Create Your First Facebook Ad Campaign by Chatting With AI

Ads Manager can feel like a cockpit the first time you open it. Dozens of settings, unfamiliar words, and the worry that one wrong click will spend your money. Building your first campaign by chatting is gentler: you describe what you want, the AI asks questions, and it sets things up step by step. Nothing goes live until you say so.

This guide covers the one-time setup you do in Meta, then the full campaign build in chat.

Who this is for

Complete beginners, small business owners and anyone who has boosted a post before but never built a proper campaign.

What you need

• A Facebook Page for your business.
• An AdChat account connected to your ad account. Start free if you haven't.
• Write access turned on in your AdChat dashboard. Creating campaigns is a change, so it's switched off until you turn it on.
• An image for your ad, hosted somewhere with a direct link (your website, for example).

Part 1: One-time setup in Meta

AdChat works through Meta's Marketing API, so a few things have to exist in Meta first. You do these once, in Meta's own tools.

1. A business portfolio (formerly Business Manager) in Meta Business Suite. It holds your Page, ad account and pixel together.
2. An ad account inside it, with the right currency and time zone. These are hard to change later.
3. A payment method in your ad account's billing settings. AdChat can't add or see card details, and campaigns can't spend without one.
4. A Meta Pixel, if you want website sales or sign-ups. The Pixel is a small piece of code on your site that tells Meta when someone buys or signs up. Set it up in Events Manager. If you only want messages or lead forms, you can skip it for now.

When that's done, connect Facebook in AdChat and select the ad account.

Part 2: Build the campaign in chat

Meta campaigns have three layers:

• Campaign: the goal (Meta calls it the objective), such as sales, leads or traffic.
• Ad set: who sees the ads, where, and the budget and schedule.
• Ad: what people actually see, the image and text.

Step 1: Describe what you want

I want to run my first Facebook and Instagram ad. I sell handmade candles online and ship within the US. My budget is $20 a day. Ask me whatever you need, then suggest a simple campaign setup before creating anything.

What a good answer looks like: a few questions back (What's your website? Is the Pixel installed? Who usually buys?) followed by a short plan: objective, audience, budget, and one or two ads. If it jumps straight to creating things, say "Please show the plan first."

Step 2: Check the basics

Which ad account and Facebook Page will you use? Show me the account's currency, time zone and status.

This catches the most common setup problems early, like the wrong Page or an ad account that isn't active. For a sales campaign, also copy your Pixel ID from Events Manager in Meta and paste it into the chat, because AdChat can't look up your Pixel for you. While you're in Events Manager, check that the Pixel has recorded recent activity.

Step 3: Create the campaign

Create the campaign with the Sales objective, named "Candles - First Campaign". Keep it paused.

New campaigns, ad sets and ads are created paused by default. That's deliberate. You get to review everything before a cent is spent.

If your ads are about housing, jobs, credit or politics, tell the AI. Meta treats these as special ad categories with stricter targeting rules.

Step 4: Create the ad set

Create an ad set in that campaign: United States, ages 25 to 55, interests related to home decor and candles, $20 per day, optimized for purchases on my website using Pixel ID 123456789012345. Keep it paused.

Not sure about the audience? Read the audience targeting guide and check the size first with audience size estimation.

Step 5: Create the ad

Upload this image for my ad: https://example.com/images/lavender-candle.jpg. Then write three versions of primary text and headline for a lavender candle, short and friendly. Let me pick one before you build the ad.

Once you've chosen:

Create the ad with version 2, linking to https://example.com/lavender, using my Page. Keep it paused.

Step 6: Review, then go live

Show me a full summary of the new campaign, ad set and ad: objective, audience, budget, placements, text, link and status.

Read it slowly. Click the link to check it works. Then look at it in Ads Manager too, where you can see the ad preview. When you're happy:

Turn on the campaign "Candles - First Campaign", its ad set and its ad.

AdChat confirms the change before it runs. From that moment, Meta starts delivering and spending.

What to do next

• For the first few days, Meta is in the learning phase, testing who responds. Results are bumpy. Avoid editing during this time unless something is clearly broken.
• After a week, run the weekly check-up.
• Once your Pixel has collected visitors, try retargeting website visitors.

Common mistakes

• Skipping the payment method. The campaign will look fine but won't deliver.
• No Pixel on a sales campaign. Meta can't optimize for purchases it can't see.
• Targeting too narrowly. A tiny audience makes ads expensive. Start broader than feels natural.
• Changing things every day. Give a new campaign about a week before judging it.
• Turning it on without checking the link. A broken landing page wastes every click.

FAQ

Will AdChat spend money without asking? No. New things are created paused, AdChat asks before each change, and it only acts when you ask. Nothing runs in the background.

Can AdChat set up my Pixel or payment method? No. Those are done once in Meta's own tools. Check your Pixel's activity in Events Manager, then give the AI your Pixel ID when it needs it.

Can I upload a video? Not through AdChat. You can use a video that's already in your ad account, or upload it in Ads Manager first.

How much should I spend on a first campaign? Whatever you're comfortable losing while you learn. Many beginners test with a small daily budget for a week or two.

Try it free for 7 days. Create your account and build your first campaign by chatting. Questions? Email [email protected].