Launch your first Meta campaign

Click-by-click to launch your first lead campaign in Meta Ads Manager (Facebook/Instagram). This is where beginners freeze — follow it in order and you'll have live ads pointing at your funnel.

Heads up: Meta's UI changes often. Labels may differ, but the structure (Campaign → Ad Set → Ad) is stable.

Step 0 — Prerequisites

• A Facebook Business Manager (business.facebook.com) + an ad account + a Facebook Page.
• Your funnel URL live (earlier guide).
• A payment method added.

Step 1 — Install the Meta Pixel on your funnel

1. Business Manager → Events Manager → Connect data source → Web → Meta Pixel → name it, copy the Pixel ID.
2. Paste the pixel into your funnel builder (Heyflow/Carrd → tracking/integrations field), or via Google Tag Manager.
3. Set up a Lead event on the thank-you screen so Meta can optimize for leads.

Step 2 — Create the campaign

1. Ads Manager → Create → objective Leads.
2. Name it (e.g. "Solar – US – Leads – Test").
3. Leave Advantage campaign budget off for now (set budget at ad-set level for control).

Step 3 — Set up the ad set

1. Conversion location: Website (your funnel) → select your Pixel + the Lead event. (Or "Instant form" to use Meta's native lead form.)
2. Budget: start with a modest daily budget you can afford to learn with.
3. Audience: set location (your target country/region) and age/gender if the niche skews; otherwise keep it broad and let Meta optimize.
4. Placements: Advantage+ (automatic) is fine to start.

Step 4 — Build the ad

1. Pick your Facebook Page.
2. Upload 2–3 creatives (image or short video) with different hooks — test angles, not 20 variations.
3. Primary text = the offer + a reason to act; headline = the promise ("Free solar quote").
4. Destination = your funnel URL. Double-check it's the live link.

Step 5 — Publish & read results

1. Hit Publish (it'll go through review — usually minutes to a few hours).
2. Give it a few days + enough budget before judging.
3. Watch cost per lead (CPL) and lead quality. Kill losing creatives, scale winners.
4. Your per-lead price to the buyer must comfortably exceed CPL (see Module 5 → Pricing).

De-risk it: agree a small test batch and charge the buyer upfront — their prepayment funds this ad spend, so you're testing with their money, not yours.

Next: get those leads to the buyer instantly — lead delivery setup.