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Welcome to the Marketing Matters podcast for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and really anyone who has anything that you want more people to find. Because you being the best kept secret helps no one, right? And that's because you can be so great at what you do. But if you aren't great at advertising what you do, then no one can find you, right? That's why in every single episode, I'm going to show you how you can use paid ads to hit your goals 10 times sooner. It's time you finally learn how to win with paid ads. I'll show you how to score and be known by more. Let's get started. Today we're gonna talk about the learning period because, oh my goodness, the amount of comments that I get for someone saying, ashley, I can't change my budget, Ashley, I can't make a change. Like, the learning period is like this big red stop sign. And if it's stressing you out, welcome. You are going to love this episode where we talk about what is the learning period? Honestly, what does Google and YouTube and Meta and TikTok actually say the learning period means? And what does Ashley think about it? Because I'm gonna be honest, I think it's kind of a scam. Now, there's a part of it that I'm gonna give them credit for and say, yes, okay, this learning period, there is something to it. But I also truly do believe that they kind of, these big tech platforms are using the learning period as a scapegoat. That's my honest opinion. I'm gonna explain. So if you are very interested in should you ignore the learning period, what does it really mean? And have Meta and TikTok been using this as an excuse for your campaigns to not perform? I don't know, but we're about to see. So we're gonna dive into a few things and I want you to think about how if your ads are tanking, yes, let's change something. But the learning period in itself, the learning period is a time where you're optimi. Like the algorithm is actually just optimizing or improving your campaigns. It's actually learning. But here's the thing, just because it's learning doesn't mean it prevents you from earning. And I'm gonna show you how the same keywords, the same audiences you're targeting, there's so much opportunity for your ads to be successful, even when you are in the learning phase. Now, speaking of the learning phase, there's so much I could share and teach you with paid ads, which is why I Want to invite you to the Win with Paid Ads challenge if you have not attended, Whether you have a baby business, you're just getting started, or you are actually a six, seven or eight figure entrepreneur. I have three ways that I actually work with companies and I share those all at the Win with Paid Ads challenge at the end. But what I actually offer with the Win with Paid Ads Challenge is a 10 times your money back guarantee. What that means for you is if you don't get through the content of all five days of the Win with Paid Ads challenge and look back and say, okay, that was worth 10 times what I paid, then we refund you, no questions asked. So. So you can come learn how to really win with paid ads. Because I dig into five days of content which could change your life and business forever and it has changed the multiple six, seven and eight figure entrepreneurs that I get the opportunity to work with. So I really feel like you'll love it. So click the link below this podcast or this YouTube video and join the Win with Paid Ads challenge. Now let's jump back into what it really means to win with paid ads when it comes to the learning period. So I want you to think about the learning period and how learning, it's just adjusting, trying to figure out who is this audience. And it's not just trying to say who is the person who's likely to buy. The algorithm is actually trying to decide who is also the person who is not likely to buy. And so I want you to think about how when you buy a new pair of shoes, when you put those shoes on and they've never been ran before, they're a little tight, right? They're a little stiff. And now does that mean that just because the shoes are new that you can't get to your destination? Absolutely not. You might get a little blister, you might be uncomfortable, but it's breaking in. And that is what the learning period does. And so the learning period is not a stop sign, it's a yield sign. It's a, hey, move with caution. And actually, I'm going to share with you exactly verbatim what Google vs TikTok vs Meta says about their learning phase and what can really happen and shouldn't happen in that period. But I'm gonna be honest, my opinion is, yes, the algorithm needs time to learn and they use the learning period as an excuse for your campaigns. For them to be like, hey, if your campaign doesn't perform, it's because it's learning. So there is a balance, right? So I honestly feel that the learning period is more hyped than it should be. And I say that because. Let's think about a Google campaign right now. With a Google Ads campaign, there are keywords and locations. Here's what I mean. If you own a local chiropractic shop or local chiropractic practice and someone is near you searching, best chiropractor near me, and you have a radius for 20 miles around Las Vegas, Nevada, if you're a chiropractor in Las Vegas, if you are still targeting those keywords with that location, yes, the algorithm is learning. And like the only way your ads are serving is if it's still those same people in that same location searching that same thing. So do you see how. Yes, the algorithm is trying to learn and adjust, but also you're still targeting people searching right now for a chiropractor. So of course the intent and the likelihood that they are to come in and book an appointment is still really high. So that's why I say just because it's in learning, it isn't preventing you from earning. And it's the same thing with meta. So with meta ads, there's so many ways you can go about it. But one of the methods that I teach is where you're targeting a specific audience with your ads, right? With a certain creative. And when I say ad creative, by the way, I mean like the actual static image or the carousel image or the reel that you're using, that is what ad creative is. So your audience targeting and, and your ad creative are live. And so just because the algorithm isn't learning doesn't mean you're not still serving the exact ad you uploaded to the exact audience that you targeted. That's why you can still win even when the algorithm is in this learning period. Now, I cannot tell you, I was at a conference with, I was talking to some other six and seven figure entrepreneurs at this mastermind that I'm a part of with Adley. And we were walking up, it was a little break and we had just had some. His name is Brian. Absolutely incredible. Hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram. And we were taking a little lunch break and I go and I'm chatting with this nutrition coach and he was like, yeah, it's really hard. Like we can't spend our budget obviously because of the learning period. You know, like we can't increase our budget when we need to. So sometimes we just, we just can't even hit our targets because it's just in learning constantly. And I was like what? You don't spend your budget and so you can't fill your event. And. And he was like, yeah, because it's in learning. You can't make changes while it's in learning. And I asked him how much he was spending and it was like a low amount in my opinion. And he was like, well, what do you do? How do you ramp up? And I was like, I double, triple or quadruple my budget at any given time because I completely ignore the learning period. And he looked like he'd seen a ghost. And I was like, what have you been told about this learning period? And he was like, you don't touch the campaigns, you just have to leave them. You can make like a 15% increase in your budget, but you definitely can't double, triple or quadruple your budget. And that is just a lie. So same principle is here. Yes, the algorithm is going to recalibrate, but that isn't preventing you from being able to launch your campaigns, get results and be successful. So that's why I was like, we have to do an episode about this because people are scarred from agencies or someone or even Google telling them, hey, you can't make any changes to this campaign. It's in learning. And so that's why I want you to think about a stop sign versus like a yield sign. Because this learning period is just like a slowdown, not a freeze up and suffer. It's like if you're in the ocean and you are doing some laps and you're like, okay, I'm tired, I need a life raft and someone's standing there with a life raft and you're out in the water and you're like, throw it to me. Oh, wait, are you still in learning period? I guess I'm just gonna stay here and just like tread water. Don't tread water with your campaigns. Make the changes you need to. And I'm actually going to prove to you in just a second how what TikTok and Meta and Google say about the learning period actually does give you some leniency to make changes. I think people just over dramatize this period and so I want to give you a few examples here. So we talked about how the learning period is kind of like running shoes, right? It's stiff, you go on a first few runs and it's still adjusting, but then eventually it gets very comfortable, it figures out who you are. Your toes got the right spacing in there and that shoe just fits like a glove and it feels really good. So I want you you to think about how the breaking in of a shoe, that is what the learning period is for you. So another example I want to give you is, like, on an airplane, so pilots see lights literally all the time. Like, when they're flying, there's like this button beeping. This one's going red, this one's flashing. And all that is is it's just telling the system that it's adjusting or calibrating. The pilot does not jump out of the plane midair just because one of the buttons is giving an indication of something, that it's adjusting or pivoting. Right? And so that's why one of the things I like to say is the learning period is, hey, we're adjusting, not we're erupting. And everything is in panic. Okay? So when I thought about creating this episode, one of the reasons I did is because I have some business owners that I work with, and they are so, you know, intentional about wanting to do things the right way. And so type A and they want to do everything to a T. And if you hear the sound of my voice right now, you're gonna have to let some of your perfectionism kind of die a little bit. Like, I'm sure that your attention to detail has gotten you to where you are today. And what got you here will not get you there. And so the ads and the algorithm that all of this is a not guarantee thing. It's not a when you put this dollar in, you get $1 out. Precisely. Now, granted, the great news is if you've been listening to this podcast for a while, for the past 10 years, I've been helping people take $1 and turn it to 5 to 10, to 20, to 50, to 75 for other people. But in order to get there, you have to get through the learning period. But you have to make sure that you're not overdramatizing and like slowing yourself down because you are too scared to make changes. While the algorithm says it's in learning, don't touch this. So here's what Google says about the learning period, okay? It says the algorithm needs to calibrate. And the definition of calibrate is adjusting or fine tuning for accuracy, precision, and optimal performance. So, yes, of course the algorithm is going to calibrate. It's gonna fine tune, it's gonna get precise. It's gonna learn. In so many business owners that I work with, what you probably want, right, is some consistency and some reliability. Well, I'm here to tell you right now, you keep your budget at $5 a day. It's gonna take you a long time to get enough data for the algorithm to learn to get to where you're going. There's plenty of people out there right now. I can point you to 20 who are going to sell you on cheap ads. Cheap spend $3, spend $2, spend $5. And I promise you, it's delaying you from getting to where you want to go. And I want you to think about how it's actually costing you revenue every single month. You're playing it safe. You're doing two to seven dollars on your ads. It's just delaying how quickly the algorithm can get data so that you can win. So make the changes, give it more data, and here's what Google says. So if your campaign says learning in Google Ads, there's three reasons that your campaign might be in learning from Google Ads. Number one is, is a new strategy. So a bid strategy. A bid is how much you're willing to pay. I want you to think of it like an auction. You know, when you go to an auction, it's like, oh, I'll do $3, $4, $5. Like that's actually what's happening with your Google Ad. It's an auction. That's why it's called a bid. It's also why Google calls the way that you pay for your ads in Google a bid strategy. What strategy are you using to bid to say, hey, I'm willing to pay this much? There's so many different options of bid strategies. I could do a whole series on bid strategies. But when you launch a new strategy, yes, the algorithm is in learning. So that's the first reason that your campaign might say it's in learning is because it's a new bid strategy. The second reason is because you've changed a setting with your bid strategy. So when you're bidding, you can change the type of strategy. You can actually change the target of the strategy. For instance, I'm doing an episode coming up soon here on the podcast about product based businesses and how they can succeed with ads. Because, you know, I talk a lot about service based businesses, but I actually have so many clients that have product based businesses. And like I said, it's a episode that's coming really soon about the product based businesses that I've worked with. And for product based businesses, I'll give you a little sneak peek. You can use the algorithm for in your favor to actually set a target return on ad spend. And so yes, you're gonna use what's called a smart bidding strategy. And those smart bidding strategies, they are algorithm based. And so yes, when you turn that on, so you do a new strategy or you change that strategy's target. Let's just pretend you're going from targeting a three to one return on your ads to a three and a half to one return. That is a settings change. It can trigger your campaign to be in learning. And the last but not least is a composition change. So what does that mean? A composition change is when you are changing the composition of your campaign. What is a campaign composed of? It's composed of keywords, it's contained of ad groups and ads and landing pages. Landing pages. Just meaning where are they landing when they click on the ad, what page are they landing on? And so that is a composition change. So those are the three things that can cause your Google campaign to go into the learning phase. Let's talk about TikTok ads and their learning phase. So TikTok says the learning phase is a period when the system is optimizing the delivery and performance by exploring different audience segments and ad placements. So audience segments are little buckets of types of audiences or behaviors that someone might have. And placements are where you place your ads. It is why in day two of the Win with Paid Ads challenge, we talk about setting the actual environment where you are placing your ads because it matters. And so what TikTok is saying is, hey, when you turn on this ad, I'm gonna try to take some time and let me test this audience. Let me test this audience. Ooh, let me try putting my ad over here versus there on TikTok. So it's saying, yes, this is the period when it's trying to figure itself out and it's kind of testing the waters. And yet if you're targeting a specific audience, it's testing little sub audiences within the actual audience you're targeting. So it doesn't mean you can't make a change. It doesn't mean you can't spend more. In fact, when you spend more, the algorithm is going to get more so you can learn more. That is how the algorithm is successful is through data and getting more data quickly to learn. So we've talked a lot about this and if you haven't seen this episode, I have how to talk like a marketer or how to talk like an advertiser. It's a two part podcast episode earlier when I had just actually begun the podcast. And we talk about cpa, which is cost per acquisition. So all that means is how much have you spent on your Ads, and then how many leads or sales did you get? So if you spent 100 and got one lead, that would be a $100 CPA, a $100 cost per lead. And in the learning period, the CPA can fluctuate during that learning phase, and it becomes more stable as TikTok collects more data and it says as TikTok collects enough data. So for those of you trying to do it the slow way, you have a business. Okay, this is Not Ashley circa 2013 going to Walmart trying to figure out which great value brand would taste better than the name brand. Like, see, how low can I go calling my mom be like, mom, I got out of there and I just used four coupons and got these three things. Like, I was so freaking proud that you don't want to treat your great value experience like you do advertising your business, because if you try to teach it the way that you used to treat money when you were in college, it's going to slow you from getting clients so that you can actually have a business that's growing. So please spend more so you can get more data so that you can be more successful sooner so that your business can continue to grow. Okay, all right, so let's talk about what Meta, which is Facebook and Instagram, says about the learning period. Also, someone messaged me on Instagram the other day and said, who is Meta? I just want to share. Meta is not a person. It is an entity, and it is the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. So when I say Meta, just know I mean Facebook and Instagram specifically. So what does Meta say about the learning period? It says it's a time of experimentation and refinement as the system explores new audiences, placements, and creative variations that's gonna be most effective. So this is kind of what's interesting about my experience with paid advertising and from doing it so long. And it is that there are two ways you can do ads. You can do ads letting the algorithm completely have control. You can say, hey, here's my ad. Put it out into the wilderness. Try to find my people. Now, I have tested that for over a decade, and typically that performs less well than saying, hey, here's the exact age demographic in interest of my person. Send them to this page with this ad. That control. I know some of you are watching this and you're a control freak, too. I'm recovering, but isn't it nice to actually be able to control the speed and direction of your business when you know how to have control and how to actually Use the algorithm in your favor while still having control to make sure your ads are getting in front of the right people. That's when you can really win. And so Meta is saying, hey, we're trying to explore different audiences, different placements, different creative variations during this learning period. And here's what Meta says, which is really, really interesting. Meta says, avoid unnecessary edits to your campaign during learning. Unnecessary. I would argue for the person that I met at this event who was like, man, we really needed to hit our sales goal, but I would have to have doubled or tripled my budget to get there. I would call that a necessary edit. If your business and people finding you is on the other line of this small campaign or this launch or this Black Friday promotion or whatever it is, that's a necessary edit. So change your budget. If it's necessary to hit your goals, make the change. And it says, have a. Meta says, by the way, if you want to be successful, have a realistic budget. A realistic budget is one that is not probably $3. It's going to be unrealistic for you to be able to hit your goals when you are spending just so low. Okay? So make sure that if you want the algorithm to not be in learning all the time, have a. What's called a realistic budget, which is where you're actually spending some money comfortably and not playing it too safe. And by the way, I just want to caveat. I did start my ads for my business, starting at, gosh, five to ten dollars a day. It was my own money. Right? But as you grow, you slowly add momentum so that you can reach more people and really give the algorithm enough data to actually do something with. If you just play the $3 game, you're just not gonna win for a long time. All right, so the other thing I want you to think about when you're worrying about this learning period is what are the pros and cons of making this change? Con. Maybe it takes the algorithm a little bit longer to learn. Pro. You actually hit your sales goals and you can grow your team and grow your impact and grow all these things, and that's ultimately what you want, right? So really, balance. Should I care about this learning period or should I go ahead and launch and spend more and just ignore the fact? I mean, truly, what if you. How would it feel to launch ads and actually completely ignore the learning period? Like, what if you launched it and just let that go and just targeted your people, increased the budget when you need to, and weren't so stressing about changes that's why what I like to say is that the learning period is a label, not a limiter. It's a notification that says, hey, proceed with caution, not don't proceed at all. Cool. So when you see that little red warning or yellow warning, you can kind of bless and release. That's what I like to call it. There's some things in life we just have to bless and release. Bless and release that little yellow warning. Target your people with the right message and you will win. Every single time that you do it. The right way, that is. You know, there are some times where you've got the. You've got the learning period on and your campaign is performing terribly and you're like, dang. It's just in learning, it's like, no, you're targeting might be off. Your messaging might be off. You're not testing enough to even know what's working or not. Which is why in the Win with Paid Ads challenge, we talk about messaging, targeting, setting, testing, and scaling so that you can win. So get your ticket to the Win with Paid Ads challenge. If you haven't, I cannot wait to see you on this next episode. And I hope that this idea of the learning period and kind of being free from that can really help you be more successful, too. So I will see you on the next episode.