871: What’s Actually Working with Paid Social Ads in 2025

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2:01The brands that succeed focus on long-term growth and consistency, not just the short-term win. So while one and done campaigns are still powerful, I would challenge you to think bigger and more long-term. So while the 40 cent leads may be over, it's still a wonderful strategy. I'm Jenna Kutcher, your host of the Gold Digger podcast. I escaped the corporate world at the age of 23 with nothing more than a$300 camera from Craigslist and a dream. Now I'm running a seven-figure online business that feels even better than it looks all from my house in small town Minnesota with my family. Here, we value time as our currency.

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3:18This is the Gold Digger Podcast. Let's be real. Paid ads have changed a lot over the years, and keeping up with what actually works can feel like trying to hit a moving target. But lucky for me, and for you, I have had the same brilliant ad strategist in my corner for years, and today she is here to break it all down for us. Keri Swetman is a business strategist, a systems nerd, and a master of simplifying the complex world of online advertising. She's not just any expert in Facebook ads. She's been my personal go-to strategist for eight and a half years, helping me navigate the ever-changing digital landscape and making sure my ads are working for me, not against me.

4:02The last time Keri was on the Gold Digger podcast was back in 2017. Yes, you heard that right. And so I think it is more than safe to say that we are overdue for an updated look at the paid ads landscape in 2025. In today's episode, we're diving into what is working right now for paid ads in 2025, what strategies are performing best, the best types of content to test, what's not worth your money or time anymore, and Carrie's biggest tips for maximizing your return on investment. I'm also dropping a shocking fact in this episode that I think is going to blow your mind when it comes to our ad strategy.

4:39Whether you're running ads for the first time or looking to fine-tune your paid approach, this episode is jam-packed with gold. Welcome to the Gold Digger podcast, Keri. Keri, you know that we're all about actionable strategies on this show, and so I want to dive right into it with you. What is the number one strategy that is working right now for Facebook ads in 2025? Ooh, that's a good one. It's fluid for one. So I always want everyone to keep that in mind, but social ads can be nuanced. But for 2025, I would say really expanding your visuals. We are testing so many different kinds of graphics right now from these really bold visuals with bold statements to videos with funky transitions, tons of B-roll video with text overlaid and of course, the storytelling via video and carousel ads, anything that will make people stop scrolling.

5:38And it's best to incorporate a variety of different graphics. And one thing that we saw with your most recent launch was that while video received the most engagement and the most leads, it was static images that garnered the cheapest leads. So we were amenable to both and we wanted the volume and the lower cost per lead. So, you know, I felt like it was a great reminder that you should always test a variety of assets because your audience will pay attention to different things. Yes. Okay. I love that we're kicking off on this and I feel like we are consistently, I mean, even yesterday you and I were having a conversation about like trying different things.

6:22And I think a lot of times when people think about ads, it's like they're stuck in like either something that worked before, which could be, you know, just a static image that you made in Canva that's great. But one thing I love about you is like you love to experiment and try different things. You're like, let's just try it. And that has given us so much insight and data and also given us kind of the creative direction as we're going into bigger launches of like, okay, here is what we need. Here's what we want to try. And it's been so helpful. And so I love that we're kicking off on this. And I think, you know, the main point here is like, if you are somebody that's running paid traffic, no matter where you are paying for it, don't just stick to one style of graphics or videos or something like that.

7:07Like mix it up because we have found, and I feel like every launch, do you think Carrie, like every launch has kind of a unique angle or something that we're like, Hmm, that's really peculiar. That's interesting. It does. And, you know, while you can kind of see from your historical data trends, it really is like launches, you know, which may feel overwhelming to some people that every launch is kind of different or whatever. But like I said, you can see some trends and feed that back into your marketing, but it really is. Should we talk about the treadmill video? You know, we have this B-roll video of you on the treadmill.

7:46And no matter where we put it, whether we put it to an evergreen ad, or we put it to a live launch, it, I mean, it comes out of the gate, just soaring. It's incredible. And we're constantly touching base with each other. Like what, what is it about what's so appealing about this? But it's also hilarious because in that video, my posture is 100 % questionable. And so sometimes I'll like click on it and like the comments will be like, you need to stand up straighter, like all these things. But it's interesting because it's, I think a lot of times people get overwhelmed in the thought of video that it needs to be like highly produced or like, you know, this like crazy interesting thing.

8:26And it's literally me walking on a treadmill. And so it is just funny because you don't know what will hit or what will take off. And I just love that we toss a lot of things out into the ether and then we kind of dial it in as time goes on and as the data comes in. But this should be encouragement to anyone listening of like, you don't need to go hire a video team or anything like that to create compelling ads. You're probably sitting on video clips that could do really well as an ad. Absolutely. Absolutely. And sometimes, like the treadmill video, we just overlay some text on it. It's hard hitting text.

9:04And that along with, you know, the video is, is what gets people to stop the scroll. So it is, you really have to just try different things. And I love that about you. It's, it's been really just such a pleasure to know that you are four and we've had a lot of fun. Yeah. Throwing things around and testing different things. So. And we're not done. I feel like we're just getting started. Like I, I feel like we are always curious as to like, okay, what's going to work now or what's next? One thing I'm curious about is there is probably a really great segment of this podcast. Maybe you, the listener right now are like, I have never put a single dollar into paid ads.

9:44They've run a business or they've started a business. Maybe they've gotten their first sale or their 1000 sale, but they've actually never paid for ads. And so where should somebody begin and why would now be the time to consider starting for them? Yeah. You really should always begin with your strategy. And I know that's not as concrete as probably some people will like, but ads will only amplify what is already working. So you want to start there. What are you currently selling? Well, that's the thing you want to put your ad dollars behind. And always remember that ads are just one piece of the puzzle.

10:22That's another thing that you do so well. Ads work best when combined with a solid organic strategy. So whether that's social media or email marketing or both, when you pair your paid and organic strategies, your efforts compound and build this unstoppable momentum that just grows bigger and better. So it's so important to have both. And the last thing that I'll say is that the ad platforms are more integrated and user-friendly than ever before. So don't be afraid to get in there and give it a try. Not only is setting up ads easier, but the various ads managers within each platform have added so many integrations with the other softwares that you're likely already using.

11:07So it's much easier than it once was to navigate and get a campaign up and running. And if you're not quite ready for ads yet, that's okay. I would encourage you to focus on building your audience organically through social media and email marketing. And the more you grow your base now, the stronger position you'll be in when you start to run those ads. Yeah, I love that. I'm doing coaching just a few different coaching clients offline. And one of them I sent over to you and I had been talking to her because she is an incredible entrepreneur. She runs a multimillion dollar business and she's never put a penny into paid ads.

11:48And I was blown away. Like I was blown away because she has the system and she basically was asking me like, how do I make this more sustainable? Because I cannot keep running and live launching and doing all of this to get the same results. And so immediately I was like, wow, you already have the proven system. You already have the funnels. You already have the content. You already have the audience. Imagine what could happen if you put some paid ad dollars behind it. And it was just this realization of ads can be like throwing gasoline on the fire, but the fire has to exist first. The flame has to be there for the gasoline to make the impact.

12:27And so I love that advice that you're giving of like, get a proven funnel or strategy or sales, a means of making sales and then consider putting paid ad dollars. And I couldn't agree more with that. So one thing I'm curious, and this is kind of a fun question, but what is something that used to work with Facebook ads that no longer works? Like when I think of the fact that you came on this podcast back in 2017, I would actually say I stand by almost all of the content we talked about, but is there anything that's like totally dead in the world of Facebook ads? Well, you and I both know that in our heyday, long before each platform was as crowded as they are now, long before the data privacy laws, we used to set up campaigns and get leads for, you know, under 40 cents pretty easily.

13:18For most people, I would say that those days are gone. And ultimately, you know, advertising isn't a shortcut. It's a strategy. It's a long game, really. And the brands that succeed focus on long-term growth and consistency, not just the short-term win. So while one and done campaigns are still powerful, I would challenge you to think bigger and more long-term. So while the 40 cent leads may be over, it's still a wonderful strategy. Yeah. This podcast is brought to you by Mercury, banking that helps entrepreneurs do more with their money. Okay. I remember in the early days of my entrepreneurship journey, clients would literally mail me checks and then I would have to drive all the way to the bank to deposit them.

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15:55And I love Shark Tank. I don't know. I'm just obsessed with it. And Coco has started to watch it with me. It's like, mom, is the person getting the deal? What's happening? I don't like that bald guy. He doesn't seem nice. But I love how much they ask about like, what is your cost per lead? And what is your customer lifetime value and all of these different things? And one thing that I think is really beautiful about ads is for most business owners, especially in the early stages, you can't really say or answer those questions, right? You don't really know how much am I spending to get a new email subscriber?

16:31What does this actually cost me to get somebody to view my sales page? And one thing that I think is so beautiful and under talked about and underutilized, honestly, is the fact that Facebook ads can give you a ton of insight and a ton of data that can really help make sure that like your copy is hitting, that your offers are right, that your pricing is right. Let's talk a little bit about that because I think that a lot of times people look at paid ads as like the direct line to the consumer, which is the ultimate goal, right? But beyond that, I also think that you're kind of sitting on a goldmine of information that can really help you retailer your strategies or your messaging or your offer.

17:13It's so true. And it's my favorite clients are the ones that get that right that aren't looking for the super short term. Obviously, like you said, you know, we're we're trying to pay for the ads and then some, but it really is a long term strategy. And it has this compounding effect. And it, it does, we, our results, we are constantly talking about what worked, what didn't work. and then feeding that back into not just your ads, but your emails, your organic social, everything. And so it really is a holistic tool to gain information about what platform people respond to, what type of graphic, what type of copy, what buzzwords, what specific hard-hitting text.

18:05We get a lot of things, a lot of headlines and things like that from the results of ads, for sure. I love that. And I love testing because I think a lot of entrepreneurs will hear things about like split testing and they're like, how do I even do that? How do I know the data? And it's like, ads are actually a pretty easy way to kind of get some clear winners in some of the decisions that you might be grappling with within your business. So I kind of love that. Yeah. So one thing that I'm curious about is like if business owners have been utilizing ads and maybe they're feeling similar shifts to what I've been feeling, what I know my friends have been feeling, what's the best place to start when creating a 2025 Facebook ad strategy?

18:49Yeah, I think, you know, number one is this mindset shift. I feel like a lot of people think very narrowly when thinking about paid media. And, you know, we've been touching on this. Instead of realizing that your ad strategy is never truly done, the brands that are winning are constantly testing, optimizing, and iterating. And while that may feel overwhelming, you want to try to adjust your mindset so that you're focusing on that long-term success. And it really, for 2025, it really is about putting different things out there. I mean, like I said, we are testing these really funky videos with really crazy transitions, all different kinds of, you know, the talking head videos, the B-roll with text overlaid, just all different kinds of things.

19:42And I think that that is probably going to be the key for 2025 is just to get in there and have your ad strategy be kind of this creative playground for your brand. One thing that I've been doing that I think might be helpful for somebody that's listening is Carrie and I will sit down before a launch and we'll kind of make a laundry list of like, here's what we want for content. And it actually helps me because I'm the person creating my organic content. And so it forces me to batch create a ton of my organic content before I get into a launch so that Carrie has it to also run ads. And then what's interesting is, is a lot of she'll be running my like reels or carousels that I'm going to be posting anyways, prior to me posting them.

20:35And I can already start to get feedback on that content. Let me tell one funny story that we had on a recent launch. I had created this carousel about starting my podcast. And on one of the slides, I had made a remark of like, I was nervous for my husband to hear me like speaking. And I worded it poorly. I worded it. Like I thought it made sense in my mind. And so Carrie posts up this carousel and all of a sudden I'm like clicking on the ad comments and all these people are like, I hope you left that husband and all this stuff. And I was like, I messaged her and I'm like, oh my gosh, I didn't mean that when I said that on that slide.

21:11And so we pulled that ad down and it helped me tweak the copy on that carousel before I posted it on my own feed, which I was like so grateful for. But that's a funny example. But one thing that's helpful on that is I think a lot of times when entrepreneurs get into a launch, whether you're launching a product, a service or an offer, the last thing you want to be doing is sitting there at 7pm thinking, what am I going to post today? I know I should be posting something and I have nothing to post. And so what has really helped me is knowing the needs in advance, creating them for Carrie, for my ads team.

21:44And then, okay, when I'm in the launch, I have all the assets prepped and ready to go so that I'm not sitting there creating at the last minute. And that's been so helpful. Do you have anything to add to that? It's huge. I mean, it really is huge. If you're, you know, into energy, it really takes the, it really makes the energy for a launch, especially so much better. And there is something to that. I can feel it on my end when people are scrambling and it just makes for a much better, more seamless launch. I love that. Yes. Okay. So I want to know what is your take on ad budget? So like, what is the minimum someone should spend to actually see results?

22:27Like, where do you recommend people putting their dollars and like kind of focusing their efforts? Yeah, this, you know, I feel like this is the one question that everyone's always trying to pin me down for years and years and years. And the answer is, as annoying as I'm going to be. It depends on your goals. And the cool thing about most platforms is that you can get started for very little,$5 a day, or sometimes even less than that. But the truth is, you're not going to get very far with that. And it's going to take a long time to get decent data, basically. So particularly with the way that the algorithm is currently, it really needs to see a certain number of conversions each week in order for it to optimize and continue to produce results.

23:16So you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot by not allotting enough budget. Having said that, 99.9 % of the time your ad spend should be tied to your goals. So when people ask me, what should I choose as a budget? I will always say, how many leads are you trying to get? Or what is your revenue goal? You know this very well. But when you're first starting out and until you have some historical data, you will end up kind of picking a number out of thin air. I would say, you know, if you're doing a lead gen campaign, don't do something less than like$30 a day, but very quickly you'll see what your cost per lead is or your cost per purchase.

23:55And then it's a simple math equation from there and you can adjust your budget. One thing let's talk about, because I don't think people realize this Carrie, is that it takes a little bit for the ad to like settle and the costs to go down. Can you explain that? Because I think some people might pop up an ad and their cost per lead is higher than they were anticipating and they panic and shut it off. So let's talk about that process of it kind of figuring it out and going down or how you make the call to like pull the plug like this isn't working. Right. So you truly do have to give it several days.

24:31The way that Facebook in particular pushes their ads out is to a small amount of people and then they see the results and then it kind of goes from there. So it does really take several days to optimize. With Pinterest specifically, it takes a while. It takes a good week, I would say, maybe even more for it to settle down, for it to optimize and kind of become what we call stable. So yeah, you do have to be patient. I'm queen of, especially when we launch, I have to kind of sit on my hands. Which is so hard for you to do. It is. It really is. But yeah, you have to give it some time to optimize.

25:12So be patient. Don't panic. And then give it some time and then you can adjust. Let's talk about Pinterest. I was actually just, I have a couple different text threads with some other female entrepreneurs. And I was telling them about our recent launch and Pinterest and how we did on our Pinterest ads. Can we talk a little bit about that here? Because I thought this was one of the biggest takeaways for me for 2025. Yeah. And really me too. When I see the reports come across for you for Pinterest for the last few months, it just keeps getting better and better. I mean, it is really fun. it's advertising across multiple platforms will let you reach people at different points in their customer journey.

26:01Someone might first discover your brand on Pinterest and then see your Instagram or Facebook ads later on. It creates a more diversified opportunity for you to reach people where they are on, you know, across multiple platforms. We have had huge success with Pinterest for your brand. And Pinterest really has made a solid effort lately to connect with advertisers, to educate and evolve their tools. So if you are advertising on Pinterest, you'll probably get an email with some sort of rep that you can bounce questions off of and work with to improve your ads. And it's been a really, really fun experience.

26:43Yeah. It was interesting in our last launch, our Pinterest leads were more affordable than our Facebook ones. And they performed very similarly in terms of their purchasing decisions, which to me was incredibly promising and also just exciting because I do feel like love it or hate it. Certain entrepreneurs are kind of over meta and the control that they have over all of the platforms. And so it is helpful to know there are platforms like LinkedIn, which works really well for B2B businesses. There are platforms like Pinterest that are amazing, especially if you you have any visual aspect of your business, or you can visually show whatever it is that you're creating or selling.