Facebook Power editor

Have you been running Facebook Ads for your business?  If you are regularly running ads, you may want to consider using the Facebook Power Editor to set up your ads.

I found the Facebook Power Editor a little confusing when I first got started and it still is a bit quirky (as all of Facebook goes) but there are a few good reasons to use Facebook Power Editor:

  1. Better targeting of the location of your Ads.  You can target your ad to run only in the News Feed, only on mobile devices, and other variations.Placement
  2. Capability to target your e-mail list.  The Custom Audience feature allows you to upload your e-mail list to the Power Editor and then you can do all kinds of interesting things.  You can target an ad to them specifically, you can analyze your e-mail list to find out more about their precise interests, or you can create a similar audience and use them as a “seed”.
  3. You can use the Partner Categories to target people according to their buying habits.  Partner Categories are relatively new feature of the Power Editor and you can use some of the “big data” out there to target very specific niches.

Partner Categories

Now that you know WHY you should use the Power Editor, follow the steps below to get started with the Power Editor.

Install the Power Editor

Installing the Power Editor is fairly straight forward.  The Power Editor is a Chrome plugin but it also works in Safari (and actually, I find it works better in Safari).

All you need to do is to go to your Facebook Ads area while you are logged in on a Chrome browser.   To get to the Ads area, click the wheel in the upper right corner of Facebook and select Manage Ads. Now you see the Power Editor selection on the left sidebar of the page.

Power Editor sidebar

 

Once you do that, you see some directions on how to get started.  Click the “here” link highlighted in step 2 of the process listed.

New Facebook Power Editor

 

You will be prompted to download any ads you have previously run into Power Editor.  The data on these ads will still be available in the regular Ads management area as well.

Creating an Ad in Power Editor

To create a new Ad in Power Editor, follow these steps:

  1. Go to your Ads Dashboard area if you are not there already (click the wheel in the upper right corner, select Manage Ads)
  2. Click on the Power Editor in the left sidebar.  You now see your Power Editor dashboard.
  3. If you want to create an ad that is within an existing campaign you have, click on the campaign name in the left sidebar.Campaigns in Power Editor
  4. If you want to create a new campaign, click the “Campaigns” button at the top of the page, and then click “Create Campaign” and fill in the details of your campaign name, budget, and length.  Once you have filled out the campaign information, navigate back to the Ads area (click Ads at the top of the page)Create a new campaign in power editor
  5. Click the Create Ad button at the top of the page.  Then you use the Ad area below to fill in the details about the Ad.Create a Facebook Ad in Power Editor
  6. Fill out the information in each of the sections (Creative & Placements, Audience, and Pricing and Status).  You should have no “Errors” listed and the status of the ad should be “Pending”.  Your final step is to click “Upload” in the upper right corner of the screen.  Your ad will not go into the approval process or start running until you upload it.Upload in Power Editor

Once your ad is approved you will be able to see it in the Facebook Ads Manager area and access the stats there.

How about you?  Have you been wondering how you can get started with the Power Editor?  Or have you had success with the ads you have created through the Power Editor?  Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!