Articles
Advertising, Measured in Dollars
How to tell whether your ads are paying off — and how not to be fooled by good-looking reports. No jargon, just the math, with worked examples.
- ROI · Start here How to Tell If Your Ads Are Actually Making Money: ROAS, ACoS, and ROMI Your agency sends a report: more clicks, more reach, a lower cost per lead. Yet there’s no more money in the bank. This guide shows you how to check whether your ads pay off — three formulas, one table based on your margin, and worked examples for different kinds of businesses. Read · 10 min
- Diagnostics How to Vet Your Ads Agency: 10 Questions to Ask and Signs Your Budget Is Being Wasted You’re paying an agency, the reports keep coming, but you’re not convinced the ads are working. You don’t need technical skills to check: ask the right questions and look at a few things in your ad account. Below are the questions, the answers that should worry you, and a one-hour self-check. Read · 8 min
- Diagnostics Getting Leads but No Sales? 10 Reasons Why — and How to Find Yours The leads come in, your team calls them back, and almost nobody signs. The usual suspect is "bad traffic" — and sometimes that’s true. But just as often, the money leaks later: in the form, in how fast you respond, or in the offer itself. Here’s how to find out exactly where. Read · 7 min
- Channels How Much Do Instagram and Facebook Ads Cost? What Goes Into Your Budget There’s no fixed price for Instagram and Facebook ads — an auction sets it every time. But you can still work out what you need. Here’s what you’re actually paying for, how Meta determines a meaningful minimum budget, and how to build your budget from a sales target instead of "whatever we can spare." Read · 7 min
- Channels TikTok Ads for Business: Who They’re For, What Budget to Start With, and Why Ads Get Rejected TikTok delivers a lot of attention for not much money, but it plays by its own rules: strict ad review, specific creative requirements, and fast suspensions when you break them. Here’s who the platform works for, how much you need to get started, and how to avoid losing your ad account over a single bad video. Read · 8 min
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