Managing Facebook ads can be super intimidating for some people. There is new terminology, new technology, and new analytics to learn. Plus, if you’re managing ads for other people, you have added pressure since clients are placing part of their ad budget in your hands. 

The good news? Once you get it, you get it!

Running Facebook ads is a skill that can transfer to small companies and local businesses in a variety of niches. You can also use these ads to help get your own business off the ground. It’s a super profitable side hustle, bringing in $1,000-$1,500 per client if you work at it. 

Sound like something you’re interested in learning? This guide to managing Facebook ads for your own business and clients will help you get started.

• Key Facebook ad terms
• Managing ads in 5 simple steps
  • Training
  • Get familiar with Facebook Business Manager
  • Get organized
  • Focus on a niche and find new clients
  • Look for additional support
• The bottom line for managing Facebook ads

Key Facebook Ad Terms

To help you with some of the concepts discussed in this article, here are a few key terms to learn.

Ad account: Ad account refers to all the activity for your Facebook ads. This includes the various campaigns you’re running as well as billing information. 

Business Manager: Business Manager is going to be your tool of the trade when you’re running ads for clients on Facebook. Think of it as the central hub where you can find all your clients and their information. 

Business Manager is designed for two different types of groups: 

• Companies with a lot of moving parts in the background need to provide permissions to several different people. 
• People who work with numerous businesses and need permissions from multiple clients. 

Business Manager allows you to keep all of your clients separate, which includes separate billing information, ad data, pages, and more.

Facebook Ads Manager: The Facebook Ads Manager tool is located within Business Manager. Once you’ve created an ad account for a business, it will be your bread and butter for running advertisements for a client or for yourself.

The pixel: Facebook has a very useful snippet of code you can post on websites outside of Facebook. This is called the pixel. The pixel tracks activity on your site and can be customized for specific events, like “left cart” and “got to purchase page.” 

The data gathered by the pixel is then used to fine-tune your Facebook ads. It also takes out some of the guesswork Facebook has to do when it’s trying to bid on ad space for you. In theory, this should optimize your spending and targeting.

You do not have to install pixel to actually run the ads, but it’s strongly suggested you take advantage of this tool. The pixel basically creates free data for you to use so that your ads are more relevant and cheaper to run. Facebook’s help file on the pixel is useful for getting started. 

Business Manager navigation bar: The navbar is the main way you switch between clients, businesses, ad accounts, pages, and settings (which includes payment information). This is also where you find reports and see more in-depth information to help guide better-performing ads. 

The navbar is definitely an area you want to pay attention to, and it’s worth spending time getting familiar with it. Don’t worry, as long as you don’t change anything, you won’t break anything!

Managing Facebook Ads in 5 Simple Steps

Now you are aware of some common terms you’ll see throughout the Facebook ad program. It’s time to get started and use these powerful tools for your very own clients. 

#1. Training

Training is an essential part of the process. By taking some time upfront and not jumping in completely head first, you’ll save yourself the frustration and wasted time in the long run. 

At the very least, go through the training materials provided by Facebook for Facebook advertisers.

If you really want to invest in a training program where you hit the ground running a little faster, then our Facebook Side Hustle Course is a great option. 

Think about it this way: you’re going to make mistakes (everyone does). Training upfront will help you avoid the worst of the worst mistakes. Training might help you avoid the mistakes that end up costing you (or worse, a client) money. 

Tips for Getting the Most out of Facebook Ad Training

• Ads: The Ads section is huge and comprehensive. Start at the top and work your way down. If you are short on time or just feeling a little curious, read the Lead Generation, Placement, Reach, and Audiences sections. 
• Fundamentals: Read all of the sections in the Fundamentals area, but start with their Beginner’s Guide. This is even a great place for experienced ads managers to learn something new.
• Optimization: The Optimization section might stump you a little, but it’s all very important. Knowing how to respond when an ad is underperforming or increase the success of good ones is key in managing Facebook ads. This is the core of becoming a good Facebook ads manager. This section goes over bid strategies, how ads are delivered, and even has a useful troubleshooting section.
• Pixel: The pixel information is definitely worth reading (I think we mentioned this already?)

Whether you take the Facebook Side Hustle Course (psst – it’s way easier than reading all of this information), a different course or you actually put on your reading glasses and review the Facebook information, there are training resources available. Take advantage of them. 

#2. Get Familiar with Facebook Business Manager

You will need to get as comfortable with the Facebook Business Manager as possible. Not only does this work for you, but it will be vitally important when you’re running ads for clients.

Step One: Create your Business Manager account.

Head over to business.facebook.com to get started.

Step Two: Pull in your Facebook business page. Your business name should appear when you start typing. If you are doing this for a client, you will need to have them add you as an admin to the page.

Step Three: Add your Facebook account. You will need to add one account per business. 

Step Four: Setup Facebook Pixel through the Events Manager tab. This is not required for account setup, but it’s a great tool to take advantage of. It will track all the data about how users are interacting with your Facebook ads. It’s a wealth of information that’s too good not to use.

Step Five: Set up the security parameters for your ads. This is where you would add Two-Factor Authentication for Facebook ads. Keep in mind that this is particularly important when spending marketing dollars for your clients.

Step Six: Add your payment information. You will find this under “Account Settings” and then “Billing.” You will only be able to add this information for accounts you are granted admin access to. 

For detailed instructions on Facebook ad manager training, check out Your 7-Step Facebook Ad Manager Training Guide.

Managing Ads for Client

The first part is determining whether your client has their page in Business Manager or not. This is not the same as running boosts! 

Sometimes people think a page that has previously run boosts has set up the Business Manager function. This is not true. 

The easiest way to determine if your client has Business Manager or not is to ask this question:

Do you have to go to business.facebook.com to access your Facebook page?

If the answer is yes, then ask your client to add you. 

Protip: While Business Manager has multiple permissions on multiple assets (page and ad account, for example), it’s way, way easier for your client to just add you as an admin across the board by following these instructions:

1. Log in at business.manager.com and use the navbar to get to Business Manager Settings.
2. Go to the People tab.
3. Click the GIANT blue button “Add New People.”
4. Have them enter your email address.
5. Next to your email address, have them assign your email the role of Business Manager Admin.
6. Click save.

If the answer is no, you’ll need to teach them how to set up Business Manager. 

However, you should have a solid understanding of Business Manager yourself before trying to give someone else instructions. Otherwise, you will wind up running in circles a bit if your client is not tech-inclined.

Here’s the easiest way to teach your clients how to set up Business Manager:

1. Have the person who is going to be the first admin set up an account at business.facebook.com. Don’t do it for them with your profile! The best choice here is to let them set it up themselves. They can screen share with you, but don’t do it for them.
2. The setup prompts are easy to use. Have them enter their business info and follow the prompts.
3. Follow the instructions above once they have Business Manager.
4. Again, it’s best if they make you an admin. This means you can assign yourself assets (Facebook’s instructions can be found here) and create an ad account if you need to. 

Also, you’ll need them to enter their credit card information so that ad-spend comes out of their account (or your own, depending on how you set up the payment structure for business).

Yes, it might seem a little complicated. The learning curve is steep, but once you’ve figured it out, it will get easier. We promise.

#3. Get Organized

Once you decide to run Facebook ads for your business or for clients, you’ll be surprised about how demanding it can be (meant lovingly, of course). 

Staying on top of ads is going to be a constant priority. You’ll need to monitor performance, make sure you’re not neglecting anyone, in particular, and make sure ad-spend is on point — basically juggling a ton of balls in the air. 

To get and stay organized, start by asking yourself the following questions:

1. What do I need to get done every day?
2. What do I need to get done every week? (Do any of those tasks need to be addressed today?)
3. What do I need to get done today?

Make sure you designate certain days of your week for certain tasks. Maybe one day you write your reports and send them out. On a different day, perhaps you tweak issues. Or maybe you check your emails twice a day at certain hours. 

Whatever your process, define it and stick to it.

Many people get used to having their days defined for them because of typical 9-5 job stuff. But when you start running Facebook ads for other people and companies, you’re going to see you have to manage your own time. It takes getting used to.

For workflow management, Asana is a free, awesome tool for basic users. It’s actually what the Laptop Empires team uses, and you can read more about it here: Asana Review: Project Management For Your Online Business.

Trello is another free app designed to create a smooth workflow for your day, week, and general processes, like onboarding new clients.

Don’t neglect the organizational aspect of learning how to run Facebook ads for clients. You’ll want to set this up long before you think you need it.

(From HubSpot)

#4. Focus on a Niche and Find New Clients

If you want to run Facebook ads for other companies, then this should be pretty obvious. However, it must be said. You need clients to make money, and you need to make money to keep getting more clients. 

There are a couple of ways to do this, and one of the first ideas is to start asking around in your inner circle to see if anyone might need your assistance. You’ll probably be surprised at who pops up! 

But, this next part is going to be even more important… 

Choosing a Niche

There are a ton of businesses out there, and certainly ones that need your help, but narrowing down your expertise is the key to standing out. Although all ads are basically the same, certain things work for certain industries. 

An ad for a new book isn’t going to be the same or have the same information as an ad for a dentist, but Facebook ads work well for both types of clients.

For example, a veterinarian office looking for new canine patients and one looking for feline patients won’t necessarily have the same kind of ad, even if you could argue they fall into the same niche. 

Psychology Today talks a little about the personality difference between cat and dog owners. Personality differences often mean that different offers work on different people. 

If there’s a big difference between cat and dog owners and the offers you would run for a vet’s office, then imagine the difference between trying to sell a book (a product) vs. trying to sell a message (a service).

Spoiler: The difference is astronomical, and the more narrow your niche, the more likely you’ll know how to nail ads for your clients — which means more money in your pocket. 

This is such an important step that we chose to focus on it in our Facebook Side Hustle course. But, if you’re just learning how to run Facebook ads and aren’t sure which direction to head in, choose a few niches and see what you like best. Play around to see what works for you.

How to Acquire Clients

Figuring out how to land new clients is one of the questions we are most often asked, but truthfully, it may be easier than you think. 

• Talk to people you know. Publish a few posts on Facebook telling your friends and acquaintances you’re looking for clients. You might be surprised who pops up or knows someone who could use your help. Your inner circle wants the best for you, and they’ll often do what they can to see you succeed, making them the best folks to call on.
• Network with people in your niche. Do you want to run ads for massage therapists? Find yourself some groups of massage therapists and see if they might be interested in partnering. This works really well for all sorts of niches.
• Your local chamber of commerce. Often, local chambers are swimming in potential clients. These close-knit groups often depend on each other for work first before looking outside of the group, even if they don’t know you. See what your chamber has to offer.

#5. Look for Additional Support

This may be tough to hear, but —

You can’t do it by yourself. 

You might be tempted to try, but it’s a lot of work. Learning to run Facebook ads while managing your workload and the rest of your life can feel like a lot when you’re not surrounded by people working at the same thing. 

So, find your tribe and dig in.

With the Facebook Side Hustle Course, you’ll be invited to join a group of pretty amazing people to help keep you in check, answer your questions, laugh and cry with you (no, seriously – this happens). 

If you’re not in this side hustle group, here are a few other places to find support:

• Get a mentor. A mentor is someone who has been in your shoes and walked a couple of miles in them. They pass on sound advice which comes from similar experiences. A mentor can be a friend or a family member. But, more often than not, mentors come from your own efforts. If you admire someone, ask them to help you. 
• Find more people doing what you’re doing. Solopreneurs love talking to others who are doing the same thing. This is an incredibly beneficial relationship if you both have some advice to share. These tribes can be found on Facebook, Pinterest, online forums, and even in-person peer groups through websites like MeetUp. 

The Bottom Line for Managing Facebook Ads

There you have it — five steps to managing Facebook ads. Remember, you can get further into the details and prepare for your business even more by joining the waitlist for our Facebook Side Hustle course. 

Whether you choose to run Facebook ads to grow your own business or other small businesses, putting in the work upfront by learning these management tips will set you up for long-term success.