If you’re reading this, then it’s probably because you or your company has been thinking about launching a Facebook page. This social network currently boasts over one billion members, which is what makes advertising to this captive audience is so powerful.

Before you jump into the deep end and start paying for Facebook ads, there are some key items to consider. Nobody likes to waste money, but if you don’t plan your campaign effectively, then that’s exactly what you’ll be doing. The following ten Facebook ad campaign factors should help you avoid this unpleasant situation and generate the maximum possible revenue from your ads.

1. Get a Facebook Page

First and foremost, you need to have a Facebook page to use Facebook ads, as nearly all Facebook ads direct potential customers to your page. If you haven’t created one yet, then you’ll need to do so before launching your paid advertising campaign.

2. How much is a new customer worth?

Now, before you start running your first Facebook ad campaign, you’ll need to determine exactly how much a new customer is currently worth to you. This step has less to do with Facebook and more to do with your current customer base. If you’re new to this concept (or have just never taken the time to figure this out before), then it’s fairly easy.

Here’s what you need to do:

First, you need to figure out what profit each customer contributed to your business throughout the current year.
Next, estimate how long on average you retain each customer.
Third, you need to factor in how much it costs to attract each customer.
Finally, put all of this information together and subtract your acquisition costs from your per-customer profits. This will give you the value of each customer.

With your customer value determined, you now have a point of reference to see if Facebook ads are making or costing you money.

3. What is my current cost per acquisition?

If you already have a product or service to sell, then you’re probably already advertising in some way. Cost per acquisition refers to the amount it costs you to attract every customer that winds up purchasing from you. Once you know how much it costs you now to get new customers, you have a second point of reference to validate your Facebook ad’s success.

4. What type of ad is right for me?

If you’ve looked at the Facebook Ads manager, then you’ve probably already asked yourself this very question. There’s a lot of marketing lingo that can be used here – like CPC, CPA, and CPM. All you really need to decide is whether it’s more beneficial to your business to have the customers that click on your ads to “Like” your Facebook page or to see your most recent posts.

This alphabet soup only comes in to play when it comes to advanced pricing. Do you want to pay when people see your ad or when they take a specific action? Depending on your product and what your expected outcome is, either option can be useful. You can also choose to let Facebook decide, which may be a good option when you’re first starting out with Facebook ads.

5. What interests am I targeting?

Interest targeting is really where Facebook ads stand out. Facebook is a great marketing tool because you can use the same interests that users share to interact with their friends to target your ads.

Let’s take the example of a website selling cook books and kitchen utensils. If you owned this site, then you’d want to target people that had interests tied to cooking and kitchens. What about event planners and DIY enthusiasts? These people would probably also be interested in your products if they were, say, about cooking for parties and large-scale dinners or hacking kitchen utensils into new tools.

Using Facebook’s interest targeting features, you could set your ad to display for these people only and not fans of fast food and casual dining (who probably aren’t looking for cookbooks or kitchen tools). There are literally hundreds of thousands of interests out there. Figure out which ones fit your product and site best and set your ads to target them appropriately.

6. What age and gender am I targeting?

Interest targeting, age and gender qualifications can be tremendously helpful in segmenting your audience. There’s no need to target all ages if you’re promoting a retirement community. Not too many people over age 60 will care about your new techno club. Choose the age group(s) that fit your product or site best and set your ads to display to them.

What about gender? This one can be tricky, so target specific genders very carefully. Say you’re selling a guide on making your own wedding invitations. While you might think that only women would be interested, there may be guys searching for that information as well. Unless your product or service is solidly tied to one gender, don’t cut out potential customers.

7. Should I target a specific geographic location?

This one really depends on your product. If you’re promoting a restaurant, then you’d be smart to target potential customers within driving distance. If you’re selling online training, however, then you don’t really need a specific location (though choosing to target ads to speak the same language as your training might be helpful).

Again, there’s no single answer for this. Look at your specific product or business and decide if location targeting makes sense for you.

8. What is my value proposition?

Value proposition is a fancy way of saying “Why should a customer buy my product or use my service?”. Basically, before you pay for a Facebook ad, you need to do one of the following with your ad and its intended destination:

Solve a customer problem.
Deliver a specific benefit.
Explain why you’re better than the competition.

Determine what will make a customer click your ad and then word your ad around that value proposition. You can also write a killer Facebook page post detailing why you and your product meet one of these criteria and promote that specific page through Facebook’s sponsored post advertising system. Either way, keep in mind how important it is to build your ads – first and foremost – around value.

9. What is my call to action?

When you run a Facebook ad, you need to call the potential customer to action in order to get him or her to engage with the ad. This topic could be an article all its own, but there are two general ways that you can do this:

Use a tangible offer – To get viewers to take action, offer something specific for clicking (like a free eBook, online course, or coupon for money off a future purchase). Make your offer tangible and potential customers will immediately understand why they should click.
Speak to a specific need or desire – If you’re selling vegan cookbooks, then you know that health is important to your ideal customer. Speak to that. As an example, an ad titled “7 Easy Tricks to Make Your Vegan Cooking Even Healthier,” could appeal to health conscious viewers.

If you don’t use a call to action in your ad, then you’re throwing money away. Figure out a great one and your conversions will go up instantly.

10. What is my budget?

In the end, time and money are the king and queen of any paid advertising campaign. No matter how big or small your campaign is, it’s important to know these limits. Once you know what you’re able to spend, use Facebook’s tools to set either a lifetime or daily dollar goal for your budget so that you don’t blow more money than expected.

When setting your budget limits, keep in mind the value of your customers and your current costs of acquisition, as you determined earlier in this process. Use these numbers to set a reasonable dollar amount for your ad campaign, as well as to determine what you’re willing topay per action to get results. Be flexible in this, however, as Facebook is a unique environment for ads.

Just be careful about falling victim to paralysis by analysis. Get your numbers and act on them. Evaluate as you go and don’t be afraid to make changes. With the key factors above in your toolbox, you should be able to drive great, yet affordable results for your business using Facebook ads.