How to set up Facebook and Instagram ads for a small business: a checklist

Tracking first: Pixel, Conversions API and consent

Install the Meta Pixel on your website and, where possible, the Conversions API, which sends events from your server. Define the action that counts: a booking, an enquiry or a purchase.

In the EU, the Pixel may only load after the visitor has consented in your cookie banner. Check that the banner really blocks it before consent; otherwise you risk warnings and fines instead of customers.

Choose the right objective

Meta optimises for the objective you select. If you want bookings, choose a sales or leads objective with your conversion event, not traffic or engagement. Engagement campaigns bring likes; they rarely bring customers.

Audience: local, simple and broad enough

For local businesses, target a radius around your location and keep interests broad; once there is conversion data, the delivery system finds the right people within the area. Exclude existing customers when you want new ones, and use a separate campaign to bring back past visitors:

• ›A radius that matches how far customers really travel.
• ›Age limits only where the offer requires them.
• ›Custom audiences of website visitors or customers, with consent.
• ›Exclusions of existing customers in acquisition campaigns.

Creatives that stop the scroll

Use real photos or short videos: dishes being served, a team at work, a before-and-after. The first second must show what it is about; the text names the offer and one clear next step. Prepare three to five variations and let the results decide.

Some topics, such as jobs, housing and credit, are special ad categories with restricted targeting. Declare them correctly, or the ads will be stopped.

Budget and the first three weeks

Give each campaign enough budget to reach several conversions per week; otherwise the system cannot learn. Change little in the first week. After two to three weeks, compare the cost per booking or enquiry, keep the best creatives and stop the rest.

Example: filling weekday tables

A restaurant runs a campaign for weekday dinners: a five-kilometre radius, a short video of the chef plating the dish of the week, a reservation as the conversion and ads from Monday to Thursday afternoon. A second small campaign shows the menu to people who visited the website but did not book.