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Facebook Ads 101: A Checklist to Nail Your First Campaign

Angie Tran

Content Marketing Manager @ AdRoll

You finally have your Google Ads set up and running. Now it’s time to conquer the next digital advertising beast: Facebook ads. Here’s everything you need to start promoting your brand to the platform’s whopping 2.8 billion users.

The Ultimate Facebook Ads Checklist

✅ Log in to Facebook Ads Manager

✅ Choose a marketing objective for your campaign (e.g., brand awareness, reach, traffic, engagement, app installs, video views, lead generation, conversions, catalog sales, store traffic, or messages). 

✅ Name your campaign.

✅ Determine your budget (daily vs. lifetime) and schedule (start and end dates.)

✅ Select your target audience’s location, age, gender, and language, or add a custom audience. 

  • Use the Detailed Targeting and Connections fields to include or exclude certain people specifically. 

✅ Choose your ad placements (e.g., image, video, Stories, poll, carousel, slideshow, collection, lead, dynamic, messenger, or instant experience). Alternatively, you can use Automatic Placements to allow Facebook to select the best placements for you.

✅ Set brand safety controls. 

✅ Split your campaign into different ad groups. 

  • Craft unique headlines and copy for each. Make sure they fall under your selected ad placement’s word limits. 

  • Review for spelling and grammar errors.

  • Double-check that you’re using the correct specs. 

  • Using Facebook’s Video Creation Kit, you can turn images into animated videos or slideshows if you wish. 

✅ Create your Facebook pixel, then follow these instructions to add it to your Shopify store for conversion tracking. 

✅ Create your campaign’s landing page.

  • Only include one objective or offer. 

  • Include a CTA.

  • Optimize for mobile. 

✅ Launch your campaign. 

✅ Monitor your campaign. 

  • Are there particular ads that have more clicks and conversions?

  • A/B test specific elements (frequency, messaging, creative, audiences).  

  • Continuously track and optimize performance. 

Facebook Ads Powered by AdRoll

With AdRoll, your Facebook ads will go a significantly longer way in reaching audiences with the highest chance of conversion, which will boost your return on investment (ROI) to never-before-seen levels. Here’s how it works. 

Ready to take your social ads to the next level? Check out AdRoll’s integration for Shopify.

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