Paid Ads: Meta Ads

Guides Meta (Facebook/Instagram) Ads setup, campaign structure, audience targeting, and creative optimization. Meta excels at demand generation and visual products; use when creating demand or when creative assets are strong.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Campaign Structure

Hierarchy: Campaign → Ad Set → Ad (3 levels)

Principle: One objective per campaign. Multiple campaigns for the same objective split budget and data, slowing the algorithm's learning phase. Consolidate by objective; focus on clean structure and data-led decisions.

Account
├── Campaign: Prospecting
│   ├── Ad Set: Lookalike 1%
│   └── Ad Set: Broad (Advantage+)
├── Campaign: Retargeting
└── Campaign: Testing

Naming: META_[Objective]_[Audience]_[Offer]_[Date] (e.g., META_Conv_Lookalike-Customers_FreeTrial_2024Q1)

Advantage+ & Automation

| Feature | Use | |---------|-----| | Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns | E-commerce; automatic audience discovery | | Dynamic Ads | Product catalog; auto-generated creative | | Automatic Placements | Let Meta optimize across Feed, Stories, Reels | | Advantage+ Audience | Broad targeting; algorithm finds converters |

Provide diverse creative assets to enable multiple ad formats; algorithm performs better with variety.

Campaign Objectives

| Objective | Use when | |-----------|----------| | Awareness | Reach; brand recall | | Traffic | Clicks to site | | Conversions | Leads; sales; app installs | | Engagement | Video views; post engagement |

Audience Targeting

| Type | Best for | |------|----------| | Lookalikes | Base on best customers (by LTV), not all customers | | Interest/behavior | Broad; let algorithm optimize | | Advantage+ | Automated; fewer manual controls | | Retargeting | Website visitors; engagers; custom audiences |

Exclusions: Existing customers; recent converters (7–14d).

Creative Best Practices

Image: Clear product; before/after; human faces; text <20%
Video (15–30s): Hook 0–3s; problem 3–8s; solution 8–20s; CTA 20–30s
Placements: Feed (FB/IG); Stories/Reels; vertical for Stories
Volume: 3–5 ad variants per ad set for testing

Optimization

Learning phase: 50+ conversions per ad set per week to exit; avoid frequent changes during learning
CBO vs ABO: Campaign Budget Optimization consolidates spend; use when scaling
Frequency: <3 to avoid fatigue
Creative refresh: Plan continuous testing; creative fatigue is a main lever—refresh when performance drops

Tracking

Meta Pixel + Conversions API: Server-side for better attribution
Events API: App events; server-to-server

Pre-Launch Checklist

[ ] Pixel installed; Conversions API configured
[ ] Conversion events firing correctly
[ ] Landing page mobile-friendly; fast load
[ ] 3+ ad creatives per ad set
[ ] Audience exclusions set

Related Skills

paid-ads-strategy: Channel selection; creative frameworks; budget allocation
landing-page-generator: LP for paid traffic
analytics-tracking: Conversion tracking; ROAS