Step-by-Step Guide: How to Launch Your First Facebook Ad Campaign for Coaches

If you're a coach looking to consistently generate more sales, mastering paid advertising is key to growing your business. Many coaches, particularly those in the early stages, struggle with getting consistent sales due to reliance on word-of-mouth or sporadic outreach methods. However, the real breakthrough comes when you can predictably generate leads and convert them into clients. One of the best ways to achieve this is by launching a well-structured paid ad campaign. 

In this detailed guide, I’ll walk you through how to create and run your very first Facebook ad campaign step by step. By the end of this post, you'll be equipped with everything you need to launch an ad campaign that can consistently bring in leads for your coaching business.

Why Paid Ads are Critical for Your Coaching Business

The biggest challenge early-stage coaches face is generating consistent sales. Many try a variety of methods like networking, outreach, or waiting for word-of-mouth referrals. Some even venture into paid ads but fail because they don’t approach them correctly. As a result, they often waste money or get discouraged and stop running ads altogether.

Paid ads, when done right, bring predictability and consistency to your business. For example:

• You invest $100 → get a specific number of leads.

• From those leads, a certain percentage will schedule calls.

• From those calls, you’ll close a predictable number of sales.

With ads, you're no longer relying on guesswork or hoping that the next client magically appears. You’re building a scalable sales pipeline that you can control.

Setting Up Facebook Business Manager

To launch your first ad campaign, you’ll need to set up Facebook Business Manager. This is a separate platform from your personal Facebook account, and it allows you to manage everything related to your ads, including your ad account, pixels, and ad sets.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Create a Facebook Business Manager Account:

•    Head over to [Facebook Business Manager](https://business.facebook.com/). You can either log in using your existing Facebook account or create a new one.

•    Once you're inside, follow the prompts to set up your Business Manager profile.

2. Add an Ad Account:

•   After setting up your business manager, you’ll need to create an ad account. In the Business Settings, navigate to “Ad Accounts” and select “Create New Ad Account.”

• Choose your time zone and currency carefully, because these settings can’t be changed later.

3. Understanding the Ad Campaign Structure:

   Facebook’s ad platform uses a hierarchical structure. At the top level, you have:

• Business Manager: This houses all your advertising assets.

• Ad Accounts: Each ad account manages multiple campaigns.

• Campaigns: Each campaign has a specific goal (e.g., lead generation).

• Ad Sets: Inside each campaign, you can create multiple ad sets, each targeting different demographics, locations, or interests.

• Ads: Each ad set can have different individual ads, which are the actual creatives (videos, images, copy) that people see.

Creating Your First Ad Campaign

Now that your Business Manager is set up, you’re ready to create your first ad campaign. Follow these steps:

1. Define Your Campaign Objective:

•    When you start a new campaign, Facebook will ask you to choose an objective. These objectives might include awareness, Traffic, engagement, Leads, and conversions.

•    If this is your first ad, I highly recommend choosing Leads as your objective. The goal is to collect contact information (name, phone number, and email) so you can follow up with potential clients and convert them into sales calls.

2. Budget and Schedule:

•   Set your daily budget. I recommend starting with at least $20 per day (or about $600 per month). This amount provides enough data to gauge what’s working and what isn’t. 

•    If you want your ads to perform better, make sure to start your campaign at midnight. That way, Facebook has a full 24 hours to spend the budget optimally, rather than rushing to spend it if the campaign starts later in the day.

3. Select Your Target Audience:

•    Facebook allows you to get very specific with targeting. You can define your audience based on age, gender, location, interests, and more.

•    For example, you can target people interested in “personal development,” “coaching,” or “digital marketing,” depending on your coaching niche. 

•  It’s a good idea to create multiple ad sets, each targeting different audiences. This allows you to see which audience responds best and provides the lowest cost per lead.
  

4. Ad Placement:

•    Facebook will give you options for where your ads will be shown, such as Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed, Stories, and even Messenger. For simplicity and effectiveness, I recommend starting with just the Facebook Feed and Instagram Feed. These are the most popular and tend to perform the best.

5. Choose Your Creative:

•    Your creative—the actual ad people will see—can be a video, image, or even a carousel of images. 

•    For the best results, use a high-quality video or a visually appealing image that grabs attention within the first few seconds. The creative is the most important part of the ad, as it's the first thing people see when scrolling.

•    The accompanying primary text should be clear, compelling, and directly address your target audience. For example: “Struggling to get consistent sales as a coach? Discover how to generate leads and close more deals with our proven system.”

Setting Up Your Ad Set for Targeting

1. Create Multiple Ad Sets:

•    Each ad set is designed to target a different audience. For example, one ad set could target people interested in personal development, while another ad set targets people interested in digital marketing.

•    By testing different ad sets, you can see which audience gives you the best results at the lowest cost per lead.

2. Set Your Performance Goals:

•    Choose the option to maximize the number of conversions. If you haven’t already, create a Facebook Pixel—this tracks how many people are seeing your ad, clicking on it, and ultimately converting into leads. The pixel helps you analyze ad performance and optimize future campaigns.

Launching and Monitoring Your Campaign

After setting everything up, click Publish to launch your campaign. But remember, this is just the beginning.

Here are some tips for monitoring and optimizing your campaign:

• Give Your Campaign 3 Days: After launching, let the ad run for at least 72 hours before making any changes. This allows Facebook to collect enough data to make the campaign more effective.

• Monitor Key Metrics: Keep an eye on metrics like cost per lead and conversion rates. If one ad set is performing better than another, you can allocate more budget to that set.

• Optimize Based on Data: If an ad set targeting “personal development” is performing better than one targeting “digital marketing,” adjust your budget accordingly to focus on what’s working.

Recap of the Steps

1. Set up Facebook Business Manager and create your ad account.

2. Define your campaign objective (Leads for your first campaign).

3. Set your daily budget (minimum $20/day recommended).

4. Create ad sets targeting different audience interests.

5. Choose ad placements (Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed).

6. Create your ads with engaging video or images and strong primary text.

7. Monitor your campaign for three days, then adjust based on performance data.

Final Thoughts

Running your first Facebook ad campaign might seem overwhelming at first, but once you follow this step-by-step guide, you’ll find it straightforward. The most important thing is to get started and allow the campaign to collect data. From there, you can optimize and refine your approach to lower costs and improve results.

By implementing these strategies, you’ll have the foundation to consistently generate leads, convert prospects, and scale your coaching business with predictable success. If you have any questions or need further guidance, feel free to reach out or leave a comment. I’m here to help! 

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my channel for more tutorials and tips on growing your coaching business using paid ads.

Supplemental Video