Am I ready to run ads?
Ads buy attention. What happens next depends on everything you already have in place. Before you spend, check these five things:
- The offer sells without ads. You already win customers through referrals, search or social media, so you know people want it at your price.
- The landing page works. People who arrive on it enquire or buy at a rate you are happy with. If not, fix the page first (see a homepage that converts).
- You can count results. Enquiries or sales from the page are tracked, and you can tell which came from ads.
- You can handle more leads. Someone can reply quickly, and you have capacity to do the work.
- The margin can pay for it. After costs, there is enough left from each sale to pay for the ads that won it.
If two or more of these are missing, your money is better spent fixing them.
How do I work out a first test budget?
Work backwards from your own numbers. Here is the method, with made-up example figures to show the sums:
| Step | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What profit does one new customer bring, after costs? | 600 |
| 2 | Out of every ten enquiries, how many become customers? | 3 in 10 |
| 3 | So each enquiry is worth (profit x close rate) | 600 x 0.3 = 180 |
| 4 | The most you could pay for an enquiry and still break even | 180 |
| 5 | A target that leaves you a profit, for example half of that | 90 per enquiry |
| 6 | Enquiries you want to see before judging the test | 10 |
| 7 | Test budget (target cost x enquiries) | 900 over the test |
If that test budget is more than you can afford to lose while you learn, start smaller and accept that the test will take longer or tell you less. Check each platform's minimum budget in its help centre before you plan. The ad platforms also need a steady flow of results to work out who to show your ads to; Meta calls this the learning phase. Very small budgets spread across many ad sets never get there.
Which platform should I start with?
| Platform | Best when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search | People already search for what you sell ("emergency plumber Dublin") | Broad keywords matching irrelevant searches; check the search terms report |
| Meta (Facebook, Instagram) | You need to create demand, show visual work or reach a local area | Judging on clicks and likes instead of enquiries |
| TikTok | Your buyers watch short video and you can make video built for it | Reusing ads made for other platforms |
| You sell to businesses and need to target by role or company | Needs a larger budget to learn anything |
If people already search for your service, Google Search is usually the most direct place to start, because you meet demand that exists. If they do not know they need you yet, Meta or TikTok can show them.
What should the first campaign look like?
- One goal: enquiries or sales, set up as the conversion the platform optimises for. See Google's guide to conversion tracking and Meta's Meta Pixel help.
- One audience or a small set of tightly related keywords.
- Two or three ads that test different angles, such as price, proof and speed.
- One landing page that matches the ad's promise, with a tracking tag on every link (see tracking which marketing brings enquiries).
- A fixed test period and a written rule for what counts as success, decided before launch.
How long before I judge the results?
Decide the test length and the success rule before you start, and do not change the campaign every day, because each change can reset the platform's learning. Judge on cost per enquiry and the quality of those enquiries, not clicks, reach or likes. At the end, compare the real cost per enquiry with the target you worked out above. Below target: keep going and grow the budget in steps. Above target: change one thing (the offer, the page or the audience) and test again.
What rules apply to ads in the EU?
A few rules catch businesses out. Tracking pixels and similar tools usually need consent under the ePrivacy rules (Directive 2002/58/EC, Article 5(3)), so your cookie banner and ad tracking must work together. The Digital Services Act stops platforms showing ads based on profiling with sensitive data or profiling of minors (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065). And on Meta, ads about housing, employment, credit and some other topics run as special ad categories with limited targeting. If you are unsure, get advice before you launch.
Checklist: before your first ad
- The offer already sells without ads
- The landing page turns visitors into enquiries
- Conversions tracked, with consent where the law requires it
- Target cost per enquiry worked out from your own numbers
- Test budget and test length decided, and affordable to lose
- One goal, one audience, two or three ads, one landing page
- Success rule written down before launch
- Someone ready to reply to new enquiries quickly
If you already run ads and want a second opinion, our ad account check is on the way.
Questions people also ask
Is a small daily ad budget enough to start?
It can be enough to learn slowly, but it depends on your numbers. Work out your target cost per enquiry and how many enquiries you need to judge the test. If the budget cannot produce that many in a sensible time, the test will not tell you much.
Should I boost posts or run proper ad campaigns?
Boosting is quick but usually optimises for engagement, which is not the same as enquiries. For results you can measure, set up a campaign with an enquiry or sales goal and a tracked landing page.
Should I start with Google Ads or Meta ads?
If people already search for what you sell, start with Google Search. If you need to show people something they are not yet looking for, start with Meta. Either way, start with one platform and learn from it before adding another.
Can I run ads myself?
Yes, if you have time to learn the platform and check it weekly. Many owners run small campaigns well. Get help when the budget grows, results stall, or the time it takes starts to cost more than the help would.