# How to run ads for a local business in India > Show Meta ads to people within a few kilometres of your shop, send them to WhatsApp or a call, and track visits. A step-by-step plan with a rupee example. - **Author**: Marxx - **Published**: 2026-11-16 - **Category**: India - **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-guides/how-to-run-ads-for-a-local-business-in-india --- To run ads for a local business in India, show a Meta ad to people near your shop, give them a button that opens a WhatsApp chat, and count booked visits, not chats. Start with one campaign, one offer and a small daily budget. ## Step by step 1. **Set up your accounts.** You need a Facebook Page and an ad account in one business portfolio. Add your Instagram account too if you have one. See [how to set up a Meta business portfolio](/guides/how-to-set-up-a-meta-business-portfolio). 2. **Claim your free listing.** Google says creating a Business Profile is free, and it lets you control how your business appears on Search and Maps. A business can create one if it has a physical location customers can visit, or travels to customers ([Google](https://business.google.com/in/business-profile/), [Google Help](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177), checked 2026-10-20). 3. **Pick a message goal.** Meta supports Click-to-WhatsApp ads under the Engagement, Leads, Sales and Traffic objectives (Meta developer docs, checked 2026-10-20). Steps are in [how to run click to WhatsApp ads](/guides/how-to-run-click-to-whatsapp-ads). 4. **Set the area.** In the ad set, go to **Audience**, then **Locations**. Search your city or use **Drop pin** on your shop. Meta picks a radius for you. Click the location and drag the slider to change it. You can pick **Current city only** to stay inside your city (Meta Help Center, checked 2026-10-20). 5. **Check the reach box.** For a city or region, Meta ticks "Reach more people likely to respond to your ads" by default. Untick it if you only want people in your area. 6. **Set a daily budget.** Work it out from your cost per booking. See [how to set a Facebook ads budget](/guides/how-to-set-a-facebook-ads-budget). 7. **Make the ad local.** Show your shopfront, a real person and one offer with a price. Write in the language your area speaks. See [how to make ads in regional Indian languages](/guides/how-to-make-ads-in-regional-indian-languages). 8. **Reply fast and track.** Answer chats in minutes. Mark each chat as booked, visited or lost. Meta says complete accuracy is not guaranteed with location targeting, so a few impressions or messages can come from outside your settings (Meta Help Center, checked 2026-10-20). Do not worry about a few strays. Worry if most chats come from far away. ## A worked example Say a dental clinic in Indore spends INR 500 a day for 30 days. That is INR 15,000. The numbers are made up. | Step | Count | Cost | |---|---|---| | WhatsApp chats | 90 | INR 167 per chat | | Booked visits | 27 | INR 556 per booking | | People who turned up | 18 | INR 833 per visit | If a first visit is worth INR 1,500, those 18 visits bring INR 27,000 against INR 15,000 of ads. If you only watched cost per chat, you would miss how many chats turn into visits. The no-shows are where to look next. Try a reminder message the day before. ## Mistakes to avoid - A radius so wide that you pay to reach people who will never visit - Boosting posts with no goal. See [how to boost an Instagram post the right way](/guides/how-to-boost-an-instagram-post-the-right-way) - Nobody answering WhatsApp until the evening - Judging by chats alone ## FAQ ### How big should my radius be? Start with the area your customers really travel from. For a clinic or salon that may be a few kilometres. Meta's minimum and maximum radius change with the type of location, so you will see the limits in the slider. ### Should I use a lead form or WhatsApp? Both work. A chat suits questions about price and timing. A form suits a quick callback. Compare them in [click-to-WhatsApp vs lead ads](/compare/click-to-whatsapp-vs-lead-ads). ### Do I need a website? You do not need one to start, because the ad opens a WhatsApp chat. A website still helps people check you out before they message. --- - [More India articles](https://marxx.ai/library-guides/category/india) - [All articles](https://marxx.ai/library-guides)