Thinking back to 2011, I had just found out that digital marketing was my dream career, and I went into it wholeheartedly. There was very little known back then about the world of the web and online advertising, Nigerian companies that ran Facebook ads seemed like some hot shot brands, and if you even understood the way they worked, you were almost idolized. Alas, that is all gone.

Today, platforms like Facebook advertising are gaining traction because of their accessibility and ease of use. But beyond being able to create ads, most advertisers without foundational knowledge of the workings of digital media seem to get it wrong more often than not, leading to unrealized profits, poor ROI on advertising campaigns, and in the end money lost.

Over the past few years, Facebook has established itself as the world’s largest social network, turned out to be larger than a lot of countries too. And that’s one major reason it has become every small business’ first point of call whenever advertising is mentioned. Needless to say, it has proved effective for a lot of brands, the ones who know how to use it. But the problem is, not everyone is well grounded in the big idea of advertising, or how marketing campaigns should work in the first place. That’s the purpose of this post, to get you aquatinted with what Facebook advertising is all about, and how you can take advantage of it.