Short answer: The $5 a Day Ads Strategy uses small engagement ads to get you in front of new people fast. Record around five short talking head videos with different hooks that give pure value, run them as engagement ads to a cold audience for about $5 a day, keep the winners and swap out the losers every week. Then, instead of sending cold traffic to your opt-in page, retarget people who watched 25% or more of those videos. Your cost per lead drops dramatically.

Ads scare a lot of coaches. They sound expensive, complicated, and like something that only works for people with big budgets. I hear "I've heard ads don't work" all the time.

Most of those beliefs are myths. Ads can be simple to set up, you control exactly how much you spend, and you can start from $5 a day. The reason ads "don't work" for most people is that they're doing them in an expensive order. Here's the cheaper way, step by step, with the hooks and the scripts.

This is part of my ultimate guide to lead generation for coaches. Ads are one of the fastest ways to get in front of new people, as long as you do them in the right order.

Why use ads for visibility?

Organic visibility works, but it's slow and it costs you time. Guest speaking is one of my favourite ways to grow, and I still do loads of it, but finding and doing those spots takes hours every week. $5 a day ads get you in front of your ideal clients quickly without eating your diary. They're a shortcut, not a replacement. The more people know you, the more trust you build. And trust equals sales.

Where these ads fit: Attract, Nurture, Convert

Every strategy has three stages. Attract: building awareness (your visibility strategy). Nurture: building trust (your content strategy). Convert: turning trust into sales (your sales strategy). $5 a day ads live at the very top, in the attract stage. Their job is not to sell. Their job is to get you seen by the right new people and build a warm audience you can sell to later.

The $5 a Day Ads Strategy, step by step

Step 1: Write five hooks

Your hook decides whether anyone watches. Write five, one per line: one story, two end results your ideal client wants, two struggles they have. Different hooks let you see which kind your audience responds to best.

Time: 20 minutes. Done when: five hooks on a page, a mix of story, result and struggle. Stuck for hooks? The Copywriter inside Ascendia OS writes ad copy and hooks in your voice, so you start with a list to pick from instead of a blank page.

Step 2: Record five talking head videos

Talking head simply means you, talking to camera. In a world where anyone can create 100 AI posts a day, people want to see the person behind the brand. It doesn't need to be fancy. I record most of my content on my phone and edit out the mistakes with a simple editing app.

Each video, roughly one to five minutes, should open with the hook, give pure value (an aha moment or an action they can take straight away) and not sell. No promotion. Value and stories only.

Time: One afternoon. Done when: five videos recorded and lightly edited on your phone.

Step 3: Run them as engagement ads to a cold audience

Set the videos up as engagement ads (the goal is views and engagement, not clicks) targeting people who match your ideal client but don't know you yet. Start at around $5 a day. The ad platform's own guides or your AI tool of choice can walk you through the setup. These ads are cheap because you're not asking anyone to leave the platform. You're just asking them to watch.

Optional: add a light call to action at the end: "If you want the full breakdown, comment GUIDE below and I'll send it to you." An automation sends the guide by DM. The ad still isn't sending anyone off the platform, so it stays cost effective, and every comment boosts the post and gives you a new lead.

Time: 1 hour to set up. Done when: your five videos are live as engagement ads at about $5 a day.

Step 4: Rotate your ads every week

Once a week, keep the top performers live, turn off the ones that aren't getting views or engagement, and add one or two new videos. The hooks that win tell you exactly what content your audience wants, so make more like them for your ads and your everyday posts.

Time: 20 minutes a week. Done when: your weakest ad is off and one new one is live.

Step 5: Retarget your warm audience to your opt-in page

This is where most people waste money. They point ads for a free challenge or webinar at a completely cold audience. Brand new people are expensive to convert, so the cost per lead goes up and up. Instead, the $5 a day ads build a pool of people who've watched your videos. That's a warm audience: they've seen you, heard you and got value from you. Target people who've watched 25% or more of those videos with your opt-in ads. The cost per lead drops dramatically. More in why sending ads straight to your offer wastes money.

Time: 1 hour once your videos have a few weeks of views. Done when: a retargeting ad to 25%+ video viewers is pointing at your opt-in page.

Step 6: Let your low priced offers pay for it

Put a low priced offer on the thank you page, around $27 with an $11 order bump. The money from those sales can cover your ad spend, so your ads effectively pay for themselves and your profit comes from your core offer. Here's how the thank you page offer works.

Time: Half a day. Done when: your opt-in leads to a $27 offer and $11 bump. If you don't have that funnel yet, the Funnel Builder inside Ascendia OS builds the opt-in page, thank you page offer and checkout with the order bump for you.

Worked example: $5 a day for 30 days

Example (illustrative numbers): a confidence coach runs five videos for a total of $5 a day, for 30 days. That's $150.

• Week 1: five videos live. Two hooks (both "struggle" hooks) get most of the views.
• Week 2 to 4: she turns off the weakest each week and records more struggle hooks. Her warm audience of 25%+ viewers grows every day.
• Month 2: she adds a retargeting ad to that warm audience for her free training. Because they already know her, her cost per lead is far lower than when she sent cold traffic straight to the page.
• The maths that pays for it: if 8 to 10% of new leads buy her $27 offer and most add the $11 bump, every 100 leads brings in roughly $300 or more, which covers the ad spend. The core offer sales are profit.

Benchmarks

Common mistakes (and the fix)

• Sending cold traffic straight to an opt-in page or offer. Fix: warm them up with value videos first, then retarget.
• Selling in the engagement ads. Fix: value and stories only. The selling happens later.
• Over-producing. Fix: phone, natural light, simple edit. People want the real you.
• One hook, forever. Fix: five different hooks, rotated weekly.
• No offer after the opt-in. Fix: a $27 thank you page offer so the ads pay for themselves.

Your action plan

Today

• Write five hooks using the formulas above.
• Block one afternoon this week to record.

This week

• Record five one to five minute videos on your phone.
• Launch them as engagement ads to a cold audience at $5 a day.

Next 30 days

• Rotate weekly: keep winners, turn off losers, add one or two new videos.
• Turn your best hooks into everyday posts too.
• Add a retargeting ad to 25%+ viewers pointing at your free training once you have a few weeks of views.
• Check your thank you page offer is live so the ads can pay for themselves.

Ads are just one way to get leads, and the ultimate guide to lead generation for coaches shows you the rest. New to ads and the retargeting feels like too much? Just do steps 1 to 4. That alone gets you visible to new people every day for the price of a coffee. Want to know why talking head videos work so well? Read the trust economy: why talking head videos sell. And for my full system for turning that visibility into repeat sales, see Content To Clients®.

Frequently asked questions

Do $5 a day ads actually work?

Yes, for visibility. They get your value videos in front of new people every day, and they build a warm audience you can retarget later at a much lower cost per lead than cold traffic.

What type of ad should I run for $5 a day?

Engagement ads using short talking head videos that give pure value. The goal is views and engagement, not clicks off the platform.

Should I send ads straight to my opt-in page?

Not to a cold audience. That's usually the most expensive way to get leads. Build a warm audience with value videos first, then retarget people who watched 25% or more to your opt-in page.

How many ads should I start with?

Around five videos with different hooks. Rotate them weekly: keep the winners, turn off the rest and add one or two new ones.

Do I need fancy equipment for talking head videos?

No. A phone and a simple editing app is all I use for most of my content. People want to see the real you, not a production.

Laurie Burrows is a UK-based marketing and sales strategist who has built a business that's generated multi-seven figures in sales through social media and digital marketing. Today, Laurie helps business owners use social media, content and digital marketing to get seen, attract more clients and make more sales. She's also the founder of Ascendia OS.