London's Guide: Find a Facebook Ads Expert for Courses

Finding a good Facebook ads expert in London feels like a nightmare, doesn't it? You're a course creator, you've got something valuable to sell, but every agency you talk to either doesn't get the nuances of your business or they just want to burn through your cash on useless "brand awareness" campaigns. They talk a good game, flash some impressive-looking dashboards, but at the end of the month, you're left with a big bill and a handful of low-quality leads that never convert.

The problem is, you're probably looking for the wrong thing. You don't need a London-based ads manager. You need a specialist in scaling student enrolments. The distinction is massive. Most agencies are generalists. They use the same tired playbook for an eCommerce store as they do for a B2B SaaS company, and they'll try to use it for your course too. It never works. Your business model is completely different. You're not selling a widget; you're selling a transformation, and that requires a totally different approach to advertising.

So, what's the real problem with most "experts"?

It boils down to a fundamental misunderstanding of the course creator business model. They see you're getting clicks but no sales, and their first instinct is to blame your landing page or your ad creative. While those things matter, they're often symptoms, not the cause. The real issue usually lies deeper in the strategy.

Generalist agencies are obsessed with front-end metrics. They'll celebrate a low Cost Per Lead (CPL) from a webinar registration form, even if none of those leads ever buy the course. They don't understand that for a course, a slightly higher CPL for a lead who has watched 75% of your Value-Sales-Letter (VSL) is infinitely more valuable than a cheap lead who just wanted the free PDF. They don't think about the backend. They don't understand sales funnels, order bumps, upsells, and Lifetime Value (LTV). One campaign we ran for an eLearning client generated a 447% ROAS in the first week because we focused entirely on the quality of the lead going into the funnel, not the cost.

They also fail to grasp the psychology of your buyer. Someone buying a £1,000 course on digital marketing isn't making an impulse purchase. They need nurturing. They need to see social proof, testimonials, and case studies. They need to trust YOU. A generic ad strategy that just drives cold traffic to a sales page is doomed to fail. A real course expert knows how to build multi-step campaigns that warm up cold audiences, retarget them with value-driven content, and then present the offer only when the prospect is ready to buy. This is how you really get your Facebook ads to scale in the UK market without your CPA going through the roof.

What should you actually be looking for?

You need someone who speaks your language. They should be asking you about your average cart value, your student LTV, your show-up rate for webinars, and your sales page conversion rate. If their first question is "What's your budget?", that's a red flag. Their first question should be about your business model and your numbers.

A true specialist will have a deep understanding of different course funnels:

• -> The Webinar Funnel: They'll know how to optimise for registrations, but more importantly, for attendees and buyers. They'll talk about post-webinar email sequences and retargeting ads to close attendees who didn't buy live.
• -> The VSL/Challenge Funnel: They understand that this is about building authority and delivering value upfront. The ad campaigns for this need to be structured to support a multi-day experience, not just a one-off conversion.
• -> The Self-Liquidating Offer (SLO) Funnel: They can build a campaign to a low-ticket front-end product with the goal of breaking even on ad spend, knowing that the real profit is in the backend upsells to your main course. This is an advanced strategy most generalists have never even heard of.

They won't just manage your ads; they'll act as a strategic partner. They'll give you feedback on your offer, your pricing, and your landing page copy because they know that the best ad in the world can't sell a broken offer. When you're vetting potential partners, don't just look for an ads manager; look for a growth consultant. This is really the core of finding the right Meta Ads expert in London for your course – finding someone who understands the whole picture.

To give you an idea of what's possible, for that course client I mentioned, we built a campaign that generated $115,000 in revenue in just a month and a half. That wasn't just down to clever ad targeting; it was about working with the client to refine the offer and the funnel, ensuring every pound spent had the maximum possible chance of returning a profit.

How can you spot the fakes?

The London agency scene is full of people who talk a great game. You need a reliable bullshit filter. Here are the biggest red flags to watch out for when you're on a discovery call:

1. They Guarantee Results.
This is the number one sign of an amateur or a scammer. No professional in paid advertising can guarantee a specific ROAS or CPA. There are too many variables. What they can do is show you results from similar clients and provide a clear, logical strategy for how they'll test and optimise to find what works for you. They should be confident, not cocky.

2. They Don't Ask About Your Numbers.
If they don't ask about your current conversion rates, average order value, and student LTV within the first 15 minutes, hang up. They can't possibly devise a sensible strategy without understanding the basic economics of your business. They're just planning to guess with your money.

3. Their Case Studies Are Irrelevant.
This is a big one. Ask to see case studies. If they show you how they got a 10x ROAS for a fast-fashion brand or generated 500 leads for a local plumber, it's completely irrelevant. The mechanics are different. The audience is different. The sales cycle is different. You need to see proof that they have successfully scaled an online course or a similar info-product business. If they can't provide that, they're not the right fit, no matter how impressive their other results seem. It's why we've put together a specific guide for UK course creators on finding an expert.

4. They Focus on Vanity Metrics.
Listen carefully to the language they use. Are they talking about "reach," "impressions," and "click-through rate"? These are secondary metrics. A real pro will be obsessed with Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), and cashflow. They'll understand that you need to be profitable, not just visible.

5. They Have a "Secret Sauce" or "Proprietary System".
This is usually marketing fluff to disguise a lack of real strategy. Good paid advertising isn't magic. It's a methodical process of research, testing, analysis, and scaling. Anyone who claims to have a secret formula is likely just running basic campaigns and hoping for the best. Ask them to walk you through their process. It should be logical, transparent, and data-driven.

What should you really be paying for an expert in London?

Pricing can be all over the place, but it generally falls into three models. Be wary of anyone offering rock-bottom prices; you get what you pay for, and cheap management often leads to thousands in wasted ad spend.

-> Fixed Retainer: This is the most common model. In London, for a competent specialist who knows the course space, you should expect to pay anywhere from £2,000 to £5,000+ per month. This fee is for their strategy, management, and expertise. It shouldn't be tied directly to your ad spend at lower levels.

-> Percentage of Ad Spend: This is common for larger accounts, typically spending over £10,000/month. The fee is usually 10-20% of the monthly ad spend. The danger here is that it can incentivise the agency to simply spend more, rather than spending more efficiently.

-> Performance-Based: This can sound appealing, where the agency takes a percentage of the revenue generated. However, it's rare for top-tier experts to offer this unless you already have a proven, high-converting funnel. It introduces too much risk on their side if your offer or sales process isn't dialled in.

Your first step shouldn't be to find the cheapest option. It should be to find the option that presents the lowest risk and the highest potential for a positive return. A £4,000/month expert who can generate £20,000 in sales is a much better investment than a £1,000/month manager who wastes £5,000 in ad spend and gets you nothing.

Before you even think about costs, you need to understand your own numbers. What can you afford to spend to acquire a new student and still be profitable? Use the calculator below to get a rough idea.

Your final vetting checklist

Okay, so you're ready to start talking to people. This is your action plan. Don't skip any steps. This is the difference between finding a true partner and getting burned for the third time.

The entire process comes down to one thing: finding evidence of genuine, repeatable expertise in your specific niche. It's not about finding a general Facebook ads expert in London; it's about finding your expert.

I've summarised the main advice below. Treat this as your final checklist before you sign any contracts.

Ultimately, scaling an online course with paid ads is entirely possible, even in the competitive London market. But it requires a level of specialisation that most agencies simply don't possess. Stop wasting your time and money on generalists. Do your due diligence, use this framework to vet potential partners, and find an expert who has a proven track record of scaling businesses just like yours.

The right partner won't just be a button-pusher in Ads Manager; they'll be a key part of your growth engine. If you're tired of the guesswork and want a clear, data-driven strategy to enrol more students profitably, it might be time to get some expert help. We offer a free, no-obligation strategy session where we can review your existing funnel and ad campaigns and give you actionable advice you can implement right away. It's a chance to see the kind of expertise you should be looking for.