How to Set Up Your First Facebook Ad for a Store

A first store campaign takes four pieces of setup before the ad itself: a place for your ad account to live, a way to pay, a pixel so Meta can see purchases, and then one Sales campaign. Do them in that order. The campaign is the quick part, because Meta now starts most sales campaigns in its recommended Advantage+ setup, so your first decisions are budget, creative and the product page you send people to.

What do I need before my first Facebook ad?

Six things, most of which you set up once.

Meta’s own list of what you need before advertising in Ads Manager is shorter: a Facebook Page, or a role on someone else’s Page, and a valid payment method (How to create an ad account in Meta Ads Manager). The pixel is what makes a Sales campaign useful for a store, because without purchase events Meta cannot optimize for sales.

How do I create a business portfolio and ad account?

A business portfolio keeps your Pages, ad accounts and pixel together, and lets you add staff or an agency later without sharing your personal login.

1. Go to business.facebook.com, open the drop-down below Home and click Create a business portfolio.
2. Enter your public business name, your name and a business email, then click Create and confirm the email Meta sends.
3. Open Settings, select Accounts > Ad accounts, click + Add and choose Create a new ad account.
4. Enter the ad account name, time zone and currency, choose My business, accept the terms and click Create ad account.

Meta’s notes on these screens: you can personally create up to two business portfolios, a new portfolio can create one ad account until a campaign delivers and a payment is made (then three), and an ad account created inside a portfolio stays in it permanently (Create a business portfolio; Add an ad account to your business portfolio). Meta also says a new portfolio or ad account may not have every advertising feature at first; Business Support Home shows which features you can access and what to do to get more. Verification is covered in how do I verify my business in Meta Business Manager?

How do I add a payment method?

1. Open Billing and payments in Meta Business Suite.
2. Select your ad account under Accounts, then click Payment methods (or Payment settings if you have one account).
3. Click Add payment method, choose the type and follow the on-screen steps.

You need full control of the ad account in a portfolio, or admin permission otherwise (Add a payment method to an existing ad account).

How do I connect my store so Meta can see purchases?

On Shopify, the Facebook and Instagram by Meta sales channel installs the connection. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Sales channels, open the Shopify App Store, search for Facebook, click Add channel, then Start set up and Connect account, and connect your Meta assets (Shopify: Setting up Facebook and Instagram by Meta). Then choose a data-sharing level under Sales channels > Facebook & Instagram > Settings > Data sharing settings. Shopify’s Standard level uses the pixel only; Enhanced and Maximum add the Conversions API, which sends the purchase event server to server so browser ad blockers cannot stop it (Shopify: Facebook data sharing).

On other platforms, start in Events Manager: click Connect data, select Web, name the pixel, then enter your website URL to check for a partner integration (Set up and install the Meta pixel). Either way, confirm it works before you spend: visit your site, and a Page View event should appear in Events Manager with the pixel’s status set to Active (Best practices for Meta pixel setup). If events look wrong, the fixes are in how do I set up Meta Conversions API correctly?

How do I build the first Sales campaign in Ads Manager?

Meta says that when you choose the Sales objective, you see the Advantage+ setup, which applies AI across your campaign (About the Advantage+ campaign experience). For a first campaign, leave it on.

1. Open Ads Manager, click + Create, keep the Auction buying type, select Sales and click Continue.
2. Name the campaign, keep Campaign budget selected, choose Daily budget and enter the amount.
3. In the ad set, set the conversion location to Website and the conversion event to Purchase.
4. Leave Audience on Advantage+ audience, adding age or interests as suggestions rather than hard limits.
5. Leave Placements on Advantage+ placements; excluding any placement or device turns Advantage+ off for that section.
6. In the ad, select your Facebook Page and Instagram account under Identity.
7. Choose Create ad, then Single image or video, or Carousel to show several products.
8. Add your media, primary text, headline and the product page URL, then check Ad preview.
9. Click Publish.

Meta lists what switches Advantage+ off: several ad sets without campaign budget, an audience narrowed with the suggestion box unticked, or excluded placements. You can raise the minimum age up to 25 or exclude a custom audience and keep it on (What turns Advantage+ on and Advantage+ off). Meta’s ad-level steps, Identity then Ad setup with Create ad and a format, are shown in Create an ad with text generation and Troubleshoot the Connect an Instagram account error.

How much to put in step 2 is its own question, with Meta’s floors and the learning-phase arithmetic, in what is the minimum Facebook ads budget for ecommerce?

What happens after I click Publish?

The ad goes into review. Meta says review starts automatically, most ads are reviewed within 24 hours although some take longer, and you can see the ad’s status in the Delivery column of Ads Manager. If you believe an ad was rejected incorrectly, you can request another review in Business Support Home (About ads in review).

Once it is active, the ad set starts in the learning phase while Meta finds who buys. Give it time before you change targeting or creative, and read how many conversions does a Facebook ad set need to exit learning? before your first edit. When the campaign has run a few weeks, the Meta ads audit checklist shows what to check next.

Can software help?

Bach.ai (by Wittelsbach) connects to a Meta ad account, audits it daily, finds revenue leaks with an estimated revenue impact, and proposes fixes. On every plan, it applies a change on Meta only after you approve it.

FAQ

Do I need a business portfolio to run Facebook ads?

Meta’s setup guide asks only for a Facebook Page and a payment method, and new advertisers are guided through setup from the Account overview page in Ads Manager. A business portfolio is still worth creating first, because it holds your Page, ad account and pixel together and lets you add people without sharing a login.

Which objective should a store choose for its first campaign?

Sales. Meta describes it as the objective for reaching people most likely to make a purchase, such as through an e-commerce site, and you can optimize for other actions, such as adding to basket. Traffic or engagement objectives buy clicks or interactions, which is not what a store is paying for.

Can I run my first campaign without a pixel?

You can publish ads, but a Sales campaign cannot optimize for purchases Meta never sees. Meta notes that some performance goals need a pixel or SDK. Connect the pixel, through your store’s Meta channel or Events Manager, and confirm the Page View event shows as Active before you spend.

How long until my first Facebook ad starts running?

Meta says ads are reviewed automatically and most are reviewed within 24 hours, although some take longer. Separately, a new business portfolio or ad account may have some features held back until Meta’s requirements are met. Business Support Home shows what is available and what to do to get more.

Sources

Sources: Meta Business Help Center, How to create an ad account in Meta Ads Manager, Create an ad with text generation, Troubleshoot the Connect an Instagram account error, About ads in review, About the Meta Ads Manager account overview page, Choosing Meta Ads Manager advertising objectives, About the Advantage+ campaign experience, What turns Advantage+ on and Advantage+ off, Create a business portfolio, Add an ad account to your business portfolio, Add a payment method to an existing ad account, Set up and install the Meta pixel, Best practices for Meta pixel setup and About performance goals; Shopify Help Center, Setting up Facebook and Instagram by Meta and Facebook data sharing (checked 2 Oct 2026).