Facebook Ads For Beginners: Complete Guide (2026)

all right real talk most people trying to run Facebook ads are just lighting money on fire and it's not because the platform doesn't work it's not because their product sucks it's because no one ever sat them down and explained how this game actually works so what do they do they boost a post they pick 27 different interests and they throw 500 bucks at it and then when it flops they blame the algorithm or worse they give up and I've been there i've done all that but then I figured it out i'm still figuring it out

but not from a $10,000 course not from any YouTube rabbit holes just by running real ads with my own real money over and over and over until it clicked so this series is called Facebook Ads for Noobs and if you stick with me through all five parts I'll show you everything you need to finally make ads work especially if you're new but the real reason to stick around today because at the end of this I'm going to give you my favorite shortcuts dirty little hacks and zero budget tricks that I use to find winners faster

than anyone else I know this is stuff I wished someone handed me on day one this is a series I needed when I started now it's yours so let's dive in here's what you're going to learn part one foundations understand how Facebook ads actually work you're going to learn campaign structure between the campaign the ad set and the ad you're going to pick the right objective and build offers that convert in part two you're going to build your first campaign it's a stepbystep walkthrough on how to launch your first ad set within Ads Manager from

targeting and placements to budget and creatives this gets you live fast and clean part three is writing ads that convert you use the hook to the problem to the offer to the call to action formula to write punchy clear high converting ad copy including headline tips image best practices and full examples and part four is my favorite testing and optimization you're going to learn the 72-hour rule key metrics CTR CPC CPM and how to AB test one variable at a time you're going to diagnose problems and fix them quickly and part five scaling and automation

how to go from $10 a day to $500 a day without breaking your campaign budget this includes targeting lead handling automation and CRM setup and as a bonus you're going to get my favorite hacks loopholes and shortcuts the bottom line is if you follow this playbook you will never guess what to do with your Facebook ad you won't have to guess you'll know exactly what to write where to click and how to scale okay so let's get into it part one foundations here's what makes Facebook ads work and why most people never get it right

story time i was sitting with a local HVAC company owner last summer smart guy he'd been in business about 12 years or so he asked me to look at his Facebook ads account here's what I saw wasn't surprising one boosted post from 2 months ago a photo of his van and a caption saying "Hey need AC repair we're here to help call today." No targeting no strategy no results and that's how most people run Facebook ads it's why most people think Facebook ads don't work isn't that a shame but here's the truth facebook ads still

work like crazy better than ever before you just have to understand the machine that you're operating so let's build your foundation right by the time you finish this chapter you'll be able to run ads like a grown-up like an expert step one here's what actually makes a Facebook ad work it's not your logo it's not your business card design it's not even the photo although that is important we'll get to that but what makes a Facebook ad work is alignment these three things have to line up number one a clear problem number two a relevant

offer and number three it needs to be shown to the right person at the right time that's it here's an example of a problem your trees are blocking your driveway here's an example of an offer tree trimming in 24 hours message us for a quote and here's an example of the right person homeowners in Mckin Texas with large trees and disposable income that's it if you hit that combo game over if you miss one you're burning money if you miss two you're burning a lot of money step two understanding the Facebook ad structure there are

three levels to every Facebook ad campaign number one campaign think of this as the why what are you trying to accomplish at the campaign level is it sales is it leads is it website traffic are you looking for messages more page engagement most beginners pick the wrong one and then they blame the algorithm stop blaming the algorithm don't do that here's how to decide every campaign has a goal use this objective to book service calls via DMs drive messages drive sales on a site maybe you want conversions to collect emails or leads or just leads

maybe you want more eyeballs and maybe you want more reach on your video which isn't very common and I will say if you're a local business 90% of the time you should start with messages it's the highest intent it's the easiest to convert and it gives you instant feedback after the campaign is the ad set level this is the who when and where who are you targeting where will your ads be shown instagram Facebook feed Instagram stories Facebook stories how much are you spending this is where most of the money is made or lost here

at the ad set level we'll go deep into targeting later but here's the short version you want to start broad let the algorithm work dial it in as you go if you start niche from the beginning then you'll never know what you're missing out on and the most granular level to this three- tier system is the ad just to recap campaign ad set and then ad this is the what this is what your prospect actually sees it includes the creative which is a fancy way of saying the image or the video the caption which is

the primary text and then the headline also this is where you'll see the call to action button maybe that's shop learn more or message us now this is where the click happens or it doesn't and 95% of people start here which is a mistake if your campaign and your ads set aren't right your creative will not save you now step three you're going to pick the right campaign objective so let's keep it simple if you pick the wrong campaign Facebook literally optimizes for the wrong people here's what I mean if you choose traffic as the

objective Facebook will show your ad to people who are known clickers not buyers not message senders in fact they're probably less likely to click in fact they're probably less likely to buy than the average clicker because they're just clickers they're not clickers and buyers these people don't convert they're just curious scrollers here's a little cheat sheet for you if you want messages in your inbox you choose messages if you want to collect names and emails you choose leads if you want someone to buy something on your website you choose conversions if you want views on

a real or a video you just choose video views but you got to know why you're doing that first so that's a really easy way to light your money on fire don't try to get clever don't overthink it just pick one that aligns with your goal now step four this is the anatomy of a killer offer don't skip this if your offer sucks your ad will suck doesn't matter how good the creative is once again your creative will not save you so here's what a good offer looks like you want a clear solution to a

painful problem with a timeline and a path to action here's two examples here's a bad offer we offer expert HVAC services call today no too vague no timeline no hook throw it out here's a great offer your AC out we'll diagnose it in 60 minutes and fix it same day message us to book your time the second one sells because it solves a specific problem for a specific person and it sets expectations it gives them a reason to act now write this down the tighter the offer the better the ad will perform okay now step

five avoid the boost post trap this deserves its own section never boost a post ever without exception boosting is Facebook's easy button for people who don't understand Ads Manager it gives you almost no control whatsoever over who sees the ad what goal you're optimizing for what your budget is actually doing it's like trying to run a marathon with rollerblades on your knees it looks like a shortcut but it'll wreck you always use Meta Ads Manager it gives you full control and once you understand it which you will by the end of video you'll never go

back and step six you're going to build a strategic foundation before you ever click publish before you ever open Ads Manager answer these five questions who is this ad for two what problem do they have right now three what solution am I offering them four what proof do I have that I can deliver and five what is the one action I want them to take if you can't answer all five of these questions then don't run the ad this quick little 10-minute exercise will save you $1,000 in wasted ad spend all right step seven here's

some real world examples from start to finish let's say I'm running Facebook ads for a local tree trimming company here's how I'd set it up campaign objective messages ad set the location is going to be 10 mile radius around McKenna Texas the age 30 to 65 plus the targeting homeowners no fancy interest needed the placement is going to be manual and then Facebook feed Instagram feed Instagram stories i don't want Facebook to show it anywhere it wants to show it i don't trust Facebook with this part of the system yet my budget's going to be

15 bucks a day now my ad creative once again creative is a fancy word for your picture or your video i'm going to do a before and after picture of a trimmed tree those sell here's the caption branches over your roof we'll trim clean and haul away in 24 hours get a free quote in 30 seconds no pressure just fast work headline: tree over your roof call to action send message remember home services you want the call to action to be send message this exact ad has gotten leads for under $5 for us if we

go to Thumbtac to buy leads it costs over $50 and I've used variations of this for home service pros realtors HVAC even mobile dog groomers you don't need to be clever you need to be clear all right my final thoughts on part one this is the foundation that most people skip they rush into writing ads without understanding what they're actually telling Facebook to do that's like getting in a car and never checking the GPS remember when Michael Scott drove the car into the lake exactly here's your mantra for every ad you ever run goal is

better than audience audience is better than creative in that order always if you get the strategy right Facebook ads become a cheat code if you don't you'll end up tweeting Facebook ads are dead like every other frustrated business owner they're not dead two we're going to build our first Facebook campaign step by step most people talk about Facebook ads like it's rocket science it's not but you do need to know what buttons to click and what traps to avoid this chapter is all about execution if you follow it word for word you'll have a fully

functioning campaign live by the end of the day today it won't be perfect but it'll be running and that's more than 98% of people ever do so let's get into it step one open Meta Ads Manager don't boost a post don't use your business page use the real tool go to business.fas.com facebook.com and ask and access Meta Ads Manager this is where all the magic happens if it's your first time Facebook might walk you through a setup wizard you can skip most of it because you're listening or watching this you want to get to the

dashboard where you can create a campaign set up an ad set and launch an ad if that sounds intimidating don't worry i'll walk you through each part step two create a new campaign click the green plus create button you'll get a list of campaign objectives here's how to choose the right one use this cheat sheet if you want to drive more sales on your website click sales if you want people to message you you click messages want to collect leads with a form you click leads you want views on a video click video views we

kind of went over this on the last section if you want brand awareness wrong book close this tab let's say you're a local service provider or coach or a consultant start with messages you can switch to something more advanced later name your campaign something that makes sense i like this format service objective date here's an example tree trimming messages September 2025 then you click continue step three campaign settings most of these can stay default for now your campaign objectives is set to your choice like messages special ad categories leave this blank unless you're in real

estate employment or credit ab test we'll talk about this later but for now you're going to skip it and advantage campaign budget leave that off for now now you're going to click next to move into the ads set level step four ads set this is the money layer this is where most of your success will come from and here's how to get it right number one conversion location if you choose messages set it to messaging apps number two daily budget start with $10 to $20 per day if you're nervous start with five bucks just know

it's going to take even longer to learn what works and time is money step three start date that's going to be today no end date needed but keep an eye on it four is the audience this is where people get lost don't use Advantage Plus audience yet it used to be called broad targeting yes really if you're targeting locally that's already your targeting facebook knows who's likely to message businesses like yours if you still want more control use these settings location will be current city plus 10 to 15 mile radius age is going to be

28 to 65 plus because most conversions are coming from 30 plus year olds gender is going to be all unless you have a good reason to filter and on detailed targeting you're going to start broad you could add one or two interests if you must like home improvement or landscaping or small business owner for B2B services but just be careful facebook's algorithm does better with more room to optimize it wants to have control so narrow targeting usually hurts you more than it helps you and then number five is the placement you're going to click manual

placements and uncheck everything except Facebook's feed Instagram's feed and Instagram stories facebook Marketplace I could give or take depending on the industry it often works pretty well for local businesses but avoid Messenger inbox instream video reels audience network etc these always drive cheap clicks but not conversions then you click next to get to the actual ad this is the most granular layer of the three-level set like we've talked about step five this is the ad creative this is what people see this is where most people spend way too much time and get too little in

return so here's how to keep it tight and effective you want to make sure the correct Facebook page and Instagram account are selected this can get a little hairy on the format you want to choose a single image or a video don't use carousels yet cuz you don't know what you're doing same to be said with slideshow keep it simple then you upload the creative if you don't have a video just use a clean picture that matches what you're selling like a before and after if you can't get a good picture use your iPhone real

photos almost always beat stock images and then your primary text that's your caption this is going to be the paragraph right above your image you're going to use this framework hook to problem problem to offer offer to call to action so for tree trimming it's going to be something like "Tired of that huge branch hanging over your house we'll trim clean and haul it away within 24 hours." Fast clean and no pressure message us to get started within 30 seconds speak directly be human solve a problem and then the headline this is the bold line

right under the image you're going to keep it short tree over your roof get a quote in 30 seconds ac not cooling we'll fix it today and then the call to action button is going to be send message for a home service if you're pushing to a landing page just make it learn more then step six of this section you're going to review and you're going to publish and on the adset location and budget the targeting is going to be broad or advantage plus you're only running ads on feeds and stories this is stuff you're

confirming right before you submit it you're going to make sure your creative is clear and connected to your offer and then you're going to click publish you're going to take a deep breath because you just launched your first ad campaign what happens next well after you publish Facebook is going to review your ad it usually takes less than 24 hours sometimes it can take longer and after it's approved your job is to not touch it i know it's tempting you want to tweak but unless something is obviously broken like a misspelling or a wrong photo

don't change anything for 72 hours this is the learning phase it's literally what it's called so let the algorithm do its job and then step eight what you're going to expect here is if your offer is strong and your targeting is local you can likely expect to pay $2 to $6 per message the click-through rate will be about 1% or higher and you're going to get your first lead within one to two days now the quality of your messages is going to depend on your ad copy and who's running your pages inbox respond fast be

human close the deal and step nine if you don't get results this is where most people quit don't here's how to troubleshoot if nobody clicks your ad your hook or your photo is weak so try something punchier a better line or a better image if people click but they're not messaging your call to action might be unclear so simplify the copy make the offer stronger and if people are messaging and you're not closing these deals then you got to improve your speed to respond even if you have to use a script you want to offer

clear next steps time slot price phone call and then to wrap up part two here you just launch your first Facebook ad campaign that alone puts you ahead of most small business owners but we're not going to stop here you're going to get results yes but more importantly you're going to learn fast and the more you spend per day the faster you learn and after here we're going to get into testing optimization retargeting and scaling but don't skip ahead let the ad run let it collect data let it teach you every day it runs another

data point then we'll tweak here's how to write ads that actually convert even if you're not a quote copywriter so here's the part that everyone overthinks writing the ad most people stare at the empty caption box like it's a term paper then they either ramble like a college essay or they try to write like a brand and both of those approaches kill result remember what I said you don't need to be cute you need to be clear because at the end of the day Facebook ads are a permission slip for someone to say "Yeah I'll

take a closer look that's it." So let's break down exactly how to write high-erforming Facebook ad copy even if you've never written an ad in your life don't go buy a copywriting course step one know what you're actually writing you're writing for three things number one the scroll this is the hook will this stop the scroll will it stop someone in their tracks two you're writing for the skim the structure can they understand the offer without having to read every word and number three the third S the spark the action does it make them want

to message you click or buy every part of your ad should serve one of those three goals all right now step two you're going to use this four-part framework because every ad I write has some version of this the hook the problem the offer the call to action so let's break it all down number one the hook the first line this is the scroll stopper hopefully if the first line is weak they're gone spend as much time on the first line as you spend on everything else if not more it should feel like something someone

would want to say out loud one example could be "Tired of branches scratching your roof every time it storms?" Or "Your AC shouldn't take three hours to cool the house." Or "Your driveway should be powerwashed here's why." Or "What's under your carpet will make you cringe." All of these statements offer imagery and it gets the reader close to feeling something you're not trying to be poetic you're trying to wake someone up and never ever start your ad with something like "Hey Plano friends," or "We're a local family-owned business." Nobody cares they don't care about you

yet so start with the pain point or the curiosity now you want to touch on the problem this is where you empathize you show them you understand for example we've all let our trees grow too long but when they start scraping the roof or blocking the sidewalk it becomes more than just a nuisance now think about it you're not pitching them yet you're relating to them two sentences max and now your offer this is where you tell them what you're actually going to do for them so be specific use numbers include a time frame make

it low pressure for example we'll trim your trees clean the debris and haul it away usually same day our average job takes 90 minutes and quotes are always free use real numbers fast doesn't mean anything same day does and then your call to action tell them exactly what to do next a good call to action is something like "Message us for a quote in 30 seconds or click send message to get a price right now or tap learn more to schedule your spot." A bad call to action contact us if interested visit our website let

us know you're not asking you're directing and for step three of this section how long should your ad be here's the truth both short and long copy can work but the rule you want to use short copy when your photo does the selling photos say a thousand words right so let your photo do the work for you use longer copy when your service or offer needs more explanation here's an example of short copy ac out we'll fix it today message us now for fast service this works really great if your image shows the problem clearly

like a broken unit or a tech in a uniform here's an example of long copy if your house takes more than 20 minutes to cool off something's wrong and your energy bill is probably suffering so we offer sameday diagnostics fix most issues in one visit and quotes are always free message us now to get on the schedule so you're using the longer copy when your service is less understood and remember you're trying to build trust here in a millisecond you're selling high ticket okay quick pause what if you had an employee who worked 24/7 answering

leads building funnels tracking conversions and you didn't even have to pay them a salary well that's exactly what you get with Highle's new AI employee and right now they're giving you 30 days free as part of their summer of AI promo and after that it's just 97 bucks a month way less than you'd ever pay a human and it doesn't even ask for lunch breaks or vacation time so check out the link in the description below and let AI handle all the grind for you all right now step four of this section headlines that hook

the headline is the bold line under the image it's short it's visible and it matters more than you think so here are some proven headline formats you can go for the problem first option trees blocking your driveway ac not cooling fast enough or you can go for the results focused option fixed in 90 minutes or less cleaner gutters in 24 hours or you can go with the offer forward option free estimates message now $25 off your first trim job the bad headlines sound like taglines excellence in every cut here for all your HVAC needs remember

you're not branding here you're not Coca-Cola you're selling use plain language that implies value step five you want creative that converts even if you don't have a video team if you've got a great video use it but most of the time a strong photo is all that you need so here's what I consider to be the hierarchy of what works again this is the third time before and after photos always crush action shots you or your team work you're cutting down a tree faces work great they're relatable and selfie style shots always convert better than

a polished stock photo product in use you want to show the result not the product you're selling the sizzle not the stake and on the graphics/ext overlays only mess with these if you know what you're doing and if you do know what you're doing then try to test with and without if you're just a beginner at this which you probably are and that's okay just take 10 photos on your iPhone pick the clearest one and run with it you can even upload all 10 to ChatGpt and say which one is the clearest you'll make it

prettier later but right now you need data and step six here's a few different ad examples that you can steal today i'm going to be a little redundant in this to drive the point home but stick with me please tired of branches over your roof we will trim clean up and haul it all away usually same day click send message to get your free quote now the headline for this one would be tree over your roof and the call to action would be send message now here's for a local cleaning service your home deserves more

than a surface clean we deep clean kitchens bathrooms and common areas without harsh chemicals or rush service our team is vetted trusted and always on time message us to get your free quote in 30 seconds the headline for this one would be "Need a deeper clean?" And the call to action you guessed it send message here's about a dog groomer now here's what a dog groomer might use hate the trip to the groomer we come to you bath cut nails and more all in your driveway friendly team fair pricing and your dog stays calm and

happy remember we're selling the result message now to schedule your pet's spa day and the headline would be "We come to you." The call to action you guessed it send message all right step seven on this section don't sound like a business sound like a person people buy from people not from corporations this is where most people blow it they write like this as a locallyowned and operated business we strive to provide top tier customer satisfaction with over 15 years of experience in Stop stop stop first of all you always want to use a fifth

to seventh grade reading level okay nobody talks like that and nobody reads past the first line of that but you're spending money for that first line so instead write like this been in business 15 years still show up on time both those sentences are five words long still return calls still clean up before we leave that's how we do it just feels different doesn't it that's how you want to sound and my final thoughts on part three this is the part that most people either overpolish or rush through you're going to do neither of those

things your job is to speak clearly you're going to solve a problem and you're going to make the next step obvious facebook ads are not a writing contest this isn't high school they're a clarity contest so say less mean more use real words show real proof and most importantly write like a human who understands what your customer actually needs that's how you win okay part four we're getting through this testing and optimization here's what to do when your ad either flops or starts to work because launching a Facebook ad is not the finish line it's

the starting line most people hit publish they stare at the screen for two days and then they start tweaking stuff with no plan they treat ads like slot machines they pull the lever they hope it hits you're not going to do that you're going to test with purpose you're going to watch the right numbers not all the numbers and when something works or doesn't you're going to know exactly what to change so let's get into it step one here's the 72-hour rule write this down do not touch your ad for 72 hours unless it's completely

broken like the wrong photo a typo or it's rejected leave it alone facebook needs time to exit the learning phase that's when the algorithm is figuring out who your ideal customer is if you change anything major like the budget the creative or the audience you're going to reset the clock so let it learn step two understand the metrics that matter you'll see a dozen different metrics inside Ads Manager it's overwhelming i know most of them are just noise here are the five that do matter ctr click-through rate or choose the right how many people clicked

your ad after seeing it good is going to be 1% or higher sometimes it can be much higher than this depending on the industry if it's under half a percent your hook or your image needs work so start there first number two CPC cost per click how much you're paying for a click or a message under $2 great under $1 very great once again this is industry dependent if you're selling legal services under $20 might be great if it's over three bucks all else equal something's going to be off it's usually going to be the

creative or the targeting number three is the CPM the cost per mill the cost per thousand impressions or views this is your baseline and it's going to vary by industry 10 to 25 bucks is pretty typical for local service ads if it's super high like $40 plus then your targeting is probably too narrow then you've got your link clicks versus your landing page views this is only going to be relevant if you're sending traffic to a site if you have way more clicks than views your site is either slow or broken then you've got the

rorowaz return on ad spend this is the north star especially for ecom and digital product sellers a $1 rorowaz means you're breaking even it means you're getting a dollar back for every dollar you spend but that doesn't account for your other overhead or cost so you're really losing money two to$4 means you're profitable and you could consider it a dollar or a multiplier i consider it a multiplier so if my rorowaz was four I would consider that 4x i get a four times return on every dollar I put in now for services you're probably tracking

leads instead of net dollars gained but it's the same idea are you getting more than what you're spending and step three we're going to learn how to AB test like a grown-up because most people quote test by throwing up five different ads and hoping that one of them works that's not testing that's chaos you're going to be testing like a scientist so only test one variable at a time that's it one thing don't pull more than one lever at a time or you don't know what lever made the difference if you change your image your

headline your targeting your call to action all at once and your performance improves great what did you do you have no way of replicating that you want clarity not chaos so here's what you're going to test in this order start with the most impactful the creative which is the image or the video this has the biggest impact on click-through rate test a photo against a video test two different styles maybe clean verse cluttered bright verse muted next you want to test the primary text or the caption try a new hook a short hook versus a

long hook an offer verse curiosity then you could try testing the headline clarity versus urgency which would be something like free estimate today verse tree hanging over your house and then you can start messing around with the audience advantage plus verse custom targeting cold interest verse lookalike then you can test the placement feed only verse feed plus stories only change this once you have a winning ad because if the ad wins in one feed it'll probably win in another and then you can think about testing the objective this is if you're stuck if messageages isn't

working try leads if leads isn't working try conversions just know that every time you switch this it's going to reset the learning now if you want to run a true AB test the first option is to use Meta's built-in AB testing tool which you can find under the experiments tab and the next option is to just do it manually duplicate the adset and change one of the variables remember one of the variables split the budget evenly between the two let both of them run for 3 to 5 days keep the winner kill the loser rinse

and repeat all right step four of this section here's what to do when your ad isn't working so we're going to break down these scenarios to know what to fix here's what to do when nobody is clicking number one again check the image first then strengthen the hook then make the offer tighter more specific then shorten the copy if people are clicking but they're not messaging or buying your landing page is probably garbage or your call to action is probably unclear now if people are messaging you but you're not closing you're probably too slow to

reply or maybe your prices are too high maybe you sound like a robot in your replies maybe you're not answering their core question maybe you're just sticking to the script too much now if you're getting clicks but they're too expensive then try broader targeting or change your image believe it or not ugly real photos often outperform clean Canva graphics you can test shorter copy you can switch from desktop to mobile placements only all right now step five this is retargeting 101 once you've had a few hundred clicks or messages it's time to build your second

ad this one is for warm traffic people who saw your ad or visited your site but never converted and here's why retargeting works people get distracted there's a lot of competition for attention nowadays they don't trust you yet they need to see you twice or 20 times before they ever buy here's a good example of a retargeting ad hey saw you checking us out but didn't message if you still got that big branch hanging over your roof we're ready when you are don't forget we'll trim it clean it up and be gone in 90 minutes

and you're going to only show this ad to people who interacted but didn't end up messaging you you can also show it to people that viewed your Instagram profile or people that engaged with your website or people that went to your website but never did anything the budget you set on a retargeting ad is going to be low $3 to5 a day it's just going to run quietly in the background okay step six now we're going to talk about your creative rotation and ad fatigue because even the best ads will burn out here's how you

know your click-through rate drops or your cost per click starts rising you've seen this ad six times in a week yeah it's going to get stale so what do you do swap the copy keep the image just don't kill the entire thing tweak one thing remember pull one lever at a time you want to refresh creatives every two to three weeks depending on how big your budget is just use the data don't get emotional about it and step seven here's what to scale and when to scale let's say you've tested you've got a winner now

what don't double your budget overnight people do this all the time that kills the learning phase you want to scale slowly increase your budget by like 20 to 30% every 3 to 4 days or you could just duplicate the adset and assign a higher budget to the new one and then once again 72 hours watch the results before scaling again and only scale ads that are profitable getting consistent results not showing signs of fatigue and once you've scaled the ad start testing new audiences with the same winning creative or you could test new creatives with

your winning audience keep that flywheel going baby and to wrap up part four here testing is how you stop guessing you're not here to be creative for the sake of it you're here to get results so run clean tests watch real metrics and optimize with intention scale what works kill what doesn't and do it all over again this is where the beginners become pros it's the ones who treat Facebook ads like a system not a slot machine those are the guys who win okay part five we're going to get into scaling and automation how to

go from $10 a day to $500 a day or $5,000 a day without everything breaking so in parts one through four you got your ad off the ground part five is what gets it flying this is the part where the I boosted a post and got nothing crowd starts to fade and and you start building real leverage you've launched you've tested you found something that works now it's time to scale so let's talk about real quick how to spend more money without ruining your results because that's one of the hardest things even for the most

adept agency owners and also let's talk about how to optimate the backend so you're not glued to your inbox or your screen 24/7 step one here's how to know when you're ready to scale don't scale just because you're bored don't scale just because it's been 72 hours you're going to scale when you've got repeatable proof and here's what that looks like your click-through rates above 1% your cost per lead or message is profitable results have been consistent for at least 5 to seven days you're getting actual customers not just engagement not just clicks and if

all four of these things are true you're going to be ready step two here's how to scale without killing your ad again scaling too fast is one of the most common ways to break a good ad so here's your two options number one you can scale slow and steady you can increase your daily budget by 20 to 30% every 3 days you'll monitor your performance closely if your metrics hold steady or improve then you repeat if they fall apart then scale back to the last stable number that you experienced this is the safe path but

it takes more time option two is to duplicate and scale duplicate your winning ad set again you might risk showing the same ads to the same people and Facebook not accounting for that properly you'll want to assign a higher daily budget to the new one the new ad which will be like two to three times the original budget and leave the original untouched let both of them run at the same time and see which performs better this gives you speed with a safety net and if the scaled version tanks you still have the original chugging

along and you don't want to scale your creative that's over three weeks old ads fatigue rotate the creative first and then scale all right now step three this is what I call the scaling framework you're going to use this to decide how aggressively you want to scale if your daily spend is $5 to $20 then your scaling strategy should be to test and gather data and run it for 7 days if your daily spend is 20 to $200 then optimize your creative and targeting and begin to scale slowly if your daily spend is $100 to

$250 then duplicate winners and expand to new audiences and if your daily spend is $250 to 500 then layer in retargeting which we just talked about add in new offers and rotate your creatives every week so scaling isn't just about the budget it's also about multiplying what's already working more money only works when your system is solid and step four here's how you're going to automate your lead handling so you don't burn out because scaling your ad is useless if you can't keep up with all the leads and many people get overwhelmed they get too

many messages they forget to follow up they have slow response times and the leads go cold so you need a system here's my three-part lead handling stack number one autorely this is within Messenger or Instagram meta has these built-in tools to set up an instant reply such as "Hey got your message we'll get back to you ASAP but if it's urgent call us you want to buy yourself time and set expectations number two is a CRM or a lead tracker like high level at a bare minimum use a Google sheet you just want to get

their name the contact info and the date contacted and the status are they booked closed are they in progress or what and you're going to update this every day no excuses better yet just use High Level to make this easy you can get a big discount with it at the link in the show notes especially if you have multiple leads per day in part three of my three-part lead handling stack you need templates for fast replies so write out five to 10 of the most common replies in advance replies to things such as price time

slots scope of work let me talk to my spouse people asking for testimonials etc store these replies in a Google doc and copy paste them as needed this is going to be your first step at removing yourself from the inbox okay step five you are going to automate your adfunnel without having to hire a team here's how to build an ad funnel that runs like a machine start with a primary ad this is your cold ad it runs to new people every day top of funnel your objective is going to be messages or leads your

budget $ 20 to $100 a day and your audience is going to be a broad or a lookalike audience then you're going to add a retargeting layer this ad only runs to people who have already seen or interacted with your original ad your objective on this one is going to be conversions or messages and your budget is going to be $3 to $10 a day and then your audience is going to be a custom audience of website visitors or ad engagers video viewers etc the creative for these ads is going to be even more personal

more urgency because these people have already engaged with you before something like "Still thinking about getting your trees trimmed we've got three open slots this week message now to claim one." And then this one's optional you want to add a nurture layer this is going to be a follow-up ad that targets people 7 to 10 days later with valuable content testimonials or education so you can stay top of mind you need them to see you more than once cuz they're going to convert on their own schedule not yours and then step six is going to

help you track what actually matters now that you're spending real money you need to track like a real business at a minimum use a Google sheet to track daily spend leads generated cost per lead sales made and revenue collected all right now for step seven here's what scaling actually looks like with real examples example one your local HVAC company you start at 10 bucks a day you ran one message ad for same day diagnostics and within 10 days you dropped your cost per lead to $3 then you scaled to $60 a day you hired a

second tech and you're cranking example two you're an online course you started with a lead ad that was $15 a day you built an email list with a free guide you retargeted leads with a $97 offer and then you scaled your ad spend to $200 a day example three my personal favorite tree trimming side hustle so you ran a single before and after image ad to messages you started with $5 a day budget and you booked four jobs in your first week now you scale to $40 a day you've got two crews running full-time none

of these examples are fancy but they're realistic and they're dialed in my final thoughts on part five scaling is not magic it's math if you can turn $20 into $200 then turn 40 into 400 but only if you can keep up with the demand only if you've got a good system in place and only if you know what you're tracking because the difference between an ad that makes you $200 and an ad that makes you $20,000 is execution and repetition so keep your foot on the gas but don't press any harder until the wheels are

straight all right if you've made it this far you're not a noob anymore you're dangerous now but I promised I'd give you my favorite shortcuts this is the stuff that shaves off weeks of your learning and most importantly it gets you to profitability faster so let's get into it shortcut number one stalk the winners go to the meta ads library google it search for your competitors sort by active ads scroll through and ask are they running video or static what are their headlines look like filter these ads by active date if you can find an

ad for your from your competitor that's been running for months that ad is a killer copy it are they using long copy or short what kind of hook are they using what kind of image if they're spending money on it right now and they seem like a sophisticated competitor it's probably working shortcut number two the comment trap if you don't have social proof fake it run what's called a PP campaign which is post purchase engagement this is the best way to warm up you're going to run this campaign to your best warm audience people like

friends past buyers followers commenters engagers then you're going to take the post ID from this ad and reuse it in your cold campaigns now it looks like a hot ad there's social proof there's comments there's likes shortcut number three you're going to duplicate the winners and fast the second you see an ad perform above average duplicate it change one thing a new hook a new thumbnail new headline don't wait for 5 days of data scale horizontally because the winners fade fast shortcut number four if you don't have creative then use testimonials ask three customers to

record a 15-second video about your product or their experience it's got to be vertical it's got to have bad lighting i'm telling you for whatever reason these perform better authenticity wins every time you're going to use these as reals or story ads they're cheap they're fast they're high trust shortcut number five you're going to skip all those expensive testing platforms you may have heard about you don't need highros or triple whale or post-purchase surveys when you're starting up just keep it simple run three ads look at the click-through rate the CPM and the comments you'll

know if it's good or not so don't overthink it you can also take your existing audience and run interest mining tests these are going to be DMs a poll or a survey even if just in your Instagram story stuff like "What's your biggest struggle right now and then if people vote on it DM them and ask more specifics about why they voted you're going to screenshot their answers and use that exact language in your ad copy now you know you're getting to the heart of the problems your copy now speaks like your market because it

is your market shortcut number six you're going to run your ad scripts as tweets this is a little wild but before you spend a dollar on a video ad post the hook or headline as a tweet or an Instagram caption so you run these ads organically to test if it performs well organically it'll likely perform well in the paid if it flops you save money you can delete it if it pops you got a winning angle before you even launch and the last one this is my favorite sell it before you build it run ads

for an idea before you even have the product make a page use lovable or card to build a landing page take pre-orders collect emails if no one clicks you learn for cheap if you get orders but you can't fulfill refund them you at least have proof at that point that's it i mean you're pretty close to being an expert now there's no fluff this isn't theory this is what I've done it works so go run an ad and if you get stuck watch this all over again because everything is figure outable please subscribe if you

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