63. Do Facebook Ads Work for Small Business?: When to Start Running Paid Ads with Carlene Kelsey
- Brittany Miller
- Jul 2, 2024
- 16 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
If you've asked yourself, "do facebook ads work for small business?" you're not alone. I hear this question all the time when I talk with entrepreneurs who are ready to grow but unsure how paid advertising fits into their plan. In this post I share what I learned from a recent conversation with Carlene Kelsey of Desert Digital Ad Group on the Go Get Great podcast, and I add my own experience as a social media strategist and business owner.
Throughout this blog and podcast episode we'll walk you step-by-step through when to start, how to prepare, what to test, and how to measure whether your ads are actually moving the needle. I’ll also share five specific secrets Carlene highlighted for maximizing ROI, practical budgets to consider, and a troubleshooting checklist so you can diagnose where your funnel is leaking.
I’ll be honest: when people ask me, "do facebook ads work for small business?" my immediate response is both straightforward and nuanced. Yes—Facebook ads can absolutely work for small businesses. But they only work when you’ve set things up correctly, when your expectations match reality, and when you commit to testing, optimizing, and coordinating paid ads with organic marketing. If you want to know exactly what that looks like and the specific steps you should take next, keep reading.
If we haven't met yet, I’m Brittany, an online marketing strategist for female entrepreneurs. I teach women how to make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality through smart, actionable marketing strategies that get them seen, loved, and paid. Whether you’re eager to DIY your way to success or hire professionals to help you along the way–my goal is to make sure you walk away with the clarity you need to see the results you desire and build a life you love.
Table of Contents
Why ask "Do Facebook Ads Work for Small Business?"
As a small business owner or entrepreneur you’re juggling dozens of priorities. Marketing is one of them, and paid advertising often feels like the shortcut to faster results. So the first question becomes practical: do facebook ads work for small business in a way that’s predictable and cost-effective?
I like to ask a second question simultaneously: am I ready to use Facebook ads well? In my experience, answering those two questions together—feasibility and readiness—keeps expectations aligned. Ads are a powerful tool, but like any tool, they require the right materials, a plan, and some practice to use effectively.
What I mean by "work"
When we say do facebook ads work for small business, “work” means more than just impressions. It means the ad helps you move someone along a logical path: awareness → consideration → conversion. It means your ad drives the right kind of traffic to a landing page, captures leads, or results in sales at a cost that makes sense for your business.
Although I've dabbled in Facebook Ads and have a strong understanding of when it makes sense for small businesses to run paid ads, I wanted a second opinion from an ads specialist, which is why I invited Carlene Kelsey from Dessert Digital Ad Group to join me on the podcast.
Who should consider Facebook ads?
Do Facebook ads work for small business? Yes, but not every business is ready to start tomorrow. Here are the criteria Carlene and I use to decide if ads are a smart next step:
You have a website or landing page: Ads need a destination. If people click your ad, they should find a clear, professional page that explains what you offer and how to take the next step.
You’re a real business: This sounds obvious, but Facebook users will check you out. You need a professional-looking Facebook profile, a business page or Instagram account with significant organic content before running ads.
You have an opt-in or freebie: A lead magnet (free PDF, checklist, webinar sign-up) helps you build an email list—essential for long-term ROI with paid ads.
You’ve set up Facebook Business Manager and the Meta pixel: You need the technical foundation to track performance and build audiences otherwise you're spending money with no way to track results.
You have a modest marketing budget: Ads aren’t free, but they can be affordable if you plan your funnel. You should be prepared to invest at least a small daily amount while you test. A minimum of $500/month in ad spend is recommended but more is better, espically if you're testing different ads or running ads to multiple things.
If you tick these boxes, you’re in a good position to answer "do facebook ads work for small business?" with positive results—provided you approach ads strategically.
My quick answer: Yes—if you set up the funnel first
One of the clearest messages from Carlene and from my own experience is this: you can’t expect to jump straight to a "buy now" ad and see consistent results. Customers need time to move through the funnel. So when people ask, do facebook ads work for small business, I always add: they work best when you design a funnel that builds awareness, creates consideration, and then asks for a conversion.
Top-of-funnel awareness ads are cheap and are where most businesses should begin. From there you build retargeting audiences (people who viewed your videos or visited your landing page) and move them to consideration offers like low-cost products but free resources (aka. lead magnets) work best. Finally, only once you have warm audiences should you push conversion or sales-focused campaigns.
The 5 Secrets to Maximize ROI (from Carlene)
Carlene shared five practical secrets she uses with clients. I believe these are the pillars that answer the question do facebook ads work for small business more often than not.
Be ready before you launch: website or landing page, a freebie to capture emails, Facebook Business Manager, and the Meta pixel installed (see section "Who should consider Facebook Ads").
Choose the right objective: Pick the ad objective that matches what you want people to do—awareness, video views, link clicks, or leads. Don’t default to boosting posts, this is not the same as running paid ads.
Use the right budget: Different objectives require different budgets. Awareness campaigns can be as low as $3–$11/day. Sales campaigns require more. Carlene even suggests using odd-numbered budgets like $11 instead of $10 to edge out competitors in the auction (how Facebook determines which ads to show to who and how often).
Brainstorm and narrow your audience: Test broad vs. narrow targeting. Use custom audiences (website visitors, email lists) for retargeting. Audience quality is often the make-or-break factor.
Plan your creative and placements: Test video vs. carousel vs. single image. Short videos (1–3 minutes max) and carousel ads often perform best. Choose placements across Facebook and Instagram and test which platform yields better results for your product.
Those five things form a checklist I use whenever I plan a campaign. If you do those five things well, the odds of your ads working and converting well improve dramatically.
How to decide which ad objective to choose
Objective selection is one of the most common mistakes Carlene sees. When people ask "do facebook ads work for small business?" they sometimes mean, "do facebook ads work if I only boost posts?" Boosting posts has its place—mainly for boosts to build likes or comments—but it’s not the ideal path if you want results beyond engagement (like conversion or sales).
In Ads Manager you’ll see objectives such as brand awareness, reach, traffic, engagement, video views, lead generation, conversions, catalog sales, and more. Ask yourself: what action do I want someone to take when they see this ad? That answer is your objective.
Awareness: Use when your aim is to get your name in front of new people.
Consideration (traffic, engagement, video views): Use to get people to your site or to educate them with content.
Conversion/Lead Generation: Use when you want sign-ups, purchases, or form fills. This is more expensive but critical once your funnel is warm.
When you align your creative and landing page with a clear objective, you avoid wasted impressions and spending money on ads that aren't actually growing your business.
Audience targeting: the make-or-break factor
If you’re asking whether facebook ads work for your small business, consider how precisely you’re targeting. Getting the right audience is huge! There are thousands of people on Facebook but not everyone is going to be interested in what you have to offer, don't pay to show ads to those people!
You can target broadly (e.g., people in a country) or narrowly (zip codes, age ranges, interests, behaviors). While testing, I recommend experimenting with both broad and specific audiences, and always create custom audiences from your own data: website visitors, people who engaged with your Facebook or Instagram content, and your email list. Giving Facebook a base of people who love your content and product or service greatly increases you chances of the ads being shown to other people who are similar and will pay you money too.
Custom audiences are gold because they've already demonstrated some interest. From there, you can create lookalike audiences to reach people who resemble your best customers.
Testing audiences
Test one variable at a time. If you change the audience and the creative at the same time, you won’t know which change drove the result. Carlene likes to run an A/B test that isolates audience as the single variable. Similar to how we use the Instagram trial reels feature to A/B test, you can A/B test many different elements of your ads campaign.
Creative & placements: what performs best
When I plan a campaign I treat creative like the product demo of the ad. This is where organic experience helps: look at what content performed well on your profile and repurpose it for ads.
Carlene prefers short videos and carousels because they encourage people to spend more time with your ad. The algorithm interprets time spent as relevance, which can lower costs and increase reach. Short videos (1–3 minutes) focused on a single idea or benefit tend to outperform long, meandering videos.
Here are a few general recommendations for Facebook ads creative (visual) creation:
Video: Short, single-topic videos. Add captions for people watching without sound.
Carousel: Multiple images that tell a story or showcase multiple features/products.
Single image: Clean, bold visuals with a clear call-to-action (CTA). Useful for simplicity and speed.
Placement matters, too. Test Facebook Feed vs. Instagram Feed vs. Stories. Carlene recommends running both platforms and comparing results in Ads Manager. Your audience might respond better on Instagram—or exclusively on Facebook. The only way to know is to test!
Budgeting: how much should you spend?
One of the most frequent questions I get is, "What’s the minimum ad spend?" or "Do facebook ads work for small business if I only have $5 a day?" Here’s how I guide people:
Awareness/engagement ads: You can start as low as $3–$5 per day. These campaigns are inexpensive because your objective is reach or impressions, not conversions.
Practical small-business starting point: I recommend $10–$25 per day depending on your goals. Carlene suggests using odd numbers like $11 instead of $10 because it can help your ad win auctions.
Sales or webinar campaigns: These are more expensive. For a focused event you might run $25/day for a short period (e.g., 7–10 days) and get meaningful registration numbers.
Remember: Facebook runs on auctions - who's willing to pay more to get seen. During Q4 or busy advertising times, costs increase. If you test during the holiday season, expect to pay more to reach the same number of people. This is where a strategist (like me) can help you plan your launch timelines to best support your goals and ads budget.
Campaign timelines: patience and sequencing
Do facebook ads work for small business overnight? Rarely. Ads require time to gain momentum, and you should plan campaigns with realistic timelines.
Carlene recommends running event promotion campaigns for 3–4 weeks. Awareness and engagement campaigns can run longer, continuously building your audience. For launches or webinars, start seeding content weeks in advance to build interest before you open registration.
For long-term programs, remember that people buy when they’re ready. Running the same webinar or course multiple times helps capture people who weren’t ready the first time. Ads are a long-term strategy; consistency wins.
Testing and optimization: the iterative approach
I often say: ads are a science disguised as creativity. When you test, change only one variable at a time. If you swap multiple elements, you won’t know which change made the difference.
A typical testing roadmap Carlene uses:
Run the same creative across two audiences. See which audience performs better.
Take the winning audience and test two creatives against it: a short video vs. a carousel.
Test placement for the winning creative (Facebook vs. Instagram vs. Stories).
Test slight variations of the landing page headline or CTA if traffic isn’t converting.
Keep a simple spreadsheet with dates, budget, audience, creative, and results so you can learn systematically. This is how we answer "do facebook ads work for small business?" with data, not guesswork.
How to integrate organic marketing with ads
People often ask whether organic content still matters if they run ads. My answer is a resounding yes. Ads are more effective when your organic content backs them up.
If someone clicks an ad and then visits your social profiles, they’ll check for recent content, testimonials, and authenticity. If your profiles are silent or stale, they may decide not to convert. If you have active organic content, it reinforces trust and increases the chances a paid visitor converts.
Creating organic social media content is great way to test what will perform well even before running your ads. If your existing audience connects a post, it will likely perform well as an ad therefore reducing the need to A/B test as much which makes your budget more efficient.
My recommendation: run small awareness or engagement ads continuously while you use organic posts to deepen relationships. When you launch a product or webinar, coordinate organic posts, emails, and ads so your audience sees consistent messaging across channels.
Real-world example: webinar promotion
Carlene recently promoted a webinar where she ran ads for a client at $25/day over about eight days and got 400+ clicks. That campaign worked because it targeted a warm audience and the landing page was clear and optimized for sign-ups.
During that same webinar promotion, organic outreach accounted for a significant portion of registrations. I’m always careful to remind clients that ads amplify what you already do organically—they don’t replace it.
Frequency: a metric you must watch
Frequency tells you how many times the same person saw your ad. If the frequency climbs to three or more and your results are dropping, it’s time to change creative or expand the audience. People will stop responding to the same ad if they’ve seen it too many times.
To manage frequency, rotate creatives every 7–10 days for long campaigns, or refresh the audience segments. This keeps your ad performance healthy and your costs lower in the long run.
How to start your first campaign (step-by-step)
Install the Meta pixel on your website and confirm it’s firing.
Create a simple landing page with one clear CTA and an opt-in if needed.
Set up Facebook Business Manager and your ad account.
Begin with a top-of-funnel awareness campaign (budget $5–$11/day).
Build a custom audience of people who engage with the awareness ad.
Retarget that custom audience with a consideration or lead-generation ad.
Track results and change only one variable at a time during tests.
Scale the winning campaign by increasing budget gradually and continuing to test creative.
How to know if your ads are working
When you ask do facebook ads work for small business, the answer depends on how you measure success. Here are the key metrics and steps we use:
Reach and impressions: Useful for awareness—are people seeing your ad?
Clicks and CTR (click-through rate): If your ad gets impressions but no clicks, test creative and CTA.
Landing page metrics: Use the Meta pixel to track page visits and conversions. How many people reached the opt-in page? How many converted?
Cost per result: Cost per lead or cost per purchase tells you whether the campaign is economically viable.
Frequency: How many times the same person saw the ad. If frequency rises above 3–4, change creative or audience.
Ads Manager has reporting and quality ranking metrics such as "ad quality" or "relevance." If your ad is rated below average, try new creative or tweak the audience. If your landing page is underperforming, use the pixel data to compare expected reach versus actual visits, and map where drop-offs happen.
Troubleshooting: common reasons ads underperform
If you’ve ever thought "do facebook ads work for small business?" after a disappointing campaign, you’re not alone. Here are the most common issues and how I fix them:
No tracking or pixel: Without the Meta pixel, you can’t properly measure and retarget. Install it first.
Wrong objective: You selected conversions but don’t have a funnel. Start with traffic or video views to warm up audiences.
Poor creative: Test short videos and carousel ads. If people scroll past, you didn’t capture attention and need to spend more time on content creation.
Audience mismatch: Your targeting is too broad or too narrow. Build custom audiences from your existing traffic and test lookalikes.
Insufficient budget: If your bid is too low, Facebook won’t show your ads. Try increasing daily spend in odd numbers like $11 or $26
High frequency: People see the same ad too many times. Refresh creative or expand audience.
Landing page conversion issues: If clicks don’t turn into leads, optimize the landing page: stronger headline, clearer CTA, fewer distractions.
When you first start running paid ads it can feel very overwhelming to figure out what's not working or when to make changes, that's why hiring an ads specialist like Carlene can be beneficial. They know what to track and when you make changes to maximize your ads budget and help you achieve your campaign goals.
What to do if your ads aren’t converting
First, don’t panic. Learning is part of the process. Use this troubleshooting checklist:
Check the pixel and event tracking.
Compare the expected reach to actual reach in Ads Manager.
Review quality and relevance scores—below average? Try different creative.
Examine the landing page: is the CTA clear and easy? Does the page load fast?
Look at frequency: are you showing the same ad to the same people too often?
Test a different audience or expand your targeting slightly.
Revisit your offer: is it appealing and clearly communicated?
Addressing these items systematically will usually reveal the weak link in the funnel.
Long-term strategy: repeat, refine, and relaunch
One of the important themes from my conversation with Carlene is that Facebook ads are a long-term play. People don’t always buy on the first exposure. They may need to see your message several times across different touch points (ad, organic post, email) before converting.
Plan to run campaigns repeatedly, refine messaging, and relaunch offerings with minor tweaks. If your first webinar run created awareness but not purchases, a second or third run—with improved retargeting and clearer offers—can convert people who weren’t ready the first time.
My closing thoughts on "Do Facebook Ads Work for Small Business?"
From everything I’ve learned—both from experts like Carlene and from my own trials—the short answer is yes. Yes, they can be highly effective. But the fuller answer is this: they work when you plan your funnel, choose the right objectives, match creative to placements, target wisely, and measure with clarity.
I’ve seen ads turn into major growth engines for small businesses when those elements are in place. I’ve also seen wasted budgets when people skipped the basics or expected instant miracles. If you want to succeed with Facebook ads, treat them as a strategic investment, not a magic button.
Resources and next steps
If you're ready to take action, start with these pragmatic next steps:
Download the checklist and planning guide created by Carlene (mentioned on the podcast). It walks you through setup, budgeting, and common mistakes to avoid.
Install the Meta pixel and verify it’s tracking properly.
Create or polish one landing page and one freebie to test a lead-generation campaign. If you'd like a second option, check out my VIP Day options where we can review, and improve your funnels.
Plan for an initial 3–4 week campaign to promote a webinar, free masterclass, or lead magnet. Budget $10–$25/day based on your comfort level.
Track results in a simple spreadsheet and iterate every 7–14 days.
FAQ About Facebook Ads
Q: Do Facebook ads work for small business with tiny budgets?
A: Yes. You can begin with small daily budgets for awareness and engagement—sometimes as low as $3–$5/day for reach. If you want tangible leads, consider starting around $10–$25/day so Facebook can enter the auction with enough budget to show your ad. Remember to set realistic expectations: smaller budgets may need more time to yield meaningful results.
Q: How long should I run an ad before deciding it’s not working?
A: Give a campaign at least 7–14 days to gather meaningful data, but for event or webinar promotions plan 3–4 weeks. If after two weeks you’re seeing no clicks and a below-average quality score, change the creative or the audience. If you’re getting clicks but no conversions, optimize the landing page.
Q: Should I start with boosting posts or Ads Manager?
A: Use Ads Manager for more control and better results. Boosting a post is okay for quick engagement or page likes, but Ads Manager lets you choose objectives, set budgets, and access more sophisticated targeting and reporting.
Q: How do I know which objective to pick?
A: Choose the objective based on the action you want people to take. For awareness, choose brand awareness or reach. For traffic to a webinar or blog, choose traffic. For sign-ups on Facebook, choose lead generation. For purchases, choose conversions. Align objective with your funnel stage.
Q: What is frequency and why should I care?
A: Frequency shows how many times an average person saw your ad. High frequency (3–6+) can lead to ad fatigue and decreased ROI. If frequency climbs too high, refresh your creative or expand your audience to avoid wasting impressions.
Q: How do I combine organic strategy with ads?
A: Coordinate them. Use organic content to build trust, answer FAQs, and tease your events or offers. Run awareness ads to reach new people and retarget ad-engaged users with conversion offers. Use email to nurture leads captured by ads so they convert later.
Q: Can I manage my own ads, or should I hire someone?
A: You can certainly manage your own ads if you’re willing to learn, test, and iterate. Many small business owners do. If you don’t have time or want faster results, hiring a competent agency or coach can save mistakes and accelerate ROI. Working with a boutique agency—like Carlene’s Desert Digital Ad Group—can give you strategy plus hands-on execution when you need it.
Final encouragement
When people ask, do facebook ads work for small business, I always want them to feel empowered rather than overwhelmed. Ads are an investment in visibility and growth, and they become far more effective when they’re part of a coordinated marketing strategy that includes organic content and email follow-up.
If you’re ready, start small, plan thoughtfully, and test consistently. Use the five secrets we covered as your framework, and don’t be afraid to get help when you need it. The combination of good creative, smart targeting, a clear funnel, and consistent follow-up is how Facebook ads become a reliable growth engine for small businesses.
Episode References
Facebook Ads Checklist & Workbook For Beginners https://bit.ly/Ads-Checklist-March24
Meet Carlene
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00:00 Intro
5:30 When is the best time to start running paid ads?
11:00 Choosing your ads objective
13:00 Brainstorm your audience
14:30 Where to place your ad for maximum reach
17:00 Organic social media vs. ads
17:45 Running your first ad
20:15 Minimum ad spend required
24:15 How do you know it's working?
26:45 Tips for optimizing your ads
30:00 More than just ads
41:00 Giveaway
42:45 Wrap up
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