Let’s be honest!

Facebook advertising may seem to be “old school” compared to new platforms like TikTok or YouTube shorts. 

But if you’re a small business in Nepal trying to obtain real leads, real sales and real outcomes, this Facebook ads guide is the most important thing you’re going to read today.

Here’s why:

• Facebook ads reach 62% of the world’s internet population.

• Facebook ads still have one of the highest return on investment across all digital platforms.

• Users in Nepal spend 2-3 hours per day on Meta platforms.

• Cost per click is still low in Nepal, especially compared to Google Ads.

In 2025, it is no longer about whoever has the biggest budget. 

It’s about whoever understands the algorithm and takes action based on insight.

This Facebook ads guide is designed to ensure that you are doing those things – mastering digital marketing strategy of paid advertising with Meta with simple, actionable steps, real case studies and insider tools tailored for Nepali brands.

Whether you are:

• An ecommerce seller in Kathmandu

• A service business in Pokhara

• A startup in Bhaktapur that wants to build brand awareness,

You will get absolute clarity and an action plan to start, scale and succeed with Facebook ads.

Are you ready to go from just boosting random posts to actually mastering Facebook ads?

Let’s go!

Define Your Facebook Ad Goals Before You Begin

Many advertisers will fail at Facebook ads before they even get started.

Why?

Because they skip the first (and most important) step: determining an objective.

In this part of our Facebook ad guide, we are going to help you align your business goals to Meta ad objectives, so you never waste money chasing vanity metrics.

Set Specific and Measurable Goals for Success

Before you press that “Create Ad” button, stop and ask yourself:

“What do I really want this ad to achieve for my business?”

In this Facebook ads guide for beginners, we recommend the first step, to focus on S.M.A.R.T. goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Here’s how you can match your business goal with the right Facebook ad objective:

Type of Business	Facebook Ad Objectives	Suggested KPI
Local restaurant	Get more booking	Number of leads via messenger or call
Ecommerce brand	Move specific product kits	ROAS, Conversion rate
Education Consultancy	Attract student inquiries	Cost per lead, Form submissions

Just pick one clear objective and make sure you can measure it.

Do you want leads?

Easy, measure lead form fills！

What about sales?

Track actual purchases.

Map Business KPIs to Facebook Campaign Objectives

The guide on Facebook ads has only one job – to keep you from getting misaligned.

The amount of advertisers in Nepal who choose the wrong campaign objective and then wonder why nothing converts is a little alarming.

Here’s how Meta Ads Manager lays things out:

• Awareness – For the most reach or for brand launches. 

• Traffic -Take a user to your site, app or Messenger.

• Engagement – Helps get you more likes, shares, comments or messages.

• Leads – Getting email signups or having people fill your lead forms.

• Sales – Means getting conversions on your website or catalog. 

• App Promotion – Getting more installs or more app events.

Mistake to avoid: Don’t select “Traffic” when your true aim is “Sales”. 

You will get a lot of visits but no purchases. 

Matching your Facebook ad objective to your real-world business KPI is what separates high ROI campaigns from cash-burning disasters.

Facebook ads insight: If you’re a new business, choose “Leads” or “Engagement” to start establishing a warm audience before you spend “Sales” advertising, which will build trust and then lower your cost per acquisition.

What Types of Facebook Ads Work Best in 2025?

After you’ve established a clear objective, your next decision in Meta Ads Manager is which Facebook ad format to choose.

This isn’t about how creative an ad is for the sake of creativity.

It’s about the ad format matching the goal, audience and device behavior.

This section of the Facebook ads guide discusses the relative top-performing formats we use for clients at eLance and the optimal formats for small businesses in Nepal.

Let’s take a look at Facebook ad types that work amazingly:

Image Ads – Straightforward and Simple

If you’re looking to generate quick clicks with minimal work, image ads are your best option. 

Why they work: 

• They are easy to create (even using Canva or with your camera phone).

• They can perform very well for businesses, when you include strong CTAs and bold designs.

• Great for product promotions, events and announcements

A real use case can be: A clothing boutique in Lalitpur advertising a Dashain discount with bright color and clear image of their best seller + “Shop Now” CTA. 

Pro Tip: Make sure your image has less than 20% text as Facebook loves clean images. 

Video Ads – Build Emotion and Get Engagement

Short-form video is KING in 2025.

So, you can create Facebook video ads which are ideal for:

• Storytelling (Why your brand is in business)

• Product explainers (How it works)

• Before and after transformations

Pro tip: Keep your video’s under 30 seconds. Always include captions as most social media users scroll with the sound turned off. 

Example: A salon in Kathmandu shows a quick 15-second time lapse of one hair transformation video with soft music followed by a “Book Your Look” CTA.

Carousel & Collection Ads – To Show Many Products 

If you have many more than one offer, then carousel or collection ads allow you to show multiple products in a scrollable format. 

• Carousel = horizontally swiped (up to 10 cards) 

• Collection = mobile first, featuring video/image + grid of products

An ecommerce brand selling herbal products in Nepal can run a carousel ad with 5 products with each being a CTA like “Buy” or “Learn More.” 

Story & Reels Ads – Native to Mobile

With more than 90% of Facebook’s traffic coming from mobile devices, story and reel ads are essential.

Think of them like full-screen vertical ads.

They integrate into the scroll, allowing for greater attention and low-resistance conversions.

Example: A food delivery startup runs a delicious looking 6-second reel of momo delivery with “Hungry? Tap to order!” on the screen.

The creative tips are:

• Vertical 9:16 ratio

• Make text large and mobile-friendly

• Display CTA’s early, such as “Swipe Up” or “Order Now.”

Step-by-Step Setup: Facebook Ads Guide for Beginners in 2025

You don’t have to have a large budget in order to be successful on Facebook. 

What you need is the proper setup and that is where many beginners go wrong. 

Before you get into ads that convert, you need to set the stage. 

Think of this as setting up a high-performance kitchen: an incorrect layout, wrong tools or skipped steps? 

You will ruin the dish (and your ad spend). 

This section of our beginner guide of Facebook ads will help you through the exact steps to take you from zero to launch-ready.

No jargon. No guesswork. 

Just actionable steps you can take, even if you’ve never run a single campaign before.

Let’s understand how to set up your first Facebook ad campaign:

Step 1: Create Your Meta Business Suite Account

To run ads on Facebook you’ll need a Meta Business Suite account, not just a Facebook profile.

So, head to business.facebook.com and set up your Business Suite account. 

Here’s what it does:

• Connects your Facebook Page, Instagram profile and WhatsApp

• Access to Meta Ads Manager

• Enables you to control your ads, your team roles and payment all in one dashboard

Make sure you add your business name and logo right away. 

This promises brand consistency across placements, showcasing the importance of branding.

Step 2:  Add Payment Method and Assign Access Roles

Once your account is activated, go to:

Business Settings → Payments → Add Method

You may choose:

• Debit/Credit Card (International)

• PayPal (via card assigned)

• Nepali Dollar Card

Next you can assign access roles:

• Admin: Full right

• Advertiser: Can create/edit campaigns

• Analyst: Can only see reports

Making sure that you have proper billing set up and access roles is critical if you plan on tracking performance, especially if you are trying to manage the same account in social media services with multiple team members.

Step 3: Select the Right Campaign Objective

This is one of the most important decisions in this whole Facebook ads guide.

Meta allows for 6 objectives now:

• Awareness: Brand awareness.

• Traffic: To direct visitors to a site, page or app.

• Engagement: To get likes, comments, shares.

• Leads: For form submission or contact information.

• Sales: For conversions and purchases.

• App promotion: For downloads and use.

If your objective is vague (like, “I just want more visibility”), then your results will be vague too.

Example for Nepal: If a hotel in Pokhara wants booking inquiries over Messenger, then they should select “Leads” with a Messenger CTA, not “Engagement”.

Don’t fall for the beginner trap of selecting “Traffic” just because it sounds cool. It may waste your budget quickly.

Facebook ad insight: Most commonly, ads fail because the wrong objective is chosen. Avoid that. If you do, you’ve already beaten 70% of marketers.

Step 4: Set Audience, Budget, Placement & Schedule

This is the engine room of your ad campaign, this is where you define:

• Who sees your ad (target audience)

• Where they see it (placements)

• How much it will cost (budget)

• When it runs (schedule)

Choose your target audience based on: 

• Location (i.e. Kathmandu, Butwal or radius targeting)

• Audience targeting age & gender (i.e 18–35, Male for Men’s Saloon)

• Audience targeting interests (i.e. Fashion, Trekking, IELTS prep)

• Audience targeting behaviors (Page admins, frequent shoppers, expats)

Advanced Options:

• Custom Audiences: Re-targeting website visitors or engagers on IG

• Lookalike Audiences: Target users similar to people that have purchased in the past

• Advantage+ (AI Audiences): Meta optimizes the reach for your ads

Pro Tip from Elance: If you want to start, combine:

• One interest (i.e. “Hiking”).

• One location (Kathmandu Valley).

• Stay within low budgets (NPR 300–500/day) for testing.

As for budget & scheduling, you can choose to make:

• A daily budget: More control, start small and scale up.

• A lifetime budget: Good for promotions or events.

• Schedule: Run ads for a minimum of 5–7 days to collect good data.

Don’t be discouraged or panic if you don’t see results immediately. Facebook will take a minimum of 48-72 hours to complete their learning phase.

Step 5: Upload Creative, Finalize & Publish

This is where your ad becomes a reality.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Upload a great image or video with minimal text and ensure it’s mobile-friendly.

• Write your ad copy that converts using the hook, value and CTA approach

• Add your headline, description and CTA button (i.e. Learn More, Sign Up, Shop Now)

Creative Tips:

– Use bold colors and readable font

– Limit copy on images

– Use captions if you’re using video (many watch with no sound)

Pro Tip: Test 2–3 variations of both copy and creative. Utilize A/B Testing to see which performs the best 

Once everything looks good → Preview → Publish

Congratulations! You have officially set up your first campaign with Meta Ads Manager.

Now, let’s make sure it gets in front of the right audience.

Complete Facebook Ad Targeting Guide for Precise Reach

Core Targeting – Interests, Behaviors & Demographics

Core targeting is the foundation of most entry-level Facebook campaigns.

It allows you to create audiences based on real-life characteristics and behaviors.

Here is what you can target:  

Targeting Option	What It Is
Demographics	Age, gender, relationship status, education level
Interests	Pages liked, communities followed (e.g., travel, cooking, finance)
Behaviors	Purchasing habits, travellers, device used, expats
Language + Location	Target particular geographic areas or language groups

Example: A Nepali food delivery startup targets people aged 18–35 in Kathmandu with interests in “home-cooked meals,” “Nepalese restaurants” and Android device users.

Pro Tip: Use 3–4 filters (e.g., interest + behavior + geo) together for hyper-relevant reach and lower costs on advertising.  

Custom Audiences – Retarget Website Visitors, Email Lists

Have you ever visited a website and then saw its ad on Facebook 10 minutes later? 

That is called retargeting and it is like magic.

With Custom Audiences, you can target:  

• Website visitors (with Meta Pixel)  

• People who added items to their cart but never bought anything   

• Social platforms engagers (likes, DMs, saves)  

• Your customer list (email/phone numbers)  

• Facebook video viewers (e.g., watched >50%) 

Retargeting ad campaigns typically convert 3-7x better than cold traffic ads!  

Lookalike Audiences – Find Similar Potential Audience Who Are Closest To Your Content

After you have a source audience (like a customer list or a list of people who visit your website), Facebook’s AI will then find audiences that are similar to your original audience. 

What are Lookalike audiences used for? 

Source	Lookalike Use Case
Customers who have clicked and purchased	Find people that have similar interests/consuming/spending patterns
People that filled out specific forms	Expanding your lead gen without wasting budgets
Website visitors	Expand the amount of traffic while still maintaining CTRs

An example of this is a D2C brand that sells skincare products within Nepal created a lookalike audience based on the purchasers of their best-selling face cream. 

What did they achieve? 

• They saw a 47% increase in CTR and their cost per click was half the price they previously had spent.

Pro tip: Start with 1% lookalikes (who would be the closest match for you), then you can test some larger lookalikes 2-5% to scale later. 

If you are in a competitive niche (or vertical), you can combine your lookalikes with interest filters targeting.

Geo-Targeting – Ads for Local Businesses in Nepal

Facebook’s geographic targeting allows you to reach customers based on:

• Country

• Province (i.e. Bagmati)

• City (i.e. Kathmandu, Biratnagar)

• Pin Code radius (i.e. within 5 km of Baneshwor)

Why is this important?

Because not every offer is built for a nationwide audience.

We can also combine geo-targeting with behavioral targeting to get a wider audience.

Writing High-Converting Ad Copy & Visuals

Let’s be honest, your ad won’t convert no matter how targeted it is, unless the ad copy and visuals are spot on.

You’re not just competing with opposing ads, you’re up against memes, reels, status updates and endless scrolling.

That’s why for you to really conquer Facebook ads, you need to know how to stop the scroll, create desire and get clicks quickly.

This part of the Facebook ads guide covers how to shift impressions into action.

Whether you’re a digital marketing agency in Nepal, a local boutique or an ecommerce startup, great creatives will make the difference.

Here is some ways to write high-converting ad copy:

Use the Hook-Story-Offer Formula

Want to engage strangers in under 3 seconds?

Use the formula top performing brands love:

HOOK → STORY → OFFER

Part	What It Does
Hook	Grabs attention (question, bold claim or problem)
Story	Create emotion, connection or curiosity
Offer	Provides clear value with a CTA

Here is an example for a local fitness brand:

Hook: “Still hiding your belly with that hoodie?” 

Story: “In just 12 weeks, we’ve helped more than 1,400 people in Kathmandu lose 10kg or more and feel great about themselves.”

Offer: “Book your free consultation now.”

Design for Mobile First – Always

More than 90% of Facebook users are on mobile.

If your visual is not going to be optimized for mobile, you are leaving money on the table.

Below are some tips for obvious engages:

• Use bold colours with contrasting backgrounds

• Keep your visuals in the brighter, clean and simple

• Use any motion elements (GIFs, Reels or animations)

Don’t put too much text in the design as Meta will limit your reach if your image is 20%+ with text.

Most of the time, users are watching videos without sound, so you should always add subtitles.

Pro Tip: Test square (1:1) and vertical (4:5 or 9:16) as these sizes perform better in feeds and stories.

Write Click-Worthy Headlines & CTA Buttons

Your headline and button are the final touch point.

Weak headlines means no clicks!

Your phrases should be benefit driven or curiosity focused:

• Grab Your Free Guide

• Transform Your Skin in 7 Days

• Book Your Free Call Today

• Start Your Free Trial – No Credit Card Required

Avoid using generic CTAs like “Click Here” or “Learn More” unless you’re testing against available A/B variants.

A good practice would be to work with a CTA paired with an emotionally grounded headline that reflects the tone of the brand.

This will build brand recall and create emphasis on the importance of branding at all touch points.

Budgeting & Bidding – What You Need to Know

You’ve got the ad. You’ve got the audience. 

But without a smart budgeting strategy you’ll overspend or underperform.

In this section you will learn the best way to manage your budget, whether you are creating your first ad or are an agency wanting to scale.

We’ll look at CPC, CPM and ROAS bidding models and how to identify which model to choose depending on your objectives.

Understanding and implementing the correct bidding model will be critical to your success with Facebook Ads, especially in competitive markets such as Nepal, where simply changing the budget by a few rupees can yield different results.

CPC vs. CPM vs. ROAS – Which Model Should be Chosen

Here it is, a breakdown of the bidding models in Facebook that should provide a simple overview: 

Model	What it Means	Best Suited For
CPC	Cost per click	Lead generation and website visits
CPM	Cost per 1000 impressions	Brand awareness and visibility
ROAS	Return on ad spend	E-commerce and revenue goals

For example, a digital marketing agency in Nepal might use CPC to run lead-generation campaigns while also using ROAS when selling digital products.

Manual vs. Automatic Bidding – Pros and Cons

Option	Advantages	Disadvantages
Automatic Bidding	Facebook optimizes for best results	Less Control
Manual Bidding	You can set your bid limits	Higher learning curve, risk of overspend

For the beginner, automatic bidding is your friend.

Automatic bidding allows Facebook to find and develop the best opportunities within your daily or lifetime budget. 

But once you are confident, manual bidding allows you to control cost-per-result, which is essential for sustainable profit scaling.

Start Small, Scale Smart – Budget Testing Strategy

Don’t go overboard with your total budget on Day 1. 

Start small, $5–$10 per day will be more than sufficient to test a few different creatives and audiences. 

Smart Scaling Formula: 

• Run 3–4 ad sets with different creatives 

• Monitor CPC, CTR and ROAS after 3 days 

• Stop low performers and scale winners by increasing the budget by 20–30% every few days 

This is how complete Facebook ad targeting guides suggest scaling without putting the algorithm into a re-learning mode.

Understanding Facebook’s Ad Approval & Review Process

Every ad must undergo an internal review by Meta before you see your ad on someone’s screen.

The internal review ensures that your campaigns comply with the advertising policies outlined by Facebook and protects users & advertisers alike.

Many beginners create fantastic campaigns but get stuck at this checkpost.

Whether you are new to online advertising or on your way to mastering Facebook ads, knowing this step is very important to keep your campaigns running without delay.

In this section of our Facebook ads guide for beginners, you will be given a useful overview of the ad approval process to avoid delays in your launch.

Reason For Ad Review Rejections

Here are some common reasons your ad may get rejected:

• Too much text in an image – images must have less than 20% text.

• Misleading claims – exaggerated claims such as “Get rich in 1 day.” are not acceptable.

• Restricted content – for example, before & after images of health products.

• Non-functional landing page – ads that lead to a broken landing page or a page that takes too long to load can trigger an ad rejection.

Tips to Ensure Fast Ad Approvals

Want to get the green light quickly? 

Here’s your checklist:

• Follow Facebook’s ad policies [link to official doc if applicable]

• Use professional visuals

• Only use real brand names with permission

• Avoid false urgency in ad copy

• Ensure your website complies with Meta’s privacy and data policies

Pro Tip: Use Meta’s Ad Preview Tool to get a preview of how your ad will look on Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network before you submit it.

Setting a tone of consistent trustworthiness in messaging and compliance with policies is not just best practice, but is digital marketing essential.

A/B Testing and Optimization – Turn Data into Revenue

After hours spent creating your Facebook ad, writing the best caption you could think of and selecting a perfect image, you launch the campaign…and wait. 

But how can you say for sure if it is the best version possible to launch?

This is where A/B testing on Facebook ads comes into play, which is also called split testing.

A/B testing will let you compare different versions of your ad by only changing one thing at a time – so you can see what actually worked and what didn’t. 

Because it is going to be like an experiment, but also a key part to master Facebook ads.

Let’s simplify it for beginners, step by step.

Test One Element at a Time – Headline, CTA, Image

Don’t change everything all at once.

Then you won’t ever know what made the difference.

Just one variable to start with. For example:

Elements	Test Ideas
Headline	“Buy 1 Get 1 Free” vs. “Limited Time Offer!”
Image	Product on a white background vs. Lifestyle Photo
CTA Button	“Learn More” vs. “Shop Now”

Let’s take an example:

A clothing retailer in Kathmandu runs two ads.

The first ad has a bright photo of a product with a “Buy Now” CTA. 

The second ad uses a lifestyle image with “Explore Collection.”

After one week, the second ad had 3x as many clicks as the first one.

This is the power of A/B testing Facebook ads.

Run Split Tests from Ads Manager Easily

Meta Ads Manager features a built-in A/B test tool so you don’t have to rely on third party apps or have coding skills.

Here’s how:

• Visit Ads Manager and create a campaign as normal.

• Once you finish creating the campaign, click on the A/B Test in the top toolbar.

• You can select what you want to test, any of the following variables (creative, audience, placement).

• Facebook will divide your audience and run both variations.

• Once finished, you will receive a performance comparison to see which ad worked better.

Pro tip: Make sure you A/B test over a period of 5-7 days so that you receive enough data on the ads. 

Testing for too short of a time period may lead you to draw misleading conclusions.

Analyze Results Weekly and Pivot Quickly

Running A/B tests without the analysis is like baking a cake and not tasting it. 

When analyzing, you will want to consider these most important metrics to Facebook ad performance: 

• CTR (Click-Through Rate): Are people clicking your ad? 

• CPC (Cost Per Click): Are you paying too much for those clicks? 

• CPA (Cost Per Action): Are your leads or purchases affordable? 

• ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): Is your ad making more than it’s costing?

Every week, review your “top” metrics. 

You want to turn off what isn’t working and invest more into what is. 

This is where Facebook ad experiments become dependable revenue.

Facebook ads insight: Cheaper is not always better. 

Sometimes, an ad with a higher CPC with fewer total clicks has more conversions because the quality of the clicks is better.

Automated Ads & Meta Advantage+ Campaigns

When it comes to Facebook advertising, marketing automation is a necessity. 

You must automate if you want to get a competitive advantage. 

Facebook automated ads allow you to run optimized campaigns without a lot of technical knowledge, whether you are a small or big brand.

Tools such as Meta Advantage+ can help you streamline setup and assistance using artificial intelligence to get the most out of your campaign.

Let’s look at how automation works, what business types should use it and when to choose manual operation.

What Are Facebook Automated Ads and Who Should Use Them?

Facebook automated ads are advertisements created and optimized using artificial intelligence, offering limited customizable to make ad creation easy for beginner’s marketers.

You don’t even need constant human inputs for it. 

How it works:

• You provide basic assets you want to put into the campaign; i.e. images, text and ad goals.

• Facebook will automatically create multiple variations of the ad and run tests.

• The Facebook system learns from user behaviors and improves the performance over time.

Good for:

• Getting first time advertisers up and running quickly.

• Local shop/brand that wants to explore digital marketing in Nepal.

• An ad manager who has a busy schedule and wants Meta to handle their Facebook ad optimization with minimal input.

For instance: If you’re managing a local clothing shop in KTM, you can:

1. Add three pictures of your best-selling outfits

2. Write multiple variations of headlines like, “Summer Styles”, “Limited Quantity Available” and “Nepali Styles on Sale”

3. Select “Get More Messages” as your goal

4. Specify the location in the Kathmandu Valley

5. Allow Facebook to optimize the best combinations to local users with an interest in fashion

As such, you’ll find a lot of value in setting up Facebook ads, especially for novices or busy entrepreneurs!

How to Implement Advantage+ Campaigns (Step-by-Step)

You can create an Advantage+ Shopping Campaign or an Advantage+ Lead Generation Campaign in Ads Manager:

To do that:

1. Open Meta Ads Manager

2. Select Sales or Leads for your campaign objective

3. Choose Advantage+ Campaign (Facebook will walk you through the journey)

4. Upload your creatives, then choose your country and daily budget

5. Facebook will do the segmentation, placements and optimization

This is a great way to scale fast, especially if you are an ecommerce store with a large number of products or customer types.

How Meta Advantage+ Uses AI for Campaign Optimization

Meta Advantage+ takes things to the next level by using AI campaign optimization.

These campaigns:

• Analyze real-time user signals that arrive

• Dynamically change ad delivery

• Optimizes toward conversions, even outside your target audience

For example, if someone in your target audience is browsing Instagram Reels, Advantage+ will automatically deliver the ad there even if you never thought of that.

Why it matters:

• You save hours of campaign setup time.

• Your Facebook ad performance gets better over time.

• It can still produce better results for you as a beginner.

When Not To Overuse Automation

But let’s be real: automation is not without its limits.

Do not fully rely on automation if:

• You’re running detailed campaigns and you need to manually control the audience

• You’d prefer to manually test creative elements (see: A/B testing with Facebook ads)

• You’re in a phase where advanced Facebook ads insight is part of your next learning objectives in the back-end of the platform.

Facebook Ads tip: Always pair automation with education.

Leverage automated ads to simplify delivery and keep learning how the system works behind the scenes.

This is how you transition from basic setups to mastering ads.

When Not To Overuse Automation

But let’s be real: automation is not without its limits.

Do not fully rely on automation if:

• You’re running detailed campaigns and you need to manually control the audience

• You’d prefer to manually test creative elements (see: A/B testing with Facebook ads)

• You’re in a phase where advanced Facebook ads insight is part of your next learning objectives in the back-end of the platform.

Facebook Ads tip: Always pair automation with education.

Leverage automated ads to simplify delivery and keep learning how the system works behind the scenes.

This is how you transition from basic setups to mastering ads.

Run Facebook Ads Across Instagram, Messenger & Audience Network

Facebook ads aren’t just on Facebook anymore. 

With Meta’s big tech advantage, ads can be viewed on the:

• Facebook News Feed & Reels

• Instagram Feed, Stories & Explore

• Messenger chat window

• Audience Network (apps and websites that have partnered with Meta)

This ability for cross-platform placement means you have better exposure and better results, without more work. 

Tailor Creative to Each Platform for Optimal Results

Each platform has a different format, tone and user behavior.  

That’s why running the same ads across all platforms can hurt your performance.

Here’s what you can do:

• Facebook Feed: Use image carousels, longer descriptions and a clear CTA like “Learn More” and “Shop Now”

• Instagram Reels: Composite vertical videos (15–30 sec) that are fast-paced with captions provided with no sound on

• Instagram Stories: Use text overlays, bold visuals and swipe-up CTA

• Messenger Ads: Use conversational CTAs like “Send Message” or “Ask a Question,” which invites users to take some free form of action

Pro Tip: Use Meta’s “Dynamic Creative,” which allows you to automatically resize, reformat and modify creatives for each platform!  

Instagram Reels vs. Facebook Feed vs. Messenger Ads

Let’s break it down:

Platform	Best For	Content Style
Instagram Reels	Brand awareness, product showcases	Short, vertical video
Facebook Feed	Engagement, education, product info	Images, carousels, long copy
Messenger	Lead generation, customer support	Direct interaction, Q&A

Select placements that align with your campaign goals and creative strength.

For example: Running a product promotion in Kathmandu? Use Instagram Reels + Feed combo.

Want people to contact your travel agency?  Focus on Messenger Ads + Feed.

Use Automatic Placements Instead of Manual Placements?

Facebook defaults to Automatic Placements which means that Meta decides where your ads will run based upon where it thinks they are going to be best performing.

Pros of Automatic Placements:

• Saves time

• Maximizes reach

• AI maximizes engagement by learning where your audience engages most

When to use Manual Placements:

• If you are testing only one format (e.g. Instagram Stories only)

• If your creatives are designed only for a specific platform

• If you are focusing on geo-targetings Nepal-specific platforms

Pro Tip: When starting a new campaign, begin with Automatic Placements. After enough Facebook ads insight, you can test Manual Placements for added optimization.

How To Optimize Facebook Ads For Mobile?

If you’re not designing for mobile-first, you may as well be designing to fail.

More than 98% of Facebook users scroll Facebook via mobile and the majority determine whether to stop or scroll in a matter of seconds.

So, if your ads are ugly or slow to load on mobile, you’re simply throwing money away.

Here’s how to make sure you’re mobile-optimizing every rupee of your ad budget, from your creative to your landing page.

Keep it Short, Vertical & Captioned

Facebook scrolling behavior on mobile is fast, so you have less than 2 seconds to make them care.

What works:

• Use vertical formatted ads (4:5 or 9:16) so that the video take up more screen space

• Keep your videos under 15 seconds – grab, present, offer, done

• Include captions as most of the time people scroll without sound

• Use bright colors, bold and buried text overlays and a clear offer

For example: A local clothing store in Pokhara can run a 10-second vertical video ad of a model twirling in a trending outfit with a quick text, “New Summer Drop – Tap to Shop!”

Speed Up Your Landing Page

Your ad might be the best, but if your landing page takes a long time to load or feels awkward on mobile, visitors will run out of there.

That’s why you should optimize for:

• Load time under 3 seconds

• Nice and clean mobile UX i.e. easy buttons, no pinching/zooming

• Short forms meaning add only what information is needed

• Consistent messaging where the page headline mirrors what the ad promised

Pro Tip: Test your page performance with Google PageSpeed Insights or Meta’s Mobile Speed Score.

Design for Thumbs, Not Mice

Responsive ad design is more than just resizing, it’s about making the ad easy to interact with on phones.

• The CTA buttons should be large and tap friendly

• Set the CTAs above the fold in the mobile view

• Don’t use tiny fonts or crammed layouts

• Make sure the image text is readable on smaller screens

Pro Tip: Use Meta’s Creative Hub mockups to see exactly how your ad will look on various devices.

By utilizing these mobile first best practices, you aren’t just improving performance, you are also making your ads watchable, clickable and profitable in a mobile first world.

Track and Analyze Your Facebook Ads Performance

To run Facebook ads without tracking is like driving with a blindfold on.

You are simply going to waste your budget without knowing what is working.

When it comes to learning Facebook ads, learning how to track, analyze and utilize your data in your campaigns is non-negotiable.

When you track FB ads performance, you are able to make changes in your campaigns and increase your ROI.

So let’s dive into what it looks like to set up tracking performance and what to look for.

Set Up Facebook Pixel + Conversions API

Facebook Pixel is a small piece of code that you implement on your website to track users after they click your ad.

It allows you to:

• Track sales, leads, form fills or any important action

• Create custom audiences based on the actions taken for retargeting

• Optimize ads for conversions not just clicks

Bonus: You should add the conversions API to capture server-side data as well when tracking in the browser is limited (like in iOS).

If you’re on Shopify or WordPress, both are plug and play.

If you have a custom website, you may need to hire a developer.

Monitor These KPIs: CTR, ROAS, CPA, Impressions

Simply boosting a post and praying for likes is not marketing, it’s gambling. 

That’s why you need to understand your metrics.

Here are the most important digital marketing metrics you need to track:

Metrics	What It Tells You
CTR (Click-Through Rate)	Is your ad engaging enough to get clicks?
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)	Are you bringing in higher returns than what you spent?
CPA (Cost Per Action)	How much are you paying per lead/sale?
Impression and Reach	How many people see your ad?

Compare performance across the creatives, audiences and placements that makes sense.

For example, if you run one ad variation with 3x ROAS and another with 0.7x ROAS, it’s obvious which one you should scale.

Use Google Analytics + Meta Insights Together

Facebook Ads Manager has some great in-platform reporting, but it doesn’t tell the entire story.

You can combine it with Google Analytics for meaningful insights:

• Learn how Facebook traffic behaves on your website

• Measure time on page, bounce rate, pages/session

• Understand multi-channel attribution (Was Facebook the first touch? Last touch?)

• UTM links for every ad you run, so you can easily track campaign performance inside GA.

With proper tracking in place, you’ll never guess again.

You’ll know what’s working, what’s not and importantly, what to do next to improve your Facebook ads.

Common Facebook Ads Mistakes

Even experienced marketers make these mistakes and for people new to Facebook advertising, it will slowly, yet surely drain your budget.

The earlier you can identify these Facebook advertising common mistakes, the easier it will be to avoid wasting your money and most importantly getting better outcomes from your ads. 

Knowing what you need to avoid is as important as knowing what works.

Let’s break down the advertising mistakes that lead to undesirable ad performance:

 Mistake 1: Too Broad Targeting with No Segmentation

If your targeting is far too broad, you can forget about finding your audience.

As an example, you could reach thousands of people with your ad, but if they are not your target audience it isn’t going to convert.

Example: advertising expensive high-end real estate to students is essentially wasted spend.

Solution: Targeting is very important; therefore, narrow your audience.

An option is using detailed interest, behaviour and location filters.

Targeted audiences should also be segmented based on type of buying intent, not only based on demographics.

Wondering how to get your target audience?

 Go back to our Facebook Ad Targeting Guide above.

Mistake 2: Not Testing Your Creatives

If you are not testing your visuals or your copy, you are losing out big time.

Little things, like a new CTA or slight color change to the background, can affect campaign performance.

Solution: Always do A/B testing but switch out only one item at a time (art, headline, CTA).

Facebook Ads Manager has a simple way where you can test and see what works.

This is tied to the importance of Facebook ad experiments and the ongoing learning it provides.

Mistake 3: Bad Landing Page Experience 

The clicks are only half the work.

If your landing page doesn’t perform, then you lose the lead.

Examples of a bad experience are:

• Page loads too slowly

• Pages not optimized for mobile devices

• Long forms

• Site content is off-topic or deceiving customers

Solution: Fast mobile-friendly pages matched with headlines and clear CTA.

Plus, it improves performance numbers like conversion rate, CTR and cost per result.

Mistake 4: Just Boosting Posts

Boosting is easy and that is the trap.

Boosting may get you some reach or engagement, but you are not in control.

You can’t set specific objectives, placements or run A/B tests.

Solution: Use Meta Ads Manager to have complete control of your campaigns, strategies and objectives. 

That’s how you leverage your Facebook ad strategy to meet real business objectives and not just vanity metrics.

 

Elance’s Facebook Ads Strategy – Designed for Conversion

At eLance, we do not just run ads at Elance, we do campaigns that sell.

We offer a methodical use of data, psychology and clever execution to provide measurable results in Nepal and beyond.

Let’s take you through our proven formula:

Research-Based Advertising Planning & Audience Mapping

Before we even write a headline, we research.

We get into customer personas, buyer journeys and behavioral insights.

There is no “one-size-fits-all”.

We hyper target our audience segmentation and our ads content correlates to user intent.

If you are wondering how to target the right audience, this is where it starts – with research not guessing.

Custom Creatives for Each Industry and Stage of the Funnel

Brand awareness needs emotion. 

Retargeting needs logic.

Lead generation needs urgency.

Our content strategy works within the sales funnel – every image, caption and call-to-action is specifically engineered to where your audience is in their journey.

Whether you are a real estate company based in Kathmandu or an e-commerce brand selling into Australia – we produce creatives that convert.

Budgeting Strategy + A/B Testing To Maximize ROI

We treat your budget as if it were our own.

That includes testing small while scaling big.

We A/B test the creatives, placements, headlines and audiences, using Facebook ad experiments along with real-time data.

We allow the data, instead of our opinions and negativity, to dictate the next decision, which increases your ROAS.

Monthly Reporting & Campaign Changes

You receive a transparent report every month — it’s not just numbers, you receive what that number means.

We back up how we promote your campaigns with Facebook ads insight, Meta reports and Google analytics to highlight what’s working well and what’s coming next.

Then we adjust, optimize and map out your next campaign.

That’s why Elance is recognized as a leading digital marketing agency in Nepal.

Conclusion

You’ve completed the journey from your first ad to advanced targeting, thumb-stopping creatives, mobile optimized and measuring real results.

This wasn’t just a Facebook ads guide, this was a guide to teach you:

• How to improve your results.

• How to target the right people.

• How to create value-first content that gets you clicks and sales 

• Mistakes to avoid that can burn through your budget.

You are now in a position to run campaigns that work for you whether you’re a small business owner or a scaling company.

But if you want to avoid trial and error..

Get Elance to manage your funnel with their performance first approach, detailed creative execution and transparent reporting.

Partner with Nepal’s most trusted social media service and results focused digital marketing agency and start your scaling journey with confidence.

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