Meta ads that stop the tail wagging the dog.
When platform metrics run the business, you're working for Meta - not the other way round. A senior operator runs your Facebook and Instagram ads around margin, with creative that converts and signals verified end to end. Flat-fee brackets, published upfront. The account stays yours.
Ecommerce · Retail · Healthcare · Local business · Melbourne & across Australia
Sample readout - every account gets one, in plain English.
Sound familiar?
Meta will happily spend every dollar you give it. Whether that spend builds your business is a different question - and it's the one nobody in the account is asking.
ROAS looks fine in Ads Manager, but margin isn't moving and nobody can explain the gap.
The same ad has been running for months. It fatigued long ago and it's still eating budget.
Advantage+ is on autopilot - nobody checks what it's actually buying with your money.
Everything is retargeting. Warm visitors get recycled while no one builds new demand.
Reporting is a screenshot of Ads Manager. Charts, no answers.
You pay an unpublished percentage of spend - their invoice creeps with every dollar, results or not.
Creative-led. Signal-verified. Actually managed.
Meta's targeting is automated now - creative and signals are where accounts are won. This is the work, named, done weekly by the same senior operator.
Campaign architecture
Prospecting and retargeting built as separate jobs with proper exclusions - so warm audiences aren't recycled as fake growth and new demand actually gets built.
Creative strategy & testing
Angles mapped to how aware your buyer is, then tested one variable at a time - hook, format, offer - so you learn what works instead of guessing. Copy and creative direction included.
Conversions API & pixel
Server-side and browser tracking set up, deduplicated and verified before budget moves. Meta optimises to the signals you feed it - bad data in, wasted spend out.
We track everything. It's in the breed.
Audience strategy
Lookalikes built from your best customers, not site visitors. Exclusion hygiene, first-party data fed back in, and cold audiences that expand demand instead of re-reaching it.
Advantage+ on a lead, not autopilot
Meta's automation used where it earns its keep, capped and audited where it doesn't. Budget follows evidence, not the platform's suggestions.
New tricks. Old discipline.
Plain-English reporting
A weekly Trail Report: what worked, what fatigued, what's being tested next. Tied to cost per result and revenue - never reach, likes or platform ROAS theatre.
"Google captures demand that already exists. Meta creates demand that doesn't - which makes creative the lever, and discipline the difference."
The SED read · Create demand → Test creative → Feed the winners
From sign-on to unleashed.
Terrain
Weeks 1–2. Full account and creative audit. Conversions API and pixel verified and deduplicated, exclusions fixed, wasted spend identified. No budget moves until the signals are trustworthy.
Build
Weeks 2–4. Restructure around margins. Prospecting and retargeting split cleanly. First creative angles briefed and shipped into structured tests.
Refine
Months 1–3. Creative rotated on evidence, losers cut, winners fed. Learning phase managed honestly - you'll always know which stage each campaign is in.
Unleashed
Month 3+. Proven creative and audiences scale. Budget follows evidence. New angles keep the machine fresh instead of letting fatigue eat return.
Plenty of agencies bark. Here's the work.
"A genuine business mindset. Conversations aren't about vanity metrics - they're about real return on investment."
"Sam brought structure and clarity to our advertising, and focused on how activity translated into real enquiries."
"He looks at the entire ecosystem - every channel works together rather than in isolation."
A working dog, not a show dog.
Show dogs are groomed for the pitch. Working dogs move the herd. Here's what that means in practice.
| Typical agency | SE DigitalThe difference | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | Junior media buyer across a rotating pod | The senior operator you hired. Every week. |
| Pricing | % of spend - the invoice creeps with every dollar | Published flat brackets. Steps with workload, not spend. |
| Signals | Pixel-only, assumed working | CAPI + pixel, deduplicated and verified before budget moves. |
| Creative | Same 2 ads for 6 months | Structured angle tests. Losers cut, winners fed. |
| Reporting | Ads Manager screenshot | Weekly Trail Report tied to margin, not platform ROAS. |
| Your account | Held in the agency's Business Manager | Yours. Always. Clean handover anytime. |
Priced to grow with you.
One flat fee for your spend bracket - published here, not discovered on an invoice. Reasonable when you're starting out. Reflective of the work when you scale.
The fee steps when the workload steps - it never creeps with every dollar. As you grow, SED's share of total budget shrinks: from ~40% at entry to under 10% at scale. Media spend stays in your own account, fully transparent.
Month-to-month. No lock-in. 3-month recommended runway because the work compounds.
| Monthly media spend | Management fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $2.5k | $1,000 /mo |
| $2.5k – $5k | $1,500 /mo |
| $5k – $10k | $2,000 /mo |
| $10k – $20k | $2,800 /mo |
| $20k – $40k | $3,200 /mo |
| $40k+ | Scoped |
- ·+ $750/mo per additional channel
- ·Media billed direct to your account (recommended minimum $2,500/mo)
- ·10% loyalty discount after 12 months
- ·AUD, excl. GST · No lock-in
"Meta will spend every dollar you give it. My job is making sure each of those dollars is buying you a customer - not a click."
- Sam Hayes · Founder, SE Digital · Head of the pack
No leash. No lock-in.
Tell us where the account stands. You'll get a straight read on what's leaking, what's worth fixing, and whether we're the right fit - before anything is signed.
- ✓No obligation
- ✓Senior eyes only
- ✓Read-only access
- ✓Accounts stay yours
sam@sedigital.com.au · Melbourne, Australia
FAQ
Do you charge a percentage of ad spend?+
No - the fee is a flat amount within published spend brackets. As your budget grows, the fee steps up with the workload, but it never creeps with every dollar the way a percentage does - and you see the bracket before you commit. Above roughly $20k a month, that difference is worth thousands against a typical 10–15% agency.
What happens when my spend crosses a bracket?+
The fee steps to the new bracket from the following month - and it's a conversation first, never a surprise line on an invoice. The brackets are published, so you can see the step coming and decide whether the scale-up earns it.
Who actually works on my account?+
Sam. Not a junior media buyer, not a rotating pod. The person you brief is the person in Ads Manager every week.
Do you make the ad creative?+
Copywriting and creative direction are included - the angles, the hooks, the scripts and the briefs. Production beyond that (filmed content, design blocks) is scoped separately, so you only pay for what the account actually needs.
How long does the learning phase take?+
Meta needs roughly 50 conversions per ad set per week to exit learning, so the honest answer depends on your budget and conversion volume. The account is structured to reach stability quickly - and you'll always know which stage each campaign is in.
Do I own my Meta ad account?+
Yes, always. The ad account, the pixel, the audiences and the data live in your Business Manager. If you ever leave, everything goes with you - including a clean handover.
Is there a lock-in contract?+
No. Engagements run on a 3-month recommended runway because creative testing takes time to compound, but nothing is locked. Love us and leave us.
A note on the results we share+
Information on this page is general in nature and does not constitute professional, financial or legal advice. While SE Digital applies industry experience, data and proven frameworks in its work, business results depend on numerous factors outside our control - market conditions, competition, pricing, operational execution and customer behaviour. All metrics, benchmarks, projections or case studies presented are illustrative only and should not be interpreted as guarantees of future results. Clients remain responsible for their own commercial decisions and implementation.