Beginner's Guide to Meta Ads

Hello, readers and fellow Praxians! If you're unfamiliar with Meta ads and how they work, this newsletter is perfect for you. I will go over the basics of setting one up, using an ad I created for Root 58 Greenhouse as an example.

What are Meta Ads?

Meta ads are a feature of Facebook that allows you to create paid advertisements for both Facebook and Instagram. They use AI to help find your optimal audience. Paid ads usually have a greater reach than a typical post and include a CTA (call to action).

Optimization Goal

Depending on the type of campaign you run, you will need to optimize for different objectives. Typically, if you are selling something, you want to optimize for either “Sales” or “Leads.” This tells Meta to find people who are likely to purchase your product or become a lead that eventually converts.

In this case, I optimized for “Traffic” because the owners of Root 58 wanted to grow their social media presence and spread awareness about their opening rather than sell a physical product.

Choosing Where to Drive Traffic

You must decide where people will go after clicking on your ad. There are many options, but what you see depends on your optimization goal. Since I optimized for “Traffic” and the goal was to grow their social media following, I chose to direct people to their Facebook and Instagram profiles.

Budget Setup

If your budget is set to “auction,” you will be bidding against other advertisers trying to reach the same audience. The size and demand of your target audience will affect the cost of impressions (views of your ad). Based on several factors, you will pay a certain amount per 1,000 impressions.

You can also choose between a lifetime or daily budget. Setting a daily budget allows Meta to spend a set amount per day to get your ad seen. However, a lifetime budget allows Meta to distribute the total budget across the ad’s entire run. You must set an end date for this option, which may be less desirable if you plan to run the ad until it stops performing.

A larger budget over a shorter time frame will result in more impressions.

Audience Controls

Audience controls give Meta strict boundaries on where to find your audience. Do you want to advertise in specific countries, states, or cities? If you are a brick-and-mortar business, this will be a smaller range. An online shop or service can target a broader audience.

Advantage + Audience

This section allows you to provide Meta with suggestions about your target audience and their potential interests. These aren’t hard rules, but they help Meta refine its targeting.

Creative Setup

This is the fun part! Here, you decide the type of ad (video, image, or carousel) and upload your content. You also have the option of using an existing post. If you are designing your ad from scratch, consider creating it in different sizes and uploading each version to ensure it looks good on both Facebook and Instagram. Write your copy, then check out the preview!

If you are interested in setting up your own Meta ads, I highly recommend checking out this video by Ben Heath (view)

Art Piece of the Week

This was done with an ink dip pen and watercolor.

Thank you for reading!