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Paid
social ads.

// SOC // Meta + LinkedIn

// The platforms I run ads on

Get in front of the right people before they're actively searching for you.

With careful targeting and tracking — or it becomes expensive noise. I run paid social on Meta (Facebook + Instagram) and LinkedIn for Australian businesses: campaign setup, audience strategy, ad copy, conversion tracking, and monthly reports in plain English. Flat monthly management fee; ad spend goes to the platform directly, never bundled into mine.

Get a Free Digital Health Check

// 45 min · Google Meet · No obligation

// Recognition

Why people come to me for paid social.

Usually because something on the social side stopped feeling like it was earning its budget — and it tends to look like one of these:

Likes, no enquiries

Boosted posts have run for months and brought likes and comments, but no actual enquiries — and it's never been clear which scrolled-past impressions turned into real conversations.

Targeting gone stale

A campaign worked once on one creative a couple of years ago and nothing's matched it since — or an agency set up the account and hasn't refreshed the audience targeting in eighteen months.

Spend, no answers

The spend keeps going out, but it's never been clear whether the ads are reaching the right people, whether the creative is still earning attention, or whether the tracking is telling you anything useful.

It shouldn't take a paid-media background to know whether the ads are reaching the right people, whether the creative is still earning attention, and whether what's getting tracked is actually telling you something useful. Plain answers about what's currently spending, what's converting, and what the tracking can and can't show — without the agency-deck theatre — is usually enough.

// What I'd check first

What I'd check first.

Before any ad spend goes out, this is the kind of thing I'm looking at. The list is here so you can see the craft up front — not because you're expected to action any of it yourself.

The Free Digital Health Check covers the public-side picture across these. The deeper checks — the ones that need account access — are part of the In-Depth version.

// What you get

What you get.

Paid social works because it reaches the right people before they're searching for what you offer — they're scrolling, they don't know you yet, and the work is showing up where they already are with something concrete enough to make them stop. The job is matching the audience to the offer, putting attention-earning creative in front of them, gating wasted spend with tight targeting, and tracking what actually converted — not just what got scrolled past.

An account audit and clean structural setup

Campaign architecture, ad-set separation, frequency capping where it matters. New accounts built clean; inherited accounts get the cleanup pass first so you can actually inspect what's running.

Audience targeting built around the real offer

Interest, behaviour, lookalike, and custom-audience strategy on Meta. Industry, role, company, and account-based targeting on LinkedIn. Reviewed against actual conversion data — not run-and-forget.

Ad copywriting written to earn the scroll, not interrupt it

Headline, primary text, and CTA copy for each variant. Tested and iterated against what's actually producing enquiries — not against engagement rate.

Conversion tracking that's actually verified

Meta Pixel + Conversions API (a backup tracking layer that survives iPhone privacy changes); LinkedIn Insight Tag + conversion events. Verified end-to-end before any campaign goes live. If tracking breaks mid-engagement, campaigns pause until it's fixed. That's a hard rule.

Campaign management focused on the result

Bid strategy, budget pacing, ad rotation, audience saturation monitoring, frequency capping. Underperforming variants paused, winners get more budget, creative-refresh decisions surfaced early before the audience fatigues.

Monthly reports in plain English

What you spent, how many leads or sales it brought in, what each one cost, what's working, what isn't, what's changing next month.

Audience-list management where it makes sense

Uploading customer or lead lists for retargeting and lookalike seeding, with privacy and consent handled properly.

Creative-refresh cadence prompts

Not creative production — but flagging when a creative is hitting fatigue, what's worth refreshing, and what direction to test next. The production side stays with whoever brings the creative in.

// For the technically curious — the platforms + tooling behind this

Meta Ads Manager (primary Meta platform) · Meta Pixel + Conversions API (server-side conversion tracking for iOS resilience) · LinkedIn Campaign Manager (primary LinkedIn platform) · LinkedIn Insight Tag (conversion + retargeting) · Google Tag Manager (Pixel + Insight Tag deployment + event firing) · GA4 (cross-channel attribution + post-click behaviour) · Meta Ads Library + LinkedIn Ad Library (competitor ad-copy research, no scraping needed) · DataForSEO + the internal Auditor Toolkit (audience research + monthly reporting data layer).

// What I don't do

What I don't do.

Honest scope. The work below isn't a refusal — it's a stay-in-lane discipline that keeps quality high on what I do build.

If a project sits outside the default scope and there's a real reason to do it — a Meta lead-gen program at scale, a LinkedIn ABM campaign tied to a defined sales process, a multi-region rollout, an audience-list nurture sequence — ask anyway. The honest discipline applies on both sides: you have to agree to the scope, and I have to be confident I can deliver it to a standard worth my name. If I'm not, the honest answer is no — and I'll point you toward someone who can take it on if I know one.

// Fit

Who this is best for.

// Best for

  • Australian small-business owners running existing Meta or LinkedIn campaigns with unclear results, no Conversions API set up, or audience targeting that hasn't been refreshed in a long time.
  • Businesses that tried boosted posts or run-and-forget campaigns in the past, lost budget, and want a cleaner approach — with the targeting and tracking actually doing their jobs.
  • Founders launching a new product, service, or event that needs paid awareness alongside whatever organic reach they have — getting in front of the right audience before they're searching for it yet.
  • B2B companies where decision-makers are genuinely LinkedIn-active and the average contract value justifies the higher cost-per-lead LinkedIn delivers.
  • Charities, not-for-profits, and community sports clubs running paid social and wanting it set up properly without paying agency-deck prices. The 25% ACNC charity rate applies.

// Skip if

  • Skip if you can't sustain $1,000/month for Meta or $2,000/month for LinkedIn ad spend. Your monthly Meta ad-spend budget is under $1,000 — below that threshold, Meta has too few signals to optimise from cleanly, reporting becomes statistically noisy, and the management fee swallows too much of the value.
  • You want LinkedIn ads with under $2,000/month ad spend. LinkedIn's cost-per-lead is genuinely higher than Meta's, and sub-$2k campaigns rarely produce enough leads to justify the management overhead. If LinkedIn is the right channel for your audience but the budget isn't there yet, Meta-only first is often the right call.
  • The SEO and analytics foundation isn't yet in place — without conversion tracking and the measurement layer underneath, paid social can't be evaluated honestly. Start with a Free Digital Health Check, which covers both.
  • The offer itself isn't yet defined clearly enough to convert from a scroll — paid social puts a clear offer in front of more people; it can't manufacture one. The Health Check is the right starting point.
  • The website or landing page the ads send to can't answer the obvious questions a paid visitor will ask — web design work comes first.

// Pricing

What it costs.

The number people ask about first is the ad-spend minimum — and it differs by platform. These are the monthly ad-spend floors, paid directly to Meta or LinkedIn. They're not the management fee, which is flat monthly and quoted separately on the call.

// Meta ad-spend minimum

From $1,000/mo

Meta — Facebook + Instagram, broad reach.

Below $1,000/month of Meta ad spend, Meta has too few signals to optimise from cleanly, reporting becomes statistically noisy, and the management fee swallows too much of the value. Meta is usually the right place to start — broad reach and lookalike targeting at a lower cost-per-lead than LinkedIn.

// LinkedIn ad-spend minimum

From $2,000/mo

LinkedIn — sharper B2B, separately gated.

LinkedIn's higher minimum is honest, not arbitrary: its cost-per-lead is genuinely higher than Meta's, and below $2,000/month campaigns rarely produce enough leads to justify the management overhead. If your audience is genuinely on LinkedIn but the budget isn't there yet, Meta-only first is usually the right call.

There are two shapes most paid-social work takes:

  • A setup project, then ongoing monthly management. Setup phase: 1–2 weeks (account audit, Pixel + Conversions API health check, LinkedIn Insight Tag verification, audience strategy, first campaigns live). Then monthly management on a rolling basis.
  • An audit-only deep-dive. Booked through the Free Digital Health Check + the In-Depth version. Written audit + walkthrough call; you take the recommendations and run with them yourself, or come back for execution.

Management fee is flat monthly, separate from ad spend. The two are quoted on the call against your situation — they're not on a public price list because the right number depends on platform mix (Meta-only vs Meta + LinkedIn), account complexity, and reporting cadence.

ACNC-registered charities: 25% off the management fee. Single ABN-lookup verification at intake — the same rate that runs across every NSD service.

// Pacing

Honest pacing — how long things take.

Paid social runs on the platforms' learning periods plus the audience's actual willingness to engage. The honest timing:

  1. /01

    Setup — 1–2 weeks from kickoff.

    Account audit, Pixel + Conversions API health check, Insight Tag verification, audience strategy, first campaigns live.

  2. /02

    Meta learning phase — 2–3 weeks of running.

    Before the Meta algorithm starts optimising sensibly, assuming conversion volume is sufficient. The first 2–3 weeks of a Meta campaign is often a “feed it data so it can learn” phase, not a “already winning” phase.

  3. /03

    LinkedIn pattern emergence — 4–6 weeks.

    LinkedIn moves slower than Meta; meaningful performance patterns take longer to read, particularly with smaller audience sizes.

  4. /04

    Creative fatigue — 3–4 weeks per Meta creative.

    Sets in earlier than most people expect. A single Meta creative typically fatigues at 3–4 weeks; LinkedIn creative runs longer but still needs a refresh cadence. Planning creative-refresh cadence into the engagement is part of the craft, not an afterthought.

Anyone selling guaranteed leads in the first 30 days from a fresh paid-social setup is either lucky on a specific creative-audience match or not telling the full story. Paid social rewards a clean setup, careful audience targeting, creative that earns attention, and honest reporting on what's actually moving.

// Shipping

What shipping well looks like.

Before any paid-social engagement is called shipped, it has to pass the same four checks — no engagement is signed off until they do:

// For the technically curious — what's actually in the monthly report
  • //Spend, reach, impressions, frequency.
  • //Cost per lead and cost per conversion — the two numbers that matter most.
  • //Cost per click and click-through rate, as context.
  • //Audience saturation signals — frequency creep, declining click-through rate per audience.
  • //Top-performing and bottom-performing creative variants.
  • //What I changed in the account and why. What I'm planning to test next month.

// Journey

What comes next.

01

Free Digital Health Check

A plain-English audit of any existing Meta or LinkedIn account plus the measurement and tracking foundation underneath. You get a solid base to start from, instead of guessing — and the PDF is yours to keep, whether you work with me afterwards or not.

02

The SEO & analytics foundation

Conversion tracking, GA4, the measurement layer Pixel + Conversions API + Insight Tag attach to — this goes in first. When the broader digital direction needs more clarity before any of this gets locked in, a Strategic Digital Roadmap sits in between.

03

The paid-social setup, on top

A setup project on top of the foundation — either Meta-only, or with LinkedIn added when the audience-fit and budget support it.

04

Looked After (optional)

Once setup has shipped, ongoing monthly care covers what comes after — monthly optimisation, reporting, creative-refresh prompting, account hygiene, periodic strategy reviews. The setup stands on its own without it.

// FAQ

Common questions.

What's the minimum ad spend?
Min $1,000/month for Meta. Min $2,000/month for LinkedIn — separately gated. Below those thresholds, paid social has too few signals to optimise from cleanly and the management fee swallows too much of the value. Ad spend goes directly to Meta or LinkedIn; it's never bundled into the management fee.
Why a flat fee rather than percentage-of-spend?
Because percentage-of-spend pricing pays me more when you spend more, which is the wrong incentive. A flat monthly management fee means my interest is the same as yours: get the most useful enquiries out of the spend already going out — not bigger budgets for their own sake.
Do you produce ad creative?
No — and this is the most common scoping conversation. I don't design graphics, shoot or edit video, or produce static or motion creative from scratch. Bring existing brand creative, photographer-supplied assets, or licensed stock; I'll source stock if needed and brief the creative direction. But producing creative from scratch sits with a designer or studio, not with me.
How long until results show up?
Meta campaigns typically need 2–3 weeks to exit the learning phase from a fresh start, assuming conversion volume is sufficient. LinkedIn moves slower — 4–6 weeks for meaningful performance patterns to emerge. Creative fatigue sets in earlier than most people expect on Meta (often 3–4 weeks per creative), so a refresh cadence is part of the craft. Anyone selling faster certainty than that is either lucky or not telling the full story.
What happens if conversion tracking breaks?
Campaigns pause until it's fixed. Spending without measuring is gambling, and that's a hard rule — not a negotiation. Pixel + Conversions API + Insight Tag tracking is verified end-to-end before campaigns go live and watched throughout the engagement.
Why does the SEO and analytics foundation need to be in place first?
Because paid social lives on the measurement layer underneath — GA4, Google Tag Manager, conversion events. Without those set up cleanly, the social-side conversion data has nothing to attach to, and any optimisation is guessing dressed up as numbers. The Free Digital Health Check covers both sides and can tell you which to start with.

// Start

Get started.

Wondering whether your paid social is set up properly — or whether it's worth starting at all? Book a 45-minute call. I'll run a Free Digital Health Check on your existing account beforehand (or, if there's no account yet, on the audience-and-tracking foundation paid social would need underneath) and walk you through it on the call.

Get a Free Digital Health Check

// 45 minutes · Google Meet · no obligation

// Every introductory call includes one · free
The Digital Health Check

Every call ends with one — a plain-English read on your ad account and the audience-and-tracking foundation underneath. No charge, no catch.

  • What's working — and what's quietly wasting spend
  • Your top 3 fixes, in priority order
  • Yours to keep, whether you work with me afterwards or not

The PDF is yours to keep regardless.

// Last updated: 2026-05-27