Facebook ads setup checklist for small businesses

Accounts and access

Facebook ads run from a business page and an ad account, usually managed through Meta Business Suite. Set these up under your own name and your own login, so the business, not the seller, owns the page, the ad account and the audience data built inside them.

Give the seller access by inviting them with their own login and the lowest level of permission that lets them do the job. Never send a password, a card number or a security code in the chat. The payment method for the ad spend is added by you, inside the platform.

Goal, offer and landing page

Write down what a good result looks like in one sentence, for example more messages from local customers or more sign-ups for a class. Each goal needs a different campaign, so a seller cannot build the right one without it.

• One clear offer: what you are selling and why now.
• One place to send people, such as a product page, a form or a messaging chat that you check every day.
• A page that works on a phone, loads quickly and says the same thing as the ad.
• Your prices, delivery area, opening hours and answers to the three questions customers ask most.

Tracking before spending

Without tracking, you cannot tell which ad did anything. Ask the seller to confirm, before the ads start, how results will be measured.

• The Meta Pixel installed on your website, and the events that matter to you, such as a purchase or a form sent.
• Your domain verified in your business account, where it applies to your setup.
• Any tracking tags tested with a real action, not just assumed to work.
• A plan for messages and phone calls, if those are your goal.

Budget and audience

Decide how much you are willing to spend on ads, and over what period, before you talk to sellers. The seller's package covers their work. The ad spend is separate, and it is normally paid to the platform, not to the seller, so ask each seller to confirm how it works.

Start with a small test and increase only when you can see that the ads are doing their job. Describe your customer in plain words: who they are, where they live and what they are looking for. A seller can turn that into a targeting setup, and should explain the choices to you.

Creative and ad rules

Ads need pictures or short videos and a few lines of text. Ask whether the package includes them, how many variations you get and what you need to supply, such as logos, product photos and testimonials.

Platforms review every ad against their own advertising policies, and an ad can be rejected or limited. Use only images, music and customer quotes you have the right to use, and avoid claims you cannot prove.

Ordering and reviewing

Delivery time counts from when work starts, and work starts once your payment is confirmed and the gig's questions are answered. Each package states what the seller sets up and how many revisions you get.

Before the ads go live, ask to see the campaign, the audience, the budget, the ad previews and the tracking in your own account. Afterward, agree what the seller will report and when. A delivery you do not answer is accepted automatically after 3 days, so set time aside to review it when it arrives.

Before you order

• My business page and ad account are in my own name.
• I will invite the seller with their own login and send no passwords.
• I have written down one goal, one offer and one place to send people.
• My website or chat is ready for visitors and works on a phone.
• Tracking is in place, and the seller has told me how results are measured.
• I have set an ad budget, separate from the seller's package.

Questions people ask