This paid feature allows you to place advertising across all of Facebook’s platforms including Instagram and Messenger. Depending upon the placement and type of campaign you choose, the ads can appear directly in the newsfeed, to the right of the newsfeed, between videos, in Facebook’s Marketplace, and in Messenger inboxes.

Facebook has over 1.6 billion users, and because you can hyper-target your ad’s audience, we’d say this tool is worth what you pay for it. For better or worse, Facebook’s value is enhanced by the fact that it knows more about its users--and what makes them “click”--than any other platform, so your advertising is more likely to give you a good return on investment.

Pro tip: Facebook ads are most effective when you include an offer of some kind, rather than just using it for general branding of your practice.

Creating a good Facebook ad can be time-consuming, though the learning curve is not as steep as the one for Google Ads. Once you’ve created your business account in Facebook, you’ll need to go to the Ad Manager to start setting up advertising campaigns. If you don’t have a provider to help you place and test your Facebook Ads, you can try the DIY route with these steps provided by Facebook. You can use the same tool to place ads on Facebook’s other affiliates such as Instagram and Messenger.