How To Create Facebook Ads: The Ultimate Guide

If you don’t believe that Facebook advertising works, you are gravely mistaken because the facts state otherwise.

The statistics are undeniable when talking about the power of Facebook marketing. The platform’s ability to target just about any group of people or businesses is why over 90% of online marketers highly recommend having a Facebook advertising strategy.

If you are thinking about Facebook ads, 2024 is looking to be a good time to dip your toes into the waters. It’s going to be the go-to method of generating traffic and leads when it comes to your social media marketing campaign.

Now, let’s get one thing clear. Your success with Facebook will not be easy. You still need to find the right strategy that works for you. You still need to target the right people, choose the right ad format and create an ad that people will resonate with. That’s the only way you will get them to click on it.

What are Facebook Ads?

Facebook Ads are a powerful digital advertising platform offered by Facebook, designed to help businesses and advertisers reach their target audience with precision and effectiveness. These ads are a key component of Facebook’s monetization strategy, allowing businesses to promote their products, services, or content to a vast and diverse user base.

Here are reasons why Facebook Ads are so important to your business strategy:

Targeted Advertising. Facebook Ads enable advertisers to tailor their campaigns to specific demographics, interests, behaviors, and geographic locations. This level of targeting ensures that ads are shown to the most relevant audience, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.

Ad Formats. Facebook offers various ad formats, including image ads, video ads, carousel ads, and more. Advertisers can choose the format that best suits their goals, whether it’s driving website traffic, generating leads, or boosting brand awareness.

Ad Placement. Facebook Ads can appear not only on the Facebook platform but also on Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network. This broadens the reach of campaigns and allows advertisers to choose where their ads are displayed.

Budget Control. Advertisers have full control over their ad spend. They can set daily or lifetime budgets, choose between cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-impression (CPM), or other bidding strategies, and optimize their campaigns based on performance metrics.

Ad Analytics. Facebook provides detailed analytics and insights to help advertisers track the performance of their ads. Metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, reach, and engagement metrics allow advertisers to make data-driven decisions and refine their campaigns for better results.

Custom Audiences. Advertisers can create custom audiences by uploading their customer lists, website visitors, or app users. They can also create lookalike audiences, which are similar to their existing customers, to expand their reach to potential new customers who share similar characteristics.

Ad Creative Tools. Facebook offers a range of creative tools to enhance ad content, including text overlays, image filters, and ad copy testing. These tools help advertisers create visually appealing and compelling ads.

Ad Objectives. Advertisers can select specific campaign objectives, such as website traffic, lead generation, app installs, or video views. Facebook then optimizes ad delivery to achieve the chosen objective.

How do you create Facebook ads in 2024?

So, I’ve summarized a few important steps you need to deploy to optimize your online business for Facebook in 2024. The following comprehensive guide will not only show you how to get more clicks to your website, but how to also avoid making common mistakes I often see when it comes to creating your Facebook ads.

Below are 4 recommendations for a better, more successful Facebook advertising strategy.

You need to Target the Right Audience

This is a no-brainer but needs to be said. If you can’t define your audience from the start, your marketing campaign will fail.

Yes, I get it. You feel that you know your target audience. You think you don’t need to research your target audience because you can picture them in your mind. You know exactly what they want, what they need.

However, taking advantage of Facebook’s advertising platform comes down to the demographics of your target audience. By demographics, I mean age, profession, location, and the interests of the people you are trying to reach.

Just to show you how effective laser-targeting to specific demographics is, Facebook conducted studies that concluded 3 times higher return on investment (ROI), click-through rate (CTR), and a much lower cost per click. This is something every business can benefit from.

How do you define an audience on Facebook?

Well, you need to think about how to define your target audience. The way you target your audience will be the determining factor in how well your ads will perform.

An amazing feature Facebook provides is it can see how to narrow down its targeting to see how it can help improve ad performance. When you create an ad on Facebook, you can put in your target audience details based on the type of people you are trying to reach.

When you laser-target your audience, the more likely you will get the results you are looking to achieve. Whether you are looking for fitness gyms in Toronto or restaurants in Montreal, you take full control over who sees your ad.

Facebook provides its barometer to let you know whether your audience might be too broad or vague.

Types of Facebook Ads

One of the things that makes Facebook so unique from all the other advertising platforms is the variety of options available. The numerous ways you can build creative, engaging ads are like no other online marketing service out there.

Essentially, any goal your Facebook marketing campaign is trying to achieve is possible.

Are you looking to drive sales for an app? Facebook ads are perfect for this.

Want to sell products and promote offers? Facebook ads are perfect for this.

Need to promote a podcast or e-learning series? Facebook ads are perfect for this.

Believe it or not, we haven’t even begun to talk about all that is possible with Facebook advertising. Here are 5 popular types of Facebook ads for business.

Carousel Ads

If you are looking for low-cost-per-conversion and low-cost-per-click, Facebook carousel ads are a perfect choice. These ads are interactive, engaging, and mobile-friendly. Many businesses like these ads to show off their products and brand.

Offers & Homepage Ads

Your ads don’t have to be flashy. Many businesses choose to keep their ads simple.

Sometimes you may want to provide a promo code or discount to your customers. Facebook has you covered. Traditional ads such as this one from Moz can send social traffic back to your website. These types of retargeting ads are perfect for existing customers, reminding them of who you are and encouraging them to return to you.

Video Ads

Unless you are living under a rock, you know that video content marketing is extremely popular right now. On Facebook, users spend more time watching videos as opposed to browsing images.

Many people don’t realize it, but video can be like your mini commercial for your business. It is your opportunity to grab the attention of Facebook users. This is your chance to tell the world about your business while your users browse Facebook.

Companies like Apple have experienced much higher downloads and in-app purchases after running ads to promote their product using video.

Boosted & Promoted Posts

One of the best ways I’ve found to run an ad is by simply promoting Facebook content you have already created and posted.

So, if you already have content that you know does very well and that you want to get a much bigger audience for, you can simply boost it to gain more views and exposure for a new audience. These promoted ads are by far the most inexpensive and quickest ways to get eyeballs on your content and business as they will show up in target audience feeds.

Lead Ads

Similar to the concept of a lead magnet, lead ads allow people to download content from your business directly on Facebook. This is perfect for companies or businesses promoting digital goods, and downloadable content such as PDFs. This is a display of Facebook’s ability to list-build, a great way to build your email marketing campaign. If you have a great piece of content that you know your industry needs, these lead ads are the best option for your brand.

All of these ad types of their own set of advantages. Most businesses don’t just use one type of ad. However, the more you experiment with each type of ad, you will see which one works best for you. You can then use the best ones for your Facebook advertising campaign in the future.

Take full advantage of Facebook Remarketing

If you are hesitant about choosing an audience or don’t know which ad type you want to use, you are not alone. The good thing is that there is no need to panic. Many people worry that starting a Facebook advertising campaign will not be worth the hard work, and worth the money.

If this sounds like you, you may be a good candidate to start with promoting to existing leads. When you remarket on Facebook, you will be targeting people who have already shown an interest in your brand, giving you a much better chance to convert.

These existing leads could include:

People who have already been to your website

People who have made a transaction on your website

Individuals who are on your email marketing list

These are by far the best leads you have because they already know you and your brand. This allows you to use your relationship as a bit of an advantage when pitching your services. If you already have fairly good traffic and a large email list, it may be a good idea to start with remarketing rather than creating an audience.

What Are Lookalike Audiences?

If you’ve already run ads in the past, you can get more out of your future ads by using Lookalike Audiences. This method creates a new audience based on information from your older ads. This creates a new target similar to the audience you already have.

Lookalike ads can be thought of as a time-saver. If you’ve run successful ads to customers in the past, Lookalike Audiences can introduce you to new people who are already likely to engage with your brand.

Running a Cost-Effective Facebook Advertising Strategy

One of the most amazing advantages of Facebook ads has to they are very inexpensive in terms of cost-per-click and they allow you to create your budget.

However, if your ads are not targeted properly, you will see that they can get pretty expensive. Facebook advertising fees can vary depending on the industry you target, amount of people in your audience, and even the time in which you post your ads.

You can set a budget on a daily or lifetime basis which makes Facebook unique. For a daily budget, Facebook will help you by determining the best placements to place your ad based on an average cost over time. However, Facebook can decide to exceed your budget by 25% if they feel it is necessary based on what opportunities may be available.

The other option, you can set a lifetime budget. This is a flat fee budget option. With this option, Facebook will spend what it deems necessary over time. For example, Facebook may determine that a budget of a few hundred dollars could be used up in a day based on what their algorithm finds.

Many people ask about the right amount to budget for Facebook ads. But, it depends on your individual business needs. So, it’s advisable to test out smaller budgets and experiment first.

Test Your Ads

So, speaking about testing here’s some advice.

You should never spend money on an advertising campaign without testing the waters first. Thankfully, Facebook makes testing easy with their built-in split testing system that shows you which ads are more likely to perform well.

It can be daunting and scary to create a Facebook advertising strategy, but that’s exactly why you need to conduct tests. If you happen to have other online marketing campaigns as Pay-Per-Click or email marketing that you already know have performed well, you can use these to help with your Facebook ad strategy.

So, What Should Your Goals be for 2024?

Well, there is no universal marketing strategy, especially with the options available.

You just need to understand and pay close attention to your target audience, choose the right ad type and test your ads. When done right Facebook ads are the most valuable tool you can have in your pocket.