How paid social differs from search advertising
Both are paid traffic, and both are billed by the platform to your card. The day-to-day work is quite different.
- Search starts with keywords; social starts with an audience.
- Search ads are mostly text; social ads lean on images and video.
- Search ads can run for months with small edits; social creative tires faster as the same people see it again.
- Search answers a query; social interrupts, so the offer has to be easy to say yes to.
- Social platforms offer native lead forms, so a response may never touch your website.
A provider managing paid social spends a lot of its time on audiences, creative refresh, frequency and the handoff of form data, and less on bid tinkering.
Creative and copy formats in rotation
Paid social runs on creative, and creative wears out. Part of the work is keeping a steady supply in the formats each platform supports.
- Single image ads, the simplest to produce and test.
- Short video, often with captions, since many people watch with sound off.
- Carousels, a few cards that can walk through steps or services.
- Document ads on LinkedIn, which let people page through a guide in the feed.
- Text and conversation ads on LinkedIn for some offers.
Copy matters as much as the visual. The first line of primary text, the headline and the call-to-action button each get tested. Ask the provider whether they produce creative themselves, adapt what you supply, or brief a designer.
Who owns the business portfolio and ad accounts
On Meta, your Facebook Page, Instagram account, ad account, pixel and customer lists live in a business portfolio, which Meta used to call Business Manager. That portfolio should belong to your business, with at least two people from your company as admins. A provider is added as a partner with the permissions it needs.
On LinkedIn, the Campaign Manager ad account and Company Page should likewise be yours, with the provider added as a user at a chosen role.
If a provider builds everything inside its own portfolio, the pixel history, audiences and lead form data may not come with you when you leave. Settle ownership in writing before setup starts, and keep billing on your own payment method.
Questions about paid social campaigns
What is the difference between a lead form and a landing page?
A native lead form opens inside Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn and is often prefilled, so it is quick to submit. A landing page sends people to your site, where more drop off but those who finish have read more. Many advertisers test both. See landing pages and forms.
Do I need the Meta pixel and the Conversions API?
If you send people to your website, yes, ideally both. The pixel records events in the browser; the Conversions API sends them from a server, which helps when browsers block scripts. Set up with matching event IDs, Meta counts each event once. Native lead form submissions are recorded by Meta without either.
Can I upload my customer list for targeting?
Both Meta and LinkedIn accept customer lists and hash the data before matching. You need the right to use that data for advertising under your own privacy policy and any consent you collected. Lists also help exclude existing customers from prospecting ads, so they see fewer offers they do not need.
Tell us what you sell and which channels you want to run. A service partner will reply with a scope and a quote.
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Search ads management
Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising campaigns set up and run in your own account, with keyword lists, ad copy, bids and conversion tracking.
Landing pages and forms
Single-purpose pages for your ads, with a clear offer, a short form, consent text and conversion tracking set up together.
Follow-up setup
Alerts, tasks and simple follow-up sequences in your CRM, so new inquiries are answered by the right person.