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Create your first ad in Meta Ads Manager (2026)

7 min read

What you’ll have at the end

One campaign in Meta Ads Manager with one ad set and one ad: an objective, a budget, the places and people it reaches, and an ad with your image, words and link. You'll also know what Meta asks for at payment. Nothing is published, and you stop before Meta asks for payment details.

Before you start

You’ll need

  • A Facebook account
  • A Facebook Page for your business, or an admin, editor or advertiser role on one
  • One image for the ad
  • The web page people should land on

What it costs. Building an ad and leaving it as a draft costs nothing. Once an ad is published, Meta charges for it within the budget you set; how you pay depends on the first payment method you add.

Step 23 spends money. Each is marked, and whether to go ahead is your decision.

Every Facebook account comes with an ad account, so you don't need to create one. Ads appear in the name of a Facebook Page, so you need a Page for your business, or an admin, editor or advertiser role on someone else's Page.

Please have one image ready and the address of the page people should land on.

Meta asks for a payment method before your first ad can be published. This guide explains that step in step 23 and stops there.

Steps

  1. 1. Open Meta Ads Manager

    Open Meta Ads Manager in a browser on a computer and sign in with your Facebook account. If you have only one ad account, Meta selects it for you.

    If you're new to advertising, the Account overview page may guide you through setup first. Please follow it, and come back to these steps when you reach your campaigns.

  2. 2. Start a new campaign

    On the campaigns page, click + Create at the top left.

  3. 3. Choose a buying type

    If Meta asks for a buying type, choose Auction.

  4. 4. Choose an objective

    Choose the objective that matches what you want. The six are Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App promotion and Sales. To send people to your website, choose Traffic. Then click Continue.

  5. 5. Name the campaign

    Type a name you'll recognise in Campaign name, such as "Website visits – October".

  6. 6. Choose where the budget is set

    Choose Campaign budget or Ad set budget. With Campaign budget you enter the amount on this screen; with Ad set budget you enter it at the ad set in step 12.

  7. 7. Set the budget

    If you chose Campaign budget, choose Daily budget or Lifetime budget and enter the amount.

    A daily budget is an average, not a hard cap. Meta's budget help says some accounts may spend up to 75% over it on some days and less on others, and never more than seven times the daily budget in a week. A lifetime budget is a hard cap on the total.

  8. 8. Leave A/B test off

    A/B test compares versions of an ad after publishing. You can leave it off for a first ad.

  9. 9. Check Special Ad Categories

    Choose a Special Ad Category only if your ad is about housing, employment, financial products and services, social issues, elections or politics. Otherwise leave it unselected. Meta notes that ads for financial products and services need this category if the advertiser is in the United States or the ads are shown to people there.

  10. 10. Go to the ad set

    Click Next at the bottom right. This opens the ad set, where you choose who sees the ad, where it shows and when.

  11. 11. Choose the conversion location

    If you chose Traffic, choose Website as the place you want people to go. Other options include App, Messenger, WhatsApp, Calls and Instagram profile.

  12. 12. Set the ad set budget and schedule, if asked

    If you chose Ad set budget in step 6, enter the daily or lifetime budget here. The ad set also holds the start date, and an end date if you want one.

  13. 13. Choose locations

    In Audience, under Controls, hover over Locations and select Edit. Choose the places where people should see your ad, such as your city or country.

    Meta applies Advantage+ audience automatically where it's available. This lets Meta show your ad to people beyond the ones who match your choices. Meta says it won't go beyond your locations unless you select Reach more people likely to respond to your ads.

  14. 14. Narrow the audience, if you need to

    If your ad should only reach some people, for example adults over a certain age, select Further limit your audience (on some screens, Further limit the reach of your ads). Then set Age or Gender. You may need to untick Use as a suggestion for these limits to apply.

  15. 15. Choose placements

    Placements are where the ad appears, such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads. Meta recommends Advantage+ placements. You can also choose your own placements if you want the ad only in certain places. Your Facebook Page can stand in for an Instagram account, so you don't need one for Instagram placements.

  16. 16. Go to the ad

    Click Next to move to the ad.

  17. 17. Name the ad

    Type a name in Ad name, such as "Blue banner – Learn more".

  18. 18. Choose the identity

    In Identity, select the Facebook Page, and an Instagram account if you have one. The Page's name and picture appear with your ad.

  19. 19. Choose to create a new ad

    In Ad setup, choose Create ad. Then choose the format Single image or video.

  20. 20. Add your image

    In Ad creative, click Set up creative, select Image ad, and upload your image.

  21. 21. Write the ad and add your link

    Fill in the primary text (the main message), the headline and the description. Then enter the address of the page people should land on.

  22. 22. Preview the ad

    Turn on Ad preview to see how the ad looks in different places. Advanced preview shows every placement. Change anything that doesn't look right.

  23. 23. Stop before Publish: what happens at paymentSpends money

    This step spends money. Whether to go ahead is your decision, and you’re welcome to stop here.

    You can pause screen sharing while you fill in this page, and continue afterwards.

    Before your first ad can be published, Meta asks you to add a payment method. This guide stops here, and the decision is yours.

    What Meta asks for at this point: - The payment method. Which ones you see depends on your account's country and currency: cards, PayPal, direct debit in some countries, and local methods such as UPI in some countries. - What the first method sets up. Meta's payment options page says that a card or PayPal, where your bank supports recurring payments, sets the ad account up for automatic payments. Other first methods, including local ones such as UPI, set it up for available funds, which means you add money to the account before ads run. Meta says you may be locked into the setting your first method chooses. - Agreement to Meta's terms. Clicking Publish means agreeing to Meta's Terms of Service, Commercial Terms, Self-Serve Ad Terms, Business Tools Terms and Advertising Standards.

    After Publish, Meta reviews the ad against its Advertising Standards before it runs. Meta's publishing help says the review typically takes up to 24 hours.

    If you're not ready, close the ad creation flow instead. Meta saves your work as a draft, and you can come back to it later.

If something looks different

  • Meta says the options during campaign creation vary by account type, buying type and objective. You may see fewer options than described here, or more.
  • Some accounts open a "campaign score" or recommendations panel on the right. It is optional.
  • A new ad account may not have every advertising feature straight away; Meta shows what you can use in Business Support Home.
  • If Meta asks you to add a payment method earlier than step 23, that is the same decision. You can stop there and keep what you've built as a draft.

Would you rather learn Meta Ads Manager properly? There’s a free six-session course.

Related guides

Sources

Alongrail isn't affiliated with Meta.