Tips for Facebook Ads
Tips for advertising on Facebook & Instagram from the Savvie Team
Facebook – aka Meta – has evolved from a platform for connecting with friends and family to one of the most powerful advertising tools on the planet. But if you’re not familiar with Facebook Ads Manager, the power behind running ads on Meta, which includes both Facebook and Instagram, diving into campaign creation can feel overwhelming.
At Savvie, we’ve spent a lot of time – we mean A LOT of time* – navigating Facebook’s ever-evolving Ads Manager, perfecting the art of creating high-performing ads for our clients. Over the years, we’ve picked up a thing or two – and we're here to share the most valuable tips we've learned along the way.
*It seems Facebook is always keeping us on our toes – changing names, locations and features. We’ve come to expect it by now, but it can be daunting!
Having an organic presence (unpaid content) on social media is important in and of itself. It helps build your brand’s awareness and makes your company appear more authentic and genuine. Consistently posting to social media 1 to 2 times a week is enough for most companies to accomplish that.
However, the magic starts to happen when you introduce a paid ad campaign to the mix. Paid social allows you to increase your reach and reach the right audience with various targeting features.
Define Your Campaign Objective
This is an important first step because clearly defining your objective will help shape everything from your messaging to your targeting and how you measure success. Facebook offers six main campaign objectives: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App Promotion and Sales.
You want to build your campaign using the objective that makes sense for your goals. For example, if you run an e-commerce company looking to drive sales, the Sales objective will be your go-to. If you’re more focused on generating buzz around a new product or service, you might instead opt for Awareness to reach a broader audience.
Know Your Audience
Targeting the right audience is the backbone of any successful ad campaign. Facebook’s audience targeting tools let you drill down by demographics, interests, behaviors and even lookalike audiences based on your current customer data. This is what makes it such an effective platform to reach the right audience - those who are most likely to be interested in what you’re selling.
The more specific and refined your audience is, the higher your chances of conversion. A deep understanding of your target persona – what they need, what motivates them and what problems they’re looking to solve – will set your campaign up for success.
Be Mindful of the Automatic AI
Facebook’s built-in AI can be helpful, but it’s not perfect. In fact, it rarely is. We *highly* recommend you avoid implementing this feature with your ad creative if you're new to the platform. While it’s designed to optimize your ads by automatically generating headlines and descriptions, and although this can save time, it won’t always fit your brand voice or tone on the first try. And it tends to go very, very rogue. You can tweak the copy to reflect your brand’s personality and your campaign’s specific goal, but as the ads run, the AI tool can continue to change the creative. You will not know what it's doing – and it can do w-e-i-r-d things: choosing bizarre words, clickbaity language and even changing the language! Use caution.
Thoughtful Creative
Make sure your creative assets (images, videos, copy) are aligned not just with your campaign goal but with the platform itself. For example, engaging, short-form videos (Reels) have become one of the best-performing ad formats on Facebook and Instagram.
Reels can boost your ad’s performance, but keep in mind that attention spans are short – so, your video should grab attention within the first few seconds. Stop the scroll with something visually compelling, clear and to the point. Keep it simple, bold and aligned with your messaging to capture your audience's interest before they move on.
Edit Placement
Check to make sure that your ads are showing up where you want them to. Do you want your ad showing up on Instagram, Facebook Marketplace, the right column on Facebook, Facebook’s feed or Messenger stories? These are all things that you have input on when setting up your campaign.
Facebook ads don’t just appear on your main feed. They can show up in Messenger, the Marketplace, the right-hand column, or Instagram’s feed, among others. While automatic placement is often a default, it’s crucial to take control of where your ads appear based on where your target audience spends most of their time.
If you’re targeting younger users, for example, Instagram Stories or Facebook’s feed might be ideal placements. For broader reach or more casual browsing, Marketplace or the right column could offer greater visibility. A little thoughtful placement adjustment can give you an edge in the crowded digital ad space.
Install the Meta Pixel
The Meta Pixel is a powerful tool that tracks user activity on your website and gives you invaluable data on how people interact with your ads. By installing the Pixel on your site, you can track conversions, retarget people who have interacted with your brand and optimize your ads for higher performance. Without it, your campaign results don’t really paint the full picture. The Pixel is essential for measuring the true impact of your ads, gathering insights into user behavior and fine-tuning your campaigns for better ROI.
Check In On Your Ads
Facebook advertising isn’t exactly a set-it-and-forget-it endeavor. Once you start running ads, you need to check in to ensure they are running and delivering the results you want. Keep an eye on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as reach, frequency and estimated ad recall if your objective is Awareness
If you’re running a conversion-focused campaign, track metrics like cost-per-click (CPC), return on ad spend (ROAS) and conversion rates. Facebook’s Ads Manager offers detailed performance reports to help you spot trends and make data-driven adjustments in real-time. If something isn’t working, make tweaks – whether it's changing the creative, shifting the audience or adjusting the bid strategy.
Bonus: Testing and iteration are your best friends in Facebook advertising. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different copy, creative, audiences and placements. The more you test and learn, the better you can fine-tune your approach for maximum success.