Learn to set up, run & optimize your ads
We've spent Millions!
And with that, lots of lessons learned that we want you to use without spending a dime!
In Q2 of 2023, Meta reported that just shy of 3,000,000,000 people have used one of their core products each month. That means nearly 4 million users are on Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and some VR platforms.
It's too big to ignore.
However, because it is so big, everyone and their mother are on there personally and professionally. It's now widely accepted and known as an advertising platform well outside the walls of the marketing world.
Does this make it an expensive and useless platform? The short answer: It depends on how effectively you use it.
No matter what product or service your company sells, your goal should be to pull customer data from the site, own it, and then you get to decide what to do with it.
So, now that you know it's a large platform with many of your ideal people on it, we will dive into the nitty gritty and set you up to successfully promote your business to them.
In order to smoothly run through the ads set up, we need a solid foundation on which to build from. This starts with a few requirements to be sorted out and set up properly.
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Your Facebook Business Page. This quick video will walk you through the creation of one. Even if you have one, make sure to watch so you can ensure you've checked all the right boxes. Video Here
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Your Instagram Page. This is an easier setup than Facebook, so as long as you've got a page with these parts in place, you are ready to move along:
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Logo that matched Facebook
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Company name (might be slightly different than Facebook, depending on name availability)
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Profile with Contact info
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Select a Professional Account
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Your Business Manager Set Up. This step very well might trip some folks up. It does to about 90% of the folks we chat with in person or via Zoom. So, if you go through the steps and have a question, please reach out so we can help! You can walk through the steps right here
Welcome to the next lesson on setting up Meta ads! This course aims to provide a solid foundation and understanding of the Meta ad platform. Let's start by customizing our ad account columns to track key performance indicators (KPIs) effectively.
Setting Up Your Ad Account
1. Create a New Ad Account - Done! ✅
- If your ad account is brand new, it will appear similar to the Fusion example account created for this demonstration.
2. Customizing Columns
- Navigate to the customization option.
- Start from a clean slate by keeping only the 'Delivery' column and shutting everything else down.
- Rebuild your KPI columns.
Key Metrics to Track
Soft Metrics (Initial Ad Performance Indicators):
1. CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions)
- Measures your advertising cost to get your ad in front of 1,000 viewers.
- Varies by niche and geographical location.
2. Frequency:
- Tracks how often people see your ad.
- Balance between overexposure and effective retargeting.
3. Click-Through Rate (CTR):
- Focus on CTR (Outbound) to measure the rate at which people click on your ad and leave the Meta platform.
- Helps gauge the effectiveness of your ads in driving traffic to your site.
4. Cost Per Click (CPC):
- CPC (All): Tracks engagement clicks within the platform (likes, shares, etc.).
- CPC (Link Click): Measures the cost to get users to click through to your website.
Hard Metrics (Off Site Ad Performance Indicators):
1. Leads:
- Total number of leads and cost per lead.
- Important for service-based and lead-generation campaigns.
2. Landing Page Views:
- Tracks total landing page views and cost per view.
- Indicates user interest in your website.
3. Ecommerce --> Add to Cart, Initiate Checkout, and Purchase:
- Add to Cart: Number and cost of users adding products to their cart.
- Initiate Checkout: Number and cost of users starting the checkout process.
- Purchase: Total purchases, value, cost per purchase (CAC), and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
Save Your Setup:
- Save your customized column setup for quick access.
- Name it appropriately (e.g., "My KPIs").
Conclusion
By customizing your ad account columns to track these essential metrics, you’ll have a clear view of your ad performance and the ability to make informed adjustments. This foundational knowledge will set you up for success as we dive deeper into campaign creation and optimization in subsequent lessons.
Note: At this stage, there is no major difference in setup at the Campaign Level from Lead Gen or Sales outside of selection of Sales.
Introduction
Now that we have our columns set up and a good understanding of key metrics, let's dive into setting up a Meta ad campaign. We will focus on creating a lead generation campaign in this lesson.
Campaign Setup
1. Navigate to Campaigns:
- Start by clicking the green button on the top left to create a new campaign.
- For a brand new account, you'll be prompted for initial setup details.
2. Choosing Campaign Objective:
- Typically, campaigns fall into two main categories: leads or sales.
- Other options like app promotion, engagement, traffic, and awareness are available but often not as effective.
3. Select Leads:
- Choose the leads objective and click continue.
- Note: Meta's AI recommendations have improved, but manual control is advisable, especially for new campaigns.
4. Campaign Name and Organization:
- Name your campaign clearly to reflect the funnel stage, objective, and target audience.
- Example: "TOF_Lead Generation_Nationwide" (TOF stands for Top of Funnel).
5. Campaign Type and Budget:
- Stick with the auction type for the leads campaign.
- Avoid other campaign types as they may not be as beneficial.
6. Budget Allocation:
- Decide where to allocate your budget: campaign level or ad set level.
- For campaign-level budgeting, use the Advantage campaign budget option:
- Set a daily budget (e.g., $100/day).
- The AI will distribute this budget across different audiences and products.
- Alternatively, you can set the budget at the ad set level for more manual control.
7. Bidding Strategy*
- This is an auction-based system where you bid for ad space.
- Small changes in your daily budget can impact your ad performance.
- Example: Instead of $100, set your budget to $100.24 to outbid competitors at the $100 mark.
8. Other Settings:
- Avoid A/B testing at the campaign level; it’s better managed elsewhere.
Conclusion
By following these steps, you'll have a well-structured lead generation campaign ready to go. In the next lesson, we'll delve into setting up ad sets and fine-tuning your targeting to maximize ad performance.
Introduction
With your campaign level ready, it's time to move to the ad set level where we dial in our audiences. This lesson will guide you through the process of effectively targeting your ideal customers.
Ad Set Setup
1. Understanding Your Audience:
- Know who your ideal customer is, including their demographics, interests, and behaviors.
2. Targeting Options:
- Drive traffic off-platform to your website rather than relying on Facebook or Instagram shops.
- Select your dataset for tracking and choose the appropriate conversion event (leads or purchases).
3. Conversion Events:
- Select the conversion event that matches your campaign goal.
- You can manually trigger events to help the pixel learn and optimize.
4. Dynamic Creative:
- Optionally, enable dynamic creative to let Meta's algorithm test various combinations of images, videos, and copies.
- Recommended to keep this off initially until your pixel is seasoned.
5. Budget and Schedule:
- Set your ad start time to the beginning of the next day for full-day spending efficiency.
- Avoid starting ads midday to prevent overspending in a short time frame.
Location Targeting
1. Set Locations:
- Edit location settings to target specific regions, countries, or local areas.
- For local businesses, use zip codes or a radius around a central point.
2. Audience Size:
- Ensure your estimated audience size is at least half a million for optimal delivery.
- Avoid audiences that are too small, as Meta struggles with them.
3. Exclusions:
- Exclude regions where you don’t want your ads to show (e.g., Alaska or Hawaii if you’re on the East Coast).
4. Original Audience:
- Switch to the original audience for manual control over your targeting settings and dial in your demographics and interest targeting.
Demographic and Interest Targeting
1. Demographic Targeting:
- Define your audience by age, gender, and other demographics.
- Example: Targeting parents of young children for a coffee brand aimed at parents.
2. Interest Targeting:
- Narrow down your audience based on interests relevant to your product or service.
- Example: Targeting coffee lovers for a coffee brand.
Placement Setup
1. Manual Placements:
- Switch from Advantage+ placements to manual placements for greater control.
- Focus on the main placements: Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed, Facebook Stories, and Instagram Stories.
- Uncheck less relevant placements like Audience Network, Messenger, Search Results, and In-Stream Ads.
2. Adjust Based on Audience Behavior:
- If your audience consumes a lot of videos, include video placements.
- Customize placements based on where your audience is most active.
Conclusion
With your audience set up and placements configured, you’re ready to move on to the creative aspects of your ads. In the next lesson, we’ll cover ad creation to ensure your campaigns are compelling and effective.
Introduction
Having set up your campaigns and targeting, it's time to focus on the creative aspect of your ads. The quality of your content is crucial, as it’s the first thing your audience will see and interact with.
Importance of Content
1. Algorithm and AI Influence:
- As AI and algorithms take more control over ad delivery, the importance of high-quality content increases.
- You retain full control over the creative side, so it’s vital to get it right.
2. Types of Content:
- The main types of content are images and videos.
- The split between the effectiveness of images versus videos will vary by niche and audience preferences.
Key Content Strategies
1. Storytelling:
- Create content that tells a story about your brand.
- Highlight the struggles and solutions relevant to your target audience (avatars).
2. Social Proof:
- Leverage community and habit principles.
- Use images or videos showing others using and benefiting from your product.
- Examples: "People like you buy things like this," "Here’s the proof."
Psychological Principles:
- Certain principles remain effective over time, such as social proof and storytelling.
- These principles help make your audience feel more comfortable with your product or service.
Execution Tips
1. Preparation:
- Ideally, come prepared with your content.
- If not, take the time to develop high-quality images and videos.
2. Testing:
- Test different types of content to see what resonates best with your audience.
- Regularly update and refine your content based on performance data.
3. Focus on Quality:
- Do not rush through the content creation process.
- High-quality visuals are crucial as they are the first thing people will see.
Conclusion
Content is the key component of your ad that will capture your audience's attention. By focusing on storytelling, social proof, and leveraging psychological principles, you can create compelling content that drives engagement and conversions. In the next lesson, we’ll discuss publishing and monitoring your ads to ensure optimal performance.
Introduction
Spending money on Meta is straightforward, but optimizing your budget to get the best results requires strategic planning. This lesson will guide you through the two main ways to set up your budget: Advantage Campaign Budget (CBO) and Ad Set Budget Optimization (ABO).
Budget Setup Options
1. Advantage Campaign Budget (CBO): Overview: Let Meta’s algorithm distribute your budget across multiple audiences.
- Setup:
- Open your campaign and navigate to the Advantage Campaign Budget section.
- Toggle on Advantage Campaign Budget and set your daily budget.
- Be cautious with the Lifetime Budget option, as it tends to spend faster. Use it for short promotions with defined start and end dates.
- Example:
- Set a daily budget (e.g., $1,000/day).
- Meta will initially split the budget equally among audiences and then adjust based on performance metrics like cost per lead or cost per purchase.
2. Ad Set Budget Optimization (ABO): Overview: Manually control the budget for each ad set, allowing for targeted testing and optimization.
- Setup:
- In your campaign, toggle off Advantage Campaign Budget.
- Set specific budgets for each ad set.
- Example:
- Test three audiences with different budgets (e.g., $5,000/day for the primary audience, $2,500/day for the secondary, and $1,000/day for the tertiary).
- This approach allows for precise control and testing of each audience.
Creative Testing at Ad Set Level
1. Setting Up Creative Tests:
- Use ABO to test multiple creatives within a single audience.
- Allocate a specific budget to an ad set and let Meta distribute it among different creatives.
- Example:
- Allocate $250/day to an ad set with three creatives (two images, one video, etc...).
- Meta will adjust spending based on the performance of each creative.
2. Optimizing Spend in an Auction Environment:
- Meta’s ad system operates like an auction.
- Small budget adjustments can give you a competitive edge.
- Pro Tip:
- Instead of setting a round number (e.g., $100/day), use a slightly higher amount (e.g., $100.24/day) to outbid competitors.
Conclusion
Choosing the right budget setup is crucial for effective ad performance. Whether you use Advantage Campaign Budget for broad distribution or Ad Set Budget Optimization for precise control, understanding how to allocate and optimize your budget will help you achieve better results. In the next lesson, we’ll cover monitoring and adjusting your campaigns for continuous improvement.
Introduction
In this lesson, we will delve deeper into advertising strategies, focusing on Advantage Budget Optimization campaigns. We’ll explore different bidding strategies, specifically cost-per-result goals (cost cap) and bid caps, using a practical example.
Bidding Strategies Overview
1. Advantage Budget Optimization:
- Select "Sales" at the campaign level.
- This setup is particularly useful for sales goals, but the knowledge is also useful for many other niches.
2. Setting a Cost Per Result Goal:
- Example: A coffee company selling coffee at $20 per bag with a 50% profit margin.
- Set the goal based on your profit margins and customer lifetime value.
- Example: Set a cost-per-result goal at $10 if you're willing to break even on the first sale, knowing you'll profit from repeat purchases.
3. Cost Cap:
- This strategy ensures your cost per result stays around the set goal without significant fluctuations.
- Ideal for fixed budgets (e.g., $10,000/month).
4. Bid Cap:
- This strategy sets a maximum bid you will pay for a result.
- Example:
- Set a bid cap at $15 if you’re comfortable with a higher acquisition cost to gain more volume.
- Meta will not exceed this bid, ensuring you stay within your spending limit.
5. Considerations:
- If your numbers aren’t precise, you might miss out on potential conversions.
- Small adjustments (e.g., setting a bid cap at $15.23) can significantly impact the number of conversions.
Practical Application
1. Setting Up Cost Cap:
- Determine your cost per result goal based on your profit margins and customer lifetime value.
- Input the goal (e.g., $10) and let Meta optimize within this constraint.
2. Setting Up Bid Cap:
- Determine a maximum bid based on your budget and willingness to spend.
- Input the bid cap (e.g., $15.23) and Meta will ensure your bids do not exceed this amount.
3. Testing and Optimization:
- Test Multiple Values:
- Choose 5-6 different bid cap or cost cap values.
- Allocate a small daily budget to each and monitor performance.
- Evaluate Performance:
- Assess cost per acquisition and conversion volume.
- Adjust based on which settings deliver the best results for your campaign goals.
Conclusion
Understanding and implementing effective bidding strategies is crucial for optimizing your ad spend on Meta. By setting appropriate cost caps or bid caps and testing different values, you can find the optimal balance between cost per acquisition and conversion volume. In the next lesson, we’ll cover monitoring and adjusting your campaigns for continuous improvement.
Introduction
After running your ads for a while, it's essential to dive into ad performance management. Meta offers an extensive range of metrics, but focusing on the most relevant ones will help you optimize your campaigns effectively. This lesson will guide you through understanding and managing key metrics.
Key Metrics Overview
1. Soft Metrics (Top-of-Funnel Metrics):
- Amount Spent: Always keep track of your spending to ensure you stay within budget.
- Impressions: These measure how often your ad is shown. This is useful for verifying that your ad is delivering at an appropriate rate.
- Frequency: Tracks how often an individual sees your ad.
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For top-of-funnel cold traffic, higher frequency can be beneficial if you have multiple creatives.
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For remarketing campaigns, high frequency (up to 50-60 times) is acceptable.
- Outbound Clicks: Counts clicks that result in users leaving the platform.
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Preferred over "Clicks (All)" as it focuses on meaningful interactions.
- Outbound Click-Through Rate (CTR): Measures the percentage of outbound clicks relative to impressions.
- Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM):
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Calculates the cost for every 1,000 impressions.
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Helps understand your budget allocation.
2. Hard Metrics (Post-Click Metrics):
- Landing Page Views: Measures the number of users who land on your page and it fully loads.
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Should closely match your outbound clicks if your site speed is optimal.
- Cost Per Landing Page View: Calculates the cost to get a user to your landing page.
- Add to Cart: Tracks the number of users who add products to their cart.
- Initiate Checkout: Measures the number of users who start the checkout process.
- Purchases:Counts the number of completed purchases.
- Cost Per Purchase: Calculates the cost to acquire a purchase.
- Sales Funnel KPIs:
- Landing Page View to Add to Cart Ratio: Tracks the percentage of users who add to cart after viewing the landing page.
- Add to Cart to Initiate Checkout Ratio: Measures the percentage of users who start checkout after adding to cart.
- Initiate Checkout to Purchase Ratio: Calculates the percentage of users who complete the purchase after starting checkout.
Your Action Steps:
1. Define Your Metrics:
- Determine which metrics are most relevant to your business goals.
- Customize your columns in Meta to display these metrics prominently.
2. Monitor Performance:
- Regularly check your soft and hard metrics to assess campaign performance.
- Identify discrepancies and areas for improvement (e.g., high CPM or low conversion rates).
3. Optimize Based on Insights:
- If your CPM is high, consider adjusting your targeting or ad creatives.
- Ensure your landing page loads quickly to minimize the gap between outbound clicks and landing page views.
- Monitor your sales funnel KPIs to ensure a smooth user journey from landing page to purchase.
Conclusion
Understanding and managing ad performance metrics is crucial for optimizing your Meta ad campaigns. By focusing on key soft and hard metrics, you can make data-driven decisions to improve your ad effectiveness and achieve your business goals. In the next lesson, we’ll cover advanced optimization techniques to further enhance your campaign performance.
Introduction
Once your ads are live and running, managing your campaigns effectively is crucial. This lesson will guide you through the process of understanding metrics, making adjustments, and optimizing your campaigns for better performance.
Understanding Backend Metrics
1. Know Your Metrics
- For lead generation campaigns, understanding your backend metrics is essential.
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Determine how many leads convert into phone calls, appointments, and ultimately paying customers.
2. Calculate True Cost Per Lead
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Example: If a $70 to $80 cost per lead is acceptable, you need to know how many leads it takes to achieve a sale.
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The average cost per lead should be monitored to ensure profitability.
Campaign Management
1. Evaluate Campaign Performance
- Example: A service-based campaign with a $51.67 average cost per lead performed well and other campaigns would have budget pulled from them and pushed into the winning campaign to add fuel to the (winning) fire.
2. Address Data Discrepancies
- Be aware of possible data tracking issues between Facebook and your website.
- Use UTM parameters to track landing page performance and sources accurately.
3. Monitor Key Metrics
- Soft Metrics:
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): Aim for a high CTR
- Impressions and Frequency: Ensure your ads are delivered effectively without causing annoyance.
- Hard Metrics:
- Cost Per Landing Page View: Ensure it aligns closely with your outbound click cost.
- Cost Per Lead: Monitor closely to ensure it stays within acceptable limits.
Ad Set Level Optimization
1. Sort and Evaluate Ad Sets
- Sort ad sets by cost per lead to identify high-performing and underperforming audiences.
- Example: Ad sets with a cost per lead under $80 are acceptable, while those above should be reconsidered or shut off.
2. Adjust Based on Performance
- If an ad set starts well but the cost per lead increases, consider shutting it off.
- Evaluate if the potential for upsells justifies a higher cost per lead.
Ad Level Optimization
1. Evaluate Individual Ads
- Drill down to the ad level to identify winning and losing creatives.
- Example: Ads with high cost per lead should be shut off, while effective ads should be retained and possibly scaled.
2. Continuous Monitoring
- Regularly review performance metrics at all levels (campaign, ad set, and ad).
- Adjust strategies based on real-time data to optimize performance.
Conclusion
Effective campaign management requires a thorough understanding of backend metrics and continuous monitoring of performance. By evaluating and adjusting your campaigns at various levels, you can optimize for better results and ensure profitability. In the next lesson, we’ll cover advanced optimization techniques to further enhance your campaign performance.
Video Walkthrough
If anything comes up throughout the course, we would love to lend a hand in helping you get past any sticking points. Things like:
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Business Account Setup Questions
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Campaign Types
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Creative Questions
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Marketing Psychology
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Campaign Metrics
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+ Much More!
There are 3 ways you can reach us:
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Send us a msg on Whatsapp: +1-772-222-7203