A Facebook Offer is one of the many ad options provided to Fan Page admins. Not something you see as often as other types of Facebook ads, Offers are the closest thing to a “traditional” coupon. You can control the number of Offers made available and people need to present the Offer in order to redeem your deal. To see how claiming an Offer works from the customer’s viewpoint, click here.

How to Start a Facebook Offer

There are 2 ways to create your Facebook Offer. You can create one directly on your Page, and then choose to promote it with an ad once it’s created. You can also build the Offer within your Ads Manager account while also setting up the ad for it.

If you want to create the Offer on your Facebook page, click on the “Offer, Event+” link in your status update box.

The Offer design process is the same no matter where you first create it. It’s really going to depend on your plans for promotion. If you only want your Offer to be organically available, create it from your Facebook Page. But you can setup an ad for your Offer even if you created your Offer on your Facebook Page.

Building a Facebook Offer in Ads Manager

If you are going to create your new Facebook Offer within your Ads Manager, you need to…

1. Visit your Ads Manager. Click the green Create Ad button. If you have more than 1 Facebook page you admin, you’ll need to choose the page you are creating the Offer for from the list. Next, click the + sign (If you already created an Offer on your Facebook page, you can choose it from the post list, then continue on to setup your ad). 
2. You are immediately presented with the ability to create your Offer. Please note the grey text at the bottom left corner of the pop-up box that reads “Your post will show on your Page right away“. You do have the option, though, to choose a future date for your Offer to start. You can choose the date only; it’ll schedule to publish at 9 am. 
3. You will see your Offer preview on the left as your fill in the various fields and choose your Offer image. Give your Offer a Title. You have 25 characters here. Your Offer Title displays beneath your Offer image.
4. Your Offer Description displays above your Offer image, and includes a maximum of 90 characters. Choose your image or upload a new one. You don’t have the ability to reposition your image, so how it previews is going to be what shows in your Offer. Select your Expiration Date and set the maximum number of Offers you want to make available. Then click on More Options. 
5. The More Options menu lets you add some optional Offer parameters including Offer Start Time, Location, Language, Online Redemption Link, and Terms & Conditions. Once you have your Offer as you like it, click the blue Create Offer button in the bottom right corner. 

Your Offer will show as a scheduled post on your Facebook Page (assuming you want it for future publishing). This is true for Offers built on your Page and in Ads Manager. If you created your Offer within Ads Manager, you will now see it auto-populate in the Post List. Select it to continue with your ad build process.

Facebook will email you the Offer preview to the email address you use to log in to Facebook. This is where you can see your Offer terms. If you need to edit your Offer, you will unfortunately need to rebuild it from scratch.

You can view the number of Offers redeemed by viewing your post; the number of Offers claimed is towards the bottom, on the left side. You will not be able to see or access any information on the people who claimed your Offer.

Just like with a regular coupon, not everyone who claims your Offer will end up redeeming it. Keep track of the total number redeemed in order to learn more about which Offers resonate with your client base the most, and to have a better idea of how many to make available. If you have 10 items you really want to move, so you only make 10 Offers available, you might find that you really need to make 20 or 30 Offers available in order to get those 10 items out the door and off your books.