Running Meta ads connects your business to over 3.5 billion daily active users across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network. Whether you're launching your first campaign or refining your advertising strategy, this tutorial walks you through every step of creating effective Meta ads in 2026.
This guide covers everything from account setup to campaign launch, including the latest Advantage+ automation features and best practices for each ad format.
Meta ads are paid advertisements that appear across Meta's family of platforms—Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads, and the Audience Network. These ads allow businesses to reach targeted audiences based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and custom data like website visitors or customer lists.
Unlike organic social media posts that rely on algorithmic reach, Meta ads guarantee visibility to your selected audience in exchange for payment. You can optimize for various objectives including awareness, traffic, engagement, leads, app installs, and sales.
Meta Ads Manager is the central hub for creating, managing, and analyzing your advertising campaigns. While you can boost posts directly from Facebook or Instagram, Ads Manager provides significantly more control over targeting, placement, and optimization.
Alternatively, navigate directly to adsmanager.facebook.com.
Before running ads, you need a Meta Business Suite account with connected assets:
Required setup steps:
Make sure you select the correct time zone and currency during ad account setup—these are difficult to change later.
Meta uses a three-tier campaign structure:
| Level | Purpose | What You Set |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Overall objective | Goal (traffic, conversions, leads), bid strategy |
| Ad Set | Targeting and budget | Audience, placements, schedule, budget |
| Ad | Creative content | Images/videos, copy, headlines, CTAs |
This structure allows you to test multiple audiences and creatives within a single campaign while maintaining clear organization.
Follow these steps to create your first Meta ad campaign.
Click "Create" in Ads Manager and select your objective. Meta groups objectives into three categories:
Awareness:
Consideration:
Conversion:
Choose the objective that matches your business goal. Selecting "Conversions" or "Leads" tells Meta to optimize for users likely to take that action, not just anyone who might click.
Name your campaign using a clear naming convention (e.g., "Jan2026_LeadGen_NewCustomers").
Set your bid strategy:
Enable Advantage Campaign Budget to let Meta distribute budget across ad sets automatically based on performance.
At the ad set level, define who sees your ads:
Location: Target countries, states, cities, or radius around addresses
Demographics: Age, gender, and language settings
Detailed targeting: Layer interests, behaviors, and demographics such as:
Custom Audiences: Upload customer lists, target website visitors, or reach people who engaged with your content
Lookalike Audiences: Find new users similar to your best customers
In 2026, Meta's Advantage+ audience expansion uses AI to find additional high-potential users beyond your defined targeting. This is enabled by default but can be adjusted.
Placements determine where your ads appear:
Advantage+ Placements (Automatic): Let Meta optimize placement distribution based on performance—recommended for most advertisers.
Manual Placements: Useful if you have placement-specific creative or want to exclude certain placements.
Daily budget: Meta spends approximately this amount each day
Lifetime budget: Total spend over the campaign duration
For testing, start with a daily budget that allows for approximately 50 optimization events per week. If your target cost per lead is $20, budget at least $20-40/day to gather meaningful data.
Schedule options:
At the ad level, build the actual content users see.
Upload your media:
Write your copy:
Add your destination URL and verify tracking is configured correctly.
Before publishing:
Click "Publish" to submit your campaign for review. Most ads are approved within 24 hours, often much faster.
Meta offers multiple ad formats to match different creative assets and campaign goals.
Single static images work well for straightforward offers and brand awareness. Keep images simple with minimal text—text-heavy images may see reduced delivery.
Specs: 1080x1080px (1:1) or 1200x628px (1.91:1), JPG or PNG, max 30MB
Video captures attention and conveys complex messages. Meta recommends grabbing attention in the first 3 seconds since users scroll quickly.
Specs: 1080x1080px (1:1) for feed, 1080x1920px (9:16) for Stories/Reels, MP4 or MOV, max 4GB, 1 second to 241 minutes
Showcase 2-10 images or videos in a swipeable format. Ideal for product catalogs, multi-feature highlights, or storytelling sequences.
Specs: Each card 1080x1080px, consistent aspect ratio across cards
Vertical, full-screen formats optimized for mobile engagement. Stories and Reels placements drive strong engagement, especially with younger audiences.
Specs: 1080x1920px (9:16), videos under 15 seconds perform best
Immersive shopping experiences that open within the app. Combine video or image with product catalog for seamless browsing.
Follow these Meta ads best practices to improve campaign performance in 2026.
Meta ads have no minimum spend—you can start with any budget. Average costs vary significantly by industry and objective. According to 2024-2025 benchmarks, expect $0.50-$2.00 CPC for most campaigns, though highly competitive industries pay more. Your actual costs depend on targeting, creative quality, and competition.
Initial data appears within hours of launch, but meaningful optimization requires 7-14 days. Meta's algorithm needs approximately 50 optimization events per week to exit the learning phase and deliver stable results. Budget accordingly to reach this threshold.
Boosted posts are simplified promotions with limited options. Ads Manager provides full control over targeting, placements, optimization objectives, and creative testing. For serious advertising efforts, always use Ads Manager rather than the boost button.
Yes, for most campaign types. The Meta Pixel tracks conversions on your website and enables retargeting of visitors. For optimal performance, also implement the Conversions API (CAPI) for server-side tracking, which improves data accuracy despite browser restrictions.
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