Get Started

Create your first ad with the Marketing API by following these steps.

Before You Start

You should get familiar with the Graph API and Facebook's Ad Campaign Structure . Once you are ready to start making calls, you need:

• Facebook Developer Account : Use to access our developer tools and create Facebook apps.
• Facebook App : A container for any type of Facebook ads functionality you build.
• Access Token : You can get a system user access token or a user access token with long-lived expiration .
• Permissions : depending on how you are using the API.
• Ad Account : You need an ad account to manage access to your ads, billing settings, and spending limits. Find your account's number by visiting Ad Account Setup inside Ads Manager.

After that, you can get started. Don't forget to check general best practices for using the Marketing API.

Step 1: Create a Campaign

Start the process creating a new campaign object from the class Campaign . At this stage, you need to set an objective for your ads, which is the overall goal of your campaign. We recommend that you create a PAUSED campaign initially, so you do not get billed while testing.

 
   
 
 
 curl -X POST \
  -F 'name="My campaign"' \
  -F 'objective="OUTCOME_TRAFFIC"' \
  -F 'status="PAUSED"' \
  -F 'special_ad_categories=[]' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v20.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/campaigns 

 
   
 
 
 'use strict';
const bizSdk = require('facebook-nodejs-business-sdk');
const AdAccount = bizSdk.AdAccount;
const Campaign = bizSdk.Campaign;

const access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
const app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
const app_id = '<APP_ID>';
const id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>';
const api = bizSdk.FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token);
const showDebugingInfo = true; // Setting this to true shows more debugging info.
if (showDebugingInfo) {
  api.setDebug(true);
}

const logApiCallResult = (apiCallName, data) => {
  console.log(apiCallName);
  if (showDebugingInfo) {
    console.log('Data:' + JSON.stringify(data));
  }
};

let fields, params;
fields = [
];
params = {
  'name' : 'My campaign',
  'objective' : 'OUTCOME_TRAFFIC',
  'status' : 'PAUSED',
  'special_ad_categories' : [],
};
const campaigns = (new AdAccount(id)).createCampaign(
  fields,
  params
);
logApiCallResult('campaigns api call complete.', campaigns); 

 
   
 
 
 require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use FacebookAds\Object\AdAccount;
use FacebookAds\Object\Campaign;
use FacebookAds\Api;
use FacebookAds\Logger\CurlLogger;

$access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
$app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
$app_id = '<APP_ID>';
$id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>';

$api = Api::init($app_id, $app_secret, $access_token);
$api->setLogger(new CurlLogger());

$fields = array(
);
$params = array(
  'name' => 'My campaign',
  'objective' => 'OUTCOME_TRAFFIC',
  'status' => 'PAUSED',
  'special_ad_categories' => array(),
);
echo json_encode((new AdAccount($id))->createCampaign(
  $fields,
  $params
)->exportAllData(), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT); 

 
   
 
 
 from facebook_business.adobjects.adaccount import AdAccount
from facebook_business.adobjects.campaign import Campaign
from facebook_business.api import FacebookAdsApi

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'
FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token=access_token)

fields = [
]
params = {
  'name': 'My campaign',
  'objective': 'OUTCOME_TRAFFIC',
  'status': 'PAUSED',
  'special_ad_categories': [],
}
print AdAccount(id).create_campaign(
  fields=fields,
  params=params,
) 

 
   
 
 
 import com.facebook.ads.sdk.*;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Arrays;

public class SAMPLE_CODE_EXAMPLE {
  public static void main (String args[]) throws APIException {

    String access_token = \"<ACCESS_TOKEN>\";
    String app_secret = \"<APP_SECRET>\";
    String app_id = \"<APP_ID>\";
    String id = \"<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>\";
    APIContext context = new APIContext(access_token).enableDebug(true);

    new AdAccount(id, context).createCampaign()
      .setName(\"My campaign\")
      .setObjective(Campaign.EnumObjective.VALUE_OUTCOME_TRAFFIC)
      .setStatus(Campaign.EnumStatus.VALUE_PAUSED)
      .setParam(\"special_ad_categories\", \"[]\")
      .execute();

  }
} 

 
   
 
 
 require 'facebook_ads'

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'

FacebookAds.configure do |config|
  config.access_token = access_token
  config.app_secret = app_secret
end

ad_account = FacebookAds::AdAccount.get(id)
campaigns = ad_account.campaigns.create({
    name: 'My campaign',
    objective: 'OUTCOME_TRAFFIC',
    status: 'PAUSED',
    special_ad_categories: [],
}) 

On success, we return an ID for your newly created ad campaign. Remember to save this ID. You can also verify your campaign has been created in ads manager .

Resources:

• List Of Ad Campaign Objectives in PHP
• List Of Ad Campaign Objectives in Python

Step 2: Define Targeting

Before moving to create your ad sets, you need to define your target audience. In the next step, you create an ad set and specify your audience's attributes.

You have many targeting options . In this example, we use targeting search to find predefined values that can be used to set up an audience.

First, let's look for available countries including the word "united":

curl -G \
  -d 'location_types=["country"]' \
  -d 'type=adgeolocation' \
  -d 'q=united' \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v<API_VERSION>/search Open In Graph API Explorer 
 Open In Postman 

Then, we can look for interests including the word "movie":

curl -G \
  -d 'type=adinterest' \
  -d 'q=movie' \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v<API_VERSION>/search

Based on the values returned from the calls above, we know that we can create an audience of people in the United States that are interested in movies. The targeting spec looks like this:

targeting={ 
    "geo_locations": {"countries":["US"]}, 
    "interests": [{id: 6003139266461, 'name': 'Movies'}]
}

Step 3: Create Ad Set and Define Budget, Billing, Optimization, and Duration

An ad set is a group of ads that share the same daily or lifetime budget, schedule, billing, optimization, and targeting data. In this step, you need to create a new object from the class AdSet and specify:

• Duration: How long your ads will run. Set it using start_time and end_time .
• Budget : How much money you want to spend. Use daily_budget or lifetime_budget .
• Optimization : What result you want to achieve with your ad. Set up using optimization_goal .
• Billing : How you want to pay. Use billing_event .
• Bid: What value you place on the occurrence of your optimization event. Use the bid_amount field.
• Targeting : Use the targeting spec created in Step 2.

To create your ad set, you also need the ad campaign ID you saved from Step 1:

 
   
 
 
 curl -X POST \
  -F 'name="My Reach Ad Set"' \
  -F 'optimization_goal="REACH"' \
  -F 'billing_event="IMPRESSIONS"' \
  -F 'bid_amount=2' \
  -F 'daily_budget=1000' \
  -F 'campaign_id="<AD_CAMPAIGN_ID>"' \
  -F 'targeting={
       "geo_locations": {
         "countries": [
           "US"
         ]
       },
       "facebook_positions": [
         "feed"
       ]
     }' \
  -F 'status="PAUSED"' \
  -F 'promoted_object={
       "page_id": "<PAGE_ID>"
     }' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v20.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets 

 
   
 
 
 'use strict';
const bizSdk = require('facebook-nodejs-business-sdk');
const AdAccount = bizSdk.AdAccount;
const AdSet = bizSdk.AdSet;

const access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
const app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
const app_id = '<APP_ID>';
const id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>';
const api = bizSdk.FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token);
const showDebugingInfo = true; // Setting this to true shows more debugging info.
if (showDebugingInfo) {
  api.setDebug(true);
}

const logApiCallResult = (apiCallName, data) => {
  console.log(apiCallName);
  if (showDebugingInfo) {
    console.log('Data:' + JSON.stringify(data));
  }
};

let fields, params;
fields = [
];
params = {
  'name' : 'My Reach Ad Set',
  'optimization_goal' : 'REACH',
  'billing_event' : 'IMPRESSIONS',
  'bid_amount' : '2',
  'daily_budget' : '1000',
  'campaign_id' : '<adCampaignLinkClicksID>',
  'targeting' : {'geo_locations':{'countries':['US']},'facebook_positions':['feed']},
  'status' : 'PAUSED',
  'promoted_object' : {'page_id':'<pageID>'},
};
const adsets = (new AdAccount(id)).createAdSet(
  fields,
  params
);
logApiCallResult('adsets api call complete.', adsets); 

 
   
 
 
 require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use FacebookAds\Object\AdAccount;
use FacebookAds\Object\AdSet;
use FacebookAds\Api;
use FacebookAds\Logger\CurlLogger;

$access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
$app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
$app_id = '<APP_ID>';
$id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>';

$api = Api::init($app_id, $app_secret, $access_token);
$api->setLogger(new CurlLogger());

$fields = array(
);
$params = array(
  'name' => 'My Reach Ad Set',
  'optimization_goal' => 'REACH',
  'billing_event' => 'IMPRESSIONS',
  'bid_amount' => '2',
  'daily_budget' => '1000',
  'campaign_id' => '<adCampaignLinkClicksID>',
  'targeting' => array('geo_locations' => array('countries' => array('US')),'facebook_positions' => array('feed')),
  'status' => 'PAUSED',
  'promoted_object' => array('page_id' => '<pageID>'),
);
echo json_encode((new AdAccount($id))->createAdSet(
  $fields,
  $params
)->exportAllData(), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT); 

 
   
 
 
 from facebook_business.adobjects.adaccount import AdAccount
from facebook_business.adobjects.adset import AdSet
from facebook_business.api import FacebookAdsApi

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'
FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token=access_token)

fields = [
]
params = {
  'name': 'My Reach Ad Set',
  'optimization_goal': 'REACH',
  'billing_event': 'IMPRESSIONS',
  'bid_amount': '2',
  'daily_budget': '1000',
  'campaign_id': '<adCampaignLinkClicksID>',
  'targeting': {'geo_locations':{'countries':['US']},'facebook_positions':['feed']},
  'status': 'PAUSED',
  'promoted_object': {'page_id':'<pageID>'},
}
print AdAccount(id).create_ad_set(
  fields=fields,
  params=params,
) 

 
   
 
 
 import com.facebook.ads.sdk.*;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Arrays;

public class SAMPLE_CODE_EXAMPLE {
  public static void main (String args[]) throws APIException {

    String access_token = \"<ACCESS_TOKEN>\";
    String app_secret = \"<APP_SECRET>\";
    String app_id = \"<APP_ID>\";
    String id = \"<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>\";
    APIContext context = new APIContext(access_token).enableDebug(true);

    new AdAccount(id, context).createAdSet()
      .setName(\"My Reach Ad Set\")
      .setOptimizationGoal(AdSet.EnumOptimizationGoal.VALUE_REACH)
      .setBillingEvent(AdSet.EnumBillingEvent.VALUE_IMPRESSIONS)
      .setBidAmount(2L)
      .setDailyBudget(1000L)
      .setCampaignId(\"<adCampaignLinkClicksID>\")
      .setTargeting(
          new Targeting()
            .setFieldFacebookPositions(Arrays.asList(\"feed\"))
            .setFieldGeoLocations(
              new TargetingGeoLocation()
                .setFieldCountries(Arrays.asList(\"US\"))
            )
        )
      .setStatus(AdSet.EnumStatus.VALUE_PAUSED)
      .setPromotedObject(\"{\\"page_id\\":\\"<pageID>\\"}\")
      .execute();

  }
} 

 
   
 
 
 require 'facebook_ads'

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'

FacebookAds.configure do |config|
  config.access_token = access_token
  config.app_secret = app_secret
end

ad_account = FacebookAds::AdAccount.get(id)
adsets = ad_account.adsets.create({
    name: 'My Reach Ad Set',
    optimization_goal: 'REACH',
    billing_event: 'IMPRESSIONS',
    bid_amount: '2',
    daily_budget: '1000',
    campaign_id: '<adCampaignLinkClicksID>',
    targeting: {'geo_locations':{'countries':['US']},'facebook_positions':['feed']},
    status: 'PAUSED',
    promoted_object: {'page_id':'<pageID>'},
}) 

We recommend the creation of an ad set with the PAUSED status to avoid charges during your test.

Step 4: Provide Ad Creative

In this step, you will use the AdCreative object to provide the visual elements of your ad. The information you need to provide depends on your objective, but common attributes are:

• Images and videos
• Title and description
• Links
• Call to Action buttons

Depending on your objective you may have to provide advanced fields. For example, ads for an iOS app require an app store URL.

You can define creative as part of an ad set or standalone. In either case, we store your ad creative in your ad account's creative library to use in ads.

Example

This example shows how to provide an image and create the AdCreative object.

First, create an AdImage object from an image file:

curl \
  -F 'filename=@<IMAGE_PATH>' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v<API_VERSION>/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adimages

Then, use the image hash to create the AdCreative :

curl -X POST \
  -F 'name="Sample Creative"' \
  -F 'object_story_spec={
       "page_id": "<PAGE_ID>",
       "link_data": {
         "image_hash": "<IMAGE_HASH>",
         "link": "https://facebook.com/<PAGE_ID>",
         "message": "try it out"
       }
     }' \
  -F 'degrees_of_freedom_spec={
      "creative_features_spec": {
        "standard_enhancements": {
          "enroll_status": "OPT_IN"
        }
      }
    }' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v<API_VERSION>/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adcreatives Open In Graph API Explorer 
 Open In Postman 

Verify your image upload by going to your Media Libraryinside ads manager .

At this point, the AdCreative with your link is not yet visible in Ads Manager. You see this data once you book your ad. You can debug your ad creative with Graph API Explorer and specify any fields you want to read:

 GET /{my-creative-id} HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com/?fields=object_story_spec 

Step 5: Schedule Delivery

Finally, create your Ad object to link your AdCreative and AdSet . Set the status of your Ad to paused to avoid placing an order instantly.

 
   
 
 
 curl -X POST \
  -F 'name="My Ad"' \
  -F 'adset_id="<AD_SET_ID>"' \
  -F 'creative={
       "creative_id": "<CREATIVE_ID>"
     }' \
  -F 'status="PAUSED"' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v20.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/ads 

 
   
 
 
 'use strict';
const bizSdk = require('facebook-nodejs-business-sdk');
const AdAccount = bizSdk.AdAccount;
const Ad = bizSdk.Ad;

const access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
const app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
const app_id = '<APP_ID>';
const id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>';
const api = bizSdk.FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token);
const showDebugingInfo = true; // Setting this to true shows more debugging info.
if (showDebugingInfo) {
  api.setDebug(true);
}

const logApiCallResult = (apiCallName, data) => {
  console.log(apiCallName);
  if (showDebugingInfo) {
    console.log('Data:' + JSON.stringify(data));
  }
};

let fields, params;
fields = [
];
params = {
  'name' : 'My Ad',
  'adset_id' : '<adSetID>',
  'creative' : {'creative_id':'<adCreativeID>'},
  'status' : 'PAUSED',
};
const ads = (new AdAccount(id)).createAd(
  fields,
  params
);
logApiCallResult('ads api call complete.', ads); 

 
   
 
 
 require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use FacebookAds\Object\AdAccount;
use FacebookAds\Object\Ad;
use FacebookAds\Api;
use FacebookAds\Logger\CurlLogger;

$access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
$app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
$app_id = '<APP_ID>';
$id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>';

$api = Api::init($app_id, $app_secret, $access_token);
$api->setLogger(new CurlLogger());

$fields = array(
);
$params = array(
  'name' => 'My Ad',
  'adset_id' => '<adSetID>',
  'creative' => array('creative_id' => '<adCreativeID>'),
  'status' => 'PAUSED',
);
echo json_encode((new AdAccount($id))->createAd(
  $fields,
  $params
)->exportAllData(), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT); 

 
   
 
 
 from facebook_business.adobjects.adaccount import AdAccount
from facebook_business.adobjects.ad import Ad
from facebook_business.api import FacebookAdsApi

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'
FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token=access_token)

fields = [
]
params = {
  'name': 'My Ad',
  'adset_id': '<adSetID>',
  'creative': {'creative_id':'<adCreativeID>'},
  'status': 'PAUSED',
}
print AdAccount(id).create_ad(
  fields=fields,
  params=params,
) 

 
   
 
 
 import com.facebook.ads.sdk.*;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Arrays;

public class SAMPLE_CODE_EXAMPLE {
  public static void main (String args[]) throws APIException {

    String access_token = \"<ACCESS_TOKEN>\";
    String app_secret = \"<APP_SECRET>\";
    String app_id = \"<APP_ID>\";
    String id = \"<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>\";
    APIContext context = new APIContext(access_token).enableDebug(true);

    new AdAccount(id, context).createAd()
      .setName(\"My Ad\")
      .setAdsetId(<adSetID>L)
      .setCreative(
          new AdCreative()
            .setFieldId(\"<adCreativeID>\")
        )
      .setStatus(Ad.EnumStatus.VALUE_PAUSED)
      .execute();

  }
} 

 
   
 
 
 require 'facebook_ads'

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'

FacebookAds.configure do |config|
  config.access_token = access_token
  config.app_secret = app_secret
end

ad_account = FacebookAds::AdAccount.get(id)
ads = ad_account.ads.create({
    name: 'My Ad',
    adset_id: '<adSetID>',
    creative: {'creative_id':'<adCreativeID>'},
    status: 'PAUSED',
}) 

Verify that your ad exists in the ads manager . Click on the campaign you just created, then on the ad set, and on the ad.

Once you're comfortable booking ads with the API, set the status to active . First, the ad goes through ad review, and has the status PENDING_REVIEW . Once the review is done, it goes back to the status of ACTIVE .

Copying Ads

Alternatively, you can copy an existing ad, asset or campaign. It helps you quickly duplicate a campaign to change configurations or create test groups to extract performance knowledge. For more details, see:

• Campaign Copies
• Ad Set Copies
• Ad Copies