Why DIY Ads Cost More Than You Think

The real cost of DIY advertising isn't the wasted $20,000.
It's the opportunity cost of what you didn't learn.
You (The DIY Approach)
You spend $20K on ads. You get some customers.
Your takeaway: “Facebook ads work! My cost per customer (CPA) is ~$100.”
The reality: You don’t know why it worked. You have guesses, not a playbook.
Your Competitor (The Expert Approach)
They spend the same $20K.
Their takeaways:
Audience B has a $600 LTV (vs. $200 for A) → Action: Scale B, kill A.
The “saves time” angle converts 3× better → Action: Use this message everywhere.
Google’s CPA is $80, Facebook’s is $120 → Action: Shift budget to Google.
They got customers plus a precise scaling plan for the next $200K.
The Brutal Math
You’re stuck spending another $40K just to learn what your competitor already knows.
While you’re still testing, they’re taking your market share.
The Old Problem — and the New Solution
That “Expert Approach” used to mean hiring a $10K/month agency.
Not anymore.
Meet Leo.
Leo is an AI marketer that works on your team — running your paid ad playbook for you.
Leo finds the best audiences, messages, and channels... at 1/10th the cost of a traditional agency.
Stop guessing. Check us out.
Join our November Early Adopters Program for 1 month of free Meta ads management.
– Brandon Benson, CTO, Stanford PhD