Facebook Ads Guide for Ethiopian Businesses | Ravini Digital
Paid Ads Guide
12 min readJune 2026

The Complete Facebook Ads Guide for Ethiopian Businesses

Everything you need to know about running profitable Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns in Ethiopia. From account setup to advanced targeting and creative best practices.

Why Facebook Ads Work in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has over 30 million Facebook users, and that number grows every month. For businesses in Addis Ababa and beyond, Facebook and Instagram ads are the most cost-effective way to reach potential customers where they already spend their time.

Unlike boosting posts (which wastes money with broad, unfocused reach), proper Facebook advertising through Meta Ads Manager allows you to:

  • Target specific audiences based on location, age, interests, and behaviour
  • Control exactly how much you spend down to the birr
  • Test multiple ad versions to find what works before scaling
  • Track every result — clicks, messages, calls, purchases
  • Scale what works once you find a winning formula

Key insight: The average CPC in Ethiopia is significantly lower than in Western markets. A well-targeted campaign can reach thousands for just a few hundred birr per day.

Setting Up Your Ad Account

  1. Create a Facebook Business Page if you do not have one.
  2. Set up Meta Business Suite at business.facebook.com.
  3. Create an Ad Account inside Business Suite. Set currency to ETB.
  4. Add a payment method. Meta accepts Visa/Mastercard.
  5. Install the Meta Pixel on your website for tracking.

Important: Never run ads from your personal profile or by boosting posts. Always use Meta Ads Manager.

Targeting Ethiopian Audiences

  • Target specific cities: Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Hawassa, Bahir Dar
  • Use radius targeting around your business location
  • For e-commerce, target all of Addis Ababa or nationwide

Pro tip: Start broad (100K-500K people) and let Facebook's algorithm find the best performers. Then create lookalike audiences.

Budget & Bidding Strategy

  • Testing (Week 1-2): 100-200 ETB/day. Run 3-4 different creatives.
  • Learning (Week 3-4): 200-500 ETB/day. Scale winners, cut losers.
  • Scaling (Month 2+): 500+ ETB/day. Increase by 20-30% every few days.

Creating Ads That Convert

  • Use real photos, not stock photos
  • Bright, high-contrast images stop the scroll
  • Video outperforms static images 80% of the time
  • Keep videos under 30 seconds with the hook in the first 3 seconds
  • Use Amharic or a mix of Amharic/English depending on your audience
  • Include a clear call to action

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  1. Boosting instead of using Ads Manager.
  2. Not testing multiple creatives.
  3. Targeting too narrow. Under 10K people = cannot optimise.
  4. Giving up too early. Facebook needs 3-7 days to exit the learning phase.
  5. Ignoring the data. Check results daily.
  6. No clear objective. Every campaign needs a specific goal.

Measuring Results

  • CPC: 2-10 ETB is good in Ethiopia.
  • CTR: Above 1% is good, above 2% is excellent.
  • Cost Per Lead: Under 20 ETB per message is strong.
  • ROAS: If you spend 1,000 ETB and generate 4,000 ETB in sales, your ROAS is 4x.

Key Takeaways

  • Always use Meta Ads Manager, never boost posts
  • Start small (100-200 ETB/day), test multiple creatives, scale winners
  • Target broadly first, then narrow with data
  • Video outperforms images in almost every case
  • Track ROAS, not just clicks

Want us to set up and manage your Facebook ads? Get a free proposal or explore our services.

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