Imagine your T-shirt shop is online, and now people should actually find your sales page. This is exactly what a traffic ad on Facebook is for. It directs users to a website in a targeted way, and you decide who sees it, what it costs, and how long it runs.
The video is only loaded from YouTube when you play it – data (including your IP address) is then transmitted to YouTube/Google. More in the privacy policy
On the following pages, you will go through the entire creation process in Ads Manager: from choosing the campaign objective, through audience, budget, and desired events, to the schedule. I will also show you why certain decisions make sense and where you can avoid typical mistakes.
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- Facebook advertising is structured on three levels: campaign, ad set, and ad.
- The campaign objective "Traffic" brings visitors to your website.
- You name the audience in a way that lets you find it again later in your account.
- With an A/B test, you compare two ads that differ in only one variable.
- Optimizing for "link clicks" is a good middle ground between cost and quality.
- You should derive your budget from the product price, costs, and desired profit.
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Select the campaign objective "Traffic"
Start in Ads Manager by selecting the objective Traffic. This tells Facebook from the very beginning that you want to direct users to a website.
Step 2: Understand the structure of an ad campaign
Before you continue, it is worth taking a look at the structure. At the very top is the campaign. Below it are one or more ad sets, and in each ad set there are one or more ads.
An example: You want to promote a specific sales page, but you are not sure which audience responds best. Then you create two ad sets with different audiences, and each gets its own ad. This way you can later see which combination works.
Step 3: Name the campaign
Give your campaign a clear name, for example "T-Shirt Campaign Number 1". A clear name helps you especially when you later run several campaigns in parallel.
Step 4: Name the ad set
The ad set also gets a name. You can do this now or later. I recommend linking the name directly to the audience. If you write "Women 18–30 Fashion", for example, you can immediately see in your account which audience is behind the group.
Step 5: Define the audience
Now you define whom you want to reach. In this example, you choose Germany as the location, an age range of 18 to 30 years, and all genders. For interests, you can enter "Fashion", for example. You can also restrict the language to German.
It is important that you don't define the audience too narrowly. A very small audience makes the ad more expensive, while one that is too large dilutes the effect. The audience indicator on the right-hand side helps you with this assessment.
Step 6: Name the ad
Next comes the name of the actual ad, for example "T-Shirt Ad Number 1". Here too: A clear name saves you a lot of searching later.
Step 7: Ignore special ad categories
In the next section, you can select special ad categories, for example for political topics or job offers. For an online shop, this usually does not apply. So you can skip this point.
Step 8: Set up the buying type and A/B test
As the buying type, you choose the objective "Traffic". This ensures that Facebook buys the cheapest possible visitors for you.
Below that, you will find the A/B test. Here you show two variants of the same ad that differ in only a single piece of information. A simple example: You target variant A at men and variant B at women. Everything else stays the same. If variant A brings significantly more sales, it is worth investing more budget there. You can only compare if truly only one variable is changed.
Step 9: Set the campaign budget
The Advantage campaign budget allows you to distribute your budget better across the entire campaign. Then you set a daily budget, that is, the maximum amount Facebook may spend per day. In the example, it is €40 per day.
Step 10: Choose the bid strategy
Now you decide what Facebook should optimize for. You have several options:
- Highest volume: Facebook tries to reach as many people as possible.
- Cost per result goal: You specify what a result, such as a click, may cost.
- Bid cap: You set an upper limit for the bid, but let Facebook decide more freely.
If you want to buy traffic cheaply and in a targeted way, "Highest volume" is a simple choice. Select it at this point and then click "Next".
Step 11: Set the conversion goal "Website"
In the ad set, you now specify where users should be directed. Select "Website," because you want to promote your sales page and not refer people to an app, Messenger, WhatsApp, or a phone call.
Step 12: Check the estimated audience size
To the right of the form, Facebook shows you the estimated audience size. In the example, it is between 9.6 and 46.6 million people. That is very broad. A range of roughly 800,000 to 2 million would be optimal, and at the very least it should be well below 4 million. Adjust the audience if necessary until the size is appropriate.
Step 13: Set the optimization to link clicks
In the Optimization and Delivery section, you choose which event Facebook should target the ad toward. The events are sorted by cost, from most expensive to cheapest: landing page views, link clicks, impressions, and daily unique reach.
Landing page views are the most expensive because Facebook looks for users here who actually arrive on your page and spend some time there. Link clicks are cheaper, impressions count ad deliveries, and daily unique reach is the cheapest but often brings little interaction.
In the example, you choose link clicks because the product, at €29, is not particularly expensive and this gives you a good middle ground. If the results don't fit, you can try a different option with a split test.
Step 14: Calculate the maximum advertising budget per sale
Before you run ads, you should do the math. Suppose your product costs €29, and you have to deduct shipping, VAT, and product costs, you might be left with about €19. That is the limit you can spend at most on advertising per sale.
However, since you also want to make a profit, in practice you should aim for €15 or somewhat less. This calculation prevents you from losing money on every sale.
Step 15: Set the schedule
In the last step, you determine when the ad should start and end. In the example, the ad starts on 18.08.2022 at 22:12. As the end date, you choose two weeks later, that is, 1.9. However, you can also do without an end date and let the campaign run until you end it yourself.
Summary – Running a Facebook traffic ad: explained step by step
You have now learned the entire process, from the campaign objective "Traffic" through campaign, ad set, and ad names to audience, budget, optimization, and schedule. Pay particular attention to clear naming, an appropriate audience size, and a clean budget calculation. With an A/B test, you can also find out which variant works best. This lays the foundation for campaigns that pay off.
FAQ
What is the difference between a campaign, an ad set, and an ad?The campaign is the top level and defines the goal, the ad set contains the audience, budget, and placement, and the ad is the actual content that users see.
Why should I record the audience in the name of the ad set right away?This way you can quickly see in Ads Manager which audience is behind a group, and you can evaluate the results better later.
What does link click mean as an optimization goal?Facebook shows the ad primarily to people who are likely to click the link. This is cheaper than landing page views, but does not necessarily bring visitors who stay on the page for long.
How do I calculate my maximum advertising budget per sale?Subtract product costs, shipping, and VAT from the selling price and also plan for a profit. What remains is the budget you should spend at most per sale.
Do I have to set an end date for my campaign?No, it is not mandatory. However, you can also limit the campaign in time in order to control costs better.
