(Originally posted on LinkedIn)

Seemingly trivial, yet often overlooked in its importance. However, knowing how ads are structured and the common mistakes is crucial in creating well-performing ads.

The following are configured at each level of the ad campaign:

Campaign: Campaign objective, Campaign budget (and Campaign budget optimisation)
Ad Set: Audience, Placements, Schedule, Optimisations
Ad: Format, Creatives, Tracking

Common mistakes at each level include: 

Campaign: Not turning on Campaign budget optimisation but instead setting budgets at the ad set level, leading to inefficient allocation of budget across ad sets (due to difference in ad performance, audience size, etc.)

Ad Set: Repeating the same audience across different campaigns of similar objectives, leading to higher costs as campaigns will compete with one another other

Ad: Not customizing aspect ratios for each placement, leading to a less-than-ideal ad experience and thus ad performance

Running Facebook ads are certainly more than just clicking the ‘boost’ button. By creating your ads in Ads Manager and understanding the nuances during the setup process, you’ll be able to improve your return on ad spend.