If new people only join your list when you post on social media or run an event, your list grows in bursts. You get a wave of signups during a launch or a summit and then it slows way down until the next one. And because new subscribers are the people most likely to buy your first offer, a slow week for signups usually turns into a slow week for sales a little later.
An always-on freebie ad fixes the gap. It's a small paid ad that runs every day and sends people to a free lead magnet, like a checklist, template or Claude skill. Every day, a few new people sign up and start your welcome series, which is the set of emails that introduces you and makes your first offer. This is one of the ideas on my Sales on Repeat list of 99 ways to make sales every day, in the section on paid traffic.
I run Meta ads for my own businesses, so that's the platform I'll use for the examples here, but the same steps work on Pinterest and other ad platforms. I'll cover what you need in place before the ad goes live, how to set it up, what to write, how to read the numbers and what to avoid.
What needs to be in place first
The ad is the last piece you set up. If you run it before the rest is ready, you're paying for signups that don't go anywhere. Here's what to have working first.
- A freebie that leads to a product. The freebie should solve one small problem that your paid product solves in a bigger way. A free pricing checklist leads to a pricing course. A free week of meal plans leads to a meal plan membership.
- A landing page for the freebie. One page with one sign-up form, a clear headline, a short description of what they get and nothing else to click on.
- A welcome series with a first offer. The emails that start when someone signs up and end on a product they can buy. If you don't have this yet, start with the welcome series that makes your first sale for you.
- A small offer on the thank you page, if you can. A low-priced product shown right after someone signs up, sometimes called a tripwire, can help cover part of what you spend on the ad.
- Tracking. The Meta pixel, a small piece of tracking code from Meta, on your landing page and thank you page so the ad platform can see who signed up. Your email tool should also tag everyone who came in from the ad so you can see later who bought.
Set up the ad step by step
Pick a daily budget you can keep
Choose an amount you're comfortable spending every day for at least a month, even if you don't see sales right away. The point of this ad is that it runs all the time, so the budget has to be one you can keep.
Set the goal to leads or sign-ups
In Meta Ads Manager, pick a campaign goal that's about getting people to sign up and choose the sign-up on your thank you page as the event you want. This tells Meta to show the ad to people who are likely to sign up.
Keep the audience broad
Start with your country, an age range that fits your buyers and very few interest filters. Let the ad platform find the people who sign up. Leave out people already on your list if you can upload them as an audience to exclude.
Run three or four versions
Write a few different ads, each with a different image or video and a different first line. Run them in the same ad set and let them go for about a week before you turn off the ones that aren't bringing in sign-ups.
What to write in the ad
A freebie ad can be simple. It should tell the right person what they'll get and why they'd want it. Here's what to include.
The first line
The first line is what people see before they decide to keep reading, so name the problem or the result in plain words. "Not sure what to charge for your digital planner?" works better than a clever line that makes people stop and figure out what you mean.
The middle
Say what the freebie is, what's in it and how they'll use it. Be specific. "A one-page checklist that walks you through the five numbers you need to price a digital product" tells them exactly what to expect.
The call to action
Tell them what to do, like "Grab the free checklist" or "Get the free template," and use a button label that matches, like "Download" or "Sign Up."
The image or video
Show the freebie itself if you can. A picture of the checklist, a screen recording of the template or a short video of you explaining what's inside all work. Make sure the landing page looks like the ad, so people know they're in the right place when they click.
The headline on your landing page should say the same thing as the ad. If the ad says "free pricing checklist" and the page says "join my newsletter," people get confused and leave. Use the same words, the same freebie name and the same image on both.
How to read the numbers
There are a lot of numbers in Ads Manager, but for a freebie ad you only need to watch a few.
- Cost per sign-up. How much you spend for each new subscriber. This is the main number for the ad itself.
- Landing page sign-up rate. Out of everyone who clicks the ad, how many sign up. If lots of people click but few sign up, the problem is usually the landing page.
- Thank you page sales. How much you make from the small offer right after sign-up. This brings down what each subscriber really costs you.
- Welcome series sales. How much the people from the ad spend in the first 30 days, from the tag in your email tool. This is the number that tells you whether the ad is paying for itself over time.
Check the ad a few times a week at first and once a week after that. Give each change about a week before you judge it, because the numbers bounce around a lot day to day.
Mistakes to avoid
- Running the ad before the welcome series is ready. New subscribers with no emails waiting for them are hard to sell to later.
- Sending the ad to your homepage. Send it to one landing page with one form.
- A freebie that doesn't lead anywhere. If the freebie is about one topic and your products are about another, the people who sign up won't be a good fit for what you sell.
- Changing things every day. Every time you change the ad, the platform starts learning again. Make one change at a time and wait about a week.
- Turning it off too fast. The ad is supposed to run all the time. Judge it over several weeks and include what subscribers spend in the welcome series.
- Spending more than you planned. Set your daily budget and leave it until you know what each subscriber is worth to you.
- Letting the images and videos get old. When your cost per sign-up starts creeping up, add a fresh image or video.
"Every day, a few new people sign up and start your welcome series."
Dr. Destini CoppA hypothetical example
These are made-up round numbers to show how the math works. They aren't results from my ads or anyone else's.
Say you sell a $97 course on starting an Etsy shop and your freebie is a free Etsy shop setup checklist. On the thank you page, you offer a $17 listing template. Your welcome series runs for seven days and ends on the course.
You set a budget of $20 a day, which is about $600 a month. Now say your cost per sign-up settles at $3, so you get about 200 new subscribers a month. If 10 of them buy the $17 template on the thank you page, that's $170. If 4 of them buy the $97 course in the welcome series, that's $388. That adds up to $558 back in the first month from $600 in ad spend.
At first glance that looks like a small loss, but you also have 200 new subscribers who keep getting your emails. Some of them may buy later from your weekly emails, your flash sales or your membership. That's why you judge the ad on what subscribers spend over several months. Again, these numbers are made up and your costs will depend on your niche, your freebie and your ad.
How this fits with the rest of your funnel
Your funnel is the path people take from first seeing you to buying from you. The freebie ad brings people in every day and the emails they get after that are what turn them into buyers. Once someone finishes the welcome series, a weekly product email keeps showing them your products. If your products also make your membership the upsell on every checkout, meaning the next thing you offer right after someone buys, some of those small sales can turn into monthly members.
You can also use the same freebie in your blog posts, so both your ad and your search-friendly blog posts feed the same welcome series.
Wrapping up
Get the freebie, landing page, welcome series and tracking working first. Then set a daily budget you can keep, aim the ad at sign-ups, keep the audience broad, run a few versions and judge it by what subscribers spend over time. When the cost per sign-up starts going up, add a fresh image or video.
If you're not sure whether a freebie ad is the right place for you to start, my free Sales on Repeat skill is a Claude skill that asks a few questions about your business and picks the first three ideas you should set up. And all 99 ideas are in the full Sales on Repeat list.
Find your first three Sales on Repeat ideas
The free Sales on Repeat skill is a Claude skill that asks a few questions about your business and picks the first three ideas you should set up.
Get the free Sales on Repeat skill →Frequently asked.
How much should I spend on a lead magnet ad?
Pick a daily budget you can keep for at least a month, even if sales don't come right away. The ad is meant to run all the time, so the amount has to be one you're comfortable with. Write down your monthly cap before you start.
What do I need before I run a Facebook ad to my freebie?
You need a freebie that leads to a paid product, a landing page with one sign-up form, a welcome series that ends on an offer and tracking on your landing page and thank you page. A small offer on the thank you page can help cover part of the ad cost.
How do I know if my freebie ad is working?
Watch your cost per sign-up, how many people who click actually sign up, sales on the thank you page and what people from the ad spend in your welcome series over the first month. Judge it over several weeks since the numbers move around a lot day to day.
What should my lead magnet ad say?
Start with a first line that names the problem or the result in plain words. Then say what the freebie is and what's in it. Then tell people what to do, like grab the free checklist. Show the freebie in the image and use the same words on your landing page.
How often should I change my freebie ad?
Make one change at a time and wait about a week before judging it, because every change makes the platform start learning again. When your cost per sign-up starts going up, add a fresh image or video.
Dr. Destini Copp helps digital product creators build sustainable, systems-based businesses through the Creator Growth Flywheel framework. She's the founder of Creator's MBA and HobbyScool, and has been teaching online business strategy for over a decade. Learn more →
