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Ever felt that sinking feeling when an ad campaign flops? Join me and arm yourself with the know-how to spot the five major red flags that scream 'bad hire' when scouting for an ads manager. We'll go beyond the superficial allure of guaranteed results to uncover the truth behind empty promises. Expect to learn why a timeline grounded in reality is pivotal to launching a successful campaign, and how a detailed contingency plan for underperforming ads can be your marketing life raft.

As we peel back the layers of effective advertising, I'm sharing the wisdom I've gleaned from my evolution as a Facebook ad strategist, honing in on the indispensable elements that power a winning ad campaign. It's essential to grasp the alchemy of a robust welcome sequence and its role in transforming clicks into loyal customers. Tune in as we examine why a holistic digital marketing strategy is not just preferable but necessary, and how an ads manager with a keen eye for detail can make or break your online growth trajectory. Let's elevate your advertising game together!

In this episode, we chat about…

✨ Questionable Guarantees [01:54]
✨ Unrealistic Timelines [07:36]
✨ Premature Readiness [10:29]
✨ Transparency on Failures [13:24]
✨ Neglecting External Metrics [15:47]
✨ Insights on Hiring an Ads Manager [19:02]

Episode Transcript:

Hello, welcome to the episode today. We're going to be talking about. I've red flags. When you're looking to hire an ads manager. I'm pretty excited to do this episode. I am a, if you're new around here, I am a Facebook ad strategists, the Facebook ads manager. I kind of just flip between the two terms. A strategist does typically do a little bit more of the strategy where an ads manager just kind of like looks and tracks.

So But I use the words interchangeably. So today we're going to talk about five red flags. If you are looking for an ads manager. What are some of the things when you're hopping on those calls, what are some things that should stick out to you as like a big, oh, run, run, run, like red flags. And at the end, I'm also going to do a little bit of real talk, talking about the actual costs, what your expectations should be, and just kind of dive into that piece as well.

Like knowing when you're ready for an as manager. So. As I always do. I'll quickly go over the red flags and then we will dive deeper into each one of them. So red flag number one is guaranteed results. Number two is the timeline from contractor first ad. Number three is the year ready? Yikes. The. Red flag number four is an unwillingness to share failures. And number five is. That they don't want to look at anything outside of the ads manager platform.

So let's talk about each one of these more in detail. Red flag number one, guaranteed results. This is so. Like it's such a big, no, no, no. Eh, you cannot, as an ads manager. As any sort of marketer, you cannot guarantee results. You can absolutely guarantee deliverables. You can guarantee your. Plan. If things are not working. You can have a strategy and you can have like steps in place that you take when things are not going to plan. If things are. The performance is not up to expectations. Absolutely.

You can guarantee the steps that you're going to take. You can guarantee your communication that you're going to have with the client, but to actually guarantee results is something that is, in my opinion, a big no-no.

Now I am aware of some bigger agencies that do back there. Proposals up with guaranteed results. And money back results. And there are. Likely some agencies that can stand behind those guarantees. But most ad managers should not be guaranteeing their results. They should not be guaranteeing that they can get you a certain cost per lead or cost per click or a number of sales.

And. It is my opinion that if somebody is telling you that they can guarantee that, that you should run in the opposite direction.

Because the market is so unpredictable and there are times when I'm setting up a campaign for a client and I'm so confident we've been running ads for a year or two years together, and we've had lots of success.

We've ran this specific campaign, the exact same campaign with like the appropriate updates for it being the next year that we've ran this. Campaign already. We had great success with it. And then the cost per clicks are through the roof and every single optimization that we try to do. Causes the lead cost to go up instead of down and things are just all over the place.

And sometimes a campaign just doesn't work immediately. And that's why I say that you should be guaranteeing or you should be looking for someone who guarantees and follows through on their plan when things are not going. The right way. So someone who can say. If the campaign is not showing like the right cost per click, let's say.

Then our first step is to look at the metrics and to see, okay. Well, which metrics which metric or metrics are attached to the cost per click. So this could be views or impressions. It could be the CPM. And then how are we going to. Increase our success by decreasing the cost per click. Right. Get more people to see it, get more people like the right people to see it.

We can change the messaging. We can change the images, like having a plan in place and knowing exactly which metrics to be looking for at each step. You should also be asking these ad, this ad manager that you are interviewing for the position essentially. They're their procedures. So do you start with the landing page?

You start with the clicks, like where through the procedure do they start and why? I personally like to start at the top of the funnel and work my way through. And so I start with the ad itself. Is it getting the views that we want? Is it getting the clicks that we want? Is it getting the traffic to the landing page that we want.

And as we're working through. The ad we could finally get to the landing pages, landing page, getting the conversions that we want. Is the thank you page, getting the views that we want. Our. And then we can move, like even into the email sequence is the welcome email, getting the open rate that we want.

Right. So there's a procedure of steps and just working through them one at a time. To make sure that everything is working and doing. The best that it can be. And I also mentioned that guarantee of deliverables. And so if you do an ad sprint with me, some of the deliverables that are included are images and ad copy.

I guarantee the images and the ad copy. I work with a graphic team that has unlimited revisions. I do the ad copy and. I'm happy to provide unlimited revisions for that as well. So the images and ad copy are guaranteed to be up to your expectations, even if it means we have to go through 5, 10, 15 different variations. I also highly encouraged my clients to be part of the revision process by providing Google docs so that they can actually make comments in the, in the, in the document. Themselves. And so I don't want to put anything out. In an ad. For a client that isn't there, meat doesn't meet their brand standards.

And so that's a guarantee that I have. So guaranteeing the deliverables, what someone's going to revive for you and guaranteeing those steps. I would say that those are positive things. But if someone saying they can get you, I can get you. Sales for like 300% return on ad spend. Or I can get you. For a $500 product. Or course I can get you $30 cost per like per sale.

Right? Like those types of guarantees, I would be very, very aware of. Wary of.

Uh, red flag. Number two, is that timeline from contract to the first ad? You need to be. Just, I would, I would ask like what the steps are. So this is on a discovery call. The free call that you have with someone before you start working together.

One of those questions is what that I recommend you ask is what are the next steps? What will happen if we decide to work together? And. There's definitely going to be some time between you signing the contract and the ads being live, because there should be some sort of questionnaire or interview that happens so that the ads manager gets to know you get to know your brand, gets to know your clients and your customers. They can know that avatar. There's also going to be some time in creating those assets.

The images need to be created. The ad copy needs to be created. And then there's the revisions that need to happen. And so all of this does take time. If somebody is telling you that they can get your ads up and running the next day or within 48 hours. I will be very wary of that because it, again, it just takes time to go through the procedure and to. I already listed a bunch of the says the steps.

I'm also just thinking, like auditing the account. And scheduling that call, like all of these things take time. So unless you're going to be the one, providing them with the images and ad copy. And really all the ads manager needs to do is plug them in and play and they don't really need to do any of that research.

They don't need to. I would still want to be auditing the account. I, I would just be very hesitant. If someone is promising you or telling you that they can get ads up. Very quickly because of all of the steps. So make sure you talk to them about. The procedure. And how long it's going to take. I know of some ad. Companies and ad agencies that it can take up to 30 days. Or longer to get the ads live. Because the onboarding process is so intensive and so much of a process to go through.

So it can be an ex very extended period of time because they're auditing your ad account. They're auditing campaigns. You've ran before they're auditing your landing page and your email sequences, right. They're going really, really in depth for you. I would say for me and my clients. On average, it takes anywhere from 10 to 20 days.

So like two to three weeks for ads to go live from our kickoff call. So book that call, we get to know you and I get to like dive deep into your business. And then from that call it's anywhere from like 10 to 20 days. To get those ads live because of all of those steps that just need to be taken.

Red flag number is three. Is there you're ready. Peace. And this one's a really hard one because. As a business owner, you want to be told, like, especially if you're a business owner who's interested in starting to run ads and you're kind of like starting to play. Eh, what I really mean by this is if somebody, if the, as manager seems to be willing to tell you you're ready to get started with ads at any cost. Right.

Like they haven't really taken the time to get to know you to get to know your business. What the current setup you have is what types of ads you're looking for. They're just like, oh yeah. Yeah. We can definitely run ads. I will be, that would make me really worry to here now. Again, this could be like a blind spot because you feel like you're ready to run ads. You want to. And you're looking for it.

And so it might. It might be hard to spot this red flag. But You want someone who would be willing to tell you? No. You need to get this, that, or the other thing set up. So like I've had clients come to me that don't have a thank you page. Like we need to thank you page in place so we can install the pixel before we can run ads, right.

Or a welcome sequence. I, we can't run lead generation ads. If you don't have a welcome sequence, you don't want to pay to get somebody onto your list and then just ghost them. Right. So there's some things that definitely need to be in place before you're, you're starting those ads. So for me, some of those things that I like to see in place are you need to have the freebie, you need to have the landing page. The thank you page again, we're going to duplicate the landing page so that we can keep all the numbers on the back end streamlined, and we can tag people as coming in from the Facebook ad and you definitely, definitely need to have a welcome sequence in place five to 10 emails. That are going to introduce yourself to these new people and. In all like, In best case scenario, you're going to be selling something to them that is related to the freebie that they signed up for.

So yeah, all of those pieces. Now, back to my point about being new, I definitely took on people who were not ready for ads. It sometimes it worked out. Okay. And sometimes it did not. And as I've gained more and more experience as an ads manager, I've am more able to spot those issues and those problems sooner.

Well, I'm talking to someone on a discovery call or when I'm interacting with them through email or beforehand. When I was newer, I was much more optimistic sometimes I would say. And it again, sometimes it worked out, but more often than not, it crashed and burned. And that's why it's more like it's better.

If someone is willing to say like, you need these things, come back to me. When these things are in place. Because you don't want to waste that money. You don't want the frustration that comes with running as, before you're ready. Okay, red flag. Number four is if the ads manager is unwilling to share failures. Again, if they're new, they might not actually have any failures, but any ads manager that's been around the block once or twice as definitely had some campaigns. That have not been successful. And it's not that. When you ask them. About their failures. It's not that you want to hear about the failures and like, want to really like rub it in their phase of all your not. Oh, whatever right. But the bigger thing here is understanding their process when things don't go right.

And I did talk about this a lot in the first red flag about guaranteeing results. So I'm not going to like go through it all again. But, it's really important to. See the positive examples and the negative examples and how both of them are handled. I don't include the failures in my case study, like I put out a quarterly ish case study. That people can look at, they can download off my website. So that they can see some examples.

And I do that's, that's definitely a highlight real for me each month I post on Instagram, the ad of the month. Again, a highlight reel. But I've I have done. At podcast episodes. Talking about failed episodes or not failed episodes, failed campaigns. So I will link those in the show notes. I know I'm, I'm thinking of two different ones that I've done.

And I, I also have one coming up for you later this month. And so I like to do it in this format because it's more of a teaching moment talking about. What happened? What I noticed how I noticed, like what data points I, I use to notice that there was a problem and then the exact steps that we took to fix the problem.

So. Uh, you want to find someone who's willing to walk through that for you? So that you feel confident again, in their ability to handle it. If the campaign is not going as expected or as desired. And then the last red flag number five is if they're unwilling to look at anything outside of the ads manager platform.

And so what I mean by this is. If you're doing a lead generation campaign, you want someone who's going to go into float, ask or convert kit to look at the backend statistics or stats numbers. Statistics and stats are the same word. Yes, Genzyme. Oh, gosh. You want someone to pull the data from your third party? To compare it to the Facebook ads platform because yes. Matt Metta and the ads manager platform report these numbers. And sometimes they're pretty accurate, but often they are wildly inaccurate. And so it's always a good idea to use the numbers on the backend in the ads manager or in the email service provider. What does float essay?

What does convert kick? You say? Like what numbers are there? Because we can trust those just like my employer might say, I'm going to pay you X number of dollars, but until those dollars are in my bank account, they're not mine. Right. Facebook can tell me there, there was so many leads, but until I see them on flow desk, no leads.

Right. And so it's really important that as part of the marketing strategy they're taking into consideration. What's happening on the third party platform. If you have a trip wire that they're going into thrive card or Sam's card or whatever cart platform you're using and seeing the, the numbers, the sales. So that they can make adjustments based on the data. And the actual real numbers. From that third where third-party software and also it should be a holistic strategy, right?

Like taking in all of the pieces of your business. Now I'm not saying that ads managers are going to be. Helping you with your blogs and, and looking at your social media strategy like they might, but they probably won't take it all on unless they become like a fractional CMO. So the chief marketing officer, and then they'll have a bigger piece in your marketing. Plan and your marketing. Strategy, but like for example, I look at emails and I look at landing pages and I make suggestions to my clients of edits and changes that I recommend based on the numbers and the data that I'm seeing.

But I, myself don't go in and make changes to landing pages, right? Like I, myself don't go into emails and make changes to emails.

So, but I do look at those things and that's, I, I recommend you find someone who's willing, at least willing. To look at your landing page. At least look at your emails and you can absolutely find some of the higher end ad agencies. Who are going to also offer those editing services, that they can be the ones who create an edit and maintain your landing pages and your emails.

And that's amazing. Obviously there's a price to it. But that holistic perspective, when you have an entire marketing team, not just running your ads, but also managing your landing pages and your email funnels is really great. So. If you can build up to that level, highly recommended. Okay, so to recap, The five red flags are they're guaranteeing results. The second one is an unrealistic timeframe. Third one is you're ready at any cost. Step number four is an unwillingness to share their failures. And then step number five is unwilling to look outside of the ads manager. Platform. So let's real talk. If you're interested in hiring an ads manager. Costs I get asked this when all the time. Uh, newer ads manager. Likely we'll have an hourly rate of like 50 to a hundred dollars in us dollars us dollars per hour. For something like a strategy session or uh, like project-based work where they're charging you hourly. And brand new ads manager might have a monthly retainer as low as 500 to a thousand dollars. I still have a retainer, a monthly retainer.

That's a thousand dollars. It includes. Two campaigns that are ongoing and up to a thousand dollars in ad spend per month. Most of my clients are not at that package is kind of like a very, very starter package. I have another level. And then my unlimited and most of my clients are at the unlimited so that they aren't worrying about how many campaigns are running and how much ad spend, because. Yeah, that bottom tier is, is really just like a very starter package. Some of those higher end ads. Agencies that I was talking about.

Their monthly fee is upwards of $5,000 per month. Plus on top of that, a percentage of your ad spend. So, and again, Repeat from before. An ads agency that is charging 5,000 plus per month. Is not just going to be running your ads are also going to have a part in creating the strategy from the ground up, building those landing pages, where you writing the emails for you and maintaining all of those pieces. So keep in mind, like what you're getting, how much you're paying for it.

And. Making sure that this is a reputable person. I'm not saying don't trust the newbie. People trusted me. And I'm very, very thankful for that. I built up my confidence. I built up my abilities. And if you find somebody who's new in the ads manager world. And they are checking all the boxes. None of these red flags are present.

Then I highly recommend you give them a chance. And Yeah. Typical timeline. I did talk about this already. It's probably going to take 10 to 20 days, like two to three weeks to get ads up and running. Depending on the depth of the audit. Have you ran ads before? What kind of revisions were necessary. You're going to want somebody to who's checking in on a regular basis. I send my clients weekly reports.

I know some ads managers prefer to do monthly reports. So finding a communication frequency that works for you so that you can feel confident in the ads and the results. So something like weekly or monthly, you don't want someone who's going. Multiple months or like extended extended periods of time. Between check-ins highly don't recommend that. And really to find someone that works with your personality understands you and understand your business really deeply, because that. is just going to make all the difference. I hope that you found this episode helpful. Thank you so much for being here.

As I rambled on about the red flags of hiring an ads manager. And I will be back next Saturday with a brand new Saturday strategy session.