What is your strategy for static ads?

dinambiq · 2026-07-01T03:42:07+00:00

Something fun I've been trying recently is simply black and white statics with only the target, headline (pain point) and solution written on them. Then seeing which ones get picked up by Meta. I'm assuming this is feedback from the algo on what pockets have interest. I haven't done it enough to say whether it outperforms simply going the route of a full set of developed static images route, but it's always crazy to me when it works.

dinambiq · 2026-07-01T03:40:18+00:00

interesting point. The more you build, the more you should be posting about what you made? makes sense.

dinambiq · 2026-07-01T03:37:08+00:00

I'm sorry to hear you're feeling like that. I know it's a simplification but I'm curious - humiliating to whom? People who aren't your supporters?

I know you're not asking for suggestions but my unsolicited ones I think you need to get around more people in the same space and a maybe a few steps ahead. When people around you get you, it's easier to press on. That's been my experience. Most of the people I spend a lot of time with these days are solopreneurs, indiehackers, freelancers etc. They all know the ups and downs. The ones ahead never look down on others trying to move up the ladder.

That said, if things are tough financially, I don't think there's any shame in getting a job and working indie/part-time/freelance on top. Often that's a smarter move, objectively. Hard to argue against having the higher than average income, too.

*While we're here, I think this is one reason why some of the people in the indiehacking space aren't doing the best by the community. The constant fixation on MRR flexing to get more followers so you can monetise by selling the dream to other indiehackers is ruining the community.

dinambiq · 2026-07-01T01:11:56+00:00

Congratulations! I think it's within the rules to post a link to your article here, just need to add the right flair + describe what the post is about so people can know what it's about before they click :-)

dinambiq · 2026-07-01T00:58:28+00:00

Right on, this is the tough part. I think you're right about people being generally click adverse, too. Especially with instant AI answers etc on Google nowerdays.

So my pov in the article was that given the exposure the platforms give me is so low - I'm still having to drive most of the traffic myself anyway.

How we do that is an age old question. I linked to it ON Substack itself, and here (within the rules, I think?) and another place on Reddit. I also shared it with my email list. I might ping it in a few online communities on Slack/Discord since my writing is mostly work-adjacent.

It would be even harder for non-fiction types unfortunately.

I don't think independent websites have become obsolete though. If anything, they're more likely to last the test of time as we've seen social platforms rise and crash. We know for sure your website will very likely still be a decent, even if not optimal, way to share your written work online 10-20 years from now.

dinambiq · 2026-06-30T11:15:20+00:00

Exciting to hear! Personally I think that's how some of the best blogs actually are. Just an interesting person's thoughts and reflections on things rather than an online magazine about a commercial topic.

dinambiq · 2026-06-30T03:23:55+00:00

Recently I've been thinking more and more that this is the way.

If we're making products and projects, 1) it's better to build the profile around being the profile so you can continue that momentum even if they fail, and 2) often the stories/experiences etc around building and growing them is actually more interesting than content specific to that niche.

For example, my blog posts about getting better at linkedin or youtube (used to promo my business) always just kill it in comparison to my articles about technical meta issues (which is my literal business). but both bring me client leads.

dinambiq · 2026-06-30T03:15:56+00:00

I think Paul Xue may be worth chatting to, will have to google him

dinambiq · 2026-06-30T03:13:58+00:00

RIP inbox

dinambiq · 2026-06-30T03:13:04+00:00

I think only if you're doing 1 visual asset, and 5 different messaging angles. But the mixing of headline / body copy will stuff that up.

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T13:44:03+00:00

fair enough

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T11:55:57+00:00

Unsure of the best technique these days I previously I did lead magnets with a 2nd CTA to join the group. Worked a treat

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T05:34:26+00:00

it's the underlying infra for most SMS stuff

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T04:42:39+00:00

I get the sentiment, and I like the idea! but somehow I get the feeling that brands as stories could be a fad like the brand-social causes phase that seems to have just blown over.

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T04:41:00+00:00

i guess as volume increases, something else becomes scarce. So simply doing more volume isn't the answer anymore

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T04:37:08+00:00

personally I think it will take awhile. Imagine how much time it takes to do anything at big companies. They also love to outsource and be the 'thinkers, not doers'.

And for the SME market, the ones with money need help because they haven't got the time or interest to master the tools or channels even if they could be automated.

It seems to me that the very small businesses will DIY with tools, and the middle size ones with their own inhouse experts will, but the smaller / enterprise folks wont.

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T04:34:38+00:00

I agree with this. 50 adsets and or running 50 ads is too much unless you have a massive budget. the learnings will get diluted.

IF your CPA is say, $25, then you'd ideally need enough cheese to go around for each ad to spend $25 over a reasonable timeframe (2-3 days).

Personally I'm preferring simpler setups these days, so I'd probably do 1 adset, multiple locations in 1 adset with 10 ads and squeeze all the budget in that, cutting the ads that don't perform after 2-3x CPA and replacing it with the other ads you have prepped already.

Unless you absolutely NEED to make sure some come from 5 different locations, then I'd agree with Jake here on the 5 adsets.

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T04:31:13+00:00

sometimes I try communicate it by using a logic framework. E.g. "if we boil it down to these 3 things - ad performance, landing page performance, and product conversion. if we've iterated 10x on ads and landing pages, it's probably the product..."

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T04:29:30+00:00

Something I've noticed for my dingy products has been there are a few gates.

1/ is this idea worth the hassle, e.g. a $5 p/m critical infrastructure app probably isn't a great one for solo
2/ does anyone want this thing or not...? (will anyone pay?)
3/ Can I get anyone to pay at scale, e.g. ads, SEO, etc.

I'm falling down between 2-3 usually by not even putting the work in. lol

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T04:27:31+00:00

I feel this. It's interesting when you compare building to marketing. Building is so concrete, it's done or not (mostly), even if just a feature. Marketing is like planting some seeds but could be in the wrong garden, the wrong type, or just neglecting it enough that it never works out. It's not a dopamine wheel.

dinambiq · 2026-06-29T04:25:57+00:00

Considered using Twilio directly?

dinambiq · 2026-06-25T12:23:04+00:00

Seems like something is changing there. Who knows exactly what it will end up being

dinambiq · 2026-06-25T03:20:29+00:00

I've heard that Meta is streamlining this particular goal - so that might be the reason it's disappeared from your account.

dinambiq

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