Facebook and Instagram ads basics for Australian business owners
By Martin Soliman,
Facebook and Instagram ads let a business pay to show a message to chosen people on Meta's platforms. They can suit cafes, clinics, studios, boutiques, florists, gyms and consultants alike. Done with a plan, they support your website and your enquiries. Done without one, they can spend money quietly and show little for it. This guide covers the basics in plain English.
Start with one goal
Every ad needs a single job. Common jobs include getting enquiries, filling bookings, selling a product from your shop, or telling people nearby about a new opening or a seasonal offer. Pick one. Then ask what you want a person to do right after they see the ad. The ad tools will ask you to choose an objective, and the right choice is the one that matches that job.
Choose who sees it
You can usually choose where people are, their age range and their interests. For a local business, a sensible starting point is the suburbs or the area around your premises that you can realistically serve. Aim for an audience that is relevant but not so narrow that there is little room to learn what works. It also helps to decide whether the ad is for new people who have not heard of you, or for people who already know you, such as past customers.
Set a budget you are comfortable learning from
Ad spend is paid to Meta and is separate from anything you pay a person or company to set up and manage your ads. Choose a daily or total budget that you can afford to spend without worrying about it. Give the ad enough time to show a pattern instead of judging it after a single day. Hold off on raising the budget until you can see that the ad is leading to real enquiries, bookings or sales.
Make the ad clear
Use a real photo or a short video of what you actually offer, whether that is the food at your cafe, the rooms at your clinic, a finished arrangement from your florist or a class at your studio. Give the ad one message, one offer and one next step. Mention your suburb or area so the right people recognise it is for them. Be accurate about prices, dates and conditions, and only say what you can deliver.
Send people to a page that finishes the job
One of the most common ways ad money is wasted is sending people to a home page where they have to hunt for what the ad promised. Send them to the page that matches the ad: the booking page, the service page, the product page or an enquiry form. Check that page on your own phone, because many people will tap your ad on one. Make sure the next step is obvious and quick.
Replies matter too. A person who responds to an ad is interested right now, so enquiries from ads deserve a quick answer. A way to capture the details and respond promptly, including outside business hours, makes a real difference to how the spend is used.
Measure what matters
Likes and views are easy to see, but they are not the goal. Count the enquiries, bookings or sales you actually receive, and ask new customers how they found you so you can connect them to the ad. Review the results after a few weeks. Keep what works, and change one thing at a time, such as the photo, the headline or the audience, so you can tell what made the difference.
How Conciergia handles it
Conciergia is a done for you online system run by one provider. Facebook and Instagram ads are available as an add on to the rest of the system: a custom built website with unlimited pages and revisions, with hosting, maintenance, professional email, Google Business Profile and a logo included; Front Desk, which captures and qualifies enquiries and supports bookings; search, covering SEO, AEO and GEO with keyword research and articles; and social content that is planned, made, scheduled and published. The enquiries your site collects belong to you. Pricing is a one off setup fee plus a weekly plan, with no lock in, and you can cancel anytime. See the pricing page and send an enquiry if you would like to talk it through.