What Is Facebook Ads? How to Run Facebook Advertising for Beginners
Facebook Ads is one of the most effective online advertising channels today, helping individuals and businesses reach the right potential customers with flexible budgets. This article will guide you from A to Z on Facebook Ads if you are a beginner.
1. What Is Facebook Ads?
Facebook Ads is a paid advertising system on Meta platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network. Advertisers only pay when ads achieve specific objectives such as reach, clicks, messages, or sales.
2. Who Is Facebook Ads Suitable For?
Many people think Facebook Ads is only for large businesses or experienced marketers. In reality, with the right approach, beginners can also run ads successfully and achieve positive results.
Facebook Ads is suitable for:
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Beginners in online business
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Shop owners and small-to-medium enterprises
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Freelancers, marketers, and advertising agencies
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Individuals selling courses, services, or digital products
With a small budget, you can still start testing ads effectively.
3. Common Types of Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads offers many advertising formats suitable for different business goals and growth stages. For beginners, understanding these common ad types helps you choose the right format, avoid wasting budget, and optimize results from the start.
Beginners should be familiar with:
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Post engagement ads
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Message ads (Messenger inbox)
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Website traffic ads
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Conversion ads (sales-focused)
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Video ads
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Lead Form ads (collect customer data)
Beginners should start with message ads or engagement ads because they are easier to set up, easier to control costs, and provide faster feedback from customers.
4. How Facebook Ads Works (What Beginners Should Know)
Facebook Ads operates on an automatic auction system. Every time a user opens Facebook, the system evaluates competing ads to decide which ones to display. The decision is not based solely on who pays more, but on overall ad quality and performance.
Factors that help ads get lower costs:
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High-quality content: Attractive images, videos, and messages that match customer needs
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Relevant audience targeting: Reaching people who are more likely to be interested or buy
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Reasonable bidding: Budget and bid aligned with campaign objectives
The more relevant and higher quality your ad is, the lower your advertising cost—even with a small budget.
5. Preparation Before Running Facebook Ads
Proper preparation helps ads get approved faster, reduces the risk of account restrictions, and improves performance from the beginning. Beginners should not run ads without having the basics ready.
Before running ads, you need:
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A trustworthy personal Facebook account
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A Facebook Fanpage
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A Facebook ad account
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Ad creatives (images/videos and captions)
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A clear product or service
The better your preparation, the more stable and effective your ad campaigns will be.
6. Basic Steps to Run Facebook Ads
For beginners, running Facebook Ads is not complicated if you follow the right steps. Simply follow the process below to launch your first campaign and start testing results.
Basic steps:
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Access Facebook Ads Manager
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Choose a campaign objective (messages, traffic, conversions, etc.)
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Select your target audience
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Set budget and schedule
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Upload ad creatives
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Confirm and wait for approval
After approval, monitor performance metrics and optimize gradually.
7. Facebook Ads Budget for Beginners
One of the biggest concerns for beginners is how much budget is needed to start safely while still getting useful data. In reality, you don’t need a large budget at the beginning—testing step by step is the best approach.
Recommended starting budget:
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100,000 – 200,000 VND per day for testing
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Run 2–3 different ad creatives to compare performance
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Monitor results for 2–3 days before pausing, keeping, or optimizing ads
8. Common Mistakes Beginners Make
Many beginners fail not because Facebook Ads is difficult, but because they make basic mistakes early on. Identifying these mistakes helps you save budget and shorten your learning curve.
Common mistakes include:
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Running ads without fully understanding the product
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Targeting too broadly or too narrowly
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Changing ads too frequently
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Expecting high results with a very small budget
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Not tracking or measuring performance
9. Core Principles for Running Facebook Ads Effectively
To succeed with Facebook Ads, beginners don’t need complicated strategies—just strong fundamentals. These principles help you control costs, read data correctly, and improve performance over time instead of relying on guesswork.
Core principles:
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Test – measure – optimize continuously
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Focus ad content on customer benefits
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Start simple, avoid overcomplicating
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Be patient and avoid emotional “money burning”
10. Facebook Ads Learning Roadmap for Beginners
To learn Facebook Ads effectively, beginners should follow a step-by-step roadmap instead of scattered learning. Breaking the process into stages helps reduce risks, save money, and build a solid foundation before scaling.
Stage 1: Understand the platform & terminology
Learn the interface, objectives, targeting, budgeting, and basic metrics.
Stage 2: Practice with a small budget
Start testing message ads or engagement ads to collect real data.
Stage 3: Learn to read metrics & optimize
Analyze CPC, CTR, CPM, and conversion rates to improve performance.
Stage 4: Scale effective campaigns
Increase budget and expand audiences once campaigns are stable.
Following the right roadmap helps you learn Facebook Ads faster, spend less, and grow more sustainably.
Facebook Ads is not complicated if you understand the fundamentals and follow the right process. For beginners, starting with a small budget, tracking real data, and optimizing step by step will help minimize risks and build a sustainable advertising foundation.
