Getting Plai working, in order
You've decided. From here we stop selling it to you and start getting it done. Tick things off as you go, this browser remembers, no account needed.
0 of 9 steps everyone does · next: Decide what the ad is actually selling
First
Get set up properly
Ten minutes of thinking here saves a week of rebuilding later.
- 03
Get a Facebook Page in place
about 20 minWhy now, Meta requires a Page behind every ad.
Applies when Only if you want to advertise on Facebook or Instagram.
If you want Meta ads, you need a Facebook Page for the business. Create one if you do not have it, and make sure you are an admin of it.
Plai cannot run Meta ads without a Page to run them from. This is Meta's rule, not Plai's.
Done when, A Facebook Page exists for the business and you can administer it.
You'll know it worked when open the Page settings, if you can edit them, you are an admin.
A Facebook Page you administer
A business Page on Facebook, with you listed as an admin of it.
Meta will not run ads for a business that has no Page behind them, and Plai connects to the Page rather than replacing it.
- You get
- Facebook and Instagram placements inside Plai.
- You'll need
- A Facebook account of your own.
- Do this
- Create the Page for the business, then connect it to Plai following their connection article.
- Check it
- The Page appears as connected inside Plai and you can see it listed under your ad account.
- Then
- Connect the ad accounts you intend to use.
Haven't got it? That's fine, You can still advertise on Google, TikTok and the other supported platforms, but Meta placements are closed to you.
Official source · Plai's own article on creating and connecting a Page.
- 04
Create your Plai account
about 10 minWhy now, You have an offer and a budget, so it is time to open the door.
Sign up for Plai and pick the plan that matches how many businesses you are advertising.
Nothing else can be connected until the account exists.
Done when, You are signed in to Plai and can see the dashboard.
You'll know it worked when you reach the dashboard without being asked to finish signup.
- 05
Connect the ad accounts you will use
about 30 minWhy now, The account is live and the Page requirement is handled.
Connect the platforms you want to advertise on, Meta, Google, TikTok, following Plai's connection steps for each.
Plai runs the ads through your own ad accounts. Without the connection there is nowhere for the campaign to go.
Done when, Each platform you intend to use shows as connected inside Plai.
You'll know it worked when plai lists the account as connected, not pending.
- 06
Set up tracking before you spend
about 30 minWhy now, Tracking added after a campaign starts cannot recover the data you already missed.
Applies when Only if you have a website or landing page.
Install the Facebook pixel on your site, or the equivalent tracking for the platform you are using.
Without tracking you can see what you spent but not what it earned, and the platform cannot learn who to show your ad to.
Done when, The pixel or tracking code is live on your site and registering visits.
You'll know it worked when the platform reports activity from your site within a day of installing it.
Tracking on your website
The Facebook pixel, or the equivalent tracking code, installed on the site the ads point at.
Without it you can see clicks but not what happened after the click, which is the half that decides whether the spend was worth it.
- You get
- Knowing which ads produced enquiries rather than which produced traffic.
- You'll need
- A website or landing page you can edit.
- Do this
- Create the pixel in Plai, then paste the code into your site.
- Check it
- The pixel reports activity after you visit your own page.
- Then
- Launch the campaign.
Haven't got it? That's fine, You will be judging ads on clicks, which is exactly the trap this product is meant to keep you out of.
Official source · Plai's own pixel article.
Before you build
Work out what you're building
This part happens in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, whichever you already use. You come back with one clear request to hand over.
- 01
Decide what the ad is actually selling
about 15 minWhy now, Everything downstream, targeting, images, budget, is decided by what you are selling.
Write down one offer in one sentence: what someone gets, what it costs, and what you want them to do. Not your whole business, one thing.
Ads amplify whatever you point them at. A vague offer spends the same money and brings back nothing you can use.
Done when, One written sentence naming the offer, the price and the action you want.
You'll know it worked when read it aloud to someone outside your business. If they can repeat it back, it is clear enough.
Write the one offer the ad sells
Use this before you build any campaign. Everything else depends on the offer being one thing.
Reduce the business to one advertisable offer.
Turns a list of services into one sentence with a price and a next step.
- 02
Set a monthly budget you can lose
about 15 minWhy now, Plai charges a monthly fee; the ad platforms charge your spend on top.
Pick a monthly ad budget you could spend for three months without hurting. That is your ad spend, separate from Plai's own monthly fee.
Paid ads take weeks of data before they work. Money that runs out in two weeks buys you nothing but a scare.
Done when, A monthly figure for ad spend and an accepted figure for the Plai subscription.
You'll know it worked when check Plai's current pricing page before committing, plans change.
Set an ad budget you can actually lose
Use this before you enter a budget anywhere, so the figure is decided calmly rather than in the campaign builder.
Set an ad spend figure that survives three months.
Gives you a figure and a stop point before any money moves.
Then
Get something that actually works
One real, working version, then protect it before you change anything else.
- 07
Launch one campaign, small
about 45 minWhy now, Everything is connected and tracked, so the only thing left is to try it.
Build a single campaign around the offer you wrote in step one. Keep the audience and the budget deliberately small.
The first campaign is a test of whether your offer works, not an attempt to win. Small keeps the lesson cheap.
Done when, One campaign is live and spending.
You'll know it worked when plai shows the campaign as active and spend has started.
Your own photos, video and headlines
A pool of real material from the business: roughly twenty images, twenty short videos, and several headlines and descriptions.
Plai earns its fee by testing combinations continuously. The size of that pool decides how much it can learn and how quickly.
- You get
- Genuine testing, where the winning image, video and headline emerge from spend rather than from your opinion.
- You'll need
- Nothing to buy. Phone footage of real work is enough.
- Do this
- Gather the material before you build the campaign, and upload it when Plai asks for creative.
- Check it
- The campaign builder shows a spread of images, videos and text variants rather than a single one of each.
- Then
- Launch one small campaign against your written offer.
Haven't got it? That's fine, The platform has nothing to test, so you pay for reach without learning which message works.
From Dom · as of September 2026 · Dominic loads around twenty images and twenty videos with multiple headlines and descriptors, and lets the platform test them continuously.
Build the pool of creative to test
Use this before building the first campaign, once you know what the ad is selling.
Assemble enough creative for the testing to mean something.
Turns the photos and clips you already have into a proper test set with headlines and descriptions.
- 08
Check who you are actually reaching
about 20 minWhy now, A live campaign is now showing you real audience data.
Look at the audience the campaign is going to and narrow it if it is reaching people who could never buy from you.
Most wasted ad spend is a fine ad shown to the wrong people.
Done when, The audience matches the people who can actually buy from you, right area, right kind of customer.
You'll know it worked when nothing in the audience settings contradicts where you can serve.
Narrow the audience to people who can buy
Use this once the campaign is live and you are looking at who it is reaching.
Stop paying to reach people who could never buy.
Tells you what to exclude, and the signal that the audience is still too broad.
Before real people use it
Check it, then let people in
Not needed while you're still experimenting. Needed before anyone else relies on it.
- 09
Judge it on cost per enquiry, not clicks
about 30 minWhy now, Enough spend has run for the numbers to mean something.
After a couple of weeks, work out what one enquiry cost you and whether that is a price you would pay again.
Clicks and impressions feel like progress. Only the cost of a real enquiry tells you whether to continue.
Done when, You can state the cost per enquiry and have decided to continue, change or stop.
You'll know it worked when the figure comes from your own enquiries, not the platform's conversion estimate.
Getting leads into your CRM
UnconfirmedA route for enquiries generated by the ads to reach wherever you follow up from.
An enquiry you paid for and did not answer for three days is a wasted enquiry.
- You get
- Fast follow up, and a record of which ad produced which customer.
- You'll need
- A CRM you actually use daily.
- Do this
- Check inside your ad platform and your CRM whether a native connection exists between the two before assuming one does.
- Check it
- A test lead you submit yourself appears in the CRM.
- Then
- Agree a manual export routine if no native connection exists.
Haven't got it? That's fine, Leads sit in the ad platform and go cold.
Read our take on PipedriveBiz Spouse research · We have not verified which CRMs connect natively for this setup, so this is marked unresolved rather than recommended.
Judge the campaign on cost per enquiry
Use this after roughly two weeks of spend, when the verdict is due.
Decide continue, change or stop on the only number that matters.
Ignores impressions entirely and gives you a cost per enquiry and a decision.
Connections
What to connect it to, and what to leave alone
Connecting everything is the expensive mistake. Each of these says what it is, why you'd want it, and whether you want it yet.
Needed now
A Facebook Page you administer
A business Page on Facebook, with you listed as an admin of it.
Meta will not run ads for a business that has no Page behind them, and Plai connects to the Page rather than replacing it.
- You get
- Facebook and Instagram placements inside Plai.
- You'll need
- A Facebook account of your own.
- Do this
- Create the Page for the business, then connect it to Plai following their connection article.
- Check it
- The Page appears as connected inside Plai and you can see it listed under your ad account.
- Then
- Connect the ad accounts you intend to use.
Haven't got it? That's fine, You can still advertise on Google, TikTok and the other supported platforms, but Meta placements are closed to you.
Official source · Plai's own article on creating and connecting a Page.
Your own photos, video and headlines
A pool of real material from the business: roughly twenty images, twenty short videos, and several headlines and descriptions.
Plai earns its fee by testing combinations continuously. The size of that pool decides how much it can learn and how quickly.
- You get
- Genuine testing, where the winning image, video and headline emerge from spend rather than from your opinion.
- You'll need
- Nothing to buy. Phone footage of real work is enough.
- Do this
- Gather the material before you build the campaign, and upload it when Plai asks for creative.
- Check it
- The campaign builder shows a spread of images, videos and text variants rather than a single one of each.
- Then
- Launch one small campaign against your written offer.
Haven't got it? That's fine, The platform has nothing to test, so you pay for reach without learning which message works.
From Dom · as of September 2026 · Dominic loads around twenty images and twenty videos with multiple headlines and descriptors, and lets the platform test them continuously.
Recommended for this build
Tracking on your website
The Facebook pixel, or the equivalent tracking code, installed on the site the ads point at.
Without it you can see clicks but not what happened after the click, which is the half that decides whether the spend was worth it.
- You get
- Knowing which ads produced enquiries rather than which produced traffic.
- You'll need
- A website or landing page you can edit.
- Do this
- Create the pixel in Plai, then paste the code into your site.
- Check it
- The pixel reports activity after you visit your own page.
- Then
- Launch the campaign.
Haven't got it? That's fine, You will be judging ads on clicks, which is exactly the trap this product is meant to keep you out of.
Official source · Plai's own pixel article.
Useful later
Getting leads into your CRM
UnconfirmedA route for enquiries generated by the ads to reach wherever you follow up from.
An enquiry you paid for and did not answer for three days is a wasted enquiry.
- You get
- Fast follow up, and a record of which ad produced which customer.
- You'll need
- A CRM you actually use daily.
- Do this
- Check inside your ad platform and your CRM whether a native connection exists between the two before assuming one does.
- Check it
- A test lead you submit yourself appears in the CRM.
- Then
- Agree a manual export routine if no native connection exists.
Haven't got it? That's fine, Leads sit in the ad platform and go cold.
Read our take on PipedriveBiz Spouse research · We have not verified which CRMs connect natively for this setup, so this is marked unresolved rather than recommended.
Something not behaving? The problems people actually hit with Plai, and the prompts that fix them, are on the main page.
Problems and fixes