How to run paid ads on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp for a local business in Türkiye: from an empty account to a live click-to-WhatsApp campaign that you track, read and improve every week. Written for beginners; you only need posts and videos you already have.
Our running example is Kaya Oto Servis, a fictional independent car repair shop in Ataşehir, İstanbul: 12 staff (8 mechanics, 2 service advisors, the owner and one admin), periodic maintenance (periyodik bakım), brakes, engine diagnostics, timing belts (triger kayışı), tyre change and storage (lastik oteli), A/C service and pre-purchase inspection (ekspertiz). It has a website, a Google Business Profile, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp Business. Every ₺ figure about Kaya on this page is illustrative, not a benchmark.
Work through the modules in order. Each one only uses ideas from the modules before it. If you came from the main course, this page expands its Meta module. Search ads (people who are already looking for a garage) are covered in the Google Ads Field Manual.
Meta changes Ads Manager every few months. Button names on your screen may differ slightly from this page. Tax and legal points here are orientation, not advice: confirm them with your accountant (mali müşavir) and, for personal data, a KVKK consultant.
There are two basic kinds of online advertising. Knowing which one you are using changes what you can expect.
The person types what they need: "ataşehir fren balatası değişimi" (brake pad replacement in Ataşehir). The need already exists. You pay to appear in front of someone who is looking right now.
Strong for urgent jobs. Limited by how many people search.
The person is scrolling Instagram Reels or their Facebook feed. They did not ask for a garage. Your ad interrupts them and has to create interest in a second or two.
Strong for reminders, offers and trust. Needs a strong opening and an easy next step.
For Meta this means two things. First, your ad must stop the scroll: the first seconds matter more than anything else. Second, the next step must be effortless. In Türkiye that step is usually a WhatsApp chat, because almost everyone already uses WhatsApp: 88.6% of internet users aged 16–74 used it in TÜİK's 2025 survey, more than YouTube (72.9%) or Instagram (68.1%).
Meta is the company behind Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads and WhatsApp. One ad tool, Ads Manager, buys ads across all of them. An impression is one showing of your ad on someone's screen.
Every time someone opens Instagram or Facebook, there are a few free spaces for ads between the posts. Many advertisers want to reach that same person. Meta runs a split-second auction to decide which ad gets each space.
The highest bidder does not simply win. Meta's help page on ad auctions describes the winner as the ad with the highest total value, built from three ingredients:
Roughly, the bid is multiplied by the estimated action rate, and ad quality is added on top. Meta's developer documentation puts it this way: delivery weighs how much you value a result against the probability of getting it.
You cannot see your "total value", but you can raise two of its three ingredients for free. A genuinely local, useful ad that people respond to (a mechanic in your shop, your district's name, a clear offer) usually reaches more people for the same money than a polished, generic one.
Meta uses machine learning to decide who sees your ad, where (Instagram Reels, Facebook feed, WhatsApp and so on) and how much to bid in each auction. In 2025 Meta made this the default: new Sales, Leads and App campaigns start with Advantage+ audience, Advantage+ placements and Advantage+ campaign budget switched on. "Advantage+" is simply Meta's brand name for "let the system decide".
Automation needs two things from you, and both appear again in later modules:
What the system cannot do: answer your WhatsApp messages, quote a fair price, or fix a car. Most local campaigns fail at the follow-up, not in the ad.
Kaya's customers do not search for "oto servis" every day, but most of them drive past the shop and own a car that needs maintenance at some point this year. Meta ads keep Kaya in front of car owners within a few kilometres, so that when the brakes squeal, the name that comes to mind is the one they saw last week, with a WhatsApp button one tap away.
Expecting Meta ads to behave like search ads. Someone who sees your Reel was not looking for a garage. Judge Meta on WhatsApp chats and booked jobs over several weeks, not on whether the phone rang in the first hour.
Yes. Meta combines the bid with the estimated action rate and ad quality. A relevant local ad that people actually respond to can beat a higher bid.
On Google the person is already looking for the service (intent). On Instagram you interrupt someone who was not looking (discovery), so the ad must create interest fast and make the next step very easy.
It is Meta's label for automated settings: Meta chooses the audience, placements or budget split for you within the limits you set.
| Tool | What it is | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Business Portfolio formerly "Business Manager" | The admin container that owns your assets: Pages, Instagram accounts, ad accounts, WhatsApp accounts, pixels, people and permissions | Setup, access, billing, security. You do not run ads here |
| Meta Business Suite | The day-to-day dashboard: posting, one inbox for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp messages, basic insights, the Boost button | Organic posts, answering messages, simple boosts |
| Ads Manager | The full advertising tool | Every campaign you want to measure, test and report on |
| Events Manager | Where the Meta Pixel, Conversions API and datasets live | Tracking website and messaging results (module 10) |
An asset is anything the portfolio owns: a Facebook Page, an Instagram professional account, a WhatsApp Business number, an ad account (the account that holds campaigns and the payment method) or a Pixel/dataset (the tracking source, module 10).
Do it once, in this order. Each step depends on the one before it.
Taxes and fees (confirm with your mali müşavir).
VAT (KDV, 20%). If no Turkish tax ID is entered on the ad account, Meta adds local VAT to the invoice, and you generally cannot deduct it. If the company's tax ID is entered, Meta does not add VAT; your company declares it itself on the KDV-2 return (reverse charge, sorumlu sıfatıyla).
Withholding (stopaj). Payments for internet advertising may carry 15% income-tax withholding. Turkish accountants warn that the treatment depends on who issues the invoice. Let your accountant decide.
Location fee. Türkiye's Digital Service Tax is 5% in 2026 and falls to 2.5% from 1 January 2027. Third-party sources report that since 1 July 2026 Meta passes it on as a 5% location fee on ads shown in Türkiye. The fee does not appear in Ads Manager results, only on invoices and in Billing. Check your own invoice.
Illustrative month: Ads Manager shows ₺10,000 spent. The invoice shows ₺10,000 + ₺500 location fee = ₺10,500. Kaya's tax ID is on the account, so no VAT is on the invoice; the accountant declares 20% (₺2,100) on KDV-2, which a VAT-registered company can usually also deduct. Kaya plans every budget about 5% above what Ads Manager shows.
The Boost button (in the Instagram app, on the Facebook Page or in Business Suite) turns an existing post into an ad with a handful of settings. Jon Loomer, a long-time Meta ads trainer, lists 23 limitations of boosting and calls it an "easy button" for beginners, and nothing more.
| Boost | Ads Manager | |
|---|---|---|
| Ad sets per campaign | One | As many as you need |
| Instant forms (lead ads) | No | Yes |
| A/B tests | No | Yes |
| Optimisation goals and placements | Limited | Full control |
| Scheduling | No | Yes |
| Creative | Only existing posts | New ads or existing posts |
| Good for | Pushing one strong organic Reel locally | Anything you will measure: chats, calls, leads |
In Ads Manager you can still choose "Use existing post" at the ad level. Your best organic Reel then keeps collecting likes and comments as social proof, while you get all of Ads Manager's controls.
Creating the ad account in USD or EUR "because Meta is foreign". The currency is permanent. A TRY account matches your bank card and your accounting.
Never set up ads on a fake or newly created profile, or on a bought account. Meta's systems treat these as high risk, and a restricted profile can take the business assets down with it (module 13).
No. The currency cannot be changed later. You need to open a new ad account in TRY.
If the only admin loses access (lost phone, hacked or restricted profile), nobody can manage the ad account, Page or billing. A second admin is your spare key.
About ₺8,400: the ₺8,000 delivery plus the reported 5% location fee for ads shown in Türkiye. VAT treatment depends on whether your tax ID is on the account; confirm with your accountant.
Everything in Ads Manager sits in a three-level tree. Learn where each setting lives and the interface stops being confusing.
Conversion location: where you want the result to happen (WhatsApp, an instant form, your website, a phone call). Performance goal: the exact result Meta should get as many of as possible, for example "maximise number of conversations". Both are chosen in the ad set.
The first thing Ads Manager asks is your objective: what you want people to do. Meta then hunts for people likely to do exactly that. Pick the objective that matches the business result, not the one with the cheapest-looking metric.
| Objective | What Meta optimises for | For Kaya? |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Reach, impressions, ad recall, video views | Low Only for a new shop or a big launch |
| Traffic | Link clicks, landing page views; also calls, messaging apps, Instagram profile visits | Medium Cheap clicks, lower intent |
| Engagement | Post engagement, video views, conversations in messaging apps, calls | High Simplest route to click-to-WhatsApp |
| Leads | Instant-form leads, messaging leads, calls, website conversions | High Instant forms or qualified WhatsApp leads |
| App promotion | App installs and in-app events | No Not relevant |
| Sales | Purchases and conversions on website, app or messaging | Later Only if you send booked or paid jobs back to Meta |
| Objective | Conversion location → performance goal |
|---|---|
| Engagement | Messaging apps → Conversations · Calls → Calls |
| Leads | Instant forms → Leads or Conversion leads · Messenger · Instant forms + Messenger · Website · Calls |
| Traffic | Website, plus Messaging apps and Calls |
Source: Jon Loomer's catalogue of performance goals. The exact list changes; Ads Manager shows the current options for your account.
Opportunity Score (0–100, introduced 2025) rates how closely you follow Meta's recommendations. It is not a performance score. You may ignore recommendations that don't fit your business.
Objective: Engagement (or Leads). Conversion location: Messaging apps → WhatsApp. Goal: maximise conversations.
One ad set: radius around the shop, 18+, Advantage+ audience and placements. Three to five ads with different videos and angles.
Start here
Objective: Leads. Instant form, higher-intent type. For bigger jobs where you want name, phone, car model and problem in writing.
"Teklif formu" means quote form. Kaya would use it for timing belts or engine diagnostics.
After campaign A works
Kaya names everything in one readable pattern, so reports and tracking links explain themselves: campaign 2026-10_whatsapp-randevu_atasehir, ad set 10km_18plus_adv, ads video-fren-sesi, video-once-sonra, gorsel-kis-kontrol.
Consolidate. Few campaigns, few ad sets, several ads. Meta learns per ad set; splitting a small budget across many ad sets leaves each one too few results to learn from (module 09).
Choosing Traffic for a WhatsApp campaign. Traffic optimises for clicks, not for people who actually start a conversation. Use Engagement or Leads with the WhatsApp conversion location.
In the ad set. The ad set holds who (audience and location), where (placements), how much (budget) and the performance goal.
Engagement (Messaging apps → Conversations) or Leads. Not Traffic, which optimises for clicks rather than conversations.
Not necessarily. The score only measures how many of Meta's recommendations you have applied. Judge performance by cost per conversation and booked jobs.
A click-to-WhatsApp ad (often shortened to CTWA) shows a button such as "WhatsApp'tan Mesaj Gönder" (Send a message on WhatsApp). One tap opens a chat with your business number. No website, no form, no phone call the customer has to be brave enough to make.
Merhaba, aracım için randevu/fiyat bilgisi almak istiyorum.
Hello, I'd like an appointment / price information for my car.Periyodik bakım · Arıza / ses var · Fren kontrolü
Periodic maintenance · Fault / there's a noise · Brake checkHoş geldiniz! Aracınızın marka-model-yılını ve şikâyetinizi yazar mısınız? 09:00–19:00 arası 15 dk içinde dönüş yapıyoruz.
Welcome! Could you write your car's make, model and year and the problem? Between 09:00 and 19:00 we reply within 15 minutes.Mesajınız bize ulaştı. Sabah 09:00'da ilk sizi arayacağız. Dilerseniz aracınızın fotoğrafını şimdiden gönderin.
We got your message. We'll call you first at 09:00 tomorrow. You can already send a photo of your car if you like.A greeting that only says "a colleague will reply soon". It wastes the moment of interest. Ask the qualifying question straight away, so the customer is already typing while your advisor picks up the phone.
Quick replies are saved answers you call up by typing "/" and a shortcut. Labels are coloured tags on chats. Together they turn the free WhatsApp Business app into a simple customer list.
| Quick reply | Turkish text (example) | English gloss |
|---|---|---|
/adres | Kaya Oto Servis, Ataşehir. Konum: (harita linki). Hafta içi 08:00–19:00, Cumartesi 09:00–15:00. | Address, map link, opening hours |
/randevu | Yarın 10:00 veya 14:00 uygun mu? Aracı bırakıp aynı gün teslim alabilirsiniz. | Is tomorrow 10:00 or 14:00 OK? Drop off and collect the same day. |
/fiyat | Kesin fiyat için aracı görmemiz gerekiyor; fotoğrafa göre ön fiyat aralığı: … | We need to see the car for an exact price; estimated range from the photo: … |
Labels for ad chats: Reklam – yeni (ad – new), Teklif verildi (quote given), Randevu verildi (appointment given), İş tamamlandı (job completed). Opening hours in these examples are illustrative.
The free WhatsApp Business app is reported to have no per-message charges. The WhatsApp Business Platform (API, through a provider) has charged per template message since 1 July 2025. A chat that starts from a click-to-WhatsApp ad is a "free entry point": if you reply within 24 hours, a 72-hour window opens in which all messages are free. Check your provider's current price list if you use the Platform.
Meta only knows that a conversation started. To know whether the ads make money, you need what happens next. Start simple:
ctwa_clid. When the chat becomes a lead or a sale, your system sends an event (for example LeadSubmitted or Purchase) back through the Conversions API within 7 days. Meta can then find people who become customers, not just people who chat. Module 10 explains the Conversions API.Working out a target cost per conversation (illustrative). Kaya's average job is about ₺4,000, with roughly ₺2,000 gross margin. The owner is willing to spend 25% of that margin to win a job: ₺500. The advisors close about 1 in 4 ad chats. So the target is ₺500 ÷ 4 = ₺125 per conversation or less. Any week above that number is a warning; well below it is a reason to spend more.
Ads Manager cannot tell you. It sees conversations started, not jobs. Count the labelled chats that became appointments and completed jobs in your own sheet.
₺1,600 × 25% = ₺400 per job; ₺400 ÷ 4 = ₺100 per conversation.
It keeps the customer engaged while a person gets to the phone, and it gives the advisor what they need (car, year, problem) to quote quickly.
A lead ad opens an instant form inside Facebook or Instagram. The person's name, phone and email are already filled in from their profile, so sending takes seconds. You get a lead: contact details of someone who asked to be contacted.
The job is quick to quote and the customer wants an answer now: periodic maintenance, brake check, A/C service.
You want details in writing before calling back: a timing-belt quote, engine diagnostics, pre-purchase inspection (ekspertiz) booked for a specific day.
| Form type | What it does | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| More volume (default) | Quick, one-screen submit | Cheap leads, simple callbacks. Expect more junk |
| Higher intent | Adds a review screen where the person confirms their details. Runs only in Facebook/Instagram mobile feeds | Recommended for Kaya Fewer accidental leads |
| Rich creative | Branded intro screen; Facebook mobile app only | Rarely needed |
You can add up to 15 custom questions: multiple choice, short answer, conditional logic, appointment request. A privacy policy URL is mandatory. Each extra question lowers volume but raises quality. Three or four multiple-choice questions are a good balance.
1. Aracınızın markası? (çoktan seçmeli)
Your car's make? (multiple choice)2. Model yılı? (2015 öncesi / 2015–2020 / 2021+)
Model year? (before 2015 / 2015–2020 / 2021+)3. Hangi hizmet? (Periyodik bakım / Fren / Motor arıza / Triger kayışı / Diğer)
Which service? (Maintenance / Brakes / Engine fault / Timing belt / Other)4. Size ne zaman ulaşalım? (Bugün / Bu hafta / Fiyat araştırıyorum)
When should we contact you? (Today / This week / Just comparing prices)Question 4 is a gift: "just comparing prices" leads get a price list by WhatsApp; "today" leads get a call first.
Teşekkürler! Servis danışmanımız 1 saat içinde sizi arayacak.
Thank you! Our service advisor will call you within an hour.Speed-to-lead is widely described as one of the biggest levers on conversion. A lead called within minutes still remembers your ad; called the next day, they have often booked elsewhere.
Form data is personal data under KVKK. Link an aydınlatma metni (privacy notice) from the form's privacy policy. If you will use the data for marketing beyond answering the request (for example campaign messages later), add a separate, optional consent line in the custom disclaimer. Wording and legal basis: ask a KVKK consultant. Commercial SMS or email later also requires İYS registration and prior consent.
Kaya runs a higher-intent form for timing-belt replacement quotes. Leads land in a Google Sheet; the service advisor's phone pings. The rule on the workshop wall: every form lead gets a call within 30 minutes during opening hours. Leads who chose "Fiyat araştırıyorum" receive the /fiyat quick reply on WhatsApp instead.
Judging lead ads by cost per lead alone. A cheap lead with a 10% booking rate can cost more per job than an expensive lead with a 60% rate. Track lead → booked job in your sheet.
Higher intent adds a review screen where people confirm their details before sending. You get fewer leads, but fewer accidental or fake ones.
A link to your privacy policy. In Türkiye that should cover the KVKK information notice (aydınlatma metni).
Switch to a higher-intent form and add qualifying questions; call faster. Turning off autofill can also help.
An audience is the group of people who may see your ad. You define it in the ad set. A custom audience is a group you already know (website visitors, Instagram engagers, customers). A lookalike is a group Meta builds of people similar to a custom audience.
Kaya drops the pin on the shop in Ataşehir and sets 10 km, "living in or recently in". That covers neighbouring districts such as Kadıköy, Ümraniye and Maltepe, and the commuters who pass through. Minimum age 18. No exclusions of districts, because people from Ümraniye or Kadıköy happily drive 15 minutes to a garage they trust.
Today Meta treats your audience settings in two different ways:
"Original audiences" (Advantage+ switched off) still exist, but for many goals interest targeting is suggestion-only there too. In 2025 Meta made Advantage+ audience the default for Sales, Leads and App campaigns. Location, minimum age, exclusions and language keep it on; setting hard age or gender limits switches it off.
Practical setting for Kaya: location radius plus minimum age 18. Optionally add suggestions such as the interests "Otomobiller" (automobiles), "Araç bakımı" (vehicle maintenance) or car brands. Then let the system work.
| Source | Needs | Use for Kaya | KVKK risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website visitors | Pixel installed (module 10), with cookie consent | Suggest people who viewed the brake or maintenance pages | Consent banner |
| Instagram / Facebook engagers | Nothing extra | Suggest people who watched your Reels or messaged the profile | Low |
| People who messaged you | Check availability for WhatsApp in your account | Exclude recent chatters (e.g. last 30 days) | Low |
| Customer list (phones, emails) | Upload; Meta hashes it | Exclude existing customers or build a lookalike | High |
| Lookalike | A source audience, e.g. a customer list | Find people similar to past customers (works as a suggestion for many goals) | Depends on source |
Uploading customers' phone numbers to Meta is processing personal data and transferring it abroad. Türkiye's cross-border transfer rules (KVKK Article 9) were amended in 2024, and in July 2026 KVKK announced that data obtained from third parties cannot be used for advertising. Hashing does not make the data "non-personal". Do not upload customer lists unless your privacy notice, consent and transfer basis clearly cover it; ask a KVKK consultant. Engagement and website audiences avoid most of this risk.
Ads Manager shows an estimated audience size as you set the radius. A third-party guide says at least 20 people are needed to launch and 1,000+ is recommended. For a garage that runs every week, think bigger: in a small audience the same people see your ads again and again, so costs rise and people tune out (module 08 covers this "fatigue"). If the estimate is only a few thousand people, widen the radius before you launch.
Stacking many narrow interests ("Toyota owners aged 35–45 interested in motorsport within 3 km"). It shrinks the audience, raises costs, and Meta treats most of it as a suggestion anyway. Location + age + good creative does most of the targeting for you: a brake-noise video attracts people who care about brakes.
Your creative is now your best targeting. Mention the district ("Ataşehir'deki servisimiz", our service in Ataşehir) and the car problem in the first seconds. Meta's system learns which local people respond and finds more of them.
Yes, if they are inside your hard controls (location, 18+, language) and Meta predicts they will start a conversation. Interests are only suggestions.
No. Detailed-targeting exclusions were removed in 2024. You can still exclude custom audiences, such as people who already messaged you.
The list contains personal data you send abroad to Meta, which needs a lawful basis and a transfer basis under KVKK. Engager audiences are built by Meta from activity on its own platforms.
A placement is a spot where your ad can appear: Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed, Instagram and Facebook Stories (full-screen, vertical, disappear after 24 hours), Reels (short vertical videos), Messenger, Threads, WhatsApp Status, and the Audience Network (ads inside other companies' apps).
Meta shows the ad wherever it gets results cheapest across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network, Threads and WhatsApp (where eligible). Usually the lowest cost per result, and recommended for beginners.
You tick the placements yourself. Use it only when one placement clearly produces junk, for example Audience Network bringing many accidental clicks or poor leads. Check this in Breakdowns (module 12) before you switch.
Meta keeps adding inventory. In 2025 it added the Threads feed (May 2025) and placements in Facebook notifications and the profile feed.
Ads in WhatsApp's Updates tab (Status) were announced in July 2025; a click-to-WhatsApp button for Status ads followed in September 2025, first "not available in all regions". WABetaInfo reported a global rollout of Status ads on 27 February 2026. Check whether WhatsApp Status appears in your placement list. If it does, keep it on; it needs a vertical 9:16 creative.
Upload two versions of each ad: 9:16 vertical (for Stories, Reels and Status) and 4:5 (for Feeds). Meta's placement asset customisation lets one ad use both, so each placement gets the right shape. Carousels use 1:1 squares.
| Element | Spec (2026) |
|---|---|
| Stories / Reels / Status | 9:16, minimum 1080×1920 (1440×2560 recommended) |
| Feed | 4:5, minimum 1080×1350 |
| Carousel | 1:1 |
| Primary text | About 125 characters (1–3 lines) are visible before "more" |
| Headline | 40 characters or fewer |
| Text in image | The old "20% text" rule is gone; safe zones still limit where text works |
Kaya's mechanic films every video vertically on a phone. The editor exports a 9:16 version and crops a 4:5 version from the middle, keeping the worn brake pad and the mechanic's face in the centre third. The offer text ("Ücretsiz fren kontrolü", free brake check) sits just above the middle, never at the bottom where the WhatsApp button and caption appear.
Uploading a horizontal 16:9 video. In Reels and Stories it shows as a thin strip with black bars, and people scroll past it.
Vertical 9:16, at least 1080×1920.
In the central safe area: not in the top 14%, not in the bottom 35%, and not within 6% of the sides.
Only when Breakdowns show a placement consistently producing junk (e.g. Audience Network bringing accidental clicks or poor leads). Otherwise keep Advantage+.
People scroll fast. If the first seconds don't make a car owner stop, nothing else in the ad matters. Hooks that suit a garage:
| Angle | What it looks like | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanic explains | 20–40 s, phone-filmed: "3 signs your timing belt is due" | Real staff faces build trust; useful content earns attention |
| Before / after | Dirty vs clean engine, dented vs repaired panel, warning light on vs off | Visible proof in two seconds |
| Customer testimonial | A real customer at delivery, 15 s | Social proof. Needs written permission and KVKK consent for their image |
| Process / transparency | "Arabanıza ne yaptığımızı videoyla gönderiyoruz." (We send you a video of what we did to your car.) | Addresses the fear of being overcharged |
| Offer | "Ücretsiz 25 nokta kış kontrolü" (Free 25-point winter check) | A concrete reason to message now |
| Local proof | The shop's street, the district name, the team photo | "This is near me, and real" |
| Seasonal | Winter check (Oct–Nov), A/C service (May–Jun), pre-holiday road check (bayram öncesi), check before the TÜVTÜRK inspection | Matches what people are already thinking about |
Write in plain spoken Turkish, put the district name in, and end with one clear action. Every claim must be true (module 13).
Motor arıza lambası mı yandı? Ücretsiz arıza tespiti için WhatsApp'tan yazın. Ataşehir'deki servisimizde aynı gün bakıyoruz.
Did the engine warning light come on? Message us on WhatsApp for a free diagnosis. We check it the same day at our Ataşehir shop.Kışa hazır mısınız? Akü, antifriz, lastik ve fren kontrolü tek randevuda. Bu ay ücretsiz.
Ready for winter? Battery, antifreeze, tyre and brake check in one appointment. Free this month.Fiyatı önceden söylüyoruz, sürpriz yok. Aracınızın fotoğrafını gönderin, 10 dakikada ön teklif.
We tell you the price up front, no surprises. Send a photo of your car, get an estimate in 10 minutes.Aynı gün randevu, sürpriz fiyat yok
Same-day appointment, no surprise pricesWhatsApp'tan yazın, aynı gün randevu
Message on WhatsApp, same-day appointmentPeriyodik bakımda işçilik %15 indirim
15% off labour on periodic maintenanceKaya's first three ads, one per angle: (1) mechanic Murat explains brake noise, 25 s; (2) before/after of a cleaned engine bay, 12 s; (3) an image with "Ücretsiz 25 nokta kış kontrolü – Kasım sonuna kadar" (free 25-point winter check, until the end of November). All filmed in the shop, all 9:16 with a 4:5 crop. The offer and dates are illustrative.
Fill this in before anyone picks up the phone to film. It keeps every video focused on one message.
When you create an ad, Meta switches on many automatic "enhancements" by default: text improvements, overlays, music, image animation, image expansion, visual touch-ups, site links, relevant comments, an enhanced CTA, and generative-AI variations. During 2025 Meta added more than 15 new AI features, including translation and changes to text tone.
For a local shop, these can rewrite your price, change a claim or warp an image of a real car. At the ad level, review each one and switch off:
Keep any you have checked and like. They can be switched off per ad, or account-wide in advertising settings; menu locations change, so look for "Advantage+ creative" in the ad setup.
Publishing without opening the enhancement preview. A gen-AI rewrite that says "free repair" instead of "free check" is your legal problem, not Meta's.
Reach = how many different people saw the ad. Frequency = impressions ÷ reach: how many times, on average, each person saw it. Ad fatigue = the same people have seen your ad so often that they stop responding.
A 10 km radius runs out of fresh people far faster than a national audience. Signs of fatigue: frequency keeps rising while click-through rate falls and cost per conversation climbs. The fix is new creative, not a new audience. A practical habit some advertisers use is adding one or two new videos every two to three weeks; treat that as a rule of thumb, not a Meta rule.
Look up competitors in the free Meta Ad Library (facebook.com/ads/library). Search the names of garages and service chains in your area to see which ads they are running right now.
The hook: something that makes a local car owner stop scrolling, such as a brake squeal, a worn part next to a new one, or a warning light.
They can rewrite your offer or price. Every claim in an ad must be true and honoured, so check AI changes before they run.
Add one or two new creatives (a different angle), in one batch. The local audience is fatigued with the current ads.
The average amount you want to spend each day. Simplest for an always-on campaign. Meta may spend up to 75% more on a good day, but no more than 7× the daily budget per week.
A total amount for a campaign with start and end dates, such as a "Kış bakımı kampanyası" (winter maintenance campaign) from 1 to 15 November. It allows ad scheduling: showing ads only during set hours.
Kaya's advisors answer WhatsApp 09:00–19:00 on weekdays and until 15:00 on Saturday (illustrative). For the always-on campaign, Kaya uses a daily budget and a strong away message. For the November winter-check promotion, Kaya uses a lifetime budget with a schedule, so ads only run while someone can reply.
The learning phase is the period after launch (or after a big change) when Meta is still exploring who responds to your ad set. Results are less stable and often more expensive. An optimisation event is the result you chose as the performance goal, for example one WhatsApp conversation started.
A bid strategy tells Meta how to bid in each auction (module 01) on your behalf.
| Strategy | What it does | For a beginner? |
|---|---|---|
| Highest volume (default) | Gets the most results for the budget, with no cost target | Start here |
| Cost per result goal | Aims to keep the average cost per result near a target; may underspend | After 2–4 weeks of data |
| ROAS goal | Keeps return on ad spend near a target; needs purchase values | No Not without value tracking |
| Bid cap | Sets a maximum bid per auction | Advanced |
| Highest value | Maximises purchase value | No E-commerce |
Jon Loomer reports using Highest volume about 90% of the time.
There is no verified official minimum budget for Türkiye, and no reliable public Turkish cost benchmarks; one Turkish agency says plainly it cannot give representative averages. So work from your own target cost:
Kaya guesses ₺60 per WhatsApp conversation (an illustrative guess, not a benchmark). ₺60 × 50 ÷ 7 ≈ ₺430 per day, about ₺13,000 a month in Ads Manager, plus the 5% location fee ≈ ₺13,650 billed, plus VAT treatment. That is more than the owner wants to risk in month one, so Kaya starts at ₺300/day with one ad set, accepts "learning limited" for a month, and judges it on cost per real appointment from the sheet. After 2–4 weeks Kaya replaces the ₺60 guess with the real number and recomputes.
–
Results per week = daily × 7 ÷ cost per result. VAT and stopaj are not included; ask your accountant. Prefilled with Kaya's illustrative numbers.
Plan with the full cost, not just the Ads Manager number: delivery + the reported 5% location fee (since 1 July 2026; check your invoice; it may fall when the Digital Service Tax drops to 2.5% in January 2027, but that is not confirmed) + KDV (20%, reverse-charged on KDV-2 if your tax ID is on the account) + possible stopaj. Ask your mali müşavir how your invoices should be booked.
Published benchmarks are mostly American. Use them only to sense whether something is wildly off, never as targets:
| Metric | Value | Segment |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic campaigns: CTR | 0.80% | Automotive repair, service & parts (lowest of all industries) |
| Traffic campaigns: CPC | $0.81 | Automotive repair, service & parts |
| Traffic campaigns: CTR / CPC | 1.71% / $0.70 | All industries |
| Lead campaigns: CTR / CPC | 2.59% / $1.92 | All industries |
| Lead campaigns: conversion rate | 7.72% | All industries |
| Cost per lead | $27.66 | All industries (+21% year on year) |
Source: WordStream/LocaliQ Facebook ads benchmarks 2025, data April 2024–June 2025, mostly US LocaliQ client campaigns. No lead data was published for auto repair. Turkish costs differ; build your own benchmark after 2–4 weeks.
Editing every day: nudging the budget, swapping an ad, tweaking the age. Each significant edit restarts learning. Make changes once a week, in one batch (module 12).
₺70 × 50 ÷ 7 = ₺500 per day.
No. Consolidate ad sets, raise the budget, or optimise for a more frequent event. Or accept it consciously and judge the campaign on cost per appointment.
Step up by 20% or less every 3–4 days (₺360, ₺430, ₺515, ₺600), or duplicate the ad set at the higher budget.
Tracking answers one question: which ads bring which customers? Click-to-WhatsApp results are counted by Meta automatically. For people who visit your website from an ad, you need two pieces of plumbing.
Meta Pixel: a small piece of code on your website that tells Meta when a visitor does something (fills in a form, taps the WhatsApp button). It runs in the visitor's browser. Conversions API (CAPI): the same events sent from your server or website platform directly to Meta, so fewer are lost to ad blockers, iPhone privacy settings and consent refusals. Event: one tracked action. Dataset: the container in Events Manager that receives the events.
event_id, so Meta can remove duplicates.| Event | Meaning | Kaya fires it when… |
|---|---|---|
Contact | Someone starts contact by phone, SMS, email or chat | A visitor taps the phone number or the WhatsApp button on the site |
Lead | Someone sends their details | The quote form on the website is sent |
Schedule | Someone books an appointment to visit a location | An online appointment is booked |
Purchase | A sale, with a value | Later: a paid job, sent back from the sheet or CRM |
Attribution is the rule for which ad gets credit for a result. The attribution window is how long after seeing or clicking an ad a result still counts.
Beginner advice: keep the default. WhatsApp chats and calls from ads are link-click actions, so they are captured. The job that follows days later usually is not, which is why the sheet matters.
Adding up results from Meta, Google Ads and Google Analytics. Each platform credits itself; a customer who saw your Reel and later clicked a Google ad may be counted by both. Count real customers in your own sheet and divide total ad spend by them.
A UTM parameter is a tag at the end of a link that tells Google Analytics where a visit came from. In Meta, put them in the ad's URL parameters field (not in the website URL itself), using Meta's dynamic parameters, which fill in automatically:
{{site_source_name}} becomes fb, ig, msg or an (Audience Network). IDs survive renaming; names are readable, so use both. Readable campaign and ad names (module 03) make these reports self-explanatory.
This is where a garage's real numbers come from. Module 04 set up labels; now make it a habit:
Illustrative month: ₺10,000 spend + ₺500 location fee = ₺10,500. 150 WhatsApp conversations → 45 appointments → 30 completed jobs. Cost per conversation = ₺70; cost per appointment ≈ ₺233; cost per job = ₺350. With about ₺2,000 gross margin per job, the ads clearly pay. Without the labels, Kaya would only know "150 chats for ₺10,000" and could not say whether that was good.
The Pixel runs in the browser and loses events to ad blockers, iPhone privacy settings and consent refusals. CAPI sends the same events server-side; with a shared event_id Meta counts each one once.
Contact: the person starts contact by phone, SMS, email or chat.
No. Only link clicks count as clicks now. A like followed by a conversion within a day counts as engage-through.
This module puts modules 02–10 together. Have ready: three to five creatives in 9:16 and 4:5, your Turkish text, the greeting message, and a target cost per conversation.
2026-10_whatsapp-randevu_atasehir. Leave special ad categories empty: auto repair is not one of them. (If you advertise credit or instalment (taksit) financing, check whether the financial category applies.)10km_18plus_adv.Kaya launches on a Monday morning, not on Friday evening, so the first chats arrive while the full team is in. The owner checks delivery each evening but changes nothing until the review the following Monday.
Turning the campaign off after two days "because it's expensive". The first days of learning are the most expensive. Decide your review date before you launch and stick to it.
Nothing yet, unless something is broken. Early learning-phase results are noisy. Review after about a week, in your scheduled routine.
No. Special categories cover financial products, employment, housing and social issues/politics. Check the financial category only if you advertise credit or instalment offers.
In Ads Manager, open Columns → Customise columns to add these. Compare the last 7 days with the previous 7, never one day with another.
| Metric | Formula | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | Unique people who saw the ad | How much of your area you cover |
| Impressions | Total times the ad was shown | Volume of showings |
| Frequency | Impressions ÷ reach | Rising in a small radius = fatigue |
| CPM | Spend ÷ impressions × 1,000 | Price of attention; often rises in November–December |
| CTR (link) | Link clicks ÷ impressions | Does the creative make people act? |
| CPC (link) | Spend ÷ link clicks | Cost of each click |
| Cost per result | Spend ÷ results (conversations, leads) | Main efficiency number in Ads Manager |
| Hook rate | 3-second video plays ÷ impressions | Do the first seconds stop the scroll? (industry convention, not an official Meta metric) |
| Hold rate | ThruPlays ÷ 3-second plays | Does the video keep attention? (industry convention) |
| Cost per appointment / job | Spend incl. fee ÷ appointments or jobs (your sheet) | The number that matters for the business |
Illustrative week: spend ₺2,100, impressions 70,000, reach 25,000, link clicks 560, conversations 32. Frequency = 70,000 ÷ 25,000 = 2.8. CPM = ₺2,100 ÷ 70,000 × 1,000 = ₺30. CTR = 560 ÷ 70,000 = 0.8%. CPC = ₺2,100 ÷ 560 = ₺3.75. Cost per conversation = ₺2,100 ÷ 32 ≈ ₺66, under the ₺125 target from module 04.
The Breakdown menu splits results by placement, age, gender, region and time of day. Use it to find large, consistent differences, for example one placement producing many clicks but no conversations for three weeks in a row. Small differences over a few days are usually noise. Remember that with Advantage+ Meta already shifts money towards what works; act only when a pattern is big and lasting.
Conditional formatting (added in 2025) colours cells so good and bad numbers stand out.
| You see | Likely cause | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| Low hook rate, low CTR | The first seconds don't stop the scroll | New hook: sound, close-up of a problem, a face talking in the first second |
| Good CTR, few conversations | Ad promises something the next step doesn't deliver; or wrong objective (Traffic) | Check the objective and conversion location; make the message template clear |
| Many conversations, few appointments | Follow-up: slow replies, no price range, no time offered | Fix the process before touching ads: response time, quick replies, offering a time |
| Frequency rising, cost per result rising | Ad fatigue in a small audience | Add 1–2 new creatives in one batch; consider a wider radius |
| "Learning limited" | Too few results per week for the ad set | Consolidate, raise budget, or accept it and judge by cost per appointment |
| One ad costs ≥ 2× the average per result after spending at least 2× your target | A losing creative | Turn it off |
| Cost per job well under target | The campaign is working | Raise budget by 20% or less every 3–4 days |
| Cost per job above target for 2 weeks | Process, creative or targeting | Fix follow-up first, then creative, then targeting |
| One placement brings clicks but no results for weeks | Low-quality inventory | Exclude that placement with manual placements |
Turning ads off after one day of spend. With a ₺125 target, an ad needs at least ₺250 of spend before you can call it a loser.
4.0. Watch it: if CTR is falling and cost per result rising at the same time, the local audience is tired of the ads. Add new creatives.
No, fix the follow-up first: reply speed, giving a price range, offering a specific time. The ads are doing their job.
3-second video plays ÷ impressions. It is an industry convention, not an official Meta metric.
Turkish advertising law requires ads to be truthful and not misleading, and the advertiser must be able to prove its claims (Consumer Protection Law No. 6502 and the commercial advertising regulation, enforced by the Ministry of Trade's Reklam Kurulu). Changes from July 2026 say only reviews based on verifiable customer experience may be published. "15 years of experience" or "the cheapest in Ataşehir" must be provable. Never buy or fake reviews or testimonials. Not legal advice; ask a lawyer about specific claims.
A restricted ad account stops all your ads, sometimes for weeks. Practitioner guides list these habits (general best practice, not a Meta guarantee):
If an ad or the account is restricted, go to Account Quality (business.facebook.com/accountquality), read the stated reason, fix it, and request a review there. Don't open new accounts to get around a restriction.
A copy idea like "Kadıköy'de 15 yıllık tecrübe" (15 years of experience in Kadıköy) would be misleading for Kaya, which is in Ataşehir, and the years must be provable too. Kaya's rule: every number in an ad must be backed by a document the owner can show: an invoice, a price list, a dated photo, a customer's written permission.
No. It implies the viewer's financial situation, which Meta's personal-attributes policy does not allow. Talk about the car, not the person.
Read the reason in Ads Manager or Account Quality, fix the creative or text, and request a review if you think it is a mistake. Don't upload many variations to "get one through".
The ten mistakes beginners make most often, with the module that fixes each one.
| Mistake | Fix | Module |
|---|---|---|
| Boosting posts and judging success by likes | Measure chats, calls and appointments in Ads Manager | 02 |
| Traffic objective for WhatsApp | Engagement or Leads, conversion location WhatsApp | 03 |
| Slow replies to WhatsApp chats and leads | Named person, greeting with a question, minutes not hours | 04 |
| Uploading customer phone lists without a KVKK basis | Use engagement and website audiences; ask a consultant first | 06 |
| Radius too small (audience in the low thousands) | 8–15 km in a big city; let the creative do the targeting | 06 |
| Not checking AI creative enhancements | Switch off text rewrites, gen-AI variations, image expansion | 08 |
| Too many ad sets with tiny budgets | One ad set, 3–5 ads, budget from the 50-per-week formula | 09 |
| Editing every day | One review per week; changes in one batch | 09 |
| Forgetting the location fee and VAT in the budget | Plan about 5% above Ads Manager, plus VAT treatment | 09 |
| No tracking: no labels, no sheet, no Pixel | Labels + weekly sheet first; Pixel + CAPI for the website | 10 |
Real, documented examples of messaging ads. Read them as direction, not as promises: most are self-reported by the business or by Meta, and none is an independent garage. Research for this course found no verified Meta success story for an independent auto repair shop; some "auto repair case studies" online are hypothetical concepts with no measured results.
Checked October 2026. Several Meta help pages block automated access; where possible, confirm details in Ads Manager or Meta's Business Help Center.