareness-raising advertising campaign that presents your products and their unique features, such as products made from 100% plant-based ingredients, etc.

• Consideration Objective If you want your audience to take the next step and interact with your business by looking for more information, such as on your website, mobile app, or social network messaging, your marketing objective is to encourage your audience to spend time interacting with your business.

This is a type of advertising that sits in the middle of the funnel and relates only to the part of your target audience that has interacted with your brand.

For example, if you want your audience to know more about your eco-friendly cosmetics, how they are made, the history of your brand, the range of products and services you offer, etc., you can create advertising campaigns that will redirect your target audience to your website and encourage them to learn more about your brand.

• Conversion Objective Now that part of your target audience has shown a genuine interest in the added value you provide, your next marketing objective will be to encourage them to buy your product or service.

This is at the very bottom of the sales funnel, and your Facebook Ads campaign should be aimed at conversion.

For example, showcasing your best products on your website and offering a discount for a first purchase should encourage your prospects to buy your product.

Let's now look at the main types of ads offered by Facebook Ads.
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4. How to Create a Facebook Ad

To create your first Facebook ad, follow these steps:

1. Click on the "Create" button on the left-hand side of the "Campaigns" page in the Ads Manager dashboard. This will take you to the campaign selection page.
2. Choose your marketing objective for your Facebook Ads campaign. You have a variety of options, such as reach, brand awareness, lead or traffic generation, engagement, mobile app installs, conversions, and catalogue sales.
3. If you want to create a Facebook ad for conversions, catalogue sales, or traffic, you'll need to install Facebook Pixel on your website or your client's website. Facebook Pixel is a small code that, once installed on your website header, will allow you to track what your audience is doing on your website.
4. Give your campaign a name that's easy to remember. Try to include relevant details such as the name of the product, the type of audience, and the type of objective.
5. Choose whether you want to split test, or A/B test, by comparing the performance of this campaign with another.
6. Choose a budget for your ad. You'll have the option of choosing a daily or lifetime budget. If this is your first ad, a daily budget of a few dozen euros is perfect for getting started.
7. Select your country, currency, and time zone. Add these last details, and your Facebook Ads campaign configuration is complete.

Once you've completed the configuration, you'll be redirected to the "Ad Set" page. This is where you can choose the target audience for your Facebook ad.
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5. Configuring your ad set

Step 1: Give your ad set a name

Giving your ad set a name is very important, especially if you plan to test it or create similar audiences. Make sure to name your ad set in a format that provides as much detail as possible about the audience and makes it easy for you to find them.

Step 2: Choose where you want to redirect your audience

Select where you want to redirect your audience, whether it's your website, WhatsApp, or Messenger. If you have your own mobile application, suggest that your audience installs it.

Step 3: Select your target audience

Choosing your target audience is the most important step. Select the demographics of your target audience, such as age, gender, and location.

Step 4: Use detailed targeting to make your ad set more specific

Detailed targeting uses keywords to filter audiences according to their characteristics and interests.

Step 5: Choose the placement of your Facebook ads

Choosing the placement of your Facebook ads allows you to decide where your audience will see your ad on Facebook. You can let Facebook decide for you by selecting the automatic placement button, or you can choose from a wide selection: Facebook News Feed, Instagram Feed, Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Explore, Messenger Inbox, Facebook Stories, etc.

Step 6: Optimize your Facebook Ad

In this final step, you'll want to make sure that your ad is optimized for its intended purpose, whether that's link clicks or other conversions.

All that's left is to configure your ad, and your Facebook Ads campaign will be ready to launch.

Configuring Your Ad

Once your ad set is in place, it's time to create the ad itself.

Step 1: Give your ad a name

Follow the same procedure as for your ad set and your campaign. This will make it easy for you to identify your ad in the future.

Also, make sure that the correct Facebook page is selected. If you also want to place the ad on Instagram, ensure that your Instagram account is connected.

Step 2: Choose your Facebook ad format

If you want to create a new ad, click on "Create an ad." If you want to convert a previously published ad into an ad, click on "Use an existing publication."

You can then choose the format of your ad from all the options we've seen before: Facebook carousel, single image or video, collection, etc.

Remember that the format of your Facebook ads should be chosen according to the marketing objective you have assigned to your campaign.

Step 3: Choose the media file you want to upload

Click on "Add media" to upload your image or video from your computer.

Step 4: Write your Facebook ad text

Once you've uploaded your video or image, focus on writing quality ad text.

Remember, when your ad is posted on your audience's Newsfeed, it only has 2 seconds to attract attention. So, write a short but catchy headline and text.

Step 5: Choose where you want to direct your traffic

You can choose a particular page on your website or the URL of the landing page of your choice, to which your traffic will converge.

You can also change the text of the call-to-action button that appears in the bottom right-hand corner of your Facebook ad.

That's it! All that's left is to determine a budget strategy to get the best possible ROI from your campaigns, and you're ready to launch your campaign.
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Conclusion

To get the most out of your Facebook Ads campaigns, follow these tips:

• Choose a relevant campaign objective.
• Avoid audience niches that are too narrow.
• Always choose the "Campaign Budget Optimisation" option offered by Facebook.
• Prioritise creating your Facebook Ads for mobile devices.
• Make full use of the remarketing capabilities offered by Facebook Ads.
• Extend the reach of your campaigns by using the possibilities offered by the Facebook Audience Network.

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