A Step-by-Step Guide: How to Advertise with Facebook & Instagram

Advertising can be easier than you’d think. With various social media platforms and search engine capabilities, your opportunities are endless. You just need to know where to start. So, let’s start with the social media platforms currently dominating the advertising industry: Facebook and Instagram. With these 2 platforms, you’ll get the most bang for your buck – with the least amount of effort.

Advertising with Facebook & Instagram

Use your Facebook Business Account to your advantage. With Facebook and Instagram, you can create affordable ads that target your ideal customer. You can choose to use video footage of your services, a photo of flyers highlighting your services, or even add customer testimonials and special offers to advertise your business.

Facebook Ads can be daunting. Luckily, Facebook has made it possible for every entrepreneur to use their Ads platform to grow their business.

Here’s how you can advertise your business using your Facebook Business account:

1. Go to your Facebook Business account
2. Click on your Facebook Business Suite in the left column
3. Press “Promote” at the top right of your Business page

After you’ve pressed “Promote,” you can begin to create your Ad.

1. Choose an Ad Type
   1. We recommended choosing the Ad type “Create New Ad,” as it allows you to fully customize your ad targeting. 
   2. This will reduce your overall spending and ensure your ads are seen only by your targeted audience.
2. Choose the Goal of your Ad
   1. What do you want your ad to do for you? 
   2. Get new customers?
   3. Get more page messages and inquiries?
   4. Increase calls to your business?
   5. Promote your business locally?
   6. Get more website visitors?
3. Start Making Your Ad Creative
   1. Add your Description
      1. This is the information your customers will see, to give them the context of the ad you are promoting.
      2. Use this section to highlight what you are offering, and why the offer benefits your potential customer.
   2. Add your Creative
      1. This is a visual, be it a video or a photo, that you will use to promote your services. 
      2. Creating the visual for your ads can be daunting, so we recommend using Canva as your creation platform! 
         1. Canva is a cost-effective platform that provides you with thousands of templates and design capabilities that make creating ads simple, quick, and easy.
   3. Choose a Headline
      1. Your headline is a Call to Action to your audience. 
         1. What do you want them to do?
         2. Guide them to the next steps you want them to take.
   4. Select a Button
      1. “Learn More” is the most universal button. We recommend this unless your goal is to get more messages. In that case, we recommend “send message” as your chosen button.
   5. Add your website URL
      1. This URL is where every person who clicks on your ad will be redirected to.

Optional Sections:

1. Advantage+ Creative
   1. Turning this on allows Facebook to create alternative creative variations that may improve performance. You can always test some ads with this on, and some off to see if it benefits you or not.
2. Special Ad Category
   1. This section is for business owners to identify Ads that are about employment, social issues, or politics. So, make sure you turn this section on if you are using ads to hire crew members!

After you’ve pressed “Promote,” you can begin to create your Ad.

1. Choose Your Audience
   1. This is a section for you to narrow down the type of person Facebook will show your Ad to.
   2. Select “Advantage Audience”
   3. Adjust your  “Audience Details” to select the location, age, interests, etc. of your audience.
   4. Starting out, it is most important for you to target individuals “Living In” your area +10-20 miles.
      1. This ensures that Facebook will show your ad only to the people living near you.
2. Select the Duration of Your Ad
   1. You can set your ads to either run continuously, or for a certain period of time. You can also plan ahead, and schedule an Ad to start at a later date. 
      1. This is often used for seasonal sales or limited-time promotions.
3. Choose your Daily Budget
   1. Budgets can be as low as $5! Choose a budget that suits you and your business.

Choose which platforms you want to promote your Ad on. This is where Instagram comes in!

1. Placements
   1. NOTE: Facebook likes to keep on their Advantage+ Placements – But you should turn it off!
   2. Toggle this placement off, and then select the channels you want to advertise on.
      1. If you are in the United States, we recommend keeping it to Facebook & Instagram.

Finally, select your Pixel and add your payment information.

1. If you haven’t already, set up your Facebook pixel to track actions taken on your website or within Facebook. 
2. Payment information will only need to be entered once. After this, Facebook will automatically use your preferred card. 

When you’ve double-checked everything – you’re all set! Just press “Promote Now.” Facebook will then review your Ad and start it automatically once it has been approved.