[TiffanyBurch]

When I started, I thought I needed a fancy agency website before contacting clients. I spent a lot of time building one and got nowhere. Later I started talking directly to businesses and showing them what I could improve. That worked much better.

 

[Alexandernelson]

I've had better results when I stop thinking about "targeting" and start thinking about the customer's problem. Instead of asking who should see the ad, I first ask why someone would actually want the product. That usually leads to better messaging.

 

[eturner451]

The first client is definitely the hardest. Once you have one successful campaign and a testimonial, the conversation with the next prospect becomes much easier. Before that, you're basically asking someone to trust you without much evidence.

 

[sgonzalez330]

One thing I'd change in the approach is not being too obsessed with ROAS. A campaign can have a great ROAS but still not be very profitable if the margins are low. Profit and customer lifetime value are more useful numbers for some businesses.

 

[MariaPerez]

I've found that asking a client "What is one new customer worth to you?" is a really useful starting point. Once you know that number, you can work backwards and determine what kind of acquisition cost the campaign can realistically support.

 

[CynthiaCooley]

The biggest lesson I've learned is that traffic is only half the equation. If the website converts at 1% and you somehow increase traffic by 50%, you're still working with a poor conversion system. Sometimes improving the landing page gives a better return than increasing the ad budget.

 

[mholmes]

I started with Meta Ads and honestly spent a lot of time learning things that didn't matter much initially. Once I understood landing pages, tracking and conversion rates, my campaigns improved considerably. The ad platform itself is only one part of the equation.

I learned this while working with Meta Ads too. Creating the campaign is fairly easy, but getting the landing page and tracking right takes more effort.

I would also recommend learning basic copywriting. You don't necessarily need to become a professional copywriter, but understanding headlines, offers, pain points and calls to action can make a huge difference when creating ads.

Good suggestion. Learning basic copywriting can help improve almost every part of a campaign, especially headlines and calls to action.

Another thing worth mentioning is that attribution isn't always perfect. Someone might see an Instagram ad, visit the website later through Google and then make a purchase. So you need to be careful before claiming that every sale came directly from one particular campaign.

That's an important point. Customers don't always convert immediately after clicking an ad. Looking at the full customer journey gives a more realistic picture.

I've always preferred charging a fixed management fee rather than taking a percentage of ad spend, especially with smaller clients. It keeps things simple and the client knows exactly what they're paying you each month.

That's how I'd approach it too. Getting a few regular clients and building a proper workflow should come before hiring a team.