How to Get Facebook Ad Credits

Getting your hands on Facebook ad credits can feel like a great way to jumpstart your advertising without dipping into your budget. They allow you to test campaigns, reach new audiences, and generate leads on Meta's dime. This article walks you through the legitimate ways to get these credits, how to redeem them, and the common scams to avoid along the way.

What Exactly Are Facebook Ad Credits?

Think of Facebook (or Meta) ad credits as a gift card for your ad account. They're a specific dollar amount that Meta gives you to spend on advertising across its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network. When you have an active ad credit, Meta will use it to pay for your campaigns before it charges your primary payment method - like your credit card or PayPal account.

Why does Meta even give these away? It's all about user acquisition and retention. Giving new advertisers a small credit lowers the barrier to entry, letting them experiment with the platform and see its potential. For existing advertisers, credits can serve as a "thank you" for their loyalty, a remedy for a technical issue, or an incentive to try new ad features.

How to Get Facebook Ad Credits: The Legitimate Methods

Free ad credits don't grow on trees, but they do pop up through official channels. Forget about the shady websites promising to sell you credits for pennies on the dollar - those are almost always scams. Here are the real ways to get them.

1. New Advertiser Promotions

This is by far the most common way to get ad credits. Meta frequently runs promotions to encourage new businesses to start advertising. If you have a relatively new Facebook Business Page or have never run ads before, you're a prime candidate.

• Check Your Email: Keep an eye on the email address associated with your Facebook account and Business Page. Meta often sends out promotional offers directly to your inbox. The subject lines are usually clear, like "Start advertising with a $20 ad credit" or "We've given you a credit to get started."
• Look for In-Platform Notifications: Sometimes, the offer appears as a notification right on your Facebook Page, in Meta Business Suite, or at the top of your Ads Manager dashboard. It might be a prominent banner you can't miss.
• Facebook Page "Promote" Button: Occasionally, when you click the "Promote" or "Boost Post" button on one of your Page's posts for the first time, Meta might present you with an introductory ad credit offer to sweeten the deal.

Important Note: These offers are usually time-sensitive and targeted. If your business partner receives an offer, it doesn't mean you will. They are often triggered by activity like recently creating a page or showing an interest in Meta's business tools.

2. Partner Promotions from Other Services

Meta has a massive network of official Business Partners. Many Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies in e-commerce, email marketing, and web hosting team up with Meta to offer perks to their shared customers. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement: the partner product looks more valuable, and Meta gets another business spending money on ads.

Here are some examples of platforms that have historically offered Facebook ad credits as part of their sign-up bonuses or specific plans:

• E-commerce platforms: Shopify, BigCommerce.
• Website builders: Wix, GoDaddy, Squarespace.
• Email marketing services: Mailchimp, Constant Contact.
• Other business software: Some CRMs or business banking services.

To find these, check the "perks" or "integrations" section of the software you already use. If you're signing up for a new service, look at their pricing or features pages for mentions of ad credit bonuses.

3. Specific Meta Programs and Grants

While less common for the average business, Meta occasionally launches large-scale ad credit programs for specific causes or groups. These aren't ongoing promotions but rather programmatic initiatives that you have to apply for or qualify for.

• Support for Non-profits: Through its Meta for Nonprofits program, eligible organizations can access resources that sometimes include ad credits to help with fundraising and awareness campaigns.
• Small Business Grant Programs: During unique situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic, Meta launched programs to distribute millions of dollars in cash grants and ad credits to help struggling small businesses. These are highly publicized when they happen, so following the Meta for Business blog is a good way to stay informed.
• Developer & Researcher Programs: Meta sometimes offers credits to developers building apps on its platform or researchers studying social media trends to help them promote their work or gather data.

4. Attending Official Meta Events and Webinars

Meta often hosts free virtual summits, training bootcamps, and workshops aimed at helping small business owners master digital marketing. As an incentive for attending or completing a training series, they occasionally offer attendees a small promotional ad credit.

These are great opportunities not only for the potential credit but also for the valuable education. Sign up for the Meta for Business newsletter or regularly check their events page to see what's coming up.

How to Redeem Your Facebook Ad Credit

So, you've snagged a credit. What's next? Redeeming it is straightforward, but you need to know where to look. Most credits come with a 16-digit alphanumeric code.

Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Go to Your Ads Manager: Open your Meta Ads Manager.
2. Access Billing & Payment Settings: Click on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner and select "Billing."
3. Navigate to Payment Settings: Inside the Billing section, click on "Payment Settings."
4. Add Ad Credit: You'll see a section titled "Ad Credits." Click the "Add Ad Credit" button.
5. Enter Your Code: A box will pop up asking for your ad credit coupon code. Carefully type or paste your 16-digit code here and click "Claim."

Once claimed, the credit will appear in your "Ad Credits" section with its value, expiration date, and current balance. Meta will now automatically pull from this credit to pay for your ads until it runs out or expires.

Best Practices: How to Maximize Your Ad Credits

A free ad credit is only as good as the strategy behind it. Don't let it go to waste on a poorly planned campaign. Treat it like your own money.

1. Have a Clear Goal

What do you want to achieve with this credit? Don't just boost a random post. Define a specific, measurable objective. Are you trying to:

• Generate leads for your service?
• Drive traffic to a new blog post?
• Increase sales for a specific product?
• Get sign-ups for your email newsletter?

A clear goal will dictate your ad creative, targeting, and call-to-action.

2. Use It to Test and Learn

Ad credits are perfect for experimentation, which is the heart of successful advertising. Use the "free money" to learn what works for your audience without risking your own capital.

• Test Different Creatives: Run A/B tests between an image ad and a video ad to see which performs better.
• Test Different Audiences: Try targeting an audience based on interests versus a Lookalike Audience from your customer list.
• Test Different Placements: See if your audience engages more with your ads on Instagram Stories versus the Facebook Feed.

The insights you gain from these tests will make your future ad spend much more efficient.

3. Check the Terms and Expiration Date

Most ad credits have an expiration date - they're typically valid for 30 days after you redeem them. Make sure you claim your credit with enough time to actually plan and run a campaign before it disappears. Also, read the fine print. Some credits might only be valid for certain campaign objectives.

Watch Out: How to Spot and Avoid Ad Credit Scams

The demand for ad credits has created a cottage industry of scams. Being able to spot them is essential to protecting your ad account and personal information.

Here are the biggest red flags:

• Anyone Selling Ad Credits: This is the number one rule. You cannot buy official Meta ad credits from a third-party seller. Anyone offering to sell you a "$500 ad credit for $50" is trying to scam you. The codes they sell are often fake, stolen, or generated by fraudulent means, and using them can get your ad account permanently banned.
• Emails from Unofficial Addresses: A legitimate ad credit offer will come from an email address ending in @facebook.com, @meta.com, or @facebookmail.com. Be wary of emails from generic domains (like gmail.com) or suspicious-looking URLs.
• Requests for Your Login Information: Meta will never ask you for your password to give you an ad credit. If an offer prompts you to enter your login details on a non-Meta website, it's a phishing attempt.
• "Account Managers" Reaching Out Via DM: Be cautious of people messaging you on Instagram or Facebook claiming to be a "Meta Ad Manager" and offering you credits in exchange for money or account access. Meta's official reps won't slide into your DMs this way.

In short, if an offer seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is. Stick to the official channels mentioned earlier in this guide.

Final Thoughts

Getting Facebook ad credits is all about being in the right place at the right time - by keeping an eye on your email, checking for notifications when you're a new advertiser, or leveraging partner promotions. They serve as a powerful tool to test new campaign strategies, reach different audiences, and gather valuable data about what resonates, all without any initial risk.

Making those ads effective is even more important when you want every dollar - credit or not - to count. That's why building a solid organic social media presence is so vital, it provides the foundation of trust and community that makes your ads perform better. We designed Postbase to make managing that organic presence seamless, saving you time with visual planning calendars, reliable multi-platform scheduling, and a unified inbox for all your engagement so you can focus on building a brand that ads can successfully amplify.