Before you can even get started running ads, you’ll need to set up the backend of the system. Here are steps to get started.

  1. Make sure you have a personal Facebook account to log you into the Facebook platform.
  2. You’ll also need a Facebook business page to run your ads from. If you have a taco truck, and you’re advertising where it will be, your audience will want to see the posts coming from an official Facebook business page, not your personal page. This is especially important if you are trying to reach new markets. If you plan on advertising on Instagram, you can ‘post’ your ad from your Facebook Business page from there, so it’s ok if you don’t have an IG account.
  3. Create your Facebook Business Manager, click here for instructions.
  4. If you’re working with someone who will place your ads for you (like me!), you’ll need to add them to your Facebook Business Manager account. You can do this by pressing the blue ‘business settings’ button in the upper right after you’ve logged into your business manager.
  5. Go to Users->People and click the blue button to ‘add’ someone. If you trust this person, go ahead and make them an admin so they have full control. If you want to just add them as an employee, that’s ok, but you’ll have to also go under Account->pages and Account->Ad Account and add their permissions there as well.
  6. You will need to provide a credit card for your ads to be billed to. You can do that by going to ‘Payments’ on the left-hand side and adding a card.
  7. If you get stuck, just go to the ‘Setup Guide’ which is at the very bottom of the left-hand side.