Many people think of a few words when they hear "Facebook Ads":
"Burning money" "Complicated" "Can't handle without technical knowledge".
In fact, you don't need to be a big company like Apple or Nike to qualify for Facebook advertising.
Anyone can advertise to the whole world with a small budget.
In this article, I try to use the simplest language to help you understand how to play with "Facebook Ads".
1. What exactly are Facebook Ads?
Simply put, it is a kind of paid display opportunity.
When you scroll through Facebook or Instagram, you see "sponsored" content interspersed among friends' updates and short videos. That's the advertising others have placed.
The format can be images, videos, or text
Display locations can be in Feed, Story, or Reels
The goal is to make you "see", "click in", and "pay".
The core logic is just one sentence:
Spend money to buy exposure and push your product to potential customers.
You don't need a dedicated team, a smartphone and a few tens of dollars can get it done.
2. Before starting, get these 3 basic infrastructures in place
If you want to start advertising, the first step is to set up an "ad backend":
(1) Meta Business Manager
This is Facebook's official ad management tool, where all operations are performed.
Website: business.facebook.com
Click [Create Account], fill in company information
(2) Create an ad account
In the Business Manager, click the left menu [Ads], and follow the prompts to complete creation.
(3) Install Meta Pixel
Simply put, Pixel is the "data bridge" between your website and Facebook.
When users visit your website, place orders, add to cart, Pixel will feed this data back.
This way you can know "how much conversion the ad brought".
Shopify users only need to copy the Pixel ID and paste it into [Preferences]
❗️ Note: Without Pixel, your ads are "blind investments", and you won't see the effects even if you spend money.
3. The three-layer structure of ads, don't be scared by the jargon
Many beginners get dizzy with all the "ad campaigns, ad sets, ads" when they first open the backend.
Campaign: Set goals (such as increasing website traffic, boosting sales)
Adset: Set audience, budget, and delivery time
Ad: The content your users actually see (images, videos, text)
You can imagine:
The ad campaign is the big folder, the ad set is the subfolder inside, and the ad is the specific file in the folder.
4. How to create a "smart ad"?
Advertising is not difficult, what's difficult is "not to waste unjust money".
Here are 3 things you must clarify before launching:
(1) Define your goals
Is it to drive traffic? Sell products? Collect potential customers? Different goals, different playstyles.
Selling products: Choose [Sales] or [Conversions]
Getting consultations: Choose [Potential Customers]
(2) Choose the right audience
Without data, you can filter by interests, regions, age (the more detailed, the more expensive)
With data, you can use [Similar Audiences] to find people with characteristics similar to your customers
Don't forget to do [Remarketing], pushing ads to people who have seen your product but haven't placed an order
(3) Creativity is key
Now on Facebook, creativity is more important than precise targeting.
Make the user stop in the first second (strong hook)
Showcase product highlights (contextualization, realism)
Clear call to action (e.g., "Click here to receive a limited-time offer")
Remember: Advertising is a "war for attention", don't make those boring ads that even passersby wouldn't bother to click on.
5. How to evaluate ad performance? What data is most important?
Advertising is not about throwing money in and waiting for good luck.
The following core indicators are what you should be watching every day:
1️⃣CTR Click-through rate (how many people clicked after seeing the ad):
Usually, 1-3% is acceptable, below 1% you need to optimize the material! Is your ad attractive enough?
2️⃣CPM Cost per thousand impressions (how much it costs for the ad to be displayed 1000 times):
The lower this number, the better! The Southeast Asian market is generally $5-20, over $30 you need to be cautious 🔥
3️⃣ROAS Return on Ad Spend (how much you earn back for every dollar spent):
The breakeven point is 1, achieving 3 or more is considered excellent! Below 1? Stop immediately!
4️⃣Conversion rate
Normal for e-commerce is 2-5%, if ＜1% you need to check if there are pitfalls on the landing page!
When you find an ad performing poorly:
Look back to see if there are issues with the copy or materials
Whether the target audience is not precise
Adjust the budget, test different creatives
The key is: change one thing at a time, then observe the data changes, don't change everything at once and mess up.
6. Budget and delivery rhythm: Don't go all-in right away
Many people misunderstand that advertising requires big money.
In fact, beginners should start "small and steady":
Daily budget = product price × 1-2 times (e.g., if you sell a product for 299 yuan, a daily budget of 300-600 yuan is sufficient)
Run it for 1-2 weeks first, collect data
Find the well-performing ads, then gradually increase (increase budget by 20-30% each time)
Remember: The essence of advertising is "using data to verify decisions", not a "gamble on luck".
7. Don't forget automation and AI tools
You can't monitor the ad backend 24 hours a day, but you can let automation work for you:
Set [Automatic Rules], such as automatically stopping when conversion costs exceed a certain amount
Use Meta AI, ChatGPT to optimize copy, analyze data
Refer to [Meta Ad Material Library], see how peers do it (not copying, learning strategies)
At first, you may not be able to "earn money with your eyes closed", but as long as you are willing to test, optimize, and review, Facebook ads are definitely a customer acquisition tool that ordinary people can master.
Final Summary
If you've read this far and are still hesitating "whether to advertise or not", here's a poignant and true statement:
"The biggest risk is that you never dare to start."
Instead of waiting until you have more budget, a full team, and sufficient experience to start, why not start today with the money you'd spend on a cup of milk tea and run a test.
The best way to understand advertising is never "how many tutorials you've watched", but: to do, to optimize, to review.
