Paid social · Facebook and Instagram
Facebook and Instagram ads management for Halifax businesses
Meta ads reach people before they search. That’s their strength and their trap. A good campaign puts a local offer in front of the right people in HRM, then proves which ads produced calls, bookings or sales. We set up the tracking first, write and shoot the ads, and report in plain numbers.
Facebook ads or Google Ads?
They do different jobs. Google Ads catches people who are already searching for “plumber Dartmouth” or “brunch Halifax.” Meta ads create demand. Someone scrolling Instagram on a Sunday sees your patio, your new menu or your before-and-after renovation and decides to act.
Meta usually wins for
- Restaurants, cafés and events
- Real estate listings and open houses
- Salons, gyms and studios
- Products people buy on impulse
- Anything that looks good on camera
Google usually wins for
- Emergency trades and repairs
- Services people search by name
- High-intent B2B enquiries
- Anything people rarely browse for fun
Many local businesses need both. We wrote up the trade-offs in Google Ads vs Facebook ads for Halifax small businesses.
What our Meta ads management includes
| Part | What we do |
|---|---|
| Account setup and audit | Business Manager, ad account, page and Instagram connections, payment and user access. We check who owns what before spending anything. |
| Tracking | Meta Pixel, Conversions API, and events that match your real goals: calls, form leads, bookings or purchases. |
| Audiences | Location radius around your service area, retargeting of site visitors and video viewers, and customer lists where you have consent. |
| Creative | Short vertical video, photos and copy. We shoot on location in HRM. Ad creative comes from our social content work, so it looks like you, not stock. |
| Testing | Two or three ad angles at a time. We kill what fails and scale what works. |
| Reporting | A monthly report of cost per result, not just reach and likes, plus what we’ll change next month. |
Tracking comes before ad spend
Most underperforming ad accounts we see aren’t short on creative. They’re blind. The pixel fires on every page, or not at all, and nobody can tell which ad brought in a booking.
Meta describes the Conversions API as a connection between an advertiser’s marketing data and Meta’s systems, used to optimize targeting and measure results. In practice we run it alongside the browser pixel. That way a lead still counts when a browser blocks the pixel. We then check in Events Manager that events arrive once, not twice. If you also run Google Ads, we set up both tracking systems together. See analytics and conversion tracking.
Special ad categories: housing, jobs and finance
Some ads come with extra rules. Meta’s developer documentation lists the special ad categories as housing, employment, financial products and services, and issues, elections and politics. Advertisers in these categories who target Canada must declare them and accept limited targeting options. Lookalike audiences, for example, are off the table (Meta special ad category docs).
That affects realtors, property managers, landlords, mortgage brokers and anyone hiring. It doesn’t make Meta useless for them. It means the ad itself has to do the targeting. We explain how in Meta’s housing ad category in Canada.
Pricing
You pay two separate things. Ad spend goes straight to Meta on your own card, in your own account. Our management fee covers setup, creative, optimization and reporting.
Quoted after a free review monthly management fee + HST
Our $349 On-Site Shoot already includes Meta ads setup, so many clients start there and add monthly management once there’s footage to run.
How we work
- Free account review. We look at your current ads (if any), tracking and page. You get a short written list of what’s broken.
- Goal and budget. One clear goal per campaign: calls, leads, bookings or sales. A budget you can sustain for at least a few weeks.
- Tracking setup. Pixel, Conversions API and test events, before any money is spent.
- Creative. We shoot or edit two to three ad angles and write the copy.
- Launch and learn. The first weeks are for learning. We don’t judge an ad after a day or two.
- Monthly report. Cost per result, what we changed and what’s next.
Questions about Meta ads
How much should a small business spend on Facebook ads?
Enough to get meaningful results within a month. For a single local offer that often means a few hundred dollars a month at minimum. We’ll give you a number for your situation after the review, not before.
Who owns the ad account?
You do. We work inside your Business Manager as a partner. If you stop working with us, your account, pixel data and audiences stay with you.
Can you run ads on Instagram only?
Yes. Placements can be limited to Instagram feed, Stories and Reels, though letting Meta use both apps usually lowers cost per result.
Do boosted posts count?
Boosting is the simplest form of Meta ad. It’s fine for reach. For leads or sales, a proper campaign in Ads Manager gives you better targeting, testing and tracking.
Do you work outside Halifax?
Yes, anywhere in Nova Scotia and across Canada for online businesses. On-location shoots are easiest within HRM.
Want to know what your ads are really doing?
Send us your page and ad account name. We’ll review your tracking and current campaigns for free and tell you what we’d change first.