UK Course Creator's Guide to Vetting Ad Experts

I see this question a lot from course creators in the UK. You've built something you're proud of, you know it can help people, but getting it in front of the right audience feels like shouting into the void. You start looking for a "Facebook Ads expert" and find yourself swimming in a sea of self-proclaimed gurus, all promising the world. It’s frustrating and expensive when you pick the wrong one.

The truth is, most people get it wrong from the start. They focus on the wrong things, ask the wrong questions, and end up burning through their budget with little to show for it. Let's cut through the noise. This isn't about finding a magic bullet, it's about understanding the process, knowing what to look for, and being able to spot the time-wasters from a mile off.

So, why is it so damn hard to find a good ads expert here in the UK?

First off, let's kill the myth that you need someone local. An expert in Glasgow can run ads for a course based in Cornwall just as effectively as someone down the road. The internet has made geography pretty much irrelevant for this kind of work. The real problem is that the barrier to entry for calling yourself a "Meta Ads Expert" is basically zero. Anyone can watch a few YouTube videos, set up a business page, and start taking money from people.

The UK market has its own quirks too. We're a bit more cynical than other audiences, ad costs can be higher, and competition is fierce, especially in popular niches like business coaching or wellness. An expert who has only ever run ads for US-based ecommerce stores will likely struggle. They won't understand the cultural nuances or the cost benchmarks.

But the biggest issue, especially for course creators, is that selling a course isn't like selling a pair of shoes. It's a high-consideration purchase. It requires trust. It requires a proper funnel that builds a relationship with the potential student before asking for the sale. Most generalist "ad guys" don't get this. They'll try to run a simple conversion campaign straight to a sales page and then wonder why it's not working. I remember one client who came to us after wasting £5,000 with an agency that had a great track record with physical products. They just didn't understand the journey a student needs to go on before they'll hand over £500 for a course. It's a completely different ball game.

You're not just looking for a button-pusher; you need someone who understands marketing strategy specifically for education and information products. That’s a much smaller pool of people, and they're harder to find.

What should I actually be looking for then? Forget promises, demand proof.

This is the single most important part of the whole process. Don't listen to what they say they can do; look at what they've already done. Case studies are your best friend here. But not all case studies are created equal.

A rubbish case study says: "We got a 10x ROAS for a client!". It's a meaningless vanity metric without context. A good case study for a course creator will show you:

• -> Niche Relevancy: Have they worked with other course creators, coaches, or info-product businesses? Ideally in the UK? If all their examples are for local plumbers or clothing brands, they're not the right fit.
• -> Real Metrics (in £): You want to see the numbers that matter. What was the total ad spend? What was the total revenue generated? What was the Cost Per Lead (CPL) for their freebie or webinar? What was the final Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) for a course sale? Seeing results in pounds shows they have actual UK market experience.
• -> The Strategy: This is what separates the pros from the amateurs. A great case study will briefly walk you through the funnel. Did they use a webinar? A free challenge? A simple PDF lead magnet? What kind of audiences did they target? Cold interests? Lookalikes? Retargeting? It should give you a clear idea of their thought process.

For instance, one Meta Ads campaign we ran for a course creator generated $115k in revenue in just 1.5 months. That’s the kind of detail you’re looking for—real revenue figures, not just vanity metrics. It proves they have a repeatable system for your specific niche, not just a lucky break.

A simple sales funnel, which an expert should be able to map out for you, often looks something like this:

If a potential hire can't show you something like this, or at least talk you through it with a client example, be very, very careful.

How do I spot the fakes and time-wasters?

Once you start looking, you'll get inundated with offers. Most of them are rubbish. Your ability to filter them quickly will save you a lot of time and money. Honestly i think this is the most important skill you can learn. Here are the big red flags to watch out for:

• 🚩 Guarantees of Results: This is the number one sign of an amateur or a scammer. No professional in paid advertising can EVER guarantee results. There are too many variables: your offer, your price, your sales page, the ad creative, audience reception, platform algorithm changes. Anyone who promises a "guaranteed 5x ROAS" is lying to you. Full stop.
• 🚩 Vague Strategy & "Secret Sauce": If you ask them about their process and they reply with buzzwords like "we use a proprietary AI algorithm" or "it's our secret sauce," run away. A real expert will be transparent. They'll talk about their testing methodology, how they structure campaigns (e.g., ABO vs. CBO), and their approach to audience research and creative.
• 🚩 Lack of Relevant Case Studies: As mentioned above, but it's worth repeating. If they can't show you success in your niche, they're asking you to pay for their education. Don't do it.
• 🚩 Focus on Vanity Metrics: Be wary of anyone who leads with metrics like "reach," "impressions," or "link clicks." While these have their place, they don't pay your bills. You care about enrolments and revenue. If their reports and conversation are all about top-of-funnel fluff, they're likely trying to hide a lack of actual performance.
• 🚩 High-Pressure Sales Tactics: A good consultant or agency is busy. They don't need to pressure you into a decision with "limited-time offers" on their services. They should feel like a trusted advisor, not a used car salesman.

The right expert will be cautiously optimistic. They'll be honest about the challenges and the need for a testing period. The initial conversation should feel less like a sales pitch and more like a strategy session where they ask you intelligent questions about your business, your student avatar, and your goals. This process of finding the right person can be tough, but if you want to dig in a bit more, we have a complete guide on how to properly vet ad experts in the UK that goes into even more detail.

What kind of results are actually realistic for a UK course?

This is the million-dollar question, isn't it? The answer is... it depends. It depends on your course price, your niche, the quality of your ads, and the effectiveness of your sales funnel. But we can definitely talk in ballparks based on our experience.

For a typical online course, you're not selling directly from a cold ad. You're usually 'selling' a freebie first (a webinar, a guide, a checklist) to get a lead. In the UK, a good Cost Per Lead (CPL) for something like this is typically between £1 and £7. If you're paying more than £10 per email sign-up, something is probably wrong with your ad or your offer.

Then, you need to convert those leads into customers. The conversion rate from lead to sale can vary wildly, from 1% to 10% or even higher for a really good offer and funnel. Let's say your course is £497 and your lead-to-customer conversion rate is 2%.

If your CPL is £4, you need 50 leads to make one sale (1 / 0.02 = 50).
50 leads x £4/lead = £200.
Your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) for that £497 sale is £200.
Your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is £497 (revenue) / £200 (ad spend) = 2.48x.

A 2.5x ROAS is a pretty decent starting point for a course. It means for every £1 you put in, you get £2.50 back. We’ve had campaigns hit 4x, 5x, even higher. For one course creator, we drove a 447% return on ad spend in the first week alone. But those results often happen after significant testing and optimisation. You should be suspicious of anyone promising that from day one.

To get a better feel for your own numbers, play around with this calculator. It'll show you how small changes in your conversion rate or course price can dramatically impact your profitability.

Is my course and funnel even ready for paid ads?

This is a tough question, but it's one you have to ask. Sometimes, the reason ads fail has nothing to do with the ads expert. The problem is the product or the sales process. I've had to have frank conversations with potential clients and tell them, "Look, I could take your money, but your ads won't work until you fix your offer."

Before you even think about hiring someone, you need to have:

1. A Validated Offer: Have you sold this course before? Have you had people (who aren't your mum) pay you for it and get great results? If you haven't made any organic sales, you might not have product-market fit yet. Paid ads are an accelerant; they amplify what's already working. They are not a magic fix for a course nobody wants to buy. Trying to scale with ads before you have proof of concept is like pouring petrol on a pile of wet wood.

2. A Coherent Funnel: As we've discussed, you can't just send cold traffic to a £1,000 sales page and expect it to work. You need a journey. At a minimum, this means a lead magnet (the freebie), a landing page for that freebie, a thank you page, and an email nurture sequence. Each step needs to be optimised. Your landing page copy needs to be persuasive. Your emails need to build trust and handle objections. Your ads are just the start; if any part of this chain is broken, the whole thing falls apart. Many businesses find they get good traffic that simply doesn't convert, and fixing this often means taking a hard look at your ad creative and landing page alignment.

An expert can help you refine these things, but you need to have the basic structure in place. If you don't, your first hire shouldn't be an ads manager, it should be a copywriter or a marketing strategist to help you build the foundations.

So, should I hire a freelancer, an agency, or just try and learn it myself?

This really comes down to where you are in your business, your budget, and how much you value your own time. Each path has its pros and cons.

• DIY (Do It Yourself): If your ad spend budget is less than £1000 a month, this is honestly probably your best option. The fees for a good expert would eat up too much of your budget. The pro is that it's cheap (in terms of fees) and you learn a valuable skill. The con is the massive, steep learning curve. You will make mistakes, you will waste money, and it will take a lot of your time – time you could be spending creating your next course or supporting your students.
• Freelancer: This can be a great middle-ground. You get an expert to run things for you, but often at a lower cost than an agency. A good freelancer can be worth their weight in gold. The risk is that quality varies hugely. You could get a true expert, or you could get someone juggling 20 clients who gives your account a few hours a week. Vetting is absolutely critical here.
• Agency / Consultancy: This is the most expensive option, but you're paying for a team, established processes, and a breadth of experience. A good agency has run hundreds of campaigns and has a deep well of data and experience to draw from. They'll likely have copywriters, designers, and multiple ad strategists on hand. This is the best option when you're ready to scale seriously and want to de-risk the process as much as possible.

Here's a quick way to visualise the trade-offs:

So, what questions should I ask them on a discovery call?

Right, you've done your research, you've found someone with promising case studies, and you've booked a call. This is your chance to really see if they know their stuff. Don't let them just run through a sales presentation. Be prepared to ask pointed questions.

Here’s what I'd want to know if I were in your shoes:

1. "Can you walk me through a campaign you've run for another UK course creator? What was the initial strategy, what went wrong, and how did you adapt?" - The "what went wrong" part is key. It shows if they're honest and if they can problem-solve.
2. "Based on what you know about my course, what would your initial 90-day plan look like? What funnels and audiences would you want to test first?" - They shouldn't give you a full strategy for free, but they should be able to outline a logical starting point.
3. "How do you measure and report on success? What specific metrics will I see every week/month?" - You want to hear them talk about CPA, ROAS, and revenue, not just clicks and impressions.
4. "What do you need from me to make this successful?" - This is a great question. It shows you see this as a partnership. Their answer will tell you a lot. They should ask for things like student testimonials, video content, and insights into your ideal customer.
5. "What are your fees, what's the contract term, and what does the onboarding process look like?" - Get the practical stuff clear from the start. Understand how much you're paying and what you're getting for it. If you're wondering what's normal, check out our guide on Facebook ads management costs in the UK.

Listen carefully to their answers. Do they sound confident and experienced? Are they transparent? Or are they evasive and full of jargon? Trust your gut. A good partnership is built on clear communication and mutual trust.

The Final Word: Your Ads Are a System, Not a Lottery Ticket

Finding the right Facebook Ads expert is a critical step, but it's important to see it as part of a larger system. The expert you hire is the pilot, but they still need a well-maintained plane (your offer and funnel) and clear skies (a receptive market) to get you to your destination.

The process I've detailed below is my main advice. It's not a shortcut, but it's a reliable path. Do the work upfront to vet your partner properly, and you'll save yourself a world of pain and wasted ad spend down the line.

This is the main advice I have for you:

You could absolutely spend the next six to twelve months, and thousands of pounds in ad spend, trying to figure all this out for yourself through trial and error. And you might get there. Or, you could find a partner who has already navigated this landscape for dozens of other course creators, knows where the pitfalls are, and can help you build a predictable system for enrolling new students.

If you're a course creator in the UK, your course is validated, and you're ready to invest at least £1,500 a month in ad spend to scale your impact, we offer a free, no-obligation 20-minute strategy session. We'll take a look at your current funnel and ads (if you have any) and give you some straight, actionable advice you can use right away. There's no hard sell. It's just an opportunity for you to get an expert second opinion and see if we might be the right fit to help you grow.

Hope this helps!