Your first Meta + Google ads in one week (no agency)

You don’t need an agency for your first 90 days of paid ads. You need a structure, three creatives, and a budget you can lose without flinching.

Budget first

The first 4 weeks of ads is data acquisition, not customer acquisition. If your testing budget would hurt to lose, you’ll panic-optimize.

A workable starter budget: $50–100/day across Meta + Google for 14 days. That’s $700–1,400 total.

Account setup (1 day)

• Meta Business Manager + Facebook/Instagram pages connected
• Google Ads + billing + enhanced conversions
• Pixel install: Meta Pixel + Google Ads conversion tag via GTM
• Conversion events: Lead, Purchase, Contact

Campaign structure

Three campaigns. That’s it for week 1.

1. Top-of-funnel awareness (Meta only)

Objective: Traffic or ThruPlay. Audience: cold interest-based. Creative: 1 hero video (15-30 sec). Budget: 40%.

2. Mid-funnel consideration (Meta + Google)

Meta: Engagement or Conversion. Google: Search on top 5 keywords. Audience (Meta): warm — visitors, engagers. Budget: 40%.

3. Bottom-of-funnel conversion (Meta + Google)

Meta: Conversion (Purchase/Booking). Google: Search on bottom-of-funnel keywords. Audience: hot — cart abandoners. Budget: 20%.

Creative formulas

You need exactly 3 creatives per ad set.

Formula 1: Problem/Solution

Hook (1.5 sec): “Most [audience] waste [time/money] on [pain]” → show the pain → show your solution → CTA

Formula 2: Founder Story

Hook: founder on camera → the insight → the proof → CTA

Formula 3: UGC-Style Testimonial

Hook: customer face → the result → the product → CTA

Pro tip: shoot all 3 in one 30-min session with a phone. Edit in CapCut.

Targeting (Meta)

Cold: broad targeting + 3-5 interests. Don’t narrow yet — let Meta find patterns.

Warm: custom audiences — visitors, engagers, video viewers.

Hot: conversion audiences — cart abandoners, form starters.

Optimization rules

For the first 7 days, don’t touch anything. Let the algorithm learn.

After 7 days: kill bottom 30% of ad sets, reallocate to top performers, add 1 new creative.