Getting started with MelonAds: the welcome questions, your sign-up credits, the dashboard, and the right order: strategy, copy, creative, then a Meta campaign.
Your business name, and one sentence on what you sell.
Your website address, if you have one. It saves you typing later.
Right after you sign up, a few short questions open: what your business does, whether you sell products or services, the business name, your main goal, where you advertise today, how much experience you have and your monthly budget. Most answers are one tap, and some can be skipped.
At the end you'll see "Your profile". Press "Build my plan" and you get "Your growth plan": the next steps, based on what you told us. These answers already go into your business brief, so you won't type them twice.
When you sign up you get 50 free credits. They're already in your account, and the "Welcome to MelonAds" window just shows them landing in the wallet at the top of the screen. Press "Collect 50 credits", or "Start now — build your marketing strategy" to go straight to the first step.
Credits are only spent on AI actions that succeed, such as a strategy report, ad copy or an ad image. Each action shows its price on its own button, so you always know the cost before you press.
The dashboard is the screen you come back to. At the top is "Your growth plan": a list of steps that ticks itself off the moment you do them, with a ring showing how well your account already fits your business.
Below it is "Your journey": five stages in order (strategy, copy, creative, campaign, reports). The stage where you stopped is highlighted with "You left off here", and pressing it takes you right there. Further down you'll find "My marketing strategies" and your AI conversations.
Everything the app writes and designs is built from your strategy: who your customer is, what you offer and what makes them buy. Without one, the copy and images come out generic. That's why, if you open copy or creative without a strategy, the app stops and suggests building one first.
Press "Strategy" in the menu. You can pick a short questionnaire (about 5 minutes) or a detailed one, or answer Genie in a conversation. At the end you get a strategy report with a picture of your ideal customer. There's a separate guide for this.
At the end of the strategy report there's a button that takes you straight to writing your ads. In the "Copywriting Studio" the app writes headlines and ad text for Facebook, Instagram, Google and more, from the strategy you built.
Once you have the text, move to "Ads Creative" for ad images in your business's colours and logo. Each of these costs credits, and the price is on the button before you press it.
In "Create campaign" you connect your Meta ad account once, then build a Facebook and Instagram campaign with the copy and images you made. Publishing to Meta doesn't cost credits. The ad budget itself is paid to Meta directly, from your own account.
Once the campaign runs, "My campaigns" shows what's working and what isn't, and lets you set goals for each campaign.
In the bottom corner of the screen there's a round Genie button: your marketing advisor inside the app. Pressing it opens a small window with ready questions like "How do I start?" or "What should I focus on this week?", or you can type your own. Genie explains, recommends and links you to the right place in the app.
Talking to Genie doesn't cost credits. You can also ask her to pause a campaign or change a daily budget, and Genie prepares the change for you to confirm. Nothing changes in Meta until you do.
Not sure what's next? Look at "Your journey" on the dashboard. The highlighted stage is where you stopped.
Give the strategy its time. The more accurate your answers, the better the ads, and the fewer credits go on second attempts.
Check the price on the button before each action. Your credit balance is always in the wallet at the top of the screen.
Stuck? Ask Genie. She knows every screen in the app and will point you to the right one.
Jumping straight to copy or images without a strategy. The result comes out generic, and the credits are still spent. Strategy first.
Skipping the opening questions. They take a minute or two, and your answers pre-fill part of the business brief.
Thinking credits pay for your Meta ads. Credits pay for the AI work in the app. Your ad budget is paid to Meta separately.
50 credits, once, as soon as the account is created. They arrive on their own, even if you closed the welcome window without pressing "Collect".
An action that costs more than you have won't run, and you'll be offered more credits. You can buy a one-off pack or choose a monthly plan on your profile page.
No. Strategy, copy and creative all work without it. You connect Meta only when you're ready to publish a campaign.
The answers go into your business brief, and you can edit any detail there at any time: open "Strategy" and open the strategy.