Niche Tech Career Mentor: 10X ROI
£657 in ad spend produced 109 leads and roughly 10X ROI in the first 4 weeks.
The before and after
£100 to £200 norm for the niche
£4.69 on Facebook, £36 on TikTok
Views with no funnel behind them
109 leads in 4 weeks, then 200+
£657 of ad spend
Around 10X in the first 4 weeks
The fuller story
A tech career mentor with a strong organic following and no path from views to sales.
We built the path, then fed it with the founder on camera: talking head videos and TikToks answering comments and FAQs, all pointing to his video sales letter.
The situation
A career coach for software engineers moving into Architect and CTO roles. Tight, high-intent niche. Strong organic following on TikTok and real authority in the space. The problem: views were not turning into mentorship sales. No funnel. No predictable lead flow. Everything relied on people figuring it out themselves.
What we did
First, fixed the content. Reworked it to call out the exact person (stuck mid-level engineer), name the pain, show the outcome, and point to a free community. Then layered ads properly across TikTok and Facebook: retargeting people who watched videos, lookalikes built from real engagement and leads, and interest audiences to scale beyond that. Funnel kept simple: ad to free Skool community, to call, to paid mentorship.
The result
£657 in ad spend produced 109 leads in the first 4 weeks. Facebook came in around £4.69 per lead. TikTok around £36 per lead. For this niche the going rate is normally £100 to £200 per lead. Within weeks the community had 150+ members, 200+ leads, calls booked consistently, and high-ticket mentorship sales (£1k to £1.7k+) closing off warm traffic. Around 10X return on ad spend in the first 4 weeks.
Why it worked
James's read on what actually moved the numbers.
Meta for scale
Meta has the bigger audience and a smarter algorithm, so it found leads cheapest: about £4.69 each.
TikTok for the flywheel
TikTok leads cost more, but people followed him and watched his organic content. That built trust and rapport that a cheap lead on its own doesn't.
Views needed a path
The audience was already there. Once there was a path from video to community to call, £657 of spend returned around 10X.
Who we targeted
Mid-level software engineers wanting Architect and CTO roles.
Retargeting people who watched videos.
Built from real engagement and leads.
Interest audiences to scale beyond that.
Creative angles
Founder talking-head videos
Straight to camera, about the stuck mid-level engineer and how to get out of it.
Why it worked: People buy mentoring from someone they trust. Seeing him talk is the fastest way to build that.
Stuck at mid-level for three years? This is usually why.
Answering comments and FAQs
TikToks replying to real comments and common questions.
Why it worked: Every reply is content the audience asked for. It also proves he's a real person who listens.
Do I really need a mentor to become an architect?
The video sales letter
Every video guided people to a longer video explaining the programme.
Why it worked: Short videos earn attention. The longer video does the selling to people who are already interested.
Answer a few questions and get a raw, founder-led video script in the same style.
Write my video scriptHow the funnel worked
- Step 1
TikTok and Facebook Ads
- Step 2
Free Skool community
- Step 3
Call
- Step 4
Paid mentorship (£1k to £1.7k+)
What you can take from this
Views are not a funnel
A strong organic following was not turning into sales until a simple path existed.
Fix content before spending
Content was reworked first, then ads layered on top.
Compare platforms honestly
Facebook came in around £4.69 per lead, TikTok around £36.
Run this play yourself
Free guides, playbooks and tools covering the exact strategy and sector behind this case study.
The full write-up of this exact campaign: £657 in, 109 leads, 10X back.
Read itGuideHow TikTok Ads can work for B2B and niche audiences.
Read itGuideThe complete Facebook Ads guide behind the £4.69 leads.
Read itRead nextB2B Facebook creative that actually works, with breakdowns.
Read itFree toolWrite the video sales letter script that does the selling.
Read itGuideFilm talking-head videos on your phone that people watch.
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