How to Run Facebook Ads for a Local Business

Running Facebook Ads for your local business doesn't need to be complicated or expensive, it's one of the most powerful tools available for reaching customers right in your neighborhood. This guide will walk you through setting up, targeting, and running effective Facebook ad campaigns designed to drive real-world results like foot traffic, phone calls, and local sales. Let's get your business in front of the people who matter most: your local community.

Why Facebook Ads are a Game-Changer for Local Businesses

Before we jump into the setup, it's worth understanding why Facebook (and Instagram) remains a powerhouse for local marketing. Unlike a billboard or a newspaper ad, Meta's ad platform gives you microscopic control over who sees your message. You're not just shouting into the void, you're speaking directly to potential customers based on where they live, what they're interested in, and how they behave online.

For a local restaurant, this means targeting people within a 5-mile radius who love "Italian cuisine" and are celebrating an anniversary soon. For a local hardware store, it's about reaching homeowners in your specific zip codes who have shown interest in "DIY projects." This level of precision saves you money by eliminating wasted ad spend and puts your message directly in the hands of people most likely to walk through your door.

Before You Begin: The Foundation for a Great Ad

A successful ad campaign starts before you ever open the Ads Manager. Getting these three things in order will make the entire process smoother and more effective.

1. Your Business Goal Isn’t “More Likes”

You need a tangible, real-world objective. What do you really want people to do after they see your ad? Likes and comments are nice, but they don't pay the bills. Be specific:

• Get more people to visit my physical store.
• Generate phone calls for service appointments.
• Encourage online orders for local delivery.
• Collect email addresses for our newsletter.
• Sell tickets to a local event.

Once you know your goal, every other decision - your ad's objective, copy, and call-to-action - becomes clearer.

2. Understand Your Local Customer

You probably have a good gut feeling about who your customers are. Now, let's go a bit deeper. Think about a few key traits:

• Location: Do they live in specific neighborhoods or zip codes? Are they commuters who work near your business?
• Demographics: What's their general age range and gender? Are they parents, students, or retirees?
• Interests: What are their hobbies or interests related to your business? A yoga studio could target people interested in "wellness" and "Lululemon," while a pet groomer could target "dog lovers" who use local dog parks.

You don’t need a fifty-page document, just a clear picture of the person you're trying to reach. This will make your targeting a lot easier.

3. Set a Sensible Budget

You don't need thousands of dollars to get started. Many local businesses see great results starting with as little as $5 or $10 a day. The key is to be consistent. It’s better to run a smaller daily ad budget for a couple of weeks than to spend everything in a two-day blitz. This gives Facebook's algorithm time to learn who responds to your ad and optimize delivery for the best results. Start small, see what works, and then scale up.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Your First Local Ad Campaign

With the prep work done, it's time to build your campaign inside Meta's Ads Manager. This is the central hub where all campaigns are created and monitored.

Step 1: Choose Your Campaign Objective

When you create a new campaign, Facebook will ask you to choose an objective. This choice tells the algorithm what kind of result you want. For local businesses, these three are usually your best bets:

• Awareness: The goal here is simple - reach as many people as possible in a specific geographic area to let them know your business exists. This is great for grand openings or making sure your brand is top-of-mind. Within Awareness, you can select 'Reach' as your goal, telling Facebook to show your ad to the maximum number of people in your audience.
• Traffic: This objective is perfect if you want to drive people to a destination, whether it's your website, menu page, or even get foot traffic to your physical storefront with a map link.
• Leads: Use this if you need to collect customer information. It's ideal for service businesses (plumbers, real estate agents) wanting to get calls or form submissions, or for businesses looking to build an email list with a local offer.

For this example, let's say you're a cafe wanting more people to visit. You might start with the Awareness objective to make sure everyone nearby knows about your new spring menu.

Step 2: Define Your Schedule and Budget

Next, you’ll set up your budget. You can choose:

• Daily Budget: A set amount to spend each day. This is great for ongoing campaigns. Example: $10/day.
• Lifetime Budget: A total amount to spend over a defined period. This is perfect for short-term promotions, like a weekend sale. Example: $100 budget to run from Friday to Sunday.

Start with a daily budget and set an end date a couple of weeks out. This gives you plenty of data without committing to a long-term spend just yet.

Step 3: Pinpoint Your Hyper-Local Audience

This is where the magic happens for local businesses. In the "Audience" section of your ad set, you'll define exactly who sees your ad. Skip the broad targeting and get specific.

Location, Location, Location

Under ‘Locations,’ you want to select "People living in or recently in this location." Then, get super precise:

• Radius Targeting: This is a local business's best friend. Type in your business address and select a radius (e.g., within 5 miles). You can even use the "Drop Pin" feature to select a specific landmark or intersection and target an area around it.
• Zip Code Targeting: If you know certain zip codes have a high concentration of your ideal customers, you can target them directly.

You can also layer multiple locations or exclude certain areas if needed.

Demographics & Detailed Targeting

Now, layer on the customer details you identified earlier.

• Age & Gender: Set a realistic age range for your services.
• Detailed Targeting: This is where you add interests and behaviors. For our cafe example, you could target people interested in "coffee," "espresso," "local food," or even competing cafe brands. Type in an interest and Facebook will suggest related ones. Don't go crazy here, 3-5 strong, relevant interests are better than 20 vague ones.

On the right side of the screen, the "Audience Definition" gauge will show you if your audience is too broad or too specific. Aim for the green sweet spot.

Step 4: Create an Ad That Stops the Scroll

Your ad creative - the image/video and text - is what will ultimately convince someone to take action. Generic stock photos won't cut it. Your creative needs to feel local and authentic.

The Visuals

Great local ad visuals show, don’t just tell. Try these ideas:

• Behind-the-Scenes Video: A short, 15-second video of your barista making a latte, your chef preparing a dish, or you and your team setting up the store. It builds a human connection.
• High-Quality Photos of Your Space/Products: Show off your cozy interior, your mouth-watering pastries, or your perfectly organized shelves. Make people want to be there.
• People-Focused Images: Feature your happy team or, even better, photos of happy customers (with their permission). This builds social proof.

The Ad Copy

Your text should speak directly to your local audience. It doesn't need to be long, it just needs to be relevant.

• Call Out Your Location: Start your ad copy by mentioning the community. "Hey, North Brooklyn! Our new spring menu just dropped." It instantly grabs the attention of local scrollers.
• Make a Clear Offer: Give people a reason to act now. "Show this ad for 1-for-1 espresso drinks this week!" or "Free consultation for our neighbors in the 90210."
• Write an Unmissable Call-To-Action (CTA): Facebook provides a CTA button. Choose one that matches your goal. Don't just pick "Learn More." If you want people to visit, use "Get Directions." If you want calls, use "Call Now." Be direct.

Step 5: Launch and Monitor

Once you’ve put all the pieces together, hit the shiny green "Publish" button. But your job isn't quite done. You should check in on your ad campaign's performance every day or two inside the Ads Manager dashboard.

Don't get bogged down by all the data at first. Focus on the basics:

• Reach: How many unique people have seen your ad?
• Frequency: How many times has each person seen your ad, on average? If this number gets too high (e.g., above 4 or 5), your audience might be getting tired of it.
• Cost Per Result: This tells you how much you're paying for each action (e.g., cost per click, cost per lead). This is your most important metric - it tells you if your ad spend is worth it.

Let your ad run for at least 3-4 days before making any drastic changes. This gives the algorithm time to learn and find your best customers.

Final Thoughts

Creating effective Facebook ads for your local business isn't about mastering complex algorithms or having a giant budget. It’s about leveraging powerful tools to connect authentically with the people right around the corner. By focusing on a clear goal, a well-defined local audience, and creative that speaks to your community, you can turn social media scrolling into real-world customers.

Paid ads work best when supported by a strong organic social media presence, as this builds the trust that makes your ads more effective. To keep this side running smoothly, we built Postbase to streamline everything. You can plan your organic content calendar, schedule posts for Facebook, Instagram, and more in one click, and see what's actually working. This way, the people who discover you through an ad are welcomed by an active and engaging page, increasing the chances they'll become loyal customers.