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Step One of the Creative Process: Facebooks Ads Library

A guide on how to use the Facebook Ads Library to gather ads for Foreplay. The article provides a step-by-step process, using Proven Skin Care as an example.

By Kevin Cohen

In this guide, we'll learn how to efficiently navigate the Facebook Ads Library to capture ads for further analysis and integration into Foreplay. The objective is to identify and save old campaigns that have been running for at least three months, starting from a specified date. By following these steps, you can gather valuable insights for your creative process.

Accessing Facebook Ads Library

To begin, visit facebook.com/ads/library and set the location to the United States while selecting "All Ads" to explore a wide range of advertisements, using Proven Skin Care as our example.

Identifying Old Campaigns

Next, filter the ads to show those running since a specific date, typically three months prior. Locate the oldest ads within the group to ensure you capture long-running campaigns with valuable data.

Saving Ads to Foreplay

Utilize the Facebook Ads Library extension from Foreplay in your Chrome browser to save the selected ad for future reference and analysis. This step is crucial for building a repository of insights for your creative endeavors.

Let's get started.

Hi, this is step one of the creative process. We will be using the Facebook Ads Library to gather ads for 4Play. First, go to facebook.com/ads/library. Make sure to set the location to the United States and choose "All Ads."

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Click "United States"
2
Click "Ad category"
3
Click "All ads"
4
Click "Search by keyword or advertiser"

We will use Proven Skin Care as our example.

5
Click "PROVEN"

Here are the current ads for Proven Skin Care. To determine what to keep and save, look for long-running old campaigns. Simply access this section.

6
Click "Filters"

We are looking for the longest-running ads.

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Set it for the longest period available.
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Click "Active ads" - we only want to see active, old ads.
9
Click "Apply"

We will apply one filter to find the oldest ads in this group. We know that this started running on April 25th, while these started running in May. Therefore, this is likely the oldest. Let's proceed to this step.

Now, save to Foreplay.

Note: You will need to have the Foreplay Chrome extension enabled to save ads from the Facebook Ads library to Foreplay.

10
Click "Save to Foreplay"

In the next video, I'll explain what to do with that ad after saving it.