Facebook and Instagram
Facebook and Instagram ads, without living in Ads Manager.
Facebook and Instagram are one advertising system run by Meta, so a single campaign can appear on both. That is useful, and it is also why the setup screen has so many options that most business owners give up and press Boost instead.
FromR599per month · priced in Rands · cancel anytime
What this channel is good at.
Meta advertising is built around finding people who are not searching yet. You describe who you want to reach and what you are selling, and the system puts your ad in front of people who look like buyers while they scroll. It rewards good creative more than clever settings, which is exactly the part small businesses have the least time for.
Facebook Feed
The main scroll. Still where most reach comes from for local businesses, and the placement most people picture when they think of a Facebook ad.
Instagram Feed and Explore
The same campaign, shown to a more visual audience. Strong for anything people want to look at before they buy.
Reels, on both
Short vertical video. Currently the cheapest attention on Meta, and the format that most rewards a good first three seconds.
Stories
Full screen and gone in a day. Good for offers with a deadline, and for reminding people who already know you.
And why it is harder than it looks.
Ads Manager is built for agencies
Campaign, ad set and ad are three separate layers with their own settings, and a mistake on any one of them quietly wastes budget. It is a professional tool, and it assumes you use it every day.
Targeting is guesswork without data
Interests, locations, age ranges, lookalikes. Every combination looks plausible on the screen, and there is no way to tell which is right until money has already been spent.
Writing the ad is its own job
Meta wants several versions of the headline and body text so it can find the one that works. Most owners write one, run it, and never test another.
Boosting is not the same thing
The Boost button is a stripped back version with far less control over who sees the ad, and almost no way to tell what worked.
Fit
Who this usually suits.
- Local service businesses that need the phone to ring
- Shops and salons with something worth photographing
- Anyone selling to a whole town or suburb rather than one search term
- Businesses that already have a Facebook page and no idea what to do with it
In the platform
How AI Ad Engine handles it.
One login instead of three
Facebook, Instagram, Google and TikTok are launched and watched from the same dashboard, so you are not learning four different ad managers.
The AI writes the first draft
The AI Ad Launcher builds the campaign and drafts the ads, so the blank page is already filled in before you start editing.
Leads land somewhere
A CRM, pipeline tracking and lead management are included, so an enquiry from an ad becomes a record you can follow up rather than a notification you miss.
You can see what happened
Campaign reporting in one dashboard, in Rands, so spend and results sit next to each other.
Plans
Two ways to run it.
Scale
R599
Self-service · per month
For business owners who want a simple, affordable way to launch and manage powerful advertising themselves.
Dominate
R1,599
Done-with-you · per month
For businesses that want the technology plus hands-on help getting their advertising built, launched and moving in the right direction.
Advertising spend is separate. Your AI Ad Engine subscription does not include the actual advertising budget paid to Meta, Google or TikTok.
Questions
Facebook and Instagram, answered.
Something still unclear? Ask us before you subscribe.
Do I need a Facebook page to run Facebook ads?
Yes. Meta requires ads to run from a Facebook page. If you already have one you can use it as it is, and Instagram ads can run from the same setup.
Is my Facebook ad budget included in the subscription?
No. Your AI Ad Engine subscription and your advertising spend are separate. The money for the ads themselves is billed to you by Meta.
Can one campaign run on both Facebook and Instagram?
Yes. Facebook and Instagram are both Meta platforms, so a single campaign can be shown across both.
How is this different from boosting a post?
Boosting is a simplified button with limited control and limited targeting. A proper campaign gives you control over who sees the ad, what it says and how the results are measured.
Do I need to be good at design to advertise on Instagram?
No. AI Ad Engine is designed to simplify the campaign creation process, including writing the ads. On the Dominate plan our team helps build and launch the campaigns with you.
The other channels.
Google ads
Google is the opposite of social advertising. Nobody is scrolling. Somebody has typed what they want into a search box, and the only question left is whose name they see first.
TikTok ads
TikTok is where attention is cheapest, and where a lot of South African businesses still are not advertising. That gap is the opportunity, and it closes a little every month.
Versus a marketing agency
What you give up and what you get back when the retainer goes away.
Individual results vary. Past performance and customer case studies do not guarantee future results.