How to Make Meta Ads Actually Work for Your Business

A Businettes workshop recap with Irene, Freelance Paid Social Consultant

Most founders boost an Instagram post, watch the money disappear, and wonder if paid social even works.

It does. But boosting isn't it.

In our recent Businettes Academy session, Irene, a freelance paid social consultant with eight years of agency experience and work with 30+ brands, broke down exactly how to set up Meta ads that actually drive results. Not vanity metrics. Real conversions.

Here's everything she shared.

Why Paid Social Matters Right Now

Social media has overtaken search and TV as the leading destination for product and brand discovery.

Gen Z doesn't Google anymore. They TikTok.

And while AI tools like ChatGPT are climbing the ranks, social platforms remain where people discover brands and decide what to buy.

That's your opportunity. But only if you know how to use it properly.

Boosted Posts vs. Paid Campaigns: The Truth

Most founders think boosting an Instagram post equals running ads.

It doesn't.

Here's what you're missing when you boost:

Outcomes
Boosting limits you to awareness, engagement, and traffic within Instagram. With a proper ad account, you optimize for sales, leads, and actual conversions outside the platform. You're not hoping people click through. You're driving them to complete the action that matters.

Targeting
Boosting gives you interests and basic demographics. Ad accounts unlock lookalike audiences, first and third-party data, website retargeting, and people who've engaged with your business elsewhere.

Tracking
When you boost, you see clicks and reach. That's it. With an ad account, you see what people do after they click. You can track conversions, connect to your CRM, run brand lift studies, and set up proper A/B tests.

Optimization
The biggest difference? Control. Boosted posts just spend your budget. Ad accounts let you test audiences, landing pages, bidding strategies, ad formats, and most importantly, creative variations. This is where you actually improve performance instead of crossing your fingers.

"Creative really has the biggest impact on performance and creative testing is how you win with paid social."

Paid social gives you more of everything. More data. More control. More results.

🎨 Creative Is the New Targeting

For years, Meta ads were all about narrow audience segments. Find the perfect demographic. Layer on interests. Get specific.

Not anymore.

![Creative is the new targeting - Andromeda explanation]

Meta's machine learning has evolved. The platform now processes millions of ads every second to determine which specific ad should be shown to each individual user at any given moment.

It's called Andromeda. Think of it as Meta's ad retrieval system working in the background like your eyes focusing on what matters most in each moment.

What does this mean in practice?

You can reach anyone anywhere. But you need diverse creative to do that.

The Cooking Pot Example

Irene shared an example straight from Meta's own training.

Imagine you're selling a high-quality cooking pot. You create two completely different ads:

Ad 1: Targeted at a mum wanting to gift her son quality kitchenware
Ad 2: Focused on easy-clean features for someone with a growing family

The interesting part? You put both ads in the same ad set. Broad targeting. Just 18-65, UK. No other parameters.

This works because each ad is highly specific to different personas and their motivations. You've given the algorithm maximum freedom to find the right person for each message.

It may not make logical sense. But this is how Meta ads work in 2026.

📝 Tried and Tested Creative Tips

Creating diverse ads doesn't have to be overwhelming.

Start with what you already know:

Text-Focused Ads
Often it's the text that catches attention first, not colours or logos. Create ads that call out your audience, ask a relatable question, or highlight a statistic your target market would care about.

Customer Testimonials
We trust other people more than brands. A strong customer testimonial can outperform polished brand content every time.

Top Organic Posts
Look at what's already working on your Instagram or TikTok. That content could deliver results as an ad too. Maybe add a stronger CTA, or test it as is.

Video with People
User-generated content, employee-generated content, or founder stories where someone speaks directly into the camera. Authentic video footage beats polished branded content because we respond to real people.

The Video Formula

Hook: First 3 seconds pull people in
Body: Educate and entertain
CTA: Strong call to action telling people exactly what to do

The Ad Copy Checklist

Your text should be:

Relatable to your target persona
Addressing specific pain points
Showing how you provide the solution
Including social proof or urgency where relevant
Clear about the action you want people to take

"Make it very easy for people to understand what they should do when they see your ad."

⚙️ Campaign Setup Walk-Through

Irene walked through setting up a campaign for an organic, sustainable face cream for women 35+ looking for reliable skincare to fit their busy lives.

Campaign Level
Choose your objective. For this example, it's Sales.

Name your campaign something that makes sense: Sales | Feb 2026 | Always On

Budget Strategy
Campaign budget is usually recommended. Meta distributes spend across ad sets. Daily budget gives Meta flexibility (they love flexibility). Expect budget fluctuations day to day, but it evens out over seven days.

Minimum Budget Recommendation
Don't start with less than £500 per month. That's the bare minimum to see creative learnings and gather meaningful data. Though yes, some founders have started smaller and seen results with very specific low-ticket funnels.

Bid Strategy
When starting new, go for highest volume. Don't restrict results by setting cost targets too early. Let the algorithm learn first.

Ad Set Level
Name it clearly: 18-65 | UK | Broad

Conversion Settings
Maximize volume. Don't add value rules or cost caps at the start.

Audience Controls vs. Suggestions
This is critical. Controls are settings Meta will respect (like location). Suggestions (like interests or demographics) give Meta permission to go beyond if it sees better performance elsewhere.

Yes, if you select "women" as a suggestion, Meta can show your ads to men if the data supports it. This is intentional.

Placements
Start with Advantage Plus placements (all available placements). But exclude Audience Network in your settings for brand safety. Audience Network means third-party apps like Candy Crush, not Facebook or Instagram.

Ad Level
Name your ad descriptively. When you have dozens running, "Image 1" won't help you.

Example: Image | Feb 2026 | Glow Cream | Customer review Restock | Pink + Hand

Upload your creative. You'll need different size variations for optimal performance across placements.

Common Pitfalls and Solutions

Overcomplicated Targeting
Resist the urge to create dozens of narrow audience segments. Start broad and let the algorithm optimize. Restrictions can help if budget is very limited AND your target demographic is crystal clear, but lookalikes and retargeting are fair game.

Skipping Tracking
Running ads without proper tracking is like driving blindfolded. Set up conversion tracking (Meta Pixel + CAPI) from day one. You'll waste money and never know what actually drives results beyond an ad click.

Panicking with Early Results
Meta ads are a long-term journey, not a quick magic fix. The learning phase equals 50 conversions within a maximum of 7 days. Making changes too soon on unreliable data resets this process and can mean higher costs for longer.

Give your campaigns room to breathe before optimizing.

When You Find a Winner

Once you have a top-performing ad, build on it.

What worked? The messaging? The visual style? The persona? The pain point?

Create variations. Test new angles. Keep what's working while exploring adjacent ideas.

This is creative optimization in action. And it never stops.

Final Thoughts

Paid social isn't about boosting posts and hoping.

It's about giving Meta's algorithm the right tools (diverse creative), the right freedom (broad targeting), and the right data (proper tracking).

Then testing. Always testing!!!

Start with a few hundred pounds if that's all you have. Focus on creative variety. Track everything. And be patient through the learning phase.

The founders who win with paid social in 2026 aren't the ones with the biggest budgets.

They're the ones who understand how the system actually works.

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About Irene

Irene is a freelance paid social consultant with 8+ years of experience working with 30+ brands across media agencies and as an independent consultant. She specializes in Meta advertising and helping founders make their ad budgets work harder.

Introduction to paid social in 2026: How to run ads that actually work