The world of advertising has changed dramatically in the last 50 years, transitioning into mass media and moving increasingly online. Social media marketing now provides high reach and frequency at relatively low cost — and Facebook sits at the centre of that shift. This beginner’s guide will walk you through why Facebook matters and the practical steps to launch and optimise your first campaigns.
Why Facebook?
Facebook offers wide-ranging possibilities for businesses: acquiring customers, retaining customers, launching products, promoting events and improving brand awareness. With roughly 1.9 billion daily users and industry-leading click-through rates, Facebook provides a cost-effective way to reach a broad, targeted audience.
Key Advantages
- Precision targeting using demographics, interests, behaviours and custom audiences.
- Scalable campaigns suitable for small local businesses up to large enterprises.
- Real-time performance and A/B testing to iterate quickly and improve ROI.
A 5-Step Guide to Facebook Ads
1. Plan Your Campaign
Choose the right objective (awareness, traffic, engagement, leads, conversions, etc.) and set KPIs that map to business goals.
2. Define Your Target Audience
Use segmentation to focus your ad delivery — demographics, interests, behaviours, locations, and lookalike audiences built from existing customers.
3. Create the Correct Ads
Pick the format that aligns with your objective: single image, video, carousel, slideshow or collection. Make creative that is clear, concise and contains a strong call-to-action.
4. Set Budget, Bidding & Schedule
Decide between daily or lifetime budgets, and choose a bidding strategy that matches your goals (e.g., cost per conversion, cost cap). Use scheduling to control when ads run.
5. Monitor, Test & Optimise
Track performance metrics (reach, impressions, CTR, conversions, ROAS). Run A/B tests on creatives, audiences and placements. Use retargeting to re-engage users who interacted but didn’t convert.
Analytics & Reporting
Key metrics include frequency, reach, results, impressions, engagement, video watch time, website conversions, clicks and cost metrics. Build custom reports in Ads Manager to focus on your KPIs and iterate campaigns based on data.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Overposting or changing creatives too frequently without testing.
- Poor audience selection — be specific, not broad.
- Neglecting creative quality — weak creatives often result in wasted budget.
Final Tips
Start small, measure everything, and scale what works. Combine Facebook Ads with organic social and email to create a stronger multi-channel funnel. Use the platform’s analytics and testing features to continuously improve performance.
"A well-structured Facebook ad campaign blends strategy, creative and continuous optimisation."
Are you ready
to grow?
Marketing support that feels in-house.
Request a complimentary marketing audit today