Meta/Facebook Ads Setup Checklist

Build and launch a Meta Ads campaign that drives real customers to your local business. Covers pixel setup, audiences, creatives, and campaign structure.

31 total items75 minIntermediate4 sections

Account & Pixel Setup

0 / 8

Create a Meta Business Manager account at business.facebook.com
Add your Facebook Page and Instagram account to Business Manager
Create an Ad Account and set your time zone and currency correctly
Install the Meta Pixel on your website via the Events Manager
Set up Conversions API (CAPI) server-side events for iOS 14+ accuracy
Verify your domain in Business Manager (required for pixel event tracking)
Configure standard events: PageView, ViewContent, Lead, Purchase
Test events with the Pixel Helper Chrome extension before going live

Audience Targeting

0 / 7

Create a geo-targeted custom audience: 5–10 mile radius around your business
Build a Custom Audience from your customer email list (minimum 1,000 emails)
Create a 1% Lookalike Audience from your customer email list
Create retargeting audiences: website visitors (30 days), video viewers (25%+), IG engagers
Define your interest-based cold audience — layer interests, behaviors, and demographics
Set age and gender targeting based on your actual customer demographics
Exclude your existing customers from cold prospecting campaigns

Creative & Ad Copy

0 / 8

Design 3 creative variations per ad set (test image vs. video vs. carousel)
Use 1080×1080 images for Feed and 1080×1920 for Stories/Reels
Lead with your strongest hook in the first 3 seconds of video ads
Write primary text that leads with a pain point or desire (not a feature)
Include social proof (e.g., '500+ 5-star reviews in [City]')
Add a clear, specific CTA button matching your objective (e.g., 'Book Now', 'Get Offer')
Test UGC-style (user-generated content) creatives against polished branded content
Refresh creatives every 4–6 weeks to avoid ad fatigue

Campaign Structure & Launch

0 / 8

Use the Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO) structure for efficient spend distribution
Set campaign objective to 'Leads' or 'Conversions' (not Reach or Traffic)
Launch with 3 ad sets: cold interest targeting, lookalike audience, retargeting
Set a minimum $10/day per ad set to exit the learning phase within 7 days
Set your attribution window to '7-day click, 1-day view' for most campaigns
Schedule your ads to run 24/7 initially — optimize dayparting after 30 days of data
Monitor frequency — pause or refresh creatives when frequency exceeds 3.5
Review Cost per Lead, CTR, and ROAS weekly for the first 60 days

Ready to implement?

Get a free marketing audit

Book a 30-minute audit with Nataliia. You'll get a personalized action plan for your business — no sales pitch, just strategy.

Book Free Audit

← Back to all checklists