Facebook Ads Glossary: Key Terms Every Marketer Should Know
Facebook Ads remain one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience. But for marketers — especially beginners — the terminology can be overwhelming. Understanding key terms is crucial for creating, managing, and optimizing campaigns effectively.
At Digiplus Technologies, we’ve compiled a complete Facebook Ads glossary that covers all the essential terms marketers need in 2025.
1. Key Campaign Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Campaign | The top-level structure in Facebook Ads Manager where you set your marketing objective (e.g., traffic, conversions). |
| Ad Set | A subset of a campaign where you define audience targeting, budget, schedule, and placement. |
| Ad | The creative content (text, image, video, carousel) that is shown to your audience. |
| Objective | The goal of your campaign, such as brand awareness, traffic, engagement, or conversions. |
2. Audience & Targeting Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Custom Audience | Audience created from your existing contacts, website visitors, or app users. |
| Lookalike Audience | Audience similar to your existing customers, used to expand reach. |
| Detailed Targeting | Allows advertisers to target users based on demographics, interests, and behaviors. |
| Exclusion Audience | Groups of people excluded from your targeting to prevent wasted impressions. |
3. Budget & Bidding Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| CPC (Cost Per Click) | Amount paid each time someone clicks on your ad. |
| CPM (Cost Per Mille) | Cost per 1,000 impressions. Useful for brand awareness campaigns. |
| ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) | Measures revenue generated for every dollar spent on ads. |
| Bid Strategy | Determines how Facebook spends your budget to achieve campaign goals (e.g., lowest cost, cost cap). |
4. Performance & Metrics Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| CTR (Click-Through Rate) | Percentage of people who clicked your ad after seeing it. |
| Conversion Rate | Percentage of users who completed a desired action after clicking the ad. |
| Impressions | Total number of times your ad was shown. |
| Frequency | Average number of times a person sees your ad. |
| Pixel | A tracking code installed on your website to track user behavior and conversions. |
5. Creative & Ad Format Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Carousel Ad | Ad format allowing multiple images or videos in one ad, each with its own link. |
| Lead Ad | Form-based ad designed to collect contact info from users directly on Facebook. |
| Dynamic Ad | Personalized ad automatically showing products users have previously viewed. |
| Video Ad | Ad format focused on video content to engage and educate audiences. |
6. Optimization & Strategy Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| A/B Testing | Running multiple ad variations to see which performs best. |
| Relevance Score / Quality Ranking | Metric showing how relevant your ad is to your target audience. |
| Retargeting | Showing ads to users who have previously interacted with your website or app. |
| Ad Scheduling | Choosing specific times or days when your ads are shown to maximize performance. |
Conclusion
Understanding Facebook Ads terminology is essential for creating effective campaigns that deliver results. By mastering these terms — from CPC and ROAS to Custom Audiences and Pixels — marketers can optimize ad spend, improve targeting, and boost conversions.
At Digiplus Technologies, we specialize in helping businesses navigate Facebook Ads with expertise, strategy, and measurable results. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced marketer, understanding these terms is your first step toward successful Facebook advertising in 2025.