A lot of new business owners are told that social media is essential and that running ads is the quickest way to get sales.
Do I think social media ads can be a strong marketing tool?
Yes.
Do I think new business owners should invest in ads?
No.
And here’s why.
When you’re starting a business, especially while juggling motherhood, time feels tight and money feels even tighter. You want to do things right. You want results. And when everyone around you is saying that ads are the way forward, it’s easy to believe that this is the missing piece between where you are now and the business you’re trying to build.
But very often, ads are introduced far too early.
A Very Common Scenario
Let me tell you a story I see play out all the time.
Sheila owns a small natural skincare brand. She started it because she cares deeply about ingredients, sustainability, and creating products she feels good about using on herself and her family. Like many business owners today, she keeps hearing that she needs to be on Instagram and TikTok, and that reels are the best way to convert.
She’s not comfortable being on camera, but she pushes herself anyway. She watches tutorials, learns some basic editing, films a few videos, spends hours tweaking them, and finally posts.
The reel gets 50 views.
Then she hears she needs to post every day to keep the algorithm happy. So now Sheila is spending hours thinking about ideas, filming, editing, and posting, often late at night after the kids are in bed. When she posts, she refreshes her phone a few times… and hears nothing. No comments. No saves. No sales.
Frustrated, she joins a Facebook group and asks for advice. The answer she gets is almost immediate.
“The algorithm is really hard now. You need to run ads to be seen.”
So Sheila takes her “best” reel and starts spending a few dollars a day promoting it. At first, it feels promising. The views go up. The numbers look better. It finally feels like something is happening.
But her follower count stays the same. She doesn’t get any messages. And there are still no sales.
She tweaks the audience. Increases the budget slightly. Tries again.
Still nothing.
Now Sheila is tired, burned out, and running low on cash. She starts wondering if her product is the problem, or if she’s just not cut out for business.
So… what went wrong?
Ads Didn’t Fail, Just the Foundation Wasn’t There
The problem wasn’t that ads don’t work.
The problem is that ads amplify whatever system you already have. And if that system isn’t solid, ads don’t fix it — they simply make the gaps more visible, faster and at a higher cost.
This is where many new business owners get stuck. Ads are often treated as a solution when in reality they are a magnifier. They don’t create clarity. They don’t create demand. They don’t create trust. They only scale what already exists.
If your message is unclear, ads will push an unclear message to more people.
If your offer isn’t quite right, ads will send more people to an offer they don’t fully understand.
If you don’t yet know who your product is really for, ads will show it to people who were never meant to buy.
There are a few key things that need to be in place before ads make sense, and this is especially important if you’re a solo business owner learning marketing as you go.
Knowing Your Niche Takes Time
The most important piece is knowing exactly who you are talking to and why they should buy from you.
When you’re new, this is rarely fully defined. You might have an idea of who your product is for, but real understanding comes from conversations, feedback, and experience. It comes from noticing patterns. From seeing who responds, who asks questions, who buys, and who doesn’t.
Most entrepreneurs believe they’ve nailed their niche, but it’s often still too broad. And when a message is too broad, it feels vague. People scroll past it not because they don’t need what you offer, but because they don’t immediately recognise themselves in it.
This is why ads struggle at this stage. Ads rely on precision. They need a clear audience and a clear message. Without that, they’re just guessing.
If you haven’t already, this is the natural place to start:
👉 Why finding your niche changes everything in your business
Without a clearly defined niche and offer, your ads don’t speak directly to anyone. And when your message is for everyone, it quietly connects with no one.
Content Skills Are Still Being Built
For an ad to work, it has to stop someone mid-scroll and speak directly to a specific problem they recognise instantly.
Some entrepreneurs are naturally confident on camera and comfortable telling stories. Most are not. And that’s completely normal, especially if you didn’t come from a marketing background and you’re learning this while running a business and a household.
When you’re still figuring out how to explain what you do, how to structure a message, or how to show up online in a way that feels natural, ads can quickly become an expensive way to practise.
You’re not just paying for reach. You’re paying while you learn skills that take time to develop. And that pressure often leads to frustration, self-doubt, and the feeling that you’re doing something wrong, when in reality you’re just early in the process.
Visibility Alone Doesn’t Create Sales
This is one of the biggest misunderstandings around ads.
Views do not equal sales.
You can have a reel with thousands of views and still not make a single sale if there’s no clear next step. People need guidance. They need context. They need time to understand who you are, what you offer, and whether it’s right for them.
Without a clear path — whether that’s an email list, a clear offer, or a simple way to learn more — ads simply increase visibility, not conversion. And visibility without direction rarely leads to results.
This is why so many business owners feel confused when ads “work” on paper but don’t change anything in reality.
So What Should You Focus on Instead?
Before investing money into ads, it’s important to understand what you are actually trying to amplify.
At this stage of your business, the most valuable work you can do is learning who your product is really for, how to talk about it in a way that feels clear and honest, and what problem you are actually solving. This kind of clarity doesn’t usually come from an ads manager. It comes from slowing down, paying attention, and allowing your message to evolve.
When this part is missing, ads don’t fix it. They just make it more obvious.
This is the work I guide you through inside From Zero to Strategy. The first two lessons are open so you can see how the course works and whether it’s helpful for you. Lesson two, in particular, is entirely focused on defining your niche audience — the same foundation we’ve been talking about here and in the previous post.
If you’re curious to see how this process works in practice and want to build clarity before spending money on ads, you can explore the course preview here.
👉 Access the course preview
Final Thought
Ads are not a shortcut. They’re an accelerator.
And acceleration only works when you’re already moving in the right direction.
Build the foundation first. Learn your audience. Get your message right.
Then, and only then, ads become a powerful next step.