App Ads on Facebook

For app publishers or businesses in the application industry looking to boost revenue, it is essential to introduce and promote the app to increase downloads and installations. Facebook, as the largest social network globally with a vast number of users, provides an excellent opportunity for businesses to enhance brand visibility, drive engagement, and achieve conversions. If you’re unsure how to create an app advertising campaign on Facebook, don’t miss the detailed guide below from Ad Support

Introduction to App Ads on Facebook

With app ads, you can promote your app across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and Audience Network. You can create manual app ads and Meta Advantage+ app campaigns (automated app ads) from Ads Manager on Meta. Businesses use app ads to:

When you choose the app ads objective, you promote your app to people who are more likely to download it from their favorite app store.

Re-engage existing users by running ads targeting engagement, leads, sales, or traffic to encourage people to take specific actions (purchases, level completions, etc.).

Running app ads gives people the opportunity to try your app by providing a short, interactive preview of your app.

To get the most out of app ads, you should register your app with Facebook and implement the SDK to pass app event data from your app to Facebook. Using app event data, you can accurately track and measure the actions people take in your app.

You don’t need to register your app or implement the SDK to run app ads using the app ad objective. Ads are automatically optimized for link clicks rather than app installs. Once you implement the SDK, you can create and run app ads in Ads Manager.

In-App Events

In-app events refer to actions users perform while using an application, such as purchasing or achieving a new game level. These events play a crucial role in enhancing the effectiveness and performance of advertising campaigns on Meta. Types of in-app events include standard events, custom events, and automatically logged events. Setting up in-app events serves the following purposes:

Ad Targeting: With in-app events, users can easily create Custom Audiences based on in-app activities and Lookalike Audiences. This allows you to reach people who are likely to show interest and take desired actions after viewing your ads on Meta.

Optimization: Setting up in-app events enables various campaign optimization types, including in-app event optimization and maximizing conversion value. These optimizations help identify users who are more likely to take actions such as making a purchase or achieving a better return on ad spend.

Measurement: By configuring in-app events, you can review recorded and unrecorded events in Meta’s Events Manager. This allows you to monitor how many in-app actions occur as a result of your ads in Ads Manager and make use of other measurement tools provided by Meta.

To set up app events, you need a partner integration using the mobile measurement partner to easily connect your partner account to Meta and configure standard or custom in-app events.

Once you install the Facebook SDK for Android or iOS, you can manually set up an in-app event code, use the in-app event prompt, or use the codeless event setup tool to set up in-app events.

The Conversion API provides a direct connection between marketing data and systems that support ad targeting optimization, cost-per-result reduction, and measurement on Meta technology. To comply with Meta’s data policy and Business Tools Terms and protect user privacy, we recommend that you do not share sensitive user data when setting up events. 

Requirements for running app advertising campaigns on Facebook

Advertisers can create campaigns with the app advertising objective to increase app installs, optimize for in-app events, or attract the highest value customers with the maximum conversion value objective. If you want to create a campaign with the app advertising objective, you need to ensure the following criteria:

The app is registered on Meta for Developers, but you can still create and run ads with this objective for unregistered apps. However, ads will automatically optimize for link clicks instead of app installs.

The ad account associated with the app you want to promote. App developers or registered app admins can link ad accounts to apps. To link, go to the App Dashboard, select the app, click App Settings, and select Advanced from the drop-down menu.

Integrate the SDK and add App Events if you want to optimize for installs, App Events, or value. You also need the SDK if you want to measure and track installs, App Events, or value.

How to create app ads on Facebook

The simplest method to advertise your app is through your Facebook Page. Showcase screenshots or videos highlighting the app’s features, along with a call-to-action (CTA) button like “Buy Now” or “Play Game” to direct users to the app quickly.

If you want to add an action button to your Facebook page, you need to have access to the page. Log in to your Facebook account and select your profile picture in the top right. Next, click View all personal pages, select the Page you want to move to, and select Pages in the left menu. On your Page, click the 3-dot icon, click the Add action button, select the call-to-action button, and click Next. Then follow the on-screen instructions and click Save.

Install the free Facebook SDK to track and measure the results of your app advertising goals and optimize your delivery to people who are more likely to install, and take specific actions in your app, or to high-value customers.

Now, create an app ad with the goal of promoting your app to reach more people. This will help increase your user base and make it easier for them to download your app. You can attract people back to your app with the traffic objective or encourage users to take specific actions in your app with the conversion objective.

Once you have created your ad, track and measure its effectiveness using Facebook’s measurement tools. Here, you can see where your ads are performing best across Facebook apps. Based on the data you collect, you will know how to improve your advertising strategy and content accordingly.

How to create an app ad campaign on Facebook using ads manager

Ads created with the app ad objective facilitate the promotion of your app across Facebook, Instagram, and the Meta Audience Network. By implementing the SDK and setting up in-app events, you can accurately measure the success of your ad campaign. By tracking events like app installs and in-app purchases. Although you don’t need to register your app or implement the SDK when running ads. However, you can only optimize for link clicks instead of app installs driven by the ad.

Create a new campaign and select an objective

Go to Ads Manager and select the ad account associated with your app. Next, click +Create and then click Create a new campaign. Next, name the campaign and select the app ad objective.

Setting Up Your Facebook App Ads Campaign

In the Creation Method pop-up, select Manual App Ads Campaign and click Continue. If you want to streamline the campaign creation process with automation, select Advantage+ App Campaign. Next, name your campaign and select an ad category if your app is a special business. Then, complete your campaign details and iOS 14+ campaign, A/B testing, and Advantage campaign budget (if needed), then click Continue.

Set up an app ad group

In the ad group settings interface, give your ad group a name. In the app section, select the app you want to promote. If the app is not linked to your ad account, the ad will optimize for link clicks instead of app installs. If you do not link the app to your ad account first, you will not optimize for any in-app events.

Next, go to Performance objectives and select an objective from the drop-down menu.

• If you select Maximize app installs, your ad will show to people who are most likely to install your app.
• Select Maximize app events to show your ad to people who are most likely to take a specific action in your app.
• When you choose Maximize conversion value, your ads will be shown to people who are more likely to make higher-value purchases.
• If you choose Maximize link clicks, your ads will be shown to people who are more likely to click on your ads.

If you are creating a campaign on iOS 14+, select your campaign attribution method. If you are only eligible for one method, that method will be selected for you.

Once you have selected your performance goal, select Cost per result goal, Attribution setting, and Delivery type. Enable Dynamic creative if you want to create dynamic content. Now complete the ad set details such as budget & schedule. In the Budget section, select a daily budget or a lifetime budget. If you choose a lifetime budget, you will need to select a start and end date.

Next, target your audience based on age, behavior, interests, and location, or you can choose Advantage+. Note that targeting is limited to people under 18 in most countries.

Next, select the Display Placement, including Advantage+ Placement and Manual Placement. If you select Manual Placement, you can customize the display location: Facebook, Audience Network, Instagram, Messenger. Next, complete the Specific mobile devices & operating systems and Brand safety and suitability sections (if necessary). After completing the details, click Next.

Create App Ads on Facebook

On the next screen, name your ad. In the Identity section, select your Facebook Page and attach your Instagram account (if you have one). When setting up your ad, choose one of the formats: Single Image/Video, Carousel, or Flexible.

In the ad creative section, select the image, video, playable ad, or Instant Experience you want to use for your ad. Next, add a headline, description, and other text for your ad, along with a call to action that best fits your app ad.

Now complete the rest of your ad by adding information to the landing page, language, and tracking (if needed). Once complete, click Publish to publish your app ad. Your Facebook app ad campaign will then go through the review process and go live once approved.

You can run mobile app ads without admin privileges by optimizing for link clicks. In this case, you will be able to view performance data related to the clicks your ad receives, but data on app installs or in-app interactions will not be available.

If you wish to run mobile app ads optimized for app installs or in-app interactions, and if you want access to data on installs and interactions within the app, you must link your ad account to the app.

For app ads, the headlines and descriptions for all available languages supported by your app are automatically gathered, and the appropriate language is displayed based on the viewer’s location.

How to create Facebook app ads with traffic or engagement objectives

You can also create app ads for leads, traffic, engagement, or sales objectives and select your app as the conversion location. Once your ad is published and reviewed, you can see your app ad results in Ads Manager or by partnering with a Mobile Measurement Partner.

To increase the number of people who engage with your app after installing it, create app ads with the Traffic or Engagement objective. Ads are created to target mobile users who have installed your app or encourage them to open your app or take a specific action in your app, such as making a purchase or reaching a new level in a game. However, to create these types of ads, you need to register your app with Meta for Developers and link your ad account to your app.

In addition to creating app ads with the app promotion objective, you can create ads with the traffic or engagement objective. App ads created with the traffic objective are optimized to reach people who have downloaded the app or are likely to open it.

App ads created with the engagement objective focus on attracting people by encouraging them to use the app in specific ways, such as making a purchase or reaching a new level in a game. The steps to create an app ad with this objective include:

Create a new campaign and select a target

Go to Ads Manager on Meta and select +Create to create a new app advertising campaign. When the app ad creation screen interface appears, select the target as Traffic or Engagement and then click Continue. On the next screen, name the campaign and complete the A/B testing campaign setup and the Advantage campaign budget, and then click Next.

Ad group settings

In the next interface, name the ad group and select the conversion location in the Conversion section as App. Next, select the app you want the ad to direct people to. If you can’t find the app in the drop-down menu, it may be because the app hasn’t been set up properly on Meta for Developers, so fix it. Then select the budget and schedule, if you choose a lifetime budget, select the start date and end date. Next, target your audience by age, interests, behavior, and ad placement, then click Next.

If you want to create an interactive ad with a mobile app on Messenger, make sure you select the Advantage+ placement. If you want to manually select Facebook Feed and Messenger placements as your ad placements, click Show more options in the Placements section and select Edit.

Create an ad template

After setting up the ad group, on the next screen, select Create an ad by naming it, entering the ad content, landing page, language settings, and conversion settings in the Tracking section. Now, check the entire campaign to fix errors (if any) or click the review button to see how the ad will display, then click Publish. Once completed, your campaign will be reviewed for approval. Once approved, the campaign will be active and displayed to the target audience, at which point you can measure the effectiveness of the ad.

How to optimize app ads on Facebook

When it comes to optimizing app ads, you need to optimize app events to show your ads to people who are more likely to take a specific action on your app. Specifically, if you want to reach people who are more likely to make an in-app purchase, choose to run app ads optimized for the purchase event.

By setting up and optimizing app events, you can increase your app’s installs. At the same time, you can get people who are likely to take a specific action that is valuable to your app or business. Alternatively, you can create and optimize app events via the API. Here, you can use the option to optimize installs for a specific app event.

We have explored a type of Facebook advertising and learned how to set up effective campaigns to maximize app installations. Through the detailed instructions above, we hope you have gained valuable knowledge and can apply it successfully.

Frequently Asked Questions