Meta Ads
Freelance Meta Ads specialist for Facebook and Instagram advertising.
I’m Rob, a freelance Meta Ads specialist with over 10 years in digital marketing. I plan, build and manage Facebook and Instagram campaigns for e-commerce and lead generation businesses across the UK, and you deal with me directly.
Freelance Meta Ads management
A freelance Meta Ads specialist who runs your account personally
Meta Ads is the advertising platform behind Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads. It reaches more people than any other social platform, and it lets you put a product, an offer or an idea in front of them before they have thought to search for it.
The platform has changed. Meta’s AI now decides most of who sees an ad and where, so the old craft of building detailed audiences matters far less than it did. What decides results today is what you feed the system: the creative, the conversion data and the offer.
As a freelance Meta Ads specialist, that is where I put the work. I plan the campaigns, shape the creative with you, set up the tracking properly and manage the budget myself.
What you get when you work with me
- One point of contact: me.
- Creative judged by results, not opinions.
- Pixel and Conversions API set up properly.
- A clear monthly report in plain English.
- Full access to your own ad account and data.
What I manage
Meta Ads campaign types and formats I manage
Facebook and Instagram advertising covers a lot of ground. I choose the mix that fits your goals and budget, and I will tell you which ones you do not need.
Advantage+ sales campaigns
Meta’s automated campaign type for online sales. It chooses the audience, placements and budget split itself. My job is to give it the right creative, product data and conversion signals, and to check it is finding new customers and not only people who already know you.
Lead generation campaigns
Campaigns that collect enquiries, either through a form inside Facebook and Instagram or on your website. Instant forms are quick to fill in, which means volume is easy and quality takes work.
Catalogue ads
Ads built automatically from your product feed, showing each person the products they viewed or are likely to want. Essential for online shops with more than a handful of products.
Reels and video
Short, full-screen video is where a large share of attention on Facebook and Instagram now goes. I plan simple video you can film yourself, in the formats the platform favours.
Remarketing
Ads shown to people who visited your site, watched your videos or engaged with your page but did not buy or enquire. Often the highest-returning part of an account.
Awareness and local campaigns
Reach campaigns for a launch, an event or a new location, targeted by area and age. Useful when the first goal is to be known.
The marketing funnel
Where Meta Ads fit in the marketing funnel
Unlike search, Meta can work at every stage, from the first time someone sees your name to the repeat order. Each stage needs its own campaign and its own measure of success.
Awareness: reaching people who do not know you yet
Reach and video campaigns introduce your business to new audiences in your area or market. Attention here is cheap, and it is measured by reach and video views, not by sales.
Consideration: giving people a reason to look closer
Traffic, engagement and lead campaigns are for people who have noticed you but not acted. This is where offers, guides and proof from other customers do their work.
Conversion: turning interest into sales and enquiries
Advantage+ sales and conversion campaigns are aimed at purchases and enquiries, with catalogue ads and remarketing closing the gap for people who came close.
Retention: bringing customers back
Customer lists let you show existing customers new products and offers, or exclude them so the budget goes on finding new ones.
Meta and search work together. Meta creates the interest, and many of those people then search for you by name. If you only look at the Meta dashboard, or only at Google, you will misjudge both. I report on the two side by side.
E-commerce
Meta Ads for e-commerce
For online shops, Meta is usually the main source of new customers who were not already looking. Advantage+ sales campaigns and catalogue ads do most of the work, and the results depend on three things: creative that stops the scroll, a clean product feed and accurate purchase data.
What I do for online shops
- Advantage+ sales campaigns built around your margins, with new and existing customers reported separately.
- Catalogue setup and feed checks, so every product has the right image, price and availability.
- A steady supply of new creative, tested in a structured way.
- Pixel and Conversions API tracking, so Meta sees the purchases its ads produced.
- Remarketing for people who viewed a product or left something in the basket.
- Reporting against your own sales figures, not only what Meta claims.
Meta will take credit where it can. Its reporting counts sales from people who saw or clicked an ad, including some who would have bought anyway. I compare Meta figures with your shop and analytics data to judge what the ads really added.
Lead generation
Meta Ads for lead generation
For service businesses, Meta can produce enquiries at a low cost per lead. The catch is quality. A form that takes two taps to submit will be submitted by people who barely read it, so the work is in filtering.
What I do for lead generation
- Instant forms with qualifying questions, so casual taps drop out before they reach you.
- Website conversion campaigns for higher-intent enquiries, with landing pages built for one job.
- Leads delivered to your inbox or CRM straight away, so they can be followed up while they are warm.
- Offline conversion data sent back to Meta, so it learns which leads became customers.
- Local targeting by town, radius or postcode.
- Click-to-WhatsApp and Messenger ads for businesses that sell through conversation.
Speed matters. A social lead goes cold quickly, because the person was not searching for you when they enquired. Replying within minutes, not days, makes more difference than any targeting change.
How I work
How I manage a Meta Ads account
The same four steps, whether I am building a new account or taking over an existing one.
Audit and tracking
I review your ad account, pixel, Conversions API and website. If Meta cannot see what happens after the click, nothing else will work, so that gets fixed first.
Strategy and creative plan
We agree goals, such as a cost per lead or a return on ad spend, and I plan the campaigns and the creative needed to reach them.
Build and launch
I set up the campaigns, audiences, catalogue and ads myself, and launch with several creative angles to test.
Test and report
I review results, replace tired creative, move budget to what works and send you a clear report every month.
Meta Ads audit
Already running Meta Ads? Start with an audit
Most accounts I take over have the same handful of problems. An audit shows you where the budget is going and what to fix first, whether or not you go on to work with me.
What I check in a Meta Ads audit
- Whether the pixel and Conversions API are both working, and events are not counted twice.
- How much spend goes on existing customers and remarketing, compared with new audiences.
- Creative: how many ads are live, how old they are and which ones carry the results.
- Campaign structure, and whether budgets are spread too thin for Meta to learn.
- Lead quality, where enquiries are the goal.
- How Meta's reported results compare with your own sales data.
Results
Results from my paid media work
300% drop in CPA within first 3 months of activity
Taking over an underperforming account from a large national company and turning it around within a few months.
Over £10,000 in sales and 110+ enquiries
Managing the Google Ad Grant account for an educational and cultural charity, using grant budget alone.
"We have worked with Ascend Digital for almost a year now and we have seen our sales growing steadily. Rob is extremely proactive and accessible. It's a pleasure to collaborate with him."
Stéphanie d'Haussy
FAQ
Freelance Meta Ads specialist: common questions
What does a freelance Meta Ads specialist do?
I plan, build and manage your Facebook and Instagram advertising: campaign structure, creative direction, ad copy, tracking, budgets and reporting. The difference from an agency is that one experienced person does all of it and speaks to you directly.
What is the difference between Meta Ads and Facebook Ads?
They are the same thing. Facebook Ads became Meta Ads when the company changed its name. One Meta Ads account runs ads on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads.
What is Advantage+?
Advantage+ is Meta’s name for its automated campaign tools. An Advantage+ campaign lets Meta’s AI choose the audience, the placements and how the budget is split. It works well when it has good creative and accurate conversion data, and poorly without them.
How much do Meta Ads cost?
You set a daily or total budget, and Meta spends it showing your ads to the people most likely to respond. The cost per sale or lead depends on your market, your offer and your creative. My management fee is separate.
How long do Meta Ads take to work?
Ads usually start delivering soon after they are approved. Each campaign then goes through a learning phase while Meta works out who responds. I usually judge a campaign after 30 to 90 days.
Do I need video for Meta Ads?
No, but it helps. Images and carousels still work well. Video does not have to be polished. Simple, clear video filmed on a phone can do the job, and I can plan it with you.
Should I use Meta Ads or Google Ads?
Google Ads reaches people who are searching for what you sell. Meta Ads reaches people who are not searching yet. If demand already exists, start with Google. If you need to create it, start with Meta. Most growing businesses end up using both.
Are Meta Ads good for B2B?
They can be, particularly for lower-cost B2B products and for remarketing. If you need to target by job title or company, LinkedIn is the better tool. See paid social for how the platforms compare.
Can you take over my existing Meta Ads account?
Yes. I start with an audit of the account and the tracking, keep what is working and fix what is not. You keep your pixel data and account history.
Will I own my ad account?
Yes. The ad account, pixel and page belong to your business, and you give me access to manage them. If we stop working together, everything stays with you.
Get in touch
Let's talk about your marketing.
Choose whichever is easiest. I’ll tell you honestly where I can help.
Send me a message
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