Facebook Ads Management for UK Businesses

How we run Facebook ads

Every campaign starts with one question: what should someone do after seeing the ad? Buy, book, call or fill in a form. That choice decides the campaign objective in Meta Ads Manager (Sales, Leads, Traffic, Engagement, Awareness or App promotion) and the event Meta optimises for. Optimising for clicks when you want sales is the most common reason small accounts waste money.

We then build a simple structure: one campaign per goal, a small number of ad sets, and several ads in each so Meta can find the best combination. Meta's Advantage+ options automate audience, placement and budget decisions. They can work well, but only if the account sends good conversion data back. Without it, automation optimises for the wrong people. We check weekly for spend, frequency, cost per result and any comments on the ads that need replying to.

Tracking: Pixel, Conversions API and consent

The Meta Pixel is a browser script. Browsers that block third-party scripts, and visitors who decline cookies, mean it misses conversions. The Conversions API (CAPI) sends the same events from your server or platform, and Meta deduplicates the two using a shared event ID. Meta scores how well your events match its users with Event Match Quality, a score out of 10 shown in Events Manager. Sending a hashed email or phone number with each purchase or lead usually improves it.

In the UK, advertising pixels count as non-essential storage and access technology under PECR, so they should only fire after consent. We set this up properly rather than switching consent off. For a full tracking build across Google and Meta, see conversion tracking, from £145 + VAT one-off.

Creative that works in the feed

The ad itself does most of the targeting now. Meta's Ads Guide currently recommends 4:5 images at 1440 x 1800 px for Facebook Feed, in JPG or PNG up to 30 MB, with primary text of 50 to 150 characters and a headline of about 27 characters. For Reels and Stories it recommends 9:16 at 1440 x 2560 px and keeping the top 14%, bottom 35% and 6% at each side clear of text and logos, because the interface covers them.

We build each ad in all three shapes so it fits every placement, then test one variable at a time: the opening line, the image, the offer or the call to action. Real photos of your team, premises and products usually beat stock. If you do not have any, we can brief a shoot.

Costs, fees and what you pay Meta

You pay two separate things. Our management fee is from £150 a month + VAT. Your ad spend is billed by Meta directly to your card or invoice, so there is no mark-up. Since 1 July 2026 Meta has added a location fee of 2% on ads delivered to UK audiences to cover the UK Digital Services Tax, as reported by Reuters when Meta announced it in March 2026. The fee sits outside your campaign budget and appears as a separate line on Meta's invoice, so build it into your plans.

Some ads fall into a special ad category: housing, employment, financial products and services, or social issues, elections and politics. Meta's developer documentation notes that financial products and services replaced the old credit category in January 2025. These categories limit targeting options, and declaring them correctly avoids rejected ads.

Lead ads that turn into customers

Meta's instant forms let people send their details without leaving Facebook. They are cheap per lead and often poor quality, because pre-filled forms are easy to submit by accident. We fix that with a higher intent form type that asks people to review their details, one qualifying question, and a fast follow-up. Leads can go straight into your CRM or inbox, and an automatic reply by email or text helps you reach people while they still remember the ad.

Where possible, we send lead outcomes back to Meta (qualified, booked, sold) so it optimises for real customers, not form fills. If your site converts poorly once people click through, landing page optimisation usually matters more than any targeting change.

What you get

• Ad account and Business Manager review, or clean set-up in your name
• Meta Pixel and Conversions API set-up with deduplication
• Campaign structure matched to your goal: sales, leads, traffic or awareness
• Ad copy and creative in feed, Stories and Reels formats
• Audience plan: broad, lookalike, website and customer list remarketing
• Weekly checks on spend, frequency, cost per result and comments
• Monthly report and test plan

How it works and what it costs

Google Ads management from £150 a month, social media management from £125 a month and email marketing from £95 a month, all + VAT. Ad spend is separate and paid to the platform. No long contracts.

1. Free review

   We look at your current ads, social, email and analytics, or your plans if you are starting out, and tell you plainly what we would change.

2. Plan and price

   You get a written plan with targets, budgets and a fixed monthly fee before anything starts.

3. Set up properly

   Tracking and consent first, then campaigns, audiences, content calendars or email flows, all in accounts you own.

4. Run and improve

   We manage it every week: search terms, bids, creative, posts and tests, cutting what does not pay and doing more of what does.

5. Report in plain English

   A monthly report on leads, sales and cost per result, not vanity numbers, with what we will do next.

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