Free with account
How to Run Ads
By the end of this course you'll be able to set up, launch, and read your own ad campaigns on Meta and Google — targeting, creative, budgets, and all. The manual way: no black boxes, you'll know what every setting does.
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You're either paying for customers or begging for them. This course puts you in the first group. Six modules: Meta and Google campaigns built by hand, budgets you control, numbers you can actually read. No agency. No black box.
What you'll learn
- Set up conversion tracking before spending a dollar, so every click teaches you something.
- Build targeting that matches real buyers — not the broad defaults the platforms suggest.
- Write and design ad creative that earns the click, by hand, for Meta and Google.
- Read your results and kill losers fast: know which numbers mean "scale" and which mean "stop."
Is this for me?
Who is this course for?
Business owners with something to sell and a page to send traffic to. Not for pre-launch ideas — ads need an offer and a destination.
What do I need before starting?
Something to sell, somewhere to send clicks, and a starter budget — even $5–$10 a day works for learning. Meta and Google accounts are both free.
How long does it take?
Six modules at 30–45 minutes each. Plan on two to three weeks of running small test campaigns alongside the lessons — that's where the real learning happens.
Start here
Module 0: Start Here
Orientation: what you'll build, how the course works, and how to get the most out of every module. Start here before Module 1.
Module 1
Module 1: How Ads Actually Work
Before you spend a single dollar, you need a working picture of what's happening behind the screen. This module covers the auction, the two big platforms, and how to set a budget that won't hurt.
Module 2
Module 2: Tracking First
Running ads without tracking is like driving with a covered speedometer — you can do it, but you won't know when you're in trouble. Set this up before you launch anything. It's unglamorous and it matters more than your ad creative.
Module 3
Module 3: Who Sees Your Ads
Targeting is where beginners either waste money talking to everyone or strangle a good campaign with an audience of 4,000 people. This module walks through defining your customer, choosing between interest and broad targeting, and using your warmest audiences well.
Module 4
Module 4: Creative That Works
Creative is the biggest lever you control — a great ad can cut your costs in half, and no amount of targeting fixes a boring one. The good news: effective ad creative is a learnable craft, and your phone is enough equipment.
Module 5
Module 5: Launching
This is where it all comes together: the campaign structure, the money settings, and the final checks before you press publish. Follow the order here and you'll avoid the misconfigurations that silently waste most beginners' first budgets.
Module 6
Module 6: Reading and Improving
Launching is the starting line, not the finish. This module teaches you to read the four numbers that matter, make calm kill-or-scale decisions, and improve methodically instead of guessing. This is the skill that separates advertisers who profit from advertisers who donate.
Choose your track
Two ways through this course — pick the one that fits where you are.
Starter track
Modules 1–4. Understand how ads work (Module 1), install tracking (Module 2 — non-negotiable), define your audience (Module 3), and write your first creative (Module 4). Launch one small campaign, then come back for Modules 5–6 once you have real data to read.
Advanced track
All six modules, then the teardown and exam. If you're already running ads, audit your current account against Module 2 (tracking) and Module 6 (reading data) first — most experienced advertisers find their biggest leak in one of those two. Multi-platform advertisers should complete the full loop on one platform before adding a second.
Your build brief
Everything you write in the build brief prompts across this course's modules collects here. Download it as a designed PDF — and we keep a copy too, so when you're ready for us to build it for you, we already know exactly what you want.
Your answers save automatically as you type — on this device and to your signup email.
Teardown: The $2,000/Month Ad Account Going Nowhere
A local home-services company spends $2,000/month on Google Ads. The account has one campaign, one ad group, 47 keywords — most on broad match — and all clicks go to the homepage. Conversion tracking was "set up" by someone two years ago and hasn't recorded a conversion since. The owner judges performance by "we get calls sometimes."
What's broken (Module 2 first): No working conversion tracking means every optimization decision is a guess. That's the first fix — before touching a keyword. Install proper conversion tracking for calls and form fills, then wait two weeks for clean data.
Then structure (Modules 3–4): 47 broad-match keywords in one ad group means the plumber's ad shows for "DIY plumbing tips" and "plumbing jobs hiring." Split into tight ad groups by intent — emergency, installation, maintenance — each with ads written for that specific search and landing pages to match. Broad match without negative keywords is a donation to Google.
The pattern: Almost every struggling ad account fails in the same order — no tracking, sloppy structure, generic creative, premature judgment. Fix them in that order and the same $2,000 usually produces double the leads within 60 days. The money was never the problem; the system was.
Course extras
Glossary — 15 key terms Final exam — 10 questions, 15 minutes
Want this done for you?
Rather do it with us? Our Campaign Build ($1,500) — Meta and Google campaigns, built and launched.
See done-for-you services