The short answer
We rewrote the content to name one exact person and one outcome, retargeted the warm audience first, added lookalikes and interests on top, and sent everyone to a free community instead of a sales page. The community built trust. The calls closed the mentorship.
The starting point
The client is a career coach who helps software engineers move up into architect and CTO roles. A very specific audience with a long decision cycle, and mentorship offers between roughly £1,000 and £1,700.
They already had what most people are chasing: a solid TikTok following in the niche and genuine authority as one of the few consistent voices on the subject. The client has asked to stay anonymous, so we've left the name out.
Attention without a system
Views weren't turning into sales. New clients came from the occasional inbound message and people working things out for themselves. There was no route from "I watch this person's videos" to "I pay this person £1,500".
That's a more common problem than it sounds. Plenty of experts, consultants and niche B2B firms have an audience that likes them. Very few have a system that turns that liking into revenue on a predictable basis.
Step 1: fix the content before spending
Not more content. Better content. Every video was reworked to do four jobs:
- 1Name the exact person: the mid-level engineer who feels stuck.
- 2Describe the pain they live with: the same projects, no progression, feeling underpaid.
- 3Show the outcome they want: architect and CTO roles and the pay that comes with them.
- 4Give one clear next step: join the free community.
This matters because ads only amplify what's already there. Put money behind vague content and you get vague results faster.
Go deeper: How to make ads people actually stop for
Step 2: three layers of audience
Most people put everything into one ad set and hope. We built three layers across TikTok and Facebook, warmest first.
Retargeting
People who had watched the videos or engaged with the account. The warmest, cheapest audience, and it gave the platforms strong early signals.
Lookalikes
Built from real engagement and leads, so the platforms could find more people who behaved like the ones already interested.
Interest audiences
Added last, to scale beyond the existing following once the other two were working.
Go deeper: How to set up retargeting properly
Step 3: a deliberately simple funnel
No 14-step automation. People joined the community, saw the coach answering questions and saw other members getting somewhere. By the time they got on a call, most of the trust was already there.
For a £1,000-plus decision, that middle step is the difference. Sending cold traffic straight to a sales page asks for too much, too soon.
The first four weeks
£657 of ad spend produced 109 leads, with Facebook coming in at £4.69 per lead. Mentorship sales closed from that warm traffic in the same four weeks, returning roughly ten times the ad spend.
It kept going. Within weeks the community passed 150 members, total leads passed 200 and calls were booking consistently.
The 10X figure is revenue from mentorship sales compared with ad spend in the first four weeks. It's return on ad spend, not profit, and it's based on figures shared by the client.
Why it worked
- The audience was narrow and the pain was specific, so every advert could speak to one person.
- The content sold an outcome people wanted, not a list of tips.
- Existing attention was used first, instead of paying to find strangers.
- Retargeting and lookalikes gave the platforms good data early, so results improved quickly.
- The community did the selling before anyone got on a call.
How to apply this to your niche
You don't need TikTok or a coaching business. The same questions apply to consultants, specialist firms and niche B2B companies.
Do you already have attention?
Followers, an email list, a podcast, a YouTube channel, event attendees. If yes, retargeting that audience is the cheapest win you have. If not, start by building one audience properly before scaling anything.
Does your content name the person?
Read your last five posts. Would your ideal buyer know within two seconds that it's for them? If not, fix that before a penny goes on ads.
Is there one obvious next step?
A free community, a short guide, a booked call. One. Every extra option in the funnel loses people.
Where does trust get built?
High-ticket offers rarely sell straight from an advert. Something in the middle, such as a community, email series or webinar, needs to do the warming up.
Go deeper: Marketing a niche B2B business with a tiny target market
Got the audience but not the sales?
Book a call. We'll look at the attention you already have, where people are dropping out and what a simple system would look like for your offer. If there's a fit, you'll get a proposal.
FAQs
What is a niche community ads system?
Using paid social ads to move an existing niche audience from watching content into a free community, then into sales calls and a paid offer. The community does the trust-building so the calls convert.
Why use a free Skool community in the funnel?
It gives people a low-risk first step. Inside the community they see the coach answer questions, see other members' progress and build trust before a call. That makes a £1,000+ offer far easier to sell.
How much did the campaign spend?
£657 in the first four weeks across TikTok and Facebook.
How many leads did it produce?
109 in the first four weeks. The community later passed 150 members and total leads passed 200.
What was the cost per lead?
£4.69 per lead on Facebook.
How was the 10X figure calculated?
It compares revenue from mentorship sales closed from the campaign's leads in the first four weeks against the £657 of ad spend. It's return on ad spend, not profit.
What did the mentorship cost?
Offers ranged from around £1,000 to £1,700.
Why did retargeting matter so much?
The coach already had an engaged TikTok following. Retargeting people who had watched or engaged meant the first ads went to warm people, which kept early costs low and gave the platforms good signals to learn from.
What are lookalike audiences?
Audiences the platform builds of people similar to a source list, such as your leads or engaged viewers. They work best once you have real engagement or lead data to feed them.
Would this work without an existing following?
It would be slower and more expensive at the start. The existing attention was a big advantage. Without it, spend the first weeks building a warm audience with useful content before pushing the offer.
Does this apply to B2B companies?
The principles do: name the exact person, sell an outcome, retarget warm audiences first and keep the funnel simple. For B2B with a small target market, we'd usually use LinkedIn account targeting instead of broad interests.
Why not send ads straight to a sales page?
For a high-ticket, considered purchase, most people aren't ready to buy on first contact. The community gave them somewhere to go that asked for less commitment.
Which platform performed better?
Facebook produced leads at £4.69 each. TikTok's role was mostly building and re-engaging attention from the existing following.
How long before results showed?
Leads started in the first weeks, and paid mentorship sales closed within the first four weeks from warm traffic.
Can Evergreen build this for my audience?
Yes, if your audience and offer fit. Book a call and we'll look at what attention you already have and where the funnel is leaking.
Related: TikTok ads for B2B · Facebook ads guide · pricing