SOPs — Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads SOP
1
Setup
Step 1 — Client briefing Josh
- Conduct client onboarding call
- Confirm business details — address, phone, service hours, website
- Clarify services being advertised (oil change, brakes, tyres, etc.)
- Define target audience — location, demographics, vehicle type
- Confirm primary goal and KPI — appointment bookings, form enquiries, calls
Step 2 — Account access & pixel Teddi / Guy
- Request access to client's Facebook Business Manager and Ads Account
- Verify Facebook Pixel is installed correctly on the client's website — check Meta Events Manager for recent page view events
- Confirm client's Facebook Page is connected and up to date (correct info, profile photo, cover image)
- If pixel is missing or not firing, flag to Teddi before building campaigns
The Meta Pixel is separate from GTag and WhatConverts. If it's not firing, Meta can't record conversions — but it won't affect Google Ads or WhatConverts. See the Tracking Tools guide ↗ for context.
Step 3 — Audience creation Teddi / Guy
Build these three audience types in Ads Manager before creating campaigns:
- Local area — geographic radius around the workshop. Start tight (5–10km), expand if volume is low.
- Custom audience — built from existing customer database or website visitors (requires Pixel data)
- Lookalike audience — based on website visitors or previous customers. Requires at least 100 people in the seed audience for Meta to build from.
2
Campaign structure
Structure campaigns by goal, with separate ad sets for each audience type. This keeps performance data clean and makes it easy to see which audience is driving results.
Example structure
| Level | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Service Appointments — [Client] | Objective: Leads or Conversions |
| Ad Set 1 | Local Area — 10km radius | Broad local targeting |
| Ad Set 2 | Retargeting — Website Visitors | Custom audience — pixel required |
| Ad Set 3 | Lookalike — Past Customers | Lookalike from customer list |
📘 Campaign checklist
- Define clear campaign objective (Conversions, Traffic, Lead Generation, Awareness)
- Confirm budget type — Daily or Lifetime
- Set campaign spending limit if applicable
- Choose bidding strategy — Lowest Cost, Cost Cap, or Bid Cap
- Configure campaign schedule — start date, end date if applicable
- Confirm campaign special category if applicable (housing, credit, employment)
- Enable A/B testing if running creative tests
- Decide on Campaign Budget Optimisation (CBO) — on or off
- Review and publish campaign
🎯 Ad set checklist
- Name ad set clearly — audience type, placements, targeting criteria
- Set conversion event — confirm pixel/event is set up correctly
- Define daily or lifetime budget at ad set level (unless using CBO)
- Schedule ad set — start and end dates, specific times if relevant
- Define target audience — Custom, Lookalike, or Interest/Demographic-based
- Set placements — Automatic recommended. Or manually select Facebook Feed, Instagram, Stories, Reels, Messenger
- Set attribution window — typically 7-day click, 1-day view
- Add exclusions — existing customers or other segments if applicable
- Review estimated audience size and potential reach
- Check for audience overlap if running multiple ad sets
- Review and save ad set
3
Ad creative & copy
Creative direction Teddi / Guy / Client
- Use real imagery — mechanics at work, clean facilities, happy customers, or a specific service being performed. Generic stock photos underperform.
- Write copy focused on the customer's pain point — convenience, reliability, safety, not being ripped off
- Include a clear, prominent CTA — "Book Now", "Get a Quote", "Call Us Today"
- Highlight specific offers prominently if applicable — "Free Pink Slip with Logbook Service" beats "Book your service today"
🎨 Ad creative checklist
- Name ads clearly — creative variation, offer type, service
- Choose ad format — Image, Video, Carousel, or Instant Experience
- Add visual assets — high-quality images (1080×1080 recommended), or video ideally under 30 seconds
- Write primary ad text — compelling hook, clear benefit or offer, concise
- Write headline — short, clear value proposition (40 chars max for safety)
- Add description — optional, concise supporting info
- Confirm destination URL is correct and tracking parameters (UTMs) are set
- Set CTA button — Book Now, Learn More, Get Quote, Call Now
- Preview ads across placements and devices before publishing
- Verify ad copy complies with Meta policies — no prohibited language, no misleading claims
- Proofread all copy — check phone numbers, URLs, offer details
- Publish ad creative
4
Review & launch
1
Internal review — Teddi and Guy both check campaign structure, audiences, copy, and destination URLs before anything goes live
2
Client approval — send the client a preview of the ad creative if required. Don't launch without sign-off on new creative.
3
Schedule and launch — set start date, confirm all placements and budgets one final time, then publish
4
Confirm pixel is firing — check Meta Events Manager within an hour of launch to confirm page view and lead events are recording
Don't adjust campaigns in the first 48 hours. Meta's algorithm needs time to exit the learning phase. Changing budgets, audiences, or creative in the first 48 hours resets learning and wastes spend.
5
Monitoring & optimisation
Check performance at minimum every 48 hours. Don't react to day-to-day noise — look at 7-day and 14-day trends before making changes.
Key metrics to watch
| Metric | What to look for |
|---|---|
| CTR (Link) | Above 1% is healthy for most automotive clients. Declining CTR = creative fatigue. |
| CPM | Compare to account history. Spikes may indicate audience saturation or competition. |
| Frequency | Above 4–5 on an awareness campaign = audience is seeing the ad too often. Refresh creative or expand audience. |
| Cost per Result | Directional signal only — always cross-reference against WhatConverts lead count before drawing conclusions. |
| Results | Meta often over-reports due to view-through attribution. WhatConverts is the source of truth for actual leads. |
Optimisation actions
- Creative fatigue — if CTR drops significantly after a few weeks, refresh the image or headline. Keep the best-performing copy.
- Audience saturation — if frequency is high and CPM is rising, expand the geographic radius or add a new audience segment.
- Poor-performing ad sets — pause ad sets with high spend and zero results after giving them adequate time (at least 7 days and 5x your cost-per-result threshold in spend)
- A/B testing — run creative tests with one variable at a time (image vs video, headline A vs B). Don't change multiple things at once.
- Budget changes — always flag to Josh before increasing or decreasing budgets. Don't make unilateral budget decisions.
6
Reporting & client communication
- Weekly — brief update in the weekly report covering spend, results, and any flags
- Monthly — detailed report including insights, optimisation actions taken, and recommendations for next month. Include in the standard monthly planning report.
- Client calls — review performance, discuss creative refresh if needed, align on upcoming promotions or offers to promote
Meta over-reports conversions. Always present WhatConverts lead data alongside Meta results. If the client asks why the numbers differ, explain view-through attribution — Meta counts someone who saw (but didn't click) an ad as a conversion if they enquired within the attribution window.
For escalation decisions — budget changes, campaign pauses, new campaigns — see the Client Escalation Guide ↗.