MARKETING · BEGINNER · UPDATED
Paid Social Ads from Zero
Launch, measure and scale your first campaigns on Meta and TikTok, and learn to tell the profitable ones from the rest, on a budget under 1,000 dollars a month.
Paid social is one of the fastest ways to test demand, and one of the fastest ways to lose money without a system. This course gives you the system: account setup and tracking you can verify, a creative testing routine, a budget ladder for scaling only what is proven, and the weekly reporting that tells you when to stop.
- 4modules
- 12lessons
- 2h 47mof material
- Sept 2026last updated
CWClearwork course teamWritten and maintained by the Clearwork marketing curriculum team
What you will be able to do
- Set up ad accounts, pixel and conversion tracking so results are measurable and reconciled with your own data
- Write and brief ad creatives using a repeatable hook-body-proof structure
- Run a structured creative test and read the results without fooling yourself
- Scale winners with a budget ladder designed to keep cost per result stable
- Produce a one-page weekly report that drives real decisions
Who it is for
- Founders and small e-commerce or app teams running their first paid campaigns
- Marketing generalists who have been handed the ad account
Before you start
- A product you can sell or sign up for online
- A test budget of at least 300 dollars
- A business ad account on Meta or TikTok, or the ability to create one
Curriculum
4 modules · 12 lessons · 2h 47m
Module 1Foundations and Tracking3 lessons · 46 min
Get accounts, tracking and a measurement plan in place before spending a single dollar.
- How social ad auctions really workWhat you are actually bidding on, why relevance lowers your costs, and the three numbers that drive everything.12 min · free preview · worked example · exercise
- Account structure and pixel setupA clean account hierarchy, correct pixel and conversion API installation, and a checklist to verify events fire.20 min · worked example
- Your measurement plan and break-even mathDecide what success means in numbers before launch, including the cost per result you can afford.14 min · worked example · exercise
- Module quiz4 questions with explanations
Module 2Creative That Earns Attention3 lessons · 46 min
A repeatable structure for ad creative, briefing it cheaply, and producing variations that are worth testing.
- The hook-body-proof structureThe three-part skeleton behind most high-performing social ads and how to write each part.15 min · worked example
- Briefing and producing creative on a small budgetHow to plan twelve usable ad variations on a budget of roughly 500 dollars using phone footage, creators and templates.18 min · worked example · exercise
- Making the landing page match the adWhy many conversion problems are message mismatch, and the five checks to run before launch.13 min · worked example
- Module quiz4 questions with explanations
Module 3Testing and Scaling3 lessons · 42 min
Run structured tests, read results without fooling yourself, and scale winners with a budget ladder.
- Running a structured creative testCampaign setup for a fair test, how long to run it, and what sample size you need to trust a winner.16 min · worked example · exercise
- Reading results without fooling yourselfThe common statistical traps in ad reporting and simple rules to avoid them.12 min · worked example
- Scaling with a budget ladderHow to increase spend on proven ads without destroying their efficiency, and when to add new audiences.14 min · worked example · exercise
- Module quiz4 questions with explanations
Module 4Reporting and the Weekly Routine3 lessons · 33 min
A one-page weekly report, a repeatable operating rhythm, and the signs that tell you to stop or pivot.
- The one-page weekly reportSeven numbers and three sentences that tell anyone how the account is doing and what happens next.12 min · worked example
- A weekly operating routineThe fixed schedule that replaces anxious checking with deliberate work on the account.10 min · worked example · exercise
- When to stop, pivot or double downThe signals that separate a campaign that needs more time from a channel that is not going to work.11 min · worked example
- Module quiz4 questions with explanations
