Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out! I had a look over your situation and it's a really common one for new businesses, especially in-person services. It's totally understandable to feel a bit lost with all the marketing options out there. Deciding to get some expert guidance on strategy rather than just handing over the keys to an agency is a solid move, especially when you're managing the budget carefully.
I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and a bit of guidance based on my experience. Running paid ads is what I do all day, every day, so hopefully I can point you in the right direction and give you a framework for how to think about this stuff. What you're facing isn't unique, and there's definately a path forward.
We'll need to look at your core strategy first...
Before you even think about which buttons to press in Google or Meta, you've got to sort out the high-level strategy. You mentioned you're not sure if it "makes sense", and that's the absolute right question to be asking. Get this wrong, and even the best-run ad campaigns will fall flat on their face.
For a service business like yours, everything comes down to one question: what do you actually want a potential customer to do? This is your conversion goal. It sounds simple, but so many businesses get it muddled. They have a website with a phone number, an email address, a 'learn more' button, a link to their franchise's main site... it's a mess. A confused visitor will just leave.
You need to decide on a single, primary call-to-action (CTA). For a tutoring business, this is probably one of these:
-> Book a Free Consultation/Assessment
-> Schedule a Free Trial Session
-> Request a Call Back
-> Fill Out a Form for More Information
I'd lean towards something like a "Free Assessment" or a "Trial Session". It's a low-commitment offer for the parent, but a high-value step for you. It gets them through the door (literally or figuratively), lets you demonstrate your value, and builds a personal connection. A simple "Contact Us" form is too vague. You need to be offering them something tangible in exchange for their details.
Once you've decided on that one single action, your entire online presence, especially the page you send ad traffic to, needs to be laser-focused on getting people to take it. Every headline, every image, every bit of text should lead them towards that one button. This clarity is the foundation of any successful advertising campaign. Without it, you're just throwing money at a wall and hoping some of it sticks. We see this all the time – clients come to us with ads that are "not working" and nine times out of ten the problem isn't the ad, it's a confusing offer and a landing page that doesn't have a clear purpose. Getting this sorted is your first priority.
I'd say you need to pick the right advertising channels...
Okay, so once you know what you want people to do, the next question is where to find them. You mentioned you're using Google and Meta, which are the right platforms, but how you use them and which one you prioritise makes all the difference.
For a local service business like tutoring, where customers are actively looking for a solution to a problem ('my child is failing maths'), Google Search Ads should be your absolute number one priority. It's not even a competition.
Think about the user's mindset. On Google, a parent is typing in "maths tutor near me" or "GCSE english tuition in [Your Town]". They have a problem, and they are actively, right this second, looking for someone to pay to solve it. This is called 'high-intent' traffic, and it's the most valuable traffic you can get. You're not trying to convince them they have a problem; you're just putting your solution in front of them at the exact moment they're looking for it. We're running a campaign for an HVAC company right now, and almost all their valuable leads come from Google Search, because when someone's boiler is broken, they don't browse Facebook, they search Google for an emergency repairman. The principle is exactly the same for you.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is different. People are on there to look at photos of their friends' holidays and watch silly videos. They are not in 'problem-solving' mode. You can still reach the right people – local parents of a certain age with children in a specific age range – but you are interrupting them. This makes it a much harder sell. Meta ads are better for building awareness, reminding people you exist (retargeting), or promoting a very compelling, time-sensitive offer. For getting a steady stream of new, qualified enquiries, Google Search is where you should be putting 80% of your initial focus and budget. You can build out your Meta strategy later, but you need to win on Google first.
You'll need to nail your Google Ads setup...
Just "using Google Ads" isn't enough. You mentioned not knowing if you're setting things up "optimally", and that's a valid concern because there are a million ways to do it wrong. Here’s a bit of a deeper look at what an optimal setup might look like for you.
Campaign and Ad Group Structure:
Don't just lump everything into one campaign. You should structure your campaigns around the services you offer. For example:
-> Campaign 1: Maths Tutoring
-> Campaign 2: English Tutoring
-> Campaign 3: 11+ Exam Prep
Within each campaign, you'd have tightly-themed ad groups. So, inside "Maths Tutoring," you might have ad groups for "GCSE Maths Tutor," "A-Level Maths Tutor," and "Primary School Maths Help." This structure is really important because it allows you to match your keywords to your ad copy and your landing page. Someone searching for "GCSE maths tutor" should see an ad that says "Expert GCSE Maths Tutoring" and land on a page all about your GCSE maths programme. This relevance is rewarded by Google with a higher Quality Score, which means you pay less per click and get better ad positions. It's a fundamental that so many DIY advertisers miss.
Keyword Strategy:
This is the heart of it. You need to think like a parent. What phrases are they actually typing into Google? You'll want a mix of keyword types.
Here’s a sample list of what you might target:
| Keyword Theme | Example Keywords | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Subject + Location | "maths tutor [your town]", "english tuition [your postcode]", "science tutor near me" | This is your bread and butter. High intent and geographically relevant. |
| Qualification Specific | "gcse maths tutor", "a-level chemistry tuition", "11 plus tutoring" | Captures parents with a very specific, urgent need tied to exams. |
| Generic "Tutor" Terms | "private tutor near me", "in-person tutoring centre", "local tutors" | Broader, but still shows strong intent to find help. |
Just as important is your list of negative keywords. These are the terms you don't want to show up for. This stops you wasting money on irrelevant clicks. For you, this would include terms like: "free", "online", "jobs", "hiring", "become a tutor", "degree", "university". You'd be amazed how much budget gets wasted on this stuff if you dont manage it properly.
Costs and Budget:
This is the big question. The cost per lead (CPL) will vary hugely based on your location and competition. For some of our service-based clients, we've seen a wide range. We've worked with childcare services where the CPL was around £10, but for a more competitive niche like an HVAC company, it was closer to £60 per lead. For tutoring, I'd expect you to be somewhere in the £15 - £40 range for a qualified lead from Google Search. It's not cheap, but one converted student could be worth hundreds or thousands over their lifetime.
I usually recommend a starting ad spend budget of at least £1,000 - £2,000 a month to get enough data and see what works. If your CPL ends up being £30, a £500/month budget will only get you about 16 leads, which might not be enough to get a proper feel for it or to grow the business meaningfully.
Ad Formats:
You definately want to use Call Extensions, so people can ring you straight from the ad on their mobile. And Location Extensions are a must, to show your address and put you on the map. You could also look at Google's Local Service Ads (LSAs). These appear right at the very top of the results, even above the normal ads, and you only pay per valid lead, not per click. They have a "Google Guaranteed" badge which is a massive trust signal for parents. It's a seperate system to set up but well worth investigating for a business like yours.
You probably should think about your website...
Let's be brutally honest here. You can have the most perfectly structured ad campaign in the world, but if you send that expensive, high-intent traffic to a poor website, you might as well just set your money on fire. Your website is not a brochure; it's a conversion tool. Its only job is to turn a visitor into a lead.
Based on what you've said, this is likely a major area for improvement. When we do audits for clients whose ads are failing, a weak landing page is the culprit more often than not. Here’s what it needs:
A Single, Clear Call-to-Action (CTA):
We've already talked about this, but it bears repeating. The page people land on from your ad must be 100% focused on getting them to take that one action you decided on (e.g., 'Book Your Free Assessment'). That button should be big, bold, and repeated down the page. Remove all other distractions – links to your blog, social media icons, secondary navigation. Give them one path to follow.
Trust Signals:
This is massive in your industry. Parents are entrusting you with their child's education and safety. Your website has to scream 'professional and trustworthy'.
-> Real Photos: Get professional photos of your actual centre, your real tutors (with their qualifications), and happy-looking students (with permission, of course). Stock photos look cheap and untrustworthy.
-> Testimonials and Reviews: Social proof is everything. Put quotes, or even short video testimonials, from happy parents front and centre. Include their full name and maybe a photo if they agree. Vague, anonymous testimonials are useless.
-> Franchise Branding: Leverage the fact you're a franchise. The brand name itself is a trust signal. Make sure the branding is consistent and professional.
-> 'About Us' and Contact Info: Have a clear 'About Us' section that tells your story. Show your physical address clearly on the page and have an easy-to-find phone number. This shows you're a real, local business.
Persuasive Copywriting:
The text on your page needs to do a selling job. It shouldn't just list what you do ("We offer maths and english tutoring"). It needs to speak directly to the parent's pain points and aspirations. It should talk about benefits, not just features.
Instead of: "We have experienced tutors."
Try: "Watch your child's confidence soar as our expert tutors help them finally conquer calculus."
Good copy makes a huge difference to conversion rates. A small increase in your website's conversion rate (e.g., from 2% to 4%) will literally halve your cost per lead without you spending a penny more on ads. It's the most powerful lever you have.
This is the main advice I have for you:
There's a lot to take in here, I know. It can feel overwhelming. The key is to be systematic and focus on the fundamentals. To make it a bit clearer, I've broken down my main recommendations into a simple table for you.
| Area of Focus | My Recommendation | Why it Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Core Strategy | Define one primary conversion goal (e.g., 'Book a Free Assessment'). Make this the focus of your entire online effort. | Clarity increases conversions. A confused user won't become a lead. This is the foundation for everything else. |
| Channel Prioritisation | Focus 80% of your initial budget and effort on Google Search Ads. Use Meta for secondary awareness and retargeting later. | Google captures high-intent parents actively looking for a tutor, providing the highest quality leads to start with. |
| Google Ads Setup | Create structured campaigns by service (Maths, English). Use tight ad groups with specific keywords and ad copy. Utilise negative keywords. | Relevance is rewarded by Google with lower costs and better results. Prevents wasting budget on irrelevant clicks. |
| Website / Landing Page | Create a dedicated landing page for your ads. It must have a clear CTA, strong trust signals (reviews, real photos), and persuasive copy. | Your website's performance has the biggest impact on your cost per lead. A poor page will waste your entire ad budget. |
| Budgeting | Plan for a realistic CPL (£15-£40) and start with a monthly ad spend of at least £1,000-£2,000 to gather meaningful data. | Under-investing means you won't get enough data to optimise effectively or generate enough leads to make a difference. |
So, to answer your original question: is it worth hiring a consultant? Yes, I believe so. You have the capacity to execute, but as you've correctly identified, the strategy and optimisation is where the real value is. Doing it yourself without that deep experience can be a very expensive learning curve. You can burn through thousands of pounds just figuring out what doesn't work.
An experienced consultant can help you sidestep those initial costly mistakes. They can build this strategic framework for you, help you set up the campaigns correctly from day one, and show you what metrics to watch. It’s about getting you to profitability faster. I remember one client in the student recruitment space where we were able to reduce their cost per booking by 80% just by applying these kinds of principles: proper structuring, better targeting, and optimising the whole funnel. That's the kind of impact that expert guidance can have.
I hope this detailed breakdown has been genuinely helpful and gives you a much clearer picture of what you need to do. If you'd like to chat through this in more detail and have a look at your current setup together, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation. It would give us a chance to apply some of this thinking directly to your business and give you some more specific, actionable next steps.
Either way, I wish you the best of luck with the business.
Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh
