# Meta ads Human Guide

## What This Is For
Guides Meta (Facebook/Instagram) Ads setup, campaign structure, audience targeting, and creative optimization. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for paid media: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Meta ads agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for meta ads.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Meta ads guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Image**: Clear product; before/after; human faces; text <20%
- **Video (15–30s)**: Hook 0–3s; problem 3–8s; solution 8–20s; CTA 20–30s
- **Placements**: Feed (FB/IG); Stories/Reels; vertical for Stories
- **Volume**: 3–5 ad variants per ad set for testing
- **Learning phase**: 50+ conversions per ad set per week to exit; avoid frequent changes during learning
- **CBO vs ABO**: Campaign Budget Optimization consolidates spend; use when scaling
- **Frequency**: <3 to avoid fatigue
- **Creative refresh**: Plan continuous testing; creative fatigue is a main lever—refresh when performance drops
- **Meta Pixel** + **Conversions API**: Server-side for better attribution
- **Events API**: App events; server-to-server
- [ ] Pixel installed; Conversions API configured
- [ ] Conversion events firing correctly

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Campaign Structure, Advantage+ & Automation, Campaign Objectives, Audience Targeting, Creative Best Practices, Optimization, Tracking, Pre-Launch Checklist, Related Skills.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- **Learning phase**: 50+ conversions per ad set per week to exit; avoid frequent changes during learning
- **Frequency**: <3 to avoid fatigue

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Meta ads human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the kostja94/marketing-skills skill entry for `meta-ads`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Paid Ads: Meta Ads

Guides Meta (Facebook/Instagram) Ads setup, campaign structure, audience targeting, and creative optimization. Meta excels at demand generation and visual products; use when creating demand or when creative assets are strong.

**When invoking**: On **first use**, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On **subsequent use** or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

## Campaign Structure

**Hierarchy**: Campaign → Ad Set → Ad (3 levels)

**Principle**: One objective per campaign. Multiple campaigns for the same objective split budget and data, slowing the algorithm's learning phase. Consolidate by objective; focus on clean structure and data-led decisions.

```
Account
├── Campaign: Prospecting
│   ├── Ad Set: Lookalike 1%
│   └── Ad Set: Broad (Advantage+)
├── Campaign: Retargeting
└── Campaign: Testing
```

**Naming**: `META_[Objective]_[Audience]_[Offer]_[Date]` (e.g., `META_Conv_Lookalike-Customers_FreeTrial_2024Q1`)

## Advantage+ & Automation

| Feature | Use |
|---------|-----|
| **Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns** | E-commerce; automatic audience discovery |
| **Dynamic Ads** | Product catalog; auto-generated creative |
| **Automatic Placements** | Let Meta optimize across Feed, Stories, Reels |
| **Advantage+ Audience** | Broad targeting; algorithm finds converters |

Provide diverse creative assets to enable multiple ad formats; algorithm performs better with variety.

## Campaign Objectives

| Objective | Use when |
|-----------|----------|
| Awareness | Reach; brand recall |
| Traffic | Clicks to site |
| Conversions | Leads; sales; app installs |
| Engagement | Video views; post engagement |

## Audience Targeting

| Type | Best for |
|------|----------|
| **Lookalikes** | Base on best customers (by LTV), not all customers |
| **Interest/behavior** | Broad; let algorithm optimize |
| **Advantage+** | Automated; fewer manual controls |
| **Retargeting** | Website visitors; engagers; custom audiences |

**Exclusions**: Existing customers; recent converters (7–14d).

## Creative Best Practices

- **Image**: Clear product; before/after; human faces; text <20%
- **Video (15–30s)**: Hook 0–3s; problem 3–8s; solution 8–20s; CTA 20–30s
- **Placements**: Feed (FB/IG); Stories/Reels; vertical for Stories
- **Volume**: 3–5 ad variants per ad set for testing

## Optimization

- **Learning phase**: 50+ conversions per ad set per week to exit; avoid frequent changes during learning
- **CBO vs ABO**: Campaign Budget Optimization consolidates spend; use when scaling
- **Frequency**: <3 to avoid fatigue
- **Creative refresh**: Plan continuous testing; creative fatigue is a main lever—refresh when performance drops

## Tracking

- **Meta Pixel** + **Conversions API**: Server-side for better attribution
- **Events API**: App events; server-to-server

## Pre-Launch Checklist

- [ ] Pixel installed; Conversions API configured
- [ ] Conversion events firing correctly
- [ ] Landing page mobile-friendly; fast load
- [ ] 3+ ad creatives per ad set
- [ ] Audience exclusions set