Set up your Facebook Page before running ads

Why the Page matters for an ad

Your ad runs under your Page’s name and picture. Many people tap that name to check you are real before they fill in a form or send a message. If they find an empty Page with an old logo and no address, they leave.

You don’t need hundreds of posts. You need a Page that answers the basic questions: who you are, where you are, when you are open, and what you sell.

What to fill in

Open your Page, go to the option to edit Page details, and check each of these. It takes under an hour.

Get the address right first. A customer who taps “Directions” and lands at the wrong lane will call you once, annoyed, and may not come at all.

• Name: the name on your shop board, spelt the way customers say it.
• Category: the closest match, like Bakery, Beauty Salon or Optician. It shows under your name.
• Profile picture: your logo or the shop front, clear even when shown small.
• Cover photo: the inside of the shop, your counter, your best products or your team.
• Address with the map pin in the right place, plus a landmark in the description, like “opposite Gandhi Park”.
• A phone number someone actually answers, and opening hours including the weekly holiday.
• A short description: what you sell, the areas you serve and whether you deliver.

Photos and a few posts

Add 10 to 15 real photos: the shop front so people can find it, the inside, your products, and you or your staff at work. Phone photos are fine if they are bright and in focus. Skip stock images, because people can tell and the Page starts to look fake.

Post a few times before the ad starts, for example a new product, a festival offer, or an order you delivered (with the customer’s permission). A Page that posted last week looks open for business.

Read the old reviews and comments too. If someone complained two years ago and nobody replied, write a short, polite reply now. New visitors from your ad will read it, and an answered complaint looks better than an ignored one.

Link WhatsApp Business and Instagram

A click-to-WhatsApp ad needs a WhatsApp Business number linked to the Page. Install the WhatsApp Business app on the shop phone, then open your Page settings, find Linked accounts, choose WhatsApp and enter the number. WhatsApp sends a code to that number to confirm it.

If the shop also has an Instagram account, connect it in the same Linked accounts section. People who find you on either app then see the same business, and you can keep an eye on messages from both.

Who should be admin

The Page should belong to the owner. Plenty of shops have a Page made years ago by a nephew, a former employee or a local agency, and the owner has no access to it. If that person leaves or loses their phone, the business loses its Page.

Check who has access in your Page settings. Give the owner full control, add one trusted second person like a partner or family member, and remove anyone who no longer works with you. Turn on two-factor authentication on the Facebook accounts that manage the Page.

To run ads with us, you log in with Facebook in the app and pick your Page. If someone else manages it, the app gives you a link to send them, and they can connect the Page from their own phone.

Questions