Facebook Ads: Do you really need to pay an expert to do them for you?

Feb 10

So you know you need consistent traffic on your website to get sales and people clicking to your website from Instagram is a little, er, sporadic.

You're ready to use the power of Facebook & Instagram Ad's. Hurrah!

However you don't really have the time or headspace to learn the in's and out's of Ad's.

But you also don't really have the cash flow to pay for the Ad spend and an expert to manage them for you.

Dilemma.

In this blog post, I talk about when you should wing it, when you should invest in training and when it's time to bite the bullet and hand it over to an expert.

1. Winging it

Running your own business, especially in the early stages, means you have to be a jack of all trades. Finance, marketing, sales, stock control, designer… the list goes on. And mastering Facebook Ads is another thing to add to the (ever growing) list.

I totally get it.

So there are a few occasions when I do actually advocate winging it with Ad’s to avoid procrastination and just get it done. I know, I know, don’t tell the other Ad’s managers…!

Facebook/Instagram actually make it very easy to spend money with them while you are on the app, aka ‘Boosting’ a post. The options you can select have got a lot more comprehensive and the ability to run a pretty good Ad is right there at your fingertips.

However, for reasons I’ll explain in the next section, I only really advocate using this when your goal is to increase engagement on a post or grow your following.

Boosting posts that are already doing well organically is quick and easy and does the job. Boom.

However, if your goal is to increase sales, grow your email list or build up to a launch, you’re going to want to read on.

2. Training in it

Ok so you want to do more than give your social media a boost, you want to use Ad’s strategically to grow your business. Fabulous.

Where do we start? Yes, I’m going to say it - you need to venture into Ad’s Manager.

I promise it isn’t as scary as it looks (although it’s a lot easier to navigate if you have someone helping you!).

There are 3 key issues with boosting posts:

1) You get very limited data about how the Ad is performing

2) You can only run one Ad, so you can’t try two different options and test which one your audience responds to

3) You can’t use the data you collect in future campaigns e.g. if you want to start building an audience of people who have interacted with your business, you won't be able to use the data from a boosted Ad (which is where you need a longer term strategy!)

I feel like I might have convinced you that boosting posts isn’t the best strategy but the big blocker here is normally a resistance to learning to do Ad’s in Ad’s Manager. Ideally you’d just outsource and focus on your zone of genius right?

Well, it’s all about timing.

Working with an Ad Manager I’d recommend you spend no less than £10/day on Ad’s ad then you’re going to be paying an Ad manager a minimum of around £500/month. I start working with clients when they have a budget of £1k ad spend/month and my fees are £750+/month.

So you’re looking at between £800-£2k investment. Now, if you are getting a good return on your Ad’s then that is just the beginning, you can scale the Ad’s and that is when you see GROWTH.

But, you need a few things in place before you can really harness the power of Ad’s.

And that is a proven funnel (or in less jargon… a system to move people from stranger to paying customer).

Until you are confident in your website conversion rate, your messaging, the product/service and you have the foundational marketing set up (social media, automated email sequences etc), you shouldn’t be working with an Ad Manager.

How do you get confident in all of the above if you don’t have anyone going on your website or buying your products?

You run Ad’s yourself! The great thing about running Ad’s yourself is that you can flex the budget, you don’t have to be running them all the time and honestly, you’ll very quickly see the parts of your business that aren’t working.

But it really won’t pay to try and just do it on your own or watch You Tube videos.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to get support and training so that:

a) you don’t waste endless hours working it out

b) you don’t waste money on Ad’s that aren’t going to work and

c) you ensure the Ad’s you run will grow your business long term, as well as hit the immediate goals.

Before I talk myself out of a job, there are still occasions when an Ad’s Manger is absolutely the right choice. You can take a look at the services I offer here.

3. Outsource it

Right, you’ve got a proven funnel (or system!) but either the Ad’s you are running just aren’t quite hitting the mark, or they are working but you need to focus your attention on growing the rest of the business.

Now is the time to speak to an Ad Manager. What should you be looking for?

Someone who has experience and an understanding of the market you are in. If someone spends most of their time doing Ad’s for financial service companies, they aren’t going to be the best fit to sell babygrows to parents.

What kind of input do you want to have in to the campaigns? Ad’s Managers work in different ways so have a think about:

Do you want to create the images?

Do you want complete sign off of the Ads before they go live?

Do you want a weekly call?

Or do you want to hand the whole thing over and not have to give it a second thought?

And finally, do they ‘get’ the ethos and values of your brand? Can they empathise with your customers' pain points? Do they understand that sustainability is at the heart of what you do? Do you click with them and feel like you’d work well together?

What next?

If you’ve found this blog post useful, here are some ways you can be a part of my world:

1) Love an Instagram story? Good, me too! Come say hi & access plenty more of my free tips over on: @sophiegriffithsco

2) Listen to my podcast! It’s all about taking big, bold moves in your marketing with strategic, practical advice and loads of inspiration too! Click here to find out more and listen!

3) Interested in working with me? To check out the client services I offer here click here