03 / Performance marketing & paid advertising
Ads that pay for themselves, or a clear reason to stop.
Paid advertising is the fastest way to reach new customers, and the fastest way to lose money. We run Google and Meta campaigns around the cost of winning a real customer.
Campaigns this month
- Return on ad spend
- 4.6×
- Cost per lead
- AED 38
- Leads
- 212
You get
- Ad account audit or setup
- Campaign structure and targeting plan
- Ad creative and copy variations
Often paired with
Every project starts
- With a free 30-minute call
- Replies in minutes, not days
- Our honest view on what to do first
“Ten thousand clicks this month. Three new customers. Where did the money go?”
The problem
More clicks, the same number of customers.
Sound familiar?
It is easy to make an ad account look busy. Boosted posts get likes, broad campaigns get cheap clicks, and the dashboard fills with numbers that don’t match what is happening in the shop or the inbox.
We work backwards from a customer: what one is worth to you, what you can afford to pay to win one, and which people and searches are most likely to become one. Then we build campaigns, creative and tracking around that number.
How it works
Our results, not an example.
What our campaigns return for every dirham our clients spend.
Return on ad spend across our campaigns
2.5×to15×
For every AED 1,000 in ads, AED 2,500 to AED 15,000 back in sales.
- Impossible Foods< 1× → 3.5×return on ad spend, now held consistently
- Game Wagon+52%sales from Meta ads and the systems behind them
- Aditi MittalEvery showsold out with optimised ticket ads
Ads we’ve made for Game Wagon
Range across client campaigns, as reported by our clients. Results depend on the industry, margins, budget and offer.
What we do
In plain language.
Campaign strategy
Which platforms, audiences and searches to target first, how much to test with and what result would justify spending more.
Google Ads
Search campaigns for people already looking for what you offer, plus Performance Max or Display where they make sense.
Meta advertising
Instagram and Facebook campaigns for discovery, offers and retargeting, with creative made for the feed rather than resized posters.
Creative and testing
Several angles, formats and offers tested side by side, so decisions come from results rather than taste.
Tracking and lead quality
Conversion tracking on calls, WhatsApp, forms and purchases, and a feedback loop with your team on which leads were real.
Weekly optimisation
Budget moved every week to the campaigns that win customers at the right cost; the rest are paused.
Deliverables
What you get
- Ad account audit or setup
- Campaign structure and targeting plan
- Ad creative and copy variations
- Conversion tracking and lead-quality checks
- Weekly optimisation
- Monthly report with spend, cost per lead and next steps
Is it right for you?
Who performance marketing & paid advertising is for, and who it isn’t.
We’d rather tell you now than take on work that won’t help you.
A good fit
You have an offer that already sells
Ads scale what works. They rarely rescue what doesn’t, so a proven product or service is the best place to start.
Your website or booking flow converts
Every visitor costs money. A page that turns visitors into enquiries makes each dirham go further.
You need a steady stream of enquiries
Service businesses with a clear value per customer can buy growth predictably once the numbers are known.
You have a launch or a season with a clear window
A campaign with a start, an end and a target is where paid ads shine.
Probably not the right fit, yet
Visitors arrive and leave
If the landing page doesn’t convert, more traffic mostly costs more. We fix the page first.
Enquiries wait a day for a reply
Paid leads go cold in minutes. Follow-up has to be fast before ads are worth switching on.
There’s no budget to test properly
Ads need a few weeks of spend to learn. Too little budget means too little data to decide anything.
You want likes, not customers
We optimise for cost per customer and return on ad spend, not vanity metrics.
Not sure which side you’re on? Ask us. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll tell you who or what might be.
Want proof?
Our best ad results are confidential. We’ll walk you through them.
Ad accounts hold our clients’ most sensitive numbers, so we don’t publish them. On a call we’re happy to show you real campaigns, real spend and real returns, with the client’s permission.
Questions
Frequently asked.
The questions business owners ask us most about performance marketing & paid advertising, answered plainly.
Still have a question?
Message us. We usually reply within 10 minutes.
Ask on WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)How much should we spend on ads?
Enough to learn something within a few weeks, and no more until the numbers justify it. We set a testing budget based on your margins and goals, then recommend increases only when results support them.
What is ROAS, and what is a good ROAS?
Return on ad spend is the revenue your ads bring in for every dirham spent. What counts as good depends on your margins: a business with high margins can grow profitably at a lower ROAS than one with thin margins. Our campaigns have returned anywhere from 2.5× to 15×, depending on the business.
Google Ads or Meta ads?
Google is usually better when people search for what you sell. Meta (Instagram and Facebook) is better for discovery, visual products and offers people didn’t know they wanted. Many businesses need one first, not both.
How do your fees work alongside ad spend?
Ad spend goes directly to Google, Meta or TikTok from your own account. Our fee for managing the campaigns is separate and agreed in writing before we start, so you always know what you’re paying for.
Do you need access to our ad accounts?
Yes. We work inside ad accounts your business owns, so the data and history stay with you. If you don’t have accounts yet, we set them up in your name.
How quickly will we see results?
Search campaigns can bring enquiries within days; social campaigns usually need two to four weeks of testing. We report honestly on what the early data does and doesn’t tell us.
Do you set up tracking, like the Meta pixel and conversions?
Yes. Accurate tracking of calls, WhatsApp chats, forms and purchases comes first, because without it nobody can tell which ads work. We use the Meta pixel and Conversions API, Google tags and offline conversion data where it helps.
Do you run TikTok, Snapchat or LinkedIn ads?
Yes, when your customers are there. Snapchat and TikTok can work well for younger audiences in the Gulf, and LinkedIn for B2B. We recommend platforms by audience, not habit.
Can you run ads in Arabic?
Yes. We write Arabic ad copy with native speakers and test it against English, because in the UAE the better language often depends on the audience and the offer.
What happens if the ads aren’t working?
We tell you early, explain why, and change course: a new audience, a new offer, a better page, or sometimes pausing ads altogether. We never keep spending your money to look busy.
Do you also make the ad creative?
Yes. Ad creative and copy are part of the job, made for the feed rather than resized posters, and tested side by side so results decide, not taste.
Guides on performance marketing & paid advertising
- Financial services marketing in Dubai: choosing channels and getting better leadsFor Dubai insurance brokers, mortgage brokers and advisers: which channels bring serious enquiries, how to filter weak leads and the contact rules to respect.
- Marketing a gaming café, venue or console rental business in DubaiGaming cafés, venues and console rentals win customers in different ways. A practical Dubai playbook for each, from Google Maps to Meta ads and WhatsApp.
- Meta ads or Google Ads: which should your business start with?How to choose between Meta (Instagram and Facebook) ads and Google Ads, based on how your customers buy, with a simple way to decide and test.
Often paired with
- Website DevelopmentYour website is where most of your marketing ends up. We design and build websites, online stores and landing pages that load fast, read clearly and make the next step obvious.
- Content Marketing & VideoGood content answers the questions that stand between a curious visitor and a customer. We plan, write, film, edit and animate it, and we’ll tell you when less would work better.
- Marketing StrategyMost growing businesses don’t need more marketing. They need someone to look at everything, pick the few moves that matter and keep the plan honest as results come in.
Your next step
Would ads pay off for your business? Let’s find out.
Tell us what you sell, what a customer is worth and what you’ve tried. We’ll tell you honestly whether ads make sense now, and where we’d start.
Start with a free 30-minute conversation.
We usually reply within 10 minutes, and never more than 10 hours, even overnight. Ready for a call whenever you are.