How I grow my audience with Facebook Ads
For years, I didn’t grow my audience with Facebook ads, instead doing all the things to grow organically.
I showed up daily on social media. I nurtured my Facebook group. I networked in other groups. I hosted workshops, jumped into promo threads, and hustled like hell to get in front of more people.
And it worked—until it didn’t.
Slowly, the energy it took to maintain that momentum started to wear me down. As an introvert, constantly being ‘on’ felt exhausting. So I took my foot off the gas. Just a little.
At first, it didn’t seem like a big deal—I was still signing clients. But without fresh leads consistently coming in, my audience stopped growing. And I didn’t realise how much that mattered…
At the end of year, whilst writing my annual review, this realisation hit me hard: I’d finished 2021 with fewer people in my audience than I’d started with.
That was my wake-up call. I knew I’d eventually exhaust my warm audience if I didn’t reach new people.
I knew I needed consistent audience growth, but I also needed it to be sustainable, scalable, and intentional. I couldn’t go back to the social media slog.
So in 2022, I set myself a challenge: grow my audience by 2,000 perfect people—but do it differently this time.
What I landed on was a super simple Facebook Ads strategy that not only worked, but is still working today.
The simple Facebook ads strategy that has worked for years
This strategy relies on just two things:
1) A super specific lead magnet, designed to qualify the right people and disqualify people who aren’t a good fit for my service.
To give you an idea of what I mean, here are my two lead magnets (see? No rocket science here):
2) A simple Facebook lead form ad to promote it and gather new subscribers to my email list.
When I run ads to my workshop series, I use a landing page because I need to explain the full details and commitment level.
But for my lead magnet, I’ve found that using a Facebook lead form ad consistently brings in cheaper leads.
There are a few reasons why lead form ads work better:
No need for a website or landing page.
People sign up without leaving Facebook/Instagram, which reduces friction.
They’re easier to set up because you don’t need to mess with the Facebook Pixel.
For workshop ads or anything requiring more context, a landing page is still best. But for straightforward lead magnets, lead form ads are my go-to.
How much do you need to spend on your Facebook ads to grow your list?
I typically spend between £750-£1,500 per month on ads. Most of this goes into my evergreen ad, but if I’m running an event, I’ll shift some of that budget to promote it.
👉 Evergreen leads cost me an average of £2-£3 per lead.
👉 Workshop leads are pricier at £6.50-£8 per lead.
I recommend starting small while testing your ads. Once you find what’s working, gradually increase your budget to whatever you’re comfortable with.
Inside Amplify, we recommend clients start with a minimum of £300/month.
My highest converting Facebook ad
When I started out, I thought ads needed to be really clever and different to work. These days, I use simple, generic templates and it gets the job done. There’s one ad in particular that I’ve used for years - basically because it still works, so why change it?
It’s a 30 second video - nothing fancy, just me talking. It makes me totally cringe watching it but… I got over it.
I’ll even let you watch it now so you can see what I mean…
Over the years, we’ve made minor tweaks, mostly updating copy or testing images. But the main thing we change is the audience.
My advice? Don’t overcomplicate ads. Keep it simple, test what works, and stick with it.
The secret to long term Facebook ads success
If you can nail this simple strategy, your list grows relatively effortlessly month on month. But it’s what happens next that really matters. I see too many people pouring money into ads to grow their list and then they don’t actually email their list.
I feel like I shouldn’t need to say this (but I’ve spoken to enough clients to know that I do)... you actually have to email and engage your list. Regularly.
The real key to success is building deep trust, authority and connection.
You can do this with automations, regular emails and stuff like workshops and videos to get people off your list and engaging with you more deeply.
Here’s what I do:
Nurture new leads with an automated welcome sequence
I’ve created an automated welcome sequence for new subscribers that embeds my point of view. It calls out their struggles so they feel seen and understood and it shares my solutions so they know right from the start, that I can help them.
One of my best emails in this sequence simply says:
Hey first name,
Do you already have a group programme/course or are you thinking about starting one?
Gemma
Why does it work so well? It’s an easy question to answer. It only takes a second to respond. And it means I am constantly creating conversations with my audience. It helps my email deliverability too.
In 2024, 20% of my clients bought from me within the first 30 days of joining my list… so you can see how critical this initial automated sequence is. The real beauty is once you’ve designed and tested it, you have something that generates leads on autopilot. It’s taken time and tweaking to get there but it’s been time well spent.
Build trust with twice weekly emails
Next, my nurture email strategy is to email my list twice per week (I know it sounds like a lot but I love writing and it works). I share my point of view, lessons along the way and frameworks to help my clients succeed - and by doing this I deepen connection and trust with my audience over time. I treat my email list as a community rather than a list of leads and I truly believe that this has made all the difference.
Half the battle is simply consistency. Because here’s the thing… Most people aren’t consistent. So if you’re the one sharing compelling ideas for long enough, half your peers will have dropped or changed their niche and you’ll be the one known for solving the problem.
Run monthly workshops to deepen engagement
Every single month I run a workshop. So every month my subscribers have a chance to take a step closer to me. This is one of the key cogs to consistently enrolling clients into my group programme.
5 Facebook ads mistakes that could be costing you clients
There’s a reason I keep things simple - fewer chances to fuck things up. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few things you can avoid to improve your chances of success even more.
1) Over complicating your strategy.
You don’t need a fancy funnel, tripwires, or a 10-step sequence. One simple ad. One well-targeted lead magnet. That’s all you need.
2) Creating a blah lead magnet.
Your lead magnet needs to do two things:
✅ Attract the right people—those who genuinely need your offer.
❌ Filter out those who aren’t ready—so you don’t waste money on the wrong leads.
Example:
Imagine you’re a health coach for menopausal women:
❌A bad lead magnet: "10 Foods to Avoid During Menopause."
Why? It’s too broad. You’ll attract casual browsers, not buyers.
✅A great lead magnet: "Can’t Sleep, Can’t Lose Weight? My 5-Part Framework to Reset Your Body in Menopause - Without Diets or Supplements."
Why? It speaks to an urgent problem and attracts people ready to take action.
3) Targeting people too early in their journey
For example, in my business, if I had a lead magnet called “Memberships vs Group Programme: Find Out The Right Model For You”, I’m going to attract a bunch of leads who are uncertain of their business model.
My lead magnet might help them, but half of them might decide a membership is a better fit for them, and I don’t help with that.
Instead, my lead magnet is: How to Fill Your Group Program Without Launching.
It speaks to people who already want a group program and are looking for a solution that aligns with my expertise.
4) Not nurturing leads properly
The worst mistake? Running ads, collecting emails, and then ghosting them. Honestly, what is the point? Go spend your money elsewhere if you’re going to do this. If you want to nurture your leads quickly, ensure you do more than just email. Videos, workshops - anything that moves you from someone random on the internet to ‘oh this is actually a real person’.
5) Expecting instant results
Ads take time to optimise, and your audience needs time to build trust before they buy. They are coming to you cold. When my clients first start running ads, they don’t suddenly get a flood of leads. I didn’t either.
But over time, you build up your credibility with case studies and body of content online. And when you smartly curate that content for your new subscribers, you can then shorten the amount of time it takes them to go from ‘who are you?’ to ‘how can I buy from you?’
How to make Facebook ads as simple as possible
There’s a learning curve with ads, but with the right support it can be relatively straightforward.
Here are some options:
✅ DIY it – Sophie Griffiths (who is the Ads Specialist within my programme Amplify) has created a step-by-step course which I highly recommend. Check it out here. That’s an affiliate link by the way.
✅ Hire an ads manager – Typically £1,000-£3,000/month (plus ad spend).
✅ Work with me. Lol
I help my clients start or grow their group programme. When you get your ads set up and working, it just makes the whole ‘flowing leads’ piece so much easier.
Here’s how we help you with ads in Amplify:
The Steps
First, you’ll hone the niche and positioning of your group programme
Then you'll create a lead magnet which qualifies your ideal client for your group programme
Next, you’ll use my templates to write your automated welcome sequence
From this, you’ll set up your ads in Ads Manager
The Support
Step-by-step videos, workbooks and templates which make it all easy
A dedicated space to ask all those niggling ads questions as they crop up
Monthly live calls to help you tweak and optimise your ads with resident Ads Specialist Sophie Griffiths
Weekly calls with me as well
You could absolutely DIY your way through Facebook ads—plenty of people do. But if you want the fastest, simplest way to set up ads that actually work, then Amplify is the place to be.
Ads are just one piece of the puzzle. Amplify teaches my entire framework for designing and filling a group programme through gentle marketing rather than hustle-driven launches.
If you’d like to know more about how I do this, I’d recommend you watch my three-part workshop series, Serve at Scale School.
In this free training, you’ll learn:
✅ The business model I use to scale my business to 20K a month with one offer
✅ How to design a world class group programme people are excited to buy
✅ The marketing and sales systems that brings in clients consistently, including my simple ads strategy of course.
Want to see how it works? Click below to watch the workshop series now.
👉 Watch the Free Workshop Series
Let’s make evergreen simple, sustainable, and yours.
