Instagram ads → retargeting → DMs: the SOP

Distilled from the Acquire More "TIER 3 | MXLTPLY" classroom (Joe Aquino): 50 lessons, ~11.5 h of video, plus its Miro boards and SOP docs. Rewritten as one click-and-do checklist. Ticks save in this browser.

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1 · The funnel in one line

Ads never ask for a call. Cold ads buy followers, content builds trust, and only warm people see "DM me" ads. Retargeting is where the course says half the revenue comes from, but it only works while the top of the funnel keeps refilling the pool.

① Follower adsCold. Goal = profile visit + follow. 70–80% of budget.

② Profile + contentBio, highlights, daily stories, reels, YouTube. $0.

③ DM retargeting adsWarm only. "DM me KEYWORD". 20–30% of budget.

④ Setter → callReply within 24 h, qualify, then a short screen share.

Three rules the course repeats everywhere: never switch off follower ads · never skip the middle-funnel content · always retarget.

2 · Profile first before a single dollar of ads

The follower ad sends people to your profile, not to a landing page. If the profile doesn't earn the follow in about 3 seconds, the ad money is wasted.

Profile photo: a face (not a logo), high contrast, the same on every platform. Bio line 1: who you help + the result. Line 2: your named method. Line 3: ONE call to action ("DM me DEALS for …"). Link in bio: ONE destination (short VSL, free training or application). No link list with 15 options. 3 pinned posts: best reel · a client result · an educational breakdown. Story highlights = "credibility vault": results, testimonials, case studies, plus a "Start here" highlight. At least 9 reels on the grid, all on your one niche. A lead magnet ready (free training / SOP / tracker / free community) and a ManyChat keyword automation that delivers it.

3 · Which videos to make, and where each one goes

Six ad formats. Each has one job and one destination.

Video / creative	What it is	Length	Runs as	Sends people to
Educational / Miro board #1 for B2B	Screen-share of your system on a whiteboard: "this funnel turned $X into $Y — here's every step." Show it, don't talk about it.	60–120 s	Follower ad (cold)	Your IG profile (follow)
Value talking-head	On camera. Hook with a hyper-specific situation, then 3 pains your buyer has, then "follow me and I'll show you…"	45–90 s	Follower ad (cold)	Your IG profile (follow)
Testimonial (before → after → how) strongest	A client speaks for you: where they were, the numbers after, what made the difference, and "just do it, follow X".	60–90 s	Follower ad + retargeting	Profile (cold) / DMs (warm)
One-pager story image most DMs	Bold statement or result on a plain background, one line of proof, "DM me KEYWORD for [free thing]". Looks like a native story.	static	Cold DM ad + retargeting	Instagram Direct (DM)
Carousel	Problem → solution → proof (numbers, screenshots) → "DM me KEYWORD".	5–8 slides	Retargeting	Instagram Direct
"We're looking for…" highest intent	"We're looking for [exact buyer] doing [X] and stuck on [Y]. DM me KEYWORD." Warm audiences only.	static or 30–60 s	Retargeting only	Instagram Direct

Production rules for every video

Disqualification hook, not a profiling hook. Not "Are you a coach doing 10k?" but a specific scene with an odd number ("You closed $11,400 last month but…"). Odd numbers make people pause; round ones read as hype. Two calls to action: one at about 65% of the video and one at the end. The course says ~75% of follows come from the middle one. Captions on every video (most watch muted). Show proof on screen: screenshots, dashboards, real numbers, client faces. Record in batches: the same body with 5–10 different hooks and settings. Give the editor a storyboard with every screenshot and clip attached. Testimonials: interview the client ("What made you realise something had to change? What was it like before? What changed, in numbers?") and cut the ad from that interview.

6 · Campaign C: cold DM ads add in week 4

Golden rule: a cold DM ad gives away a lead magnet and nothing else. Never a call and never the offer. Free audit calls are for warm retargeting only.

Objective Engagement → Instagram Direct, Instagram only, manual. Audience broad or the same interests as the follower ads, same age range. No custom audience. $15–30/day. It supports the follower ads; it does not replace them. Best creative: a one-pager story image (course: $1.90–7 per DM). Second best: the talking-head ad with "DM me KEYWORD" in place of "follow". Lead magnet must make people think "if this is free, the paid thing must be great": a free course/SOP, a long YouTube training, a free community, a tracker. ManyChat sends it automatically, then asks "should I send that over?" to start a real conversation.

7 · Budget split

Daily total	Follower ads (70–80%)	Retargeting (20–30%)	How
$30	$24	$6	3 retargeting campaigns × $2: the minimum
$60	$45	$15	3 × $5: the recommended start
$100	$75	$25	5 × $5: the sweet spot
$200	$150	$50	5–10 × $5–10; several follower campaigns, none above $100

Scale at most +20% a week, by opening new campaigns with your winning creatives rather than raising budgets on the old ones.

8 · Handling the people the ads bring

DM every new follower within 24 hours (DM-ad leads: within 60 minutes if possible). Look at their profile first (60 seconds): are they active, do they have a real business, what does their bio say? If they have a story up, reply to it. If not, mention something specific from their bio. Never "thanks for the follow!". Find out 3 things: where they are now, where they want to be, what's stopping them. Ask 2–3 questions at most. Use voice memos for anything longer than 2 sentences. Mirror their problem back, give one useful insight, offer a free asset. Frame the call softly ("easier if I share my screen for 10 minutes"), never as a "strategy call". No reply? Follow up at 48 h, 96 h and 7 days (the last one sends a reel that fits their problem). After booking, 5 steps: link → voice-memo confirmation → 3-minute questionnaire → day-before memo → 15-minute reminder. Target show rate 80%+.

9 · The daily content that makes retargeting work

Their "7-11-4": a high-ticket buyer needs about 7 hours of your content, 11 touches, across 4 formats (reels, stories, YouTube, DMs). Ads only start that process.

Day	Story sequence	Reel
Mon	Client wins, stacked	New client result
Tue	Take the week's #1 objection and break it with numbers	"You think X works; here's what it costs you"
Wed	Curiosity → push to this week's YouTube video	Whiteboard breakdown + YouTube drop
Thu	Client wins again (different niche)	Client reaction / call clip
Fri	The one hard call to action of the week	Authority / where you are
Sat	Proximity: mentors, events, business updates	Value clip
Sun	Personal, no call to action	none

Stories every day (non-negotiable) · a reel daily or every other day · YouTube once a week from day 30, twice from day 60. Reel mix: 40% educational, 30% proof, 20% problem→solution, 10% personal. Film real work rather than sit-down scripts: client calls, events, the team at work. One call = 3–5 clips. Judge reels by followers per 1,000 views, not by views. Ask every new client which content tipped them, and make more of it.

10 · Numbers to watch weekly, and what to fix

Metric	Target	If off
Cost per profile visit	< $0.50	New hooks; widen audience/age
Cost per qualified follower	$2–6	Stronger profile or creative
% of new followers who fit your buyer	> 30%	Hook too broad; sharpen the pains
Cost per DM: cold / retargeting	$2–6 / $5–25	New creative / better lead magnet
Retargeting frequency	1–3	Swap creative, add campaigns, refill pool
Cost per booked call	$80–140	> $150 = profile/content too weak
Show rate	75–91%	Run the full 5-step pre-call sequence
Close rate	25–50%	Wrong buyers on calls, or sales process
Return on ad spend (cash)	3× minimum, 7× target	Under 3× → pause and find the broken stage

Custom columns in Ads Manager: Profile visits, IG follows, cost per result, spend, CTR, reach, frequency. One weekly sheet: spend, visits, cost/visit, followers, qualified %, conversations, calls, show %, close %, cash, ROAS. Creatives now wear out in about 3 months: have the next 5–7 scripted before the winner fades. A rising cost per follower is the early signal.

11 · Launch timeline

When	Do	Good sign
Week 1	Follower ads live (Educational + Value). Only watch cost per visit and qualified %.	< $0.50 visit, > 25% qualified
Week 2	Kill creatives above $0.80/visit. Launch 3 retargeting campaigns at $5/day.	1 clear winner
Week 3	Duplicate the winner into a new campaign; test new hooks; setter DMs every new follower.	First calls booked
Week 4	+20% spend if ROAS > 3×. Add cold DM ads for the lead magnet.	1–3 calls a day
Month 2–3	Replace tired creatives, add retargeting campaigns, launch a testimonial series.	3–7× ROAS

12 · What this means for the Advisors ads our own numbers

Our gap is exactly what this course warns against. On 11 Oct the only live Advisors ad was a retargeting campaign with nothing cold feeding it. Reach was 3,447 people in 30 days at a frequency of 4.15, so cost per call climbed from $46 to $118 a week once spend doubled into the same pool.

Add a follower-ad campaign (Section 4) at 70–80% of the budget so the retargeting pool grows every day. Split the current single RT campaign into 3–5 small ($5–10/day) campaigns with different creatives, and cap frequency at 3. Record 3–5 testimonials (Tim Whipple and others) for retargeting. Choose one lead magnet + keyword (e.g. "DEALS" → free deal-sourcing SOP) and wire ManyChat to deliver it. Fix the profile before turning on follower ads (Section 2).

The benchmarks on this page are the course seller's claims, not tested on our account. Treat them as targets to measure against, not promises.

Instagram ads → retargeting → DMs: the SOP

1 · The funnel in one line

2 · Profile first before a single dollar of ads

3 · Which videos to make, and where each one goes

Production rules for every video

4 · Campaign A: follower ads cold · top of funnel

Campaign level

Ad set level: three ad sets, same budget each

Ad level

5 · Campaign B: DM retargeting ads warm only · where the money is

Build the audiences once

Campaign setup

What to run in it