The fact that Facebook has over 2.7 billion active users makes it a goldmine for businesses of all sizes, with a reasonable level playing field for advertising companies.  

Whether you are a fortune 500 company or a beginner entrepreneur, you can attract prospects by using the right strategies on the Facebook ad platform. 

You also don’t need deep pockets to get in front of relevant people via Facebook ads. 

It offers detailed targeting; you can laser-focus on your target audience to achieve marketing goals even with a low budget. 

So, how do Facebook ads work? First, let’s see what a Facebook ad really is.

What’s a Facebook Ad?

A Facebook ad is an advertisement by a business created to achieve its marketing goals by leveraging Facebook’s user data. 

Facebook Ads algorithm aims to get your service or product in-front of people who are already interested in your business, improving the chances of conversion actions being completed.

What Do You Need to Know Before Creating a Facebook Ad?

Before jumping into Facebook ad creation, you need to realize 4 things. 

• What’s your advertising goal?

• An idea about your target audience

• Your budget for the ad - weekly or monthly

• Ad creatives to showcase your product or service

For instance, your “goal” is to generate sales for your eCommerce product. People between the age of 25 and 40 that have a buying history on Facebook are your “target audience”. 

You have a set “budget” and you have captured some attractive “images” of your product to showcase as your ad creatives.

Parts of a Facebook Ad

Before discussing how do Facebook ads work at the back end, let’s see how a Facebook ad looks like. Keep in mind, a Facebook ad has mainly 5 elements.  

Below is an ad by Hostinger, a company that offers hosting services and a member of TuMos Consulting.

Let’s dissect it. 

While scrolling through your Facebook news feed, the first thing you’d see is the ad text. While you can write a longer text, most brands stick to a couple of sentences.

Both can work in your favor; the length of this text will mainly depend on your message. It’s advisable to keep it as short as possible.

The second part is the ad graphics. Visuals grab attention and are easier to consume.

The headline is the third part. It should be short, catchy, and persuasive.

Next comes the description. It allows you to showcase the information your headline doesn’t provide.

The last and arguably the most important part of any ad is the call to action (CTA). Why? Because it drives action. 

It should be simple and actionable.

So, how do Facebook ads work at the back end?

Let’s see.

How Does Facebook Ads Manager Work?

Facebook ad manager is where you or your marketing strategist can create, edit, and publish ads. Anyone with a Facebook account can use the Facebook ads manager based on different access levels.

So, how does the Facebook ads manager platform work? 

Let’s dig in. 

Go to “Ads Manager” on the left-hand side of your Facebook home page.

You’ll be redirected to this page:

This is where all the action happens. 

A campaign can contain several ad sets, which can in turn contain multiple ads. 

Click the green “Create” option.

You can then choose a campaign objective depending on your goal. If your goal is to attract traffic to your website or anywhere outside Facebook, select “Traffic”. 

Similarly, you can have people install your apps, increase video views, get them to message you on messenger, improve post engagement, and more. 

Let’s select traffic. 

You can now name your campaign.

Set your ad budget.

Define the people you want to reach with your ad.

And, create your ad; upload your ad graphics, and write its primary text, headline, description, and CTA.

As soon as you click publish, your ad will go through a short screening process. After which, it’ll be live. 

So, now you know how does Facebook ads manager work. 

Let’s dig into Facebook’s targeting options. 

Facebook Targeting

Thanks to the huge database of Facebook, you can micro-focus on a group of people that are most likely to be your customers. 

You can not only create your own audiences, but it lets you track your website visitors and upload your existing contact list as well. 

Not only that, but Facebook’s retargeting ads allow you to find and target warm leads, maximizing the chances of conversion. 

You can target Facebook users based on:

• Location

• Age

• Gender

• Behavior

• Language

• Activity

Moreover, you can create lookalike audiences to maximize your business’ reach. A lookalike audience is a group of people, like your main audience. 

Final Thoughts

You’ve probably seen a Facebook ad while scrolling through your news feed. We’ve dissected a perfect example of a Facebook ad, so you know how marketers put it together. 

“How does Facebook ads manager work,” part of the article tells you how anyone can create an attractive ad on Facebook using the ads manager. 

While Facebook offers an excellent ad platform, crafting a cost-effective ad campaign requires the right strategy and compelling ad creativity. 

So, before diving into the action, it’s important to brainstorm buyer persona (who is your ideal customer); what are their pain points (or their desires); and how you can help them with your business.

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