Facebook and Instagram ads
Google Ads reach people already searching. Facebook and Instagram reach the people who aren't searching yet, which is either exactly what you need or a waste of money. Here's how to tell, and how we run them.
Our fee
20% of ad spend
→The short answer
We're a Facebook ads agency for UK small businesses, running ads on Facebook and Instagram through Meta. We set up the pixel and the Conversions API behind proper cookie consent, test several ideas against each other, then put the budget behind what brings enquiries or sales. You pay Meta directly; our fee is 20% of what your ads spend.
(01)Meta or Google?
Two different jobs.
When Facebook and Instagram ads beat Google Ads
| Your situation | Usually better on | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A burst pipe, a broken boiler, a locked-out customer | They're searching right now; you want to be the answer | |
| Something people don't know to search for yet | Facebook and Instagram | Nobody searches for a product they haven't heard of |
| Food, beauty, interiors, clothing: anything that sells on looks | Facebook and Instagram | A good photo or video does the selling |
| An opening, an event, a seasonal offer | Facebook and Instagram | You're telling local people something new, not answering a question |
| Finding staff | Facebook and Instagram | Good candidates often aren't looking, but they do scroll |
| High-value services people research carefully | Google, with Meta to remind them | They search first, then decide over days or weeks |
Many businesses do best with both: Google catching the people searching, and Facebook and Instagram reaching the people nearby who will need you later. If people already search for what you do, see Google Ads management.
(02)Testing ideas
The picture and the first line decide most of the result.
A creative testing plan for the first month
Week 1
Three ideas
- The problem: what your customer is putting up with
- The result: the finished job, the plate, the new look
- The person: you, your team, a real customer with permission
- Each as a photo and a short video
Week 2
Read and cut
- Compare cost per enquiry or sale, not likes
- Switch off the weakest idea
- Keep the budget steady so the comparison is fair
Weeks 3–4
Back the winner
- Most of the budget behind the best idea
- Two new versions of it: new picture, same message
- A simple offer or next step on every ad
Every month after
Keep it fresh
- New material before the old wears out
- One new idea tested against the best each month
- The report shows what won and why
(03)Pixel and consent
Measuring results without breaking UK rules.
The pixel, the Conversions API and cookie consent
The Meta pixel
A small piece of code on your website that tells Meta when someone who saw an ad visits, enquires or buys. It's how the ads learn who to show themselves to.
The Conversions API
Sends the same events from your website's server rather than the visitor's browser, so results still count when a browser blocks the pixel. Meta matches the two with a shared event ID so nothing is counted twice1.
Consent comes first
UK rules on cookies and similar technologies cover tracking pixels: you need a visitor's consent before they run, and refusing has to be as easy as accepting2. On sites we build, the pixel waits for that consent.
Only what's needed
We send Meta the event, such as an enquiry or a sale, and nothing from inside your forms. Your website's privacy notice needs to say that Meta receives it.
(04)Who sees them
For a business that serves a town, not a country.
Audience ideas for local businesses
People who live near you
A radius around your town or postcode, sized to the area you actually cover. Start here, and add interests only if the results ask for it.
People who've been to your website
Visitors who accepted cookies and left without enquiring. A reminder a few days later is often the cheapest enquiry you'll get.
People who follow or engage with you
Your Facebook and Instagram followers, and people who've watched your videos. Good for offers and news.
Your past customers
Uploading a customer list lets you reach them, or find people like them. Only do it if your privacy notice and the way you collected the details allow it.
People like your best customers
Meta can find people who resemble a list or an audience you already have. Useful once you have a few hundred real customers to start from.
(05)What it costs
A first month, worked through
| Paid to | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1–2: testing three ideas | Meta, from your own ad account | £200 |
| Weeks 3–4: behind the winning idea | Meta, from your own ad account | £200 |
| Our management fee, 20% of the month's spend | Nod & Co | £80 |
| Total for the month | £480 |
Meta adds any tax due on your account to its own invoice. We're not VAT-registered, so our fee has no VAT added. Photo or video shoots, if you want them, are quoted separately.
(06)Advertising rules
Your ads follow UK advertising rules
Paid ads on Facebook and Instagram are covered by the UK advertising code, enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority3. In practice: claims you can back up, prices that are clear about what's included, no "limited time" offers that never end, and before-and-after pictures that are real. Meta also reviews ads against its own rules before they run.
If you'd also like your everyday posts done for you, that's social media management, and it works well alongside ads.
Questions
(07)Questions
They can be, when what you sell looks good, when you have something new to tell local people, or when customers don't know to search for you. For urgent services people search for, Google usually comes first.
Boosting is quick but limited. Ads Manager lets you choose the goal, test ideas against each other, set where ads appear and measure enquiries properly, which is how we run every campaign.
They can. One campaign in Meta's Ads Manager can run on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, and we choose the placements that suit your customers rather than leaving it to chance.
Yes, with an enquiry form inside Facebook and Instagram or by sending people to WhatsApp. A website usually converts better and lets you measure more, which is why we build one first where it makes sense.
Sources
(08)Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Checked on the date shown.
- 1Conversions API, Meta for Developers. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 2Guidance on the use of storage and access technologies, Information Commissioner's Office. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 3Remit: social media, Advertising Standards Authority. Checked 26 October 2026.
(09)Start a project
Let's build your
free preview.
Tell us about your business. We'll come back with a plan and start on your preview. You pay nothing until you give it the nod.