What I Learned From My Paid Ads Campaign

Paid advertising can be powerful — but only if you know how to track, measure, and adapt.
On July 6th, 2025, I launched two campaigns:

• Meta Ads — to promote my eBay case study article.
• Google Ads — to drive leads and sign-ups for my free newsletter.

My goal wasn't instant sales. Instead, I wanted to drive targeted traffic to my site and encourage newsletter sign-ups, where I run A/B email tests to sharpen my marketing skills.

How I Prepared My Paid Ads Campaign

Before launch, I:

• Defined my audiences — hobbyists, collectors, motorsport fans for the article; eBay sellers & small business owners for the service ad.
• Set budgets — £4.30/day for the article (ad credits), £12.80/day for the service (paid budget).
• Crafted creatives — clean product shots for the article, service-focused imagery for the offer.
• Optimised landing pages — Hotjar heatmaps & session recordings helped refine layout and reposition my call-to-action (CTA).
• Improved Google Ads targeting — Focused on UK cities & niche terms like "selling a model car collection."

Results & Insights

The type of high-quality product shots I used in my Meta Ads campaign to attract the right audience.

Article Campaign (Meta Ads)

• Spend: £127.50 ad credit
• Impressions: 15,220
• Clicks: 446
• Result: Boosted article views to 1,318

Leads Campaign (Google Ads)

• Spend: £256.91
• Impressions: 121,242
• Clicks: 1,544
• Result: Higher click quality & stronger buying intent

UX Impact

Hotjar data revealing where visitors actually looked — this insight drove my CTA repositioning strategy.

Hotjar revealed many visitors scrolled past my original CTA.
By moving it higher & making it more distinct, newsletter sign-ups improved.

Key Takeaways

• Data-driven UX changes matter — Optimising user flow directly improved conversion.
• Content vs. Offer — Awareness ads = cheaper clicks; direct offers = higher intent.
• Keyword exclusions save budget — Removing irrelevant search terms cut wasted spend.
• Run ads directly — Avoid extra fees from third-party ad managers like Wix Ads.
• Email list growth compounds — Every sign-up means future test opportunities & leads.

Final Thoughts

This campaign proved that ads, UX optimisation, and targeting refinements work best together.
By combining Meta Ads, Google Ads, and Hotjar insights, I turned paid traffic into lasting audience growth — and learned how to make my next campaign even stronger.

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🔗 Related Case Studies

• Flyer Marketing — How I Made £13.5K with a 2,380% ROI
• Stock Photography — Getting Started
• Model Car Collection — Selling on eBay

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What to Do Next

This article is one example of how I approach real-world problems through structured thinking and practical execution.

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