If you’re a brow tech and you run your own business, you already know how powerful Instagram and TikTok can be for organic growth. Before and after content, UGC, and day in the life videos can be great, but let’s be real—organic growth is slow, and algorithms can be fickle, especially if it’s qualified traffic you want to attract. If you want to really grow your client list, booking calendar, and brand awareness, it might be time to dip your toes into the world of paid ads.
Paid ads are a great way of immediately driving qualified traffic to your site with a relatively low budget. And the best part? You don’t need a marketing degree! This article explores the basics of the three ad platforms; Meta ads (Instagram & Facebook), TikTok ads, and Google Search ads.
Meta Ads Manager: Instagram & Facebook
Meta Ads (formally known as Facebook) lets you create paid campaigns that appear on Instagram and Facebook. You can target users based on their age, location, interests, behaviors, and more. You can run broad campaigns, reaching customers who have not discovered your business yet but who are likely to be potential customers (like people who aren’t actively searching for a lash lift, but your gorgeous video pops up and suddenly they NEED one). Or, you can run retargeting campaigns, targeting people who have come across your page before and need reminding of your presence!
What’s great about Meta is that the platform knows what performs well and what doesn’t, and will spend the budget accordingly. If a particular ad is not performing well, less of the budget will be spent on that ad, and instead will be spent on ads that are doing well, that way you are not spending loads of money and not getting any returns (no one wants that).
Meta is great for:
Building brand awareness
Getting more followers & engagement
Promoting special offers & filling last-minute appointments
Retargeting people who’ve visited your website or IG profile
Want to learn more about the set up of Meta? Check out:
https://academy.hubspot.com/courses/facebook-marketing-training
TikTok Ads
How it works:
TikTok Ads let you promote short-form videos and image carousels directly into users’ “For You” feeds. Like Meta, you can target based on location, interests and demographics. Also, once you have been running ads for some time, you can measure the performance of your ads and see what is working and what needs refining. TikTok is great at showing you who is actually engaging with your ads based on demographics such as age and gender. For example, if a particular age group is being shown your ad but aren’t showing interest, you can choose to stop running your ad to that age group and there stop spending money on that age group, as you aren’t getting any returns.
TikTok values the type of content you create. It’s not just about having creative or aesthetic content. The algorithm favours videos that have voice overs, where you specifically say key words when talking. So things like SEO are just as important as the creative aspect of the content.
TikTok is great for:
Going viral and reaching a large audience
Showing the fun, creative side of your business
Want to find out more? Check out:
Google Search Ads
Google Search Ads are the little text ads you see at the top of Google search results. You bid on keywords like “brow lamination near me” or “lash lift in [your city].” When someone types that into Google, your ad can show up. Google Ads involve a little basic knowledge on SEO, so check out this article to learn a bit about that first if you are unfamiliar with it!
Google ads is great for:
Getting clients who are actively searching for your services
Attracting high-intent traffic (people ready to book today)
Competing with local businesses and standing out
Often people will get hit with one of your ads from either Meta or Tiktok and then go and search your brand name on Google straight away, so you really want to make sure you appear in the search results when they do! You can track how many times your brand is being searched on a daily and monthly basis, and that way you can see how many people are actively searching for your particular company. This is known as intent-based traffic, they are people who already know they want the service and are looking to book in with you.
Some SEO Tips:
- Keyword research is key — think like your client!
- Write clear, compelling text
- Send traffic to a booking-friendly landing page (optimise for mobile as well as desktop)
- It’s not just about how much you bid, more money does not equal a higher ranking. Google ranks search results based on various factors, so bear this in mind before you start bidding!
Find out more about Google Ads here:
https://academy.hubspot.com/lessons/getting-started-with-google-ads
Final Tips:
Start small — even £5-10/day can make an impact.
Test different creatives and messages.
Track what’s working — don’t “set it and forget it.”
If you’re ready to scale your business strategically, use all three platforms and start seeing growth!
