Facebook is probably one of the world’s best venues for advertising. Considering that the social media giant has over 2.7 billion monthly active users, there is an essentially limitless audience for ads to reach.
Many businesses will pay out the nose for a good Facebook ad campaign. As such, starting a Facebook ad agency can be a viable and lucrative career path. A well-run Facebook ad agency can pull in over 6 figures.
The best part is that it takes relatively little time and money to get a Facebook ad agency up and running.
Starting a Facebook Ad Agency
1.Practice Running Facebook Ads
Obviously, if you are going to make an ad agency you need to be pretty fluent at making ad copy. Consider taking a course or spending a few weeks learning the ins and outs of making digital advertisements.
If available, you can try to find some work for an existing digital ad agency to see how the industry works from the inside. Many agencies will accept interns or have entry-level work for people with little to no experience in the field.
You should also spend time with Facebook ads themselves. You want to be fluent with the basic ad creation and campaign management tools before you start handling clients’ campaigns. Facebook has a unique ad ecosystem that might have different rules than traditional marketing campaigns.
2.Create a Facebook Business Manager Account
There are two major ways Facebook ad agencies work with clients. They can join the client’s Facebook Business Manager account as an employee and work on the ads from there, or they can Partner with the client by connecting Business Manager accounts. The second option is preferable as your agency will get access to all the client’s assets.
Creating a Facebook Business Account is simple as it is free to use. You first need to have a personal account to confirm your identity, then you can go to business.facebook.com, click on Create Account and follow the instructions from there (Note: you will need to first create a Page for your ad agency to link to your Business Manager Account). Once you make an account, you can add admins and employees if you have any.
Once you have been Partnered with a client’s account, you will be able to manage theri ad accounts and campaigns using the drop-down menu in your ad manager tool. Also, Facebook has a ton of very useful plug-ins to help manage ad campaigns and track performance. Here are a few of the more popular ones:
- Qwaya. A/B testing, scheduling, ROI tracker,
- AdEspresso. Visual analytics, customizable reporting metrics
- Driftrock. Automate ad creation templates, conditional ad triggers
- Perfect Audience. Impression tracking, click-through-rates, conversion tracking, costs
- Agorapulse. Real-time analytics, visual metrics
- Hootsuite. Bulk posting, bulk scheduling, collaboration tools
Many users have noticed that Facebook’s built-in ad management and analytics tools are somewhat lacking, so these plug-ins can greatly expand and improve your workflow.
3.Get Certified on Facebook Blueprint
Most Facebook ad agencies focus on specific types of clients, like sports, gaming, restaurants, etc. It is best that your agency try to find a niche to serve. That way your skills are more in demand. Different types of companies call for different marketing campaigns so it’s best to stick to something specific.
There are many ways to get clients, including sending cold emails, calling business owners, using Linkedin, and using your existing friend and professional network. However, if you do not have any prior experience, these contacts can be hard to use.
In that case, one way to help source clients is to become a Facebook Certified Media Buying Professional. This certification is granted through Facebook Blueprint, the company’s e-learning platform for digital media and advertising.
Getting a Facebook Certification will show clients that you have been properly trained and understand how to run ad campaigns specifically on Facebook.
There are several levels of certification you can receive depending on your specialty and niche focus. When you pass a certification exam, you will get a unique badge you can share on your social media pages and to clients.
4.Plan Your Pricing Structure
When first starting, it’s a good idea to choose businesses that have relatively easy-to-track metrics. Businesses that offer products are a good choice because it is relatively clear to see how your advertising efforts affect sales.
This is different from say, running ad campaigns for a consulting or coaching agency. These kinds of businesses also have fairly standard ad rates. As far as pricing structure, many ad agencies will charge a one-time fee for setup and then charge a retainer fee for every month of service afterward.
If you want, you can also offer special package deals to entice repeat customers. For example, you might offer the second month of services at a discount rate if they pay for it in advance, or something similar. The good thing about creative professions like ad agencies is that you can be more flexible with how you price things and bill your time.
5.Get Your First Clients
Now it’s time to get those first clients and show them what you can do. You might need to offer some ad services for free to pick up your first few clients. You can go into Facebook groups to find businesses and offer your services to any owners or managers.
Don’t ask them to pay you but only cover spending on ads. Offering free services is a good way to get experience but also build your reputation. For the most part, clients will be happy to start paying you if they see you do a good job on some initial work.
Also, you can run ads yourself if you want to spread the word about your services. Since you will have already made a Facebook Business Manager, you can run your own ad campaigns to promote your services. In fact, running your own ads not only spreads your brand but also shows clients what you can do. It is almost like a job interview in itself.
Another way to improve your resume is to get testimonials from past clients. If you did a good job, most clients would be more than willing to write a short blurb about your expertise that you can feature on your ads and business pages.
6.Scale and Hire Help
After you have clients under your belt, it’s time to start scaling your operations. The good thing about Facebook Business Manager is that it has several automation tools you can use to work on and run multiple client campaigns at once.
This means that you can juggle multiple clients at once. Professional clients should take up anywhere between 5-10 hours of your time per week, so you could potentially handle anywhere between 5-10 clients on your own.
However, once you hit a certain level, you will need to scale your operation and hire some extra help. You can assign employees to projects on their own or just have them aboard for supplementary reasons while you handle the main ad creation.
You can also start to hire specialized employees if you want to start expanding the kind of services your ad agency offers.
How Much Can a Facebook Ad Agency Make?
A Facebook ad agency can make a good amount of money. Most agencies charge clients by the month, which gives them enough time to design, implement, and monitor an ad campaign.
The exact amount you can charge clients depends on your performance and experience, but a fair estimate is that one client can bring in approximately $1,000 per month.
From there, it is a matter of how many clients projects your agency can handle. One good thing about ad agencies is that many features are automated and they can scale. You can run campaigns for multiple clients at the same time.
Final Words
Facebook is the single largest social media platform in the world and so is a hotbed of advertising activity. Starting a Facebook ad agency is a viable side gig that has the potential to turn into a lucrative 6-figure job.
Facebook has cultivated a unique self-contained marketing ecosystem that requires a specialized touch, so clients will pay good money for someone fluent in Facebook ad mechanics.
So, if you are looking for a new viable gig, then starting a Facebook ad agency is a good choice. It is a flexible career that has the potential for all kinds of growth and scaling.
Ruben has been doing online marketing for the last 4 years. Prior to that, he spent 15 years managing different brick-and-mortar businesses, in the home improvement and logistics industries. Overall, he has 20 years of business experience under his belt. Recently, he added SEO, affiliate marketing, and link building to his business skills.