When I was asked this question, my first thought was that Facebook is too broad to tackle at once. There’s the Feed, Marketplace, Groups, Messenger, and Ads — all serving very different purposes. So before diving into ideas, I clarified what part of Facebook we were really talking about and what the business goal was.
The interviewer mentioned that ads were the focus, which immediately made sense — Facebook Ads are its primary revenue engine and an essential growth channel for small and medium businesses. So I reframed the question: How would I improve Facebook Ads for small businesses?
To start, I segmented users into two categories:
New or small advertisers — founders or small business owners who usually run campaigns themselves.
Experienced advertisers — agencies or teams with in-house marketers.
I decided to focus on the first group because that’s where Facebook can make the biggest difference. These users rely heavily on the platform but often find it complex or intimidating. They want quick results but don’t always understand how to create effective ads or measure performance.
From observing typical small-business workflows, I identified a few recurring challenges:
Most users struggle with how to set up their first ad — choosing objectives, creatives, or budgets.
They have no visibility into what’s working for competitors or similar businesses.
They rely on external tools for design and end up spending too much time switching between them.
And they’re often surprised when ads get rejected because they don’t know the policies well.
I prioritized two of these — helping them create their first ad easily and giving them insights into competitors. Both directly impact engagement and learning, which drive long-term retention.
My first proposal was to introduce a curated ad library inside Facebook Ads Manager. It would showcase examples of successful campaigns from similar industries, explain what made them work, and include key metrics like spend range or ROI. This would give small advertisers inspiration and clarity right where they need it.
The second idea was to add a built-in Canva-like ad creation tool. Instead of designing elsewhere and uploading creatives, users could quickly create ads using ready-made, high-converting templates within the platform. It simplifies the journey from idea to execution and lowers the barrier to entry.
We discussed trade-offs around complexity — adding too many features could overwhelm users. But the solution was to make these features available on-demand rather than default, keeping the interface clean for experienced advertisers.
To measure impact, I proposed tracking metrics such as:
Increase in number of new advertisers publishing their first ad.
Frequency of ads created using built-in templates.
Repeat ad creation rate among small businesses.
Drop in campaign abandonment during setup.
In the end, my answer focused on helping small businesses get started faster and feel more confident. By giving them the right examples, tools, and context, Facebook can make ad creation simpler and more effective — driving better results for businesses and more consistent revenue for Meta.