Most agencies work the same way: they set a daily budget, upload one, two, or three designs, and make changes every 30 days. Maybe that worked at some point, but today it's not the best way to start.
The problem with starting on a daily budget
Imagine you own a beauty salon and you tell me: "Fernando, I want to spend $10 a day to promote my service." At the start, I don't recommend it. Why?
- If no customers come in today, you still pay the $10.
- If the design isn't attractive or doesn't grab attention, it keeps spending every day.
- If you wait 30 days to change it, you've lost a month of money and time.
We don't know yet whether that ad or that design will bring in customers consistently. Putting a daily budget on something that hasn't been tested is spending blindly.
What we do first: results-based ads
Instead of spending a daily budget, we use a test budget. For example, $50. With that money we test several designs and pieces of copy to see what works and what doesn't. We explain it in depth in Results-based ads.
- The ads that don't work, we drop.
- The ones that do work, we keep improving: the copy, the image, the audience, the strategy.
- If after two days an ad is coming out very expensive and isn't bringing good customers, we pause it right away. Why wait 30 days?
So, is a daily budget bad?
No. A daily budget is excellent once you know which ad works. That's why it became so popular. The mistake is using it with new clients or with ads nobody has tested.
Once we have a winning ad, a daily budget does make sense so it's always running and customers keep coming in. We explain it in When a daily budget does make sense.
Test first, invest second. That way every dollar works to bring you customers.
Want ads that bring in customers, not just expenses?
We test before investing, pause what doesn't work and scale what does.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to get started with ads?
It depends on the business, but with a test budget (for example, $50) we can already test several designs and see which one works before investing more.
Do you never use a daily budget?
We do use it, but once we know which ad works. At that point a daily budget keeps the ad running and the customers coming in.
What happens if an ad doesn't work?
If within a few days it turns out expensive and doesn't bring good customers, we pause it and move the money to what does work.
