Sarah sitting at a desk with hands on a laptop

Are you looking for a highly-profitable business to start from home?

If so, you’re in the right place, because an advertising business can be one of the best businesses to start!

The thing is, most people don’t actually understand what this business entails, or how little is needed to learn the skills to become a successful ads manager!

This article will cover “How to become an ads manager.”

What does an Ads Manager do?

Simply put, we run ads for other people, and specifically for people who have businesses.

 All businesses need more sales to thrive and grow, and so they need to be spending a large part of their effort and budget on advertising.

Ads managers engage in a very specific kind of advertising on social platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, Google and TikTok, and it’s not nearly as hard or overwhelming as you might imagine!

How did Ads Managers Become A thing?

The business landscape has changed rapidly in the last few years, and one of the biggest changes has been precisely where people advertise. Because social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become such an essential part of our lives, more and more companies have recognized the necessity of moving their advertising on social platforms, and this is how ads managers meet the market where there is a demand.

Never has social media been more important as a vehicle for companies to reach consumers and new markets, so it’s a HOT HOT HOT market! There is huge pressure and demand for businesses to figure out how to very effectively do social media ads, and it’s a skill that they are willing to pay extremely well for.

As an ads manager, you can have an impact, you can help people, you can contribute to businesses thriving and getting more sales, and because it pays really well, you have the freedom and time to truly enjoy your life. 

Because of the nature of the digital space, the type of advertising that you can do is much more specific. Gone are the days of sitting in front of the TV, having to endure an endless stream of commercials that had nothing to do with you or your interests!

Social media platforms are incredibly adept at targeting very specific people, meaning that these targeting capabilities allow you to target just your ideal customer, and because of that, you’re able to tell a very specific story to create that resonance and connection with audiences, which is why it’s an incredibly powerful marketing tool, and an incredibly in-demand skill. 

Now, what does the daily life of an ads manager look like? Running ads on Facebook is a predominantly creative job, as well as collaborative in nature because we work with clients to identify and create the strategy that would work best for them.

Once you learn the ads process, and are ready to run ads for other companies, you would start reaching out to companies and have conversations with them; about who they are, what they’re selling, what their goals are, and these details will get you the clarity to know if they’re the right client for you to help, and provide the most value to.

If you like talking to people, you’ll truly thrive in these interactions with clients, but even if you’re not a natural-born salesperson, or if you’re an introvert, you can crush it at this type of sales. 

Once a client is on board (yay!), the first month is called the onboarding month, and it’s an exciting month where we get super clear on who the client is, what they’re selling, and we help them tailor a marketing plan that’s going to suit their needs and position them for optimal success and sales.

At this point, we are meeting with a client 2-3 times over the course of the month (2-3 hours of time).

We’ll also do work behind the scenes to help them be “traffic-ready,” which involves the creation of a funnel (don’t let this phrase scare you!), which is just a very specific type of webpage to help effectively direct traffic.

The onboarding month is about getting the campaign ready so that we can turn on the ads, get people onto their website, and get people on the phone with them, and consume their product/services.

This first month is a bit more involved in terms of the overall set-up and face-to-face time, and takes about 10-15 hours to get everything ready for launch, because we’re essentially building the engine through which they can sell their service. Due to the increased set-up and time, the client also pays more for this month, typically between $2,500-$6000 in USD.

With the onboarding month under our belt, we then transition to what’s called the ads management months, and this is when we’re running the ads, setting up campaigns, checking in on performance and analytics, and making sure that the client is getting the appropriate number of sales/leads.

We are essentially spending the client’s advertising dollars and babysitting these ads so that we know that they’re working well! Every Friday, we will send a simple Excel tracking sheet to our clients so that they know how things went, and provide insights into improving performance (if needed).

Beyond this, we maintain communication with the client via email or voice notes to keep them in the loop about what’s happening. The average amount of time spent is 5-7 hours PER MONTH per client, so the work required is quite minimal in relation to what you’re getting paid, which would be in the range of $1500-$3000 USD per month depending on the complexity/number of campaigns and strategies.

In this industry, people pay you on what you know, and not on how many hours it takes you to complete a task or project, which is a valuable shift in understanding your time and worth as an ads manager. 

Being an ads manager is an exciting mix of collaboration, communication, creativity, and a fair amount of time behind the computer, which is nice if you like having that independence to plug away at projects on your own. The best part is, it’s easy to learn! If you’re able to do a post on Facebook, you can absolutely put together an ads campaign. 

Many people wonder how long a client relationship lasts for. Typically, clients will sign a 3-month contract, meaning that they work with us for a minimum of 3 months, but many clients have stayed with us far longer than that, because when clients are selling and when they’re happy, there’s very little reason to stop our services, which is another reason why it is truly a wonderful business because there’s a fair amount of predictability. 

This is a great business to do either as a solopreneur or if you want to scale and build a team. As a boutique solo agency, you can have a handful of clients (5 for example) and do everything yourself, where you’ll work part-time hours, and make about $8-$10K a month. If you’d love to work with more clients, you can start to build up your team to help manage client campaigns and deliverables, and your earnings would be anywhere from $20K-$50K+ months! ‘’

Being an ads manager is an exciting job that lets you have the creativity and freedom to have a meaningful impact on others, while also allowing for the flexibility to design it to fit your lifestyle, whether that means starting as a part-time side hustle, or wanting to create your own ads management empire. 

If you’d like to learn more about what it’s like to be an ads manager and how to start an ads management business, check out our free training: 

watch.sarahmaeives.com/workshop