Solved: Seeking UK Freelancer for Google Ads & Paid Social

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! I saw your post and thought I'd share some of my thoughts based on my experience. It sounds like you're in a common spot for agencies – juggling multiple clients with varied goals and tight budgets. It's a tough balancing act, but definately manageable with the right approach.

I'm happy to give you some initial guidance on how I'd tackle this, pulling from campaigns I've run over the years. Hopefully it gives you a bit of a framework to think about.

First off, let's talk about those low budgets...

Working with clients under £5k a month is the bread and butter for a lot of us, but it brings its own set of challenges. The absolute main thing is that you have zero room for wasted spend. Every pound has to work hard, and that means you can't afford to spread the budget too thin across multiple platforms or test dozens of audiences right from the get-go. It forces you to be ruthless with prioritisation.

Tbh, a big part of the job here is managing client expectations. You can't promise them the world on a £2k/month budget. You can promise a methodical, focused approach designed to find what works as quickly as possible and then build from there. When we take on a client in this budget range, we make it very clear that the first month or two is about data collection and finding a baseline. We're looking for signs of life – a decent CPL, a few sales, a good ROAS on a small spend – that we can then scale.

This budget constraint directly impacts your first big decision for any new client: where to even spend the money. Trying to do a bit of Google, a bit of Meta, a bit of LinkedIn all at once with £3k is a recipe for disaster. You'll never get enough data or momentum on any single platform to properly optimise. You have to make a call, pick one platform to start, and prove the concept before you even think about expanding. Which brings us to the next point...

So, Google Ads or Paid Social? It depends...

This is the classic question. The answer almost always comes down to the client’s business model and whether their customers are actively looking for a solution or need to be persuaded that they have a problem.

For your lead gen clients:

I'd say 9 times out of 10, you should start with Google Search Ads. If you're a plumber, an electrician, or an accountant, your customers don't browse Instagram hoping to stumble upon your service. They go to Google when their pipe bursts or they need their taxes done. They have intent. You just need to be there when they search.

-> Google Search is your best bet. You're capturing demand that already exists. Focus on high-intent keywords like "emergency electrician near me", "accountants for small business London", or "get a quote for home cleaning". Combine these with call extensions so people can ring you straight from the ad, and use lead form extensions to make it easy to get in touch. We're currently running a campaign for an HVAC company in a competitive area, and they're seeing leads around the $60 mark. On the other hand, we’ve managed a campaign for a home cleaning company that got leads for just £5. The cost can vary massively depending on competition, but the principle is the same: capture the intent.

-> When would you use paid social for lead gen? Mostly for B2B. If your client is selling a complex B2B service or software, their audience might not be actively searching because they don't know a solution like theirs even exists. This is where you use LinkedIn or Meta to get in front of the right people. For LinkedIn, you can get incredibly specific: target 'Chief Marketing Officers' at 'SaaS companies' with '50-200 employees' in the 'UK'. We've run campaigns like this and seen CPLs around the $22 mark for highly qualified B2B decision makers. For Meta, the B2B targeting is broader (e.g., 'small business owners'), but for some B2C services that are more of a 'want' than a 'need', it can work well to build awareness.

For your e-commerce clients:

E-com is a different beast. Here, both Google and paid social have a massive role to play, and they work together. On a low budget, you still have to prioritise.

-> Google Ads (Shopping & PMax) is for the bottom of the funnel. People searching for "red running shoes size 9" or "organic cotton baby grows" are ready to buy. You need your client's products showing up in the Shopping tab for these searches. Performance Max campaigns can work really well here too, as they'll place the products across Google's network, including YouTube and Display. It’s about being there at the final step.

-> Paid Social (Meta, Pinterest, TikTok) is for discovery and building desire. This is where you create demand. No one wakes up thinking "I must buy a handcrafted wooden watch today," but if they see a beautiful video ad for one while scrolling Instagram, they might just be tempted. This is where your creative is everything. Good product photography and engaging video can make or break a campaign. I remember looking at a store for handcrafted jewelry once; their ads were failing and it was obvious why – the photos were dark and didn't do the products justice. For e-com, social is often the top and middle of your funnel. We saw a 691% return for a women's apparel brand using Meta and Pinterest, and that was driven by great creative that made people want the clothes.

The ideal e-com strategy uses both, but on a small budget, I'd often start with Google Shopping to capture the low-hanging fruit (existing demand), while also running a small, focused retargeting campaign on Meta for anyone who visited the site but didn't buy. This is the most efficient use of a small budget to start.

For your e-com clients, we'll need to look at the whole funnel...

When I audit new e-com accounts, the biggest mistake I see is a flat structure. They're running one campaign targeting a broad audience and hoping for the best. To get real results, especially with Meta ads, you need to structure your campaigns to mirror the customer journey. It's not as complicated as it sounds. I usually break it down like this:

1. Top of Funnel (ToFu) - Prospecting

This is your cold audience. These people have never heard of your client's brand. The goal here is to introduce them to the products and drive them to the website. The audiences you test here are critical.

-> Detailed Targeting: Start with interests, behaviours, and demographics. The key is to be specific. If your client sells high-end cycling gear, don't just target 'Cycling'. That's too broad. Target interests like specific pro cycling teams, high-end bike brands like Pinarello or Canyon, or magazines like Rouleur. You want interests that are more likely to be held by your ideal customer than the general population.

-> Lookalike Audiences (LALs): Once you have enough data (you need at least 100 people in a source audience, but tbh more like 1,000+ for it to work well), you can create lookalikes. You want to create LALs of your best customers. Start with a 1% LAL of your past purchasers list. Then you can test LALs of people who initiated checkout, or even LALs of people who spent the most time on the site. You work your way down the funnel in terms of quality.

2. Middle of Funnel (MoFu) - Warm Retargeting

These people have shown some interest but aren't ready to buy. They've visited the site, watched a video, or engaged with a post. The goal here is to bring them back and get them to look at products more seriously.

-> Your audiences here are custom audiences: All website visitors in the last 30-90 days (excluding purchasers), people who have viewed specific product pages, or people who have watched 50% of your video ads. The ad creative here should be different. Maybe show them testimonials, user-generated content (UGC), or highlight the key benefits and features of the products they looked at.

3. Bottom of Funnel (BoFu) - Hot Retargeting

This is where the money is. These people are on the verge of buying. They've added a product to their cart or even started the checkout process but didn't complete it. Your only job here is to get them over the line.

-> Your audiences are tiny but super valuable: 'Added to Cart in last 7 days (excl. purchasers)', 'Initiated Checkout in last 7 days (excl. purchasers)'. The ads need to be direct. Remind them what they left behind, maybe offer a small discount or free shipping to nudge them to complete the purchase. These campaigns almost always have the highest ROAS. For one subscription box client, we built a robust funnel like this and hit a 1000% ROAS, largely driven by nailing the BoFu retargeting.

Running separate campaigns for ToFu, MoFu, and BoFu, each with its own budget and creative, is how you build a scalable e-com machine. Even on a small budget, you can allocate say 60% to ToFu, 20% to MoFu, and 20% to BoFu to get started.

And for lead gen, it's all about qualifying the traffic...

With lead gen clients, the metric that matters isn't just Cost Per Lead (CPL), it's Cost Per Qualified Lead. It's easy to get loads of cheap leads with a simple form, but if none of them turn into customers, you've wasted your client's money. The entire process, from the ad to the landing page, needs to be geared towards filtering out the time-wasters.

-> Your client's website is half the battle. I've seen so many campaigns fail because the ads were fine, but they sent traffic to a slow, confusing homepage with no clear call-to-action. Before you spend a penny on ads for a lead gen client, you have to sort their landing page. It needs persuasive copy that speaks directly to the visitor's problem, social proof (testimonials, case studies, reviews), and a very obvious next step – 'Get a Free Quote', 'Schedule a Consultation', 'Download Our Guide'. Remove all other distractions. The page should have one job.

-> Lead Forms vs. Landing Pages. On platforms like Meta and LinkedIn, you have the option of using their native Lead Gen Forms. These are pop-ups that pre-fill the user's information, making it super easy to submit. The upside is you'll generally get a lower CPL. The downside is the lead quality can be much lower because there's so little friction. Someone might click and submit without really thinking about it. Sending traffic to a dedicated landing page on their website is usually better. It costs more per lead because you lose some people along the way, but the ones who do fill out the form are much more invested and better qualified. It's a trade-off you need to discuss with the client.

-> Qualify with your ad copy. You can start filtering people right from the ad itself. If your client is a high-end service provider, mention that in the copy. Something like "Bespoke web design for established businesses" will put off the startups looking for a cheap site. Be clear about who the service is for and what the process is. This reduces the number of irrelevant clicks and saves money.

I remember one B2B client who was selling high-ticket industrial products. They were getting lots of clicks but no real leads. We changed their ad copy to be much more specific about the industries they served and the types of projects they took on. The click-through rate dropped, but the CPL for actual qualified leads plummeted because we were only attracting the right people. It's about quality, not quantity.

I'd say the real value comes from ongoing optimisation...

Setting up the campaigns is just the start. The real skill in paid advertising, and what separates a great freelancer from an average one, is the ability to analyse the data, diagnose problems, and methodically test your way to better performance. This is a continous process.

You need a system for optimisation. Look at the metrics to tell you a story. Where are people dropping off?

-> Low CTR (Click-Through Rate)? This usually means your ad creative or copy isn't resonating with your audience. The image might be boring, the headline might be weak. Or, your targeting is off and you're showing the ad to the wrong people. This is where you need to be constantly split-testing new images, videos, and headlines to find a winner.

-> High CTR but low Conversion Rate (or high bounce rate)? This means the ad is doing its job – people are interested enough to click. But the landing page is letting you down. There's a disconnect between what the ad promised and what the page delivered. Check that the messaging is consistent. Check the page speed. Check that the call-to-action is clear. You need to fix the leak in the bucket.

-> Lots of 'Add to Carts' but few Purchases? This is a classic e-com problem. It tells you people like the product and the price is probably okay, but something is stopping them at the final hurdle. It's often unexpected shipping costs. It could also be a clunky, untrustworthy-looking checkout page, or a lack of payment options. This is where you focus your optimisation efforts – simplifying the checkout, adding trust badges, or testing a free shipping offer.

We once took over a campaign for a medical recruitment SaaS. Their CPA was around £100, which was unsustainable. By methodically working through their funnel, we identified the biggest drop-off was between registration and profile completion. We tweaked the onboarding flow and used retargeting ads to encourage users to finish their profiles. That, along with refining the ad targeting, brought their CPA down from £100 to just £7. That's the power of systematic optimisation.

You probably should have a clear way to show results...

You mentioned Looker Studio reports, and that's a massive green flag. For an agency, clear, concise, and insightful reporting is non-negotiable. Clients need to see what they're paying for, and you need a way to demonstrate the value you're providing. A PDF export from the ads manager just doesn't cut it.

I've built out custom Looker Studio (or Google Data Studio, as it's now known) dashboards for many clients. A good dashboard isn't just a data dump. It tells a story. It should be tailored to the client's specific goals.

-> For a lead gen client, the dashboard should front-load the most important metrics: Number of Leads, Cost Per Lead, and Conversion Rate. Then you can show the trends over time and break it down by campaign (e.g., 'Brand Search' vs 'Non-Brand Search').

-> For an e-commerce client, the key metrics are Revenue, Return On Ad Spend (ROAS), Cost Per Purchase, and Average Order Value. It should clearly show how much they're spending versus how much they're making. I'd also include a breakdown of performance by funnel stage (ToFu, MoFu, BoFu) so they can see how the whole system is working together.

Building these reports is a great bonus to offer. It shows a level of professionalism and transparency that builds huge trust with clients. It also makes your own life easier because you can see at a glance what's working and what isn't, without having to dig through multiple platforms every day.

So, to pull this all together, here's how I'd approach it...

The philosophy is simple: start focused, test methodically, and be guided by the data. For low-budget clients, you have to be an expert at prioritising. You can't do everything, so you have to do the most important things first. This is the main advice I have for you:

Why you might want some expert help with this...

Of course, this is all stuff that can be learned and implemented in-house. But the reality of agency life is that you and your team are stretched thin. The learning curve for doing this well is steep, and mistakes with paid ads cost real money, which is tough on low-budget clients.

Bringing in an experienced freelancer or consultant is essentially a shortcut. You're not just paying for someone to press the buttons in Ads Manager; you're paying for their process, their experience from hundreds of other campaigns, and their ability to spot opportunities and avoid pitfalls that you might miss. It's about getting to the results faster and more efficiently.

We've applied this kind of methodical approach to clients across all sorts of sectors. For example, we helped a course creator drive 447% ROAS in a single week using Meta ads. It's about having a playbook and adapting it to each client's unique situation.

This is the kind of stuff we'd normally cover in more detail during an initial chat. We usually offer a free, no-obligation consultation where we can take a look at one of your current client