[00:00:00] The biggest hang-up I see with people and the easiest way to burn through money and get frustrated is by just jumping into Meta ads before you're ready.

Hey friend, welcome back to In the EllaMents. I am Alishia Egenhoff, digital ad strategist, mentor, and the heart behind Social EllaMents Marketing. Around here, we talk about marketing, motherhood, and what it really looks like to build a business while also being a human with limited time, energy, and capacity.

So you think you are ready to run Meta Ads. You've got your business going, you've got products or services, you're ready to scale, and you think ads are the answer, the next best thing for your business. But before you log into Meta and you start creating those campaigns, I want to tell you about a time that I ran Meta Ads for my own business and got absolutely zero clients from them.

I know, it [00:01:00] sounds terrible, right? It's your worst nightmare coming to life, but it was actually one of the best things that ever could have happened to me because it taught me a lot of the baseline knowledge that I needed to know about what actually needs to be in place first.

So today, I'm talking about what you truly need before you run Meta Ads, and I'm not just gonna go through a checklist, but I'm gonna share the real lessons that I've learned along the way from doing it wrong and getting it right after spending thousands of dollars in Meta ad space and being an ads manager for several years now.

Plus, the patterns I see constantly with clients and what is changing and/or has already changed on the Meta ad platform and what will work best for your business and ads right now. The biggest hang-up I see with people and the easiest way to [00:02:00] burn through money and get frustrated is by just jumping into Meta ads before you're ready.

So let me share my, like, hard-learned lessons along the way so that you can skip over all the mistakes and just jump right in.

Okay. When I was starting Social EllaMents, I was desperate for clients. I mean, if you've listened to episode one, you know my story. I mean, I really needed them. I was also in a mentorship program at the same time, and they were pushing a particular sales strategy, a way of, showing up, and it started with the ad that they said would help me get clients faster.

And I, I 100% do think that it did and does work for some people, but let me get into it. So I ran the ads the way they suggested. I tried to follow their playbook. I was testing [00:03:00] different offers, different messaging, different creative, trying to figure out what would work for my business. And I did get leads, so email addresses, but I got zero clients from those ads.

The real and the biggest issue that it . Down to is it wasn't just that nothing converted, it's that the strategy didn't feel like me. It felt salesy. It felt pushy, um, borderline scammy, and I just, I couldn't lean into it wholeheartedly. And so I half promoted it and didn't probably do it well because I didn't believe in it.

And that was because deep down, I knew my ideal client, the people that I actually would want to work with, wouldn't vibe with that approach either. And I didn't want to be known, I didn't want my business to be [00:04:00] known as the pushy, salesy type business. I wanted to build real relationships that were based on trust and connection.

And that's when I realized something super important, and it's something that actually changed and shifted the way that I run my business, is that not just your business, but your a- like, everything you do, not just your ads, have to feel authentic to you. Because if they don't feel right to you, they're definitely go- not going to feel right to the audience that you're trying to attract.

So lesson one, do what makes sense for you.

So from running my own ads, I learned a very hard and expensive lesson about authenticity. But from working with clients over the years, I've also learned something equally important, and that is that proven offers absolutely [00:05:00] demolish testing offers when it comes to Meta Ads. It's not even close. Like, it's absolutely crazy.

So this is what I'm saying. When you already know your offer works, when people are already buying it organically, they're already signing up organically, when you're getting testimonials and social proof, Meta Ads will just amplify that success. They take something good, and they're gonna make it bigger and better.

But if you're trying to figure out what offer actually works while simultaneously running paid ads to test it, you're burning money on testing when you could be testing it for free organically first. Get your offer figured out. Make sales without ads, talk to your customers, find out what they love, and build up your social proof before you start dumping money into ads.

Obviously, if you have money to spend and you want to test new offers, [00:06:00] go for it. Like, I'm not gonna tell you not to run ads, but if you are s- already super tight with money and you're thinking, "I wanna run ads, I wanna get more people through the door," this is really where this is super important. Just, just have that proven offer already set before you, launch your ads, 'cause you're gonna spend so much more time in the success of it rather than the testing of it.

So obviously, both approaches work. I've done both, but one takes a lot more time than the other. And once you know that your offer works, Meta Ads will just take it to that next level. But trying to do both at once, that's where people start, you know, they're throwing money at ads, and it can sometimes be stressful. So if you're not in a financial position to be able to do that, don't. Just don't.

Okay. That actually leads me [00:07:00] into the next conversation, and this one is critical and, and completely honest, coming from a place of honesty from my own failures. Don't run ads if you're already broke. When I was starting out, my budget was tight.

Like, if you... Again, if you know my story, you know. Like, really tight. And I was still trying to run ads because I thought that's what you had to do to grow. Don't do that. If you're already struggling financially, running Meta Ads is... It's going to stress you out. It's gonna stress me out. It's gonna stress you out even more, because ads require commitment.

You're ideally going to need at least $500 a month in ad spend, and then you're going to need to commit to that for at least three months. If you don't have that money without it affecting your ability to pay yourself or your bills, you're just not ready yet. Go listen to episode seven where I talk about profit first.

[00:08:00] Get your business finances sorted. Build up some runway, then come back to Meta Ads, because running ads when you're stressed about money is not the energy you want going into this. And trust me on this, because I also did this from a place of fear and wanting to get some sort of success and win, and it wasn't the right place to start for me and for my business. So if you're not already earning money and seeing success, I would not just jump in with Meta Ads unless you have the money to back you. 

Let's talk about the actual practical foundation stuff. So first, and you're probably familiar with this, is that you need a Meta pixel. If you haven't already, install it today, actually yesterday, before you even think about running ads.

Because the pixel, while it's installed on your website, [00:09:00] it's actually collecting data, and that data is going to be very useful when and if you do decide to run ads. So it's better to have that installed ahead of time than waiting until you're ready to have ads, um, to go to get it installed, and it's completely free to install. There's so many YouTube tutorials on how to do it also, so it's not as tech-heavy as you may think, and it's definitely worth it.

Install it on every single page, homepage, landing pages, checkout, whatever. And the more data Meta has before you launch, the better because this data becomes, like I said, essential when you're testing different targeting strategies because Meta will have context about who's actually converting on your site. They're gonna have information about the traffic that's been coming to your site. So it's going to be very useful in that scenario.

Okay. Second, know what you're [00:10:00] tracking as a conversion. So when you're building out your funnel, you're gonna want to figure out like what your conversion is. Are you tracking purchases? Are you tracking form submissions, email sign-ups? What is your goal? And then we're gonna tell Meta and be super crystal clear about it. If Meta doesn't know what success looks like for your business, it can't optimize toward it. So you need to know, Meta needs to know, and then everybody's in line.

Okay. Third, you need a landing page. I strongly recommend a landing page that matches your ad. If your ad says, "Get this free guide," they should land on a page where they can actually get that free guide. It's a one very crystal clear direction on where they need to go. There's no other pathways for them to jump forward to.

It's simple, it's focused, it gets your customer through the journey and keeps them focused on the end goal, which is, you know, getting that free [00:11:00] guide or whatever it is. There's no detours. People are easily distracted, especially these days. Our attention spans are super short, so we have to keep them focused on what we want them to do. So that's where a landing page is super important.

You also need somewhere for those leads or customers to go. So this is where an email marketing software, a CRM, something within that, um, comes into play, and I have some of my favorites. If you want to know what those are, just ask. Um, because you can't just let them disappear after they click your ad. So we want, we want to get them on some sort of list, and a list that you ideally own, like an email list.

And then also, social proof comes into play, like, super valuable during the ads period. Because not only can you use them in your ads, but you could also use them on your landing page. So video testimonials are absolute gold, but written ones work too, [00:12:00] and people actually will buy based on what other people have said or, you know, experienced from your product.

So having those assets available to use when you're creating your ads is gonna be super helpful.

And then finally, make sure your website, it actually works on mobile. I know this is, like, super generic and, like, you know, everybody thinks that, "Yeah, of course it works," but you would not believe how many websites are not mobile friendly. And most people are seeing your meta ads on their phones, so if your website looks rough on mobile, they're probably gonna bounce and that's gonna hurt your ads performance. So make sure that your website is mobile friendly.

So I wanna jump into something that has been kind of a topic that's been coming up a lot lately, and that's that Andromeda noise. If you don't know what that is, don't worry, I'll explain it. But everyone's asking me, "Should I [00:13:00] be running broad targeting or interest targeting right now?" And I, um, I get it.

With everything that's changed, it feels like the answer must be one way or the other. But the honest answer is that it's not 100% true for everyone. And I know that's very basic, but... and not always super helpful if you don't know what side you're on. But both of those targeting strategies work. Um, they just work better for different things.

And knowing which one to use for your specific business is going to make a bigger difference than any algorithm update ever will. The core principles and basics of running Meta Ads has not changed, but some things have. So broad targeting works best for offers with wide appeal. Like think yoga, photography, e-commerce, commerce products, um, anything that could resonate with a large, [00:14:00] just general audience.

If you're selling something that a lot of different people might want, broad targeting lets Meta cast a very wide net and find those buyers fast. Broad is also really good for sales campaigns and low-ticket offers where you want speed and you want volume. Interest targeting is still what I use for, like if I was running my own ads, but specifically for coaches and course creators, and I'm consistently getting better results than broad in those areas.

So interest targeting works best when you have a specific offer in a very narrow niche. It's also the way to go for lead gen campaigns. I'm getting better quality leads when I narrow down to the right interest categories rather than going fully broad. But, and this is key, the quality of leads matters.

A yoga instructor doesn't need 500 bad leads. They need 50 really good leads, that are actually going to convert. [00:15:00] But know this too, this is going to be different for every business. So really understanding your business and what you're wanting out of it is going to help you figure out the best way to target.

I would say if you're not sure, broad is always the best place to start because it's going to cast that wide net. It's going to, help you define your audience. So, here's what I also want you to understand is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. I wish there was. But what works for a yoga brand is not what works for a business coach.

What works for a $27 offer is not what works for lead gen. So the most important thing that you can do is to test and run both broad and interest targeting if you're unsure, and let the data tell you the answer for the specific offer and audience, or [00:16:00] just run broad and start there. But that's always gonna be any rule of thumb, including mine.

I could tell you go broad, and some of you would crush it, but others would spend money for nothing because your audience actually needs to be narrowed down. The only way to know is to test with your own business, your own offer, your own audience, and that's why the foundation stuff matters so much, the proven offer, the pixel data, understanding your conversions, because without that data foundation, you don't have anything to test against.

So let me explain what I'm actually talking about when I say Andromeda and, what that means for you.

So the old way, you got to decide who should see your ad. You picked your audience. Meta's system found the most likely converters in that audience. That's how it worked for years. And that's still how it works for the most part. But Andromeda did change up some things. And the biggest thing is now your creative is what actually determines who sees your ad.

[00:17:00] So your, your targeting is going to be part of it, but your ad copy, your visuals, your messaging, that's what Meta uses to find, like, your people. If your copy is vague or it's generic, Meta has nothing to actually work with. And this is why people who have very strong creative and can produce varied content at scale are crushing it right now.

When you're sitting down to write your ad copy, you're essentially telling Meta's algorithm who your customer is. So for example, if your copy says, "Exhausted mom looking for quick meal ideas," Meta is going to find exhausted moms. If your copy is vague like, "Come learn more," Meta doesn't have anything to work with.

So spend time on your ad copy. I usually spend quite a bit of time in this area and also making sure that it makes sense from ad creative to ad copy to the landing [00:18:00] page. But make it specific. Make it speak to your actual customer. Make it stand out because that creative is literally how Meta is now finding your people.

Okay, here's the, the shocker that nobody actually wants to hear, is that this takes time. It's not like success within the week or even two weeks. It's give it three months minimum. That's how long it takes for Meta to learn, for you to test out different things, and for patterns to actually emerge. If someone is promising you results in a month, be super skeptical. It happens, but it's not the norm. Three months is your baseline, and if you don't have a proven offer yet, then you need to add more time to that because you're learning as you go.

So here's what you need before you launch. One, ideally, a proven offer that you've tested it and you've had real success. Two, [00:19:00] is your Meta Pixel installed on every page of your website? If not, go do it. Three, you know what conversion you're tracking in Meta, and you've got it all figured out through your flow and your funnel. Four, your website works on mobile and functions well. Five, you have a landing page that matches your ad. Six, you have email marketing or a CRM set up. Seven, do you have testimonials or social proof that we can use in your ads and on your landing page? Eight, do you have budget? Not $50. Do you have $500 that you could spend monthly for ad spend? Nine, are you ready to commit to spending that money for at least three [00:20:00] months and testing for at least three months? And then lastly, your finances are in order, so you're not freaking out about the money. If you can check most of these boxes, you are ready. If you're missing a bunch, that's, that's okay.

Just spend the time getting ready first. It's worth taking time to prepare. Seriously, like just, you know, do the things that you need to do, get yourself set up, and then when you're ready, you'll be ready to go. So pick one thing from the checklist that's missing and fix it this week. Just one, don't try to do everything at once. If the Meta pixel isn't installed, start there. That's a really easy place to start. That's probably the most important thing, and it's going to save you so much headache down the road. And if you don't have testimonials, go, go get a few. Ask a friend, like, you know, email a couple people. I'm sure you have some raving fans that would love to write something about your business and for you.

And then lastly, don't... [00:21:00] just don't overwhelm yourself. Pick one thing and do it as you can, and give yourself a realistic timeline for when you'll have everything in place. You know, it's gonna be different for everybody. Once you're ready, you're going to have such a different experience than I did running ads before I knew what I was doing. So learn from my mistakes and use these as tools to get yourself set up for success.

I am so grateful for the lessons because they have shaped how I help my clients succeed with ads now. But you don't have to learn the hard way. Get your foundation solid. Be authentic in your ads. Prove your offer first. Build your social proof. Test both broad and interest targeting with your own data. Understand that creative is now the primary signal. And then when you launch, you're going to see why Meta ads, can be so powerful for your business.

If you want to stay connected, I'd love to have you on my email list. I send two to four emails a month with honest thoughts on marketing, [00:22:00] motherhood, and building a business that fits your real life. You can join through the link in the show notes. Thank you for spending time with me in the EllaMents. Until next time, keep building with intention and give yourself grace as you grow.