Facebook remains one of the most powerful platforms for online advertising in 2025. With billions of users and advanced targeting tools, it offers a great opportunity to promote your business, product, or service—no matter your industry or budget.
In this guide, you’ll learn step-by-step how to set up your first Facebook ad campaign—even if you’ve never run an ad before.
Why Use Facebook Ads?
Before diving into setup, let’s quickly look at why Facebook ads are still relevant in 2025:
Massive reach: Facebook and Instagram have over 3 billion combined users.
Advanced targeting: Reach people by age, location, interests, behaviors, and more.
Budget flexibility: Start with as little as $5 a day.
Diverse ad formats: Use images, videos, carousels, and stories to connect with your audience.
Step 1: Create a Facebook Business Manager Account
To run ads, you need a Meta Business Manager account. Here’s how to set it up:
Go to business.facebook.com
Click “Create Account”
Enter your business name, email, and Facebook profile
Set up your Facebook Page and Ad Account (if you haven’t already)
This dashboard will be your central place to manage ads, billing, and audience data.
Step 2: Install the Meta Pixel (Now Meta Pixel & Conversions API)
If you have a website, installing the Meta Pixel allows you to track visitor actions (like clicks, purchases, or sign-ups).
Go to Events Manager in Business Manager
Choose Meta Pixel > “Add to Website”
Copy the pixel code
Paste it in the <head> section of your website, or use tools like WordPress, Shopify, or Google Tag Manager
You can also enable Meta’s Conversions API for more accurate tracking in a cookie-restricted environment.
Step 3: Define Your Campaign Objective
Facebook will ask you to select your campaign objective. This tells the platform what result you want from your ad.
Common objectives include:
Awareness: Reach as many people as possible
Traffic: Drive people to your website or app
Engagement: Get likes, shares, or comments
Leads: Collect sign-ups using forms
Sales/Conversions: Get purchases or signups from your site
Step 4: Set Your Budget and Schedule
You can choose:
Daily budget: How much you want to spend per day
Lifetime budget: Total amount for the entire campaign duration
You’ll also set your campaign start and end dates here.
Step 5: Choose Your Target Audience
This is one of the most powerful parts of Facebook advertising.
Options include:
Location: Target by country, city, or region
Age and gender
Interests: Choose topics your audience cares about (e.g., fitness, parenting, fashion)
Behaviors: Reach people based on actions like recent purchases or device usage
Custom Audiences: Upload a list of emails or retarget website visitors
Lookalike Audiences: Target people similar to your current customers
The more specific your audience, the better your results will be.
Step 6: Select Your Ad Placement
Facebook offers automatic placements (recommended) or manual placements across:
Facebook News Feed
Instagram Feed & Stories
Messenger
Audience Network
Reels
In-stream videos
If you're unsure, start with automatic placements. Facebook will optimize where your ads perform best.
Step 7: Create Your Ad
Now it’s time to design your actual ad.
You’ll need:
Ad format: Single image, carousel, video, or slideshow
Media: High-quality visuals or videos
Primary text: This is your ad copy—keep it short, clear, and benefit-focused
Headline: Catchy and relevant to your offer
Call-to-Action (CTA): Encourage users to click (e.g., “Learn More”, “Shop Now”)
Step 8: Submit Your Ad for Review
After completing your ad, click “Publish”. Facebook will review it (usually within a few hours) to ensure it meets their ad policies.
Once approved, your ad will go live.
Step 9: Monitor and Optimize Your Ad
Once your ad is running, head back to Ads Manager to track key metrics:
Impressions: How many times your ad was shown
Click-through rate (CTR): How many clicked compared to views
Cost per result: What you’re paying per click, lead, or sale
Conversions: Sales, form fills, or other goal completions
Based on performance, you can:
Pause underperforming ads
Adjust targeting
Test new creatives
Increase budget for winning campaigns
Final Thoughts
Setting up your first Facebook ad campaign in 2025 may seem overwhelming at first—but with the right steps, anyone can do it. Whether you're promoting a local business, online store, or personal brand, Facebook’s tools make it easy to reach the right people with the right message.
Start small, learn from your results, and keep improving over time.
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