Meta Ads Manager & Strategist for Local Business Lead Generation

ABOUT THE ROLE Apex Studio Films is seeking a dependable Meta Ads Manager and Strategist for ongoing, project-based client work. Apex produces professional video, motion graphics, design, and campaign content for local businesses and commercial clients. We are expanding our ability to distribute that creative, manage campaigns, measure performance, and provide clients with useful business feedback. This is not an organic social-media management position. We need someone who specializes in paid Meta advertising across Instagram and Facebook and understands how to turn creative content into focused local lead-generation campaigns. The right person can manage campaigns hands-on while also thinking strategically about audiences, geography, offers, budgets, lead quality, funnels, retargeting, creative performance, and client reporting. WORKING RELATIONSHIP This is a remote, long-term freelance opportunity supporting Apex client accounts as they become available. Work will be assigned and approved on a per-client or per-project basis. Hours, account volume, and monthly income are not guaranteed. Each assignment will have a defined scope, budget, timeline, access level, and reporting requirement. Apex will own the client relationship, creative direction, and production process. The selected specialist will initially work behind the Apex brand as an agency partner. Direct client communication or meeting participation may be added later after trust has been established. The first engagement will be a real paid audit, setup, or client-account assignment. We will not request unpaid speculative work. TYPICAL CLIENTS Our Meta clients are primarily U.S.-based local and service businesses, including barbershops, landscaping and construction companies, churches, professional services, hospitality businesses, and other appointment- or lead-driven organizations. Many accounts begin with modest advertising budgets. Candidates must understand how to make responsible decisions with budgets that may range from approximately $300–$2,000 per month—not only large e-commerce accounts spending tens of thousands of dollars. CORE RESPONSIBILITIES Depending on the account, responsibilities may include: • Auditing existing Meta campaigns, account structure, audiences, placements, budgets, and performance • Building, launching, pausing, restarting, and managing Instagram and Facebook campaigns • Selecting appropriate campaign objectives, conversion destinations, placements, audiences, and bidding approaches • Allocating monthly advertising budgets responsibly • Scheduling and adjusting spend by day of the week, season, holiday, promotion, or campaign priority • Preventing campaigns from exceeding approved monthly spending limits • Developing geographic targeting and strategic service-area zones • Researching neighborhoods, demographics, customer profiles, and likely purchasing capacity • Building custom audiences, engagement audiences, lookalike audiences, and retargeting campaigns • Creating and managing Meta Instant Forms, including qualification questions and lead-delivery workflows • Selecting or recommending the best destination, such as Instagram profiles, booking pages, websites, Meta forms, messages, or landing pages • Comparing hooks, videos, offers, headlines, audiences, placements, and campaign variations • Monitoring cost per result, cost per lead, frequency, clicks, profile activity, lead quality, bookings, and other available performance indicators • Reallocating budgets based on validated campaign performance • Identifying underperforming ads and recommending whether to adjust, replace, pause, or continue them • Translating campaign data into clear creative recommendations for Apex’s next production cycle • Preparing accurate, polished, client-ready monthly reports • Explaining what happened, why it likely happened, and what should be done next • Maintaining organized records of campaign changes, budgets, results, and recommendations • Protecting client information and using secure account-access practices REPORTING AND ATTRIBUTION This position requires more than sending screenshots from Ads Manager. Reports should clearly communicate, when available: • Total ad spend • Reach, impressions, frequency, and cost per result • Clicks, profile visits, forms, messages, calls, leads, and bookings • Best-performing creative, audience, placement, geographic area, and offer • Changes made during the reporting period • Performance trends and problems • Recommended next actions • Cost per qualified lead, booked appointment, or acquired customer when sufficient data is available • Attributable revenue or return on ad spend only when the necessary client data can support those conclusions The specialist must distinguish between Meta-reported results, verified business results, and estimates. Apex will not present unverified revenue or ROI claims as fact. FUNNELS, TRACKING, AND AUTOMATION The ideal candidate understands the complete journey from advertisement to lead, booking, sale, and follow-up. Strong experience with the following is preferred: • Meta Instant Forms • Instagram and Facebook message campaigns • ManyChat • Zapier or Make • CRM, spreadsheet, email, or booking-system lead delivery • Landing-page and booking-path strategy • UTM tracking • Meta Pixel and Events Manager • Conversions API • GA4 and Google Tag Manager • Offline conversions • Looker Studio or similar reporting dashboards • Lead-source reconciliation and attribution The strategist should be able to build straightforward Meta forms and simple lead flows while identifying when advanced landing-page development, CRM implementation, copywriting, or automation should be scoped separately. Apex may assign advanced funnel building, website development, or complex integrations to another specialist. The Meta strategist should still understand how those components affect campaign performance and be able to recommend what is needed. CREATIVE COLLABORATION Apex will generally provide the video and design assets used in campaigns. The strategist is not expected to be Apex’s primary video editor or graphic designer. However, they must be able to evaluate creative performance and provide clear recommendations regarding: • Hooks and opening moments • Offers and calls to action • Video duration and pacing • Captions, headlines, and primary text • Ad variations and testing priorities • Audience-message alignment • Landing destinations and lead-form questions • New creative that Apex should produce COMPENSATION The anticipated range for variable-scope work is $15–$40 per hour, depending on experience, speed, capability, and the assignment. We also welcome fixed per-account, per-audit, per-setup, or monthly package pricing. Each assignment will be discussed and approved before work begins. When applying, please provide your normal pricing for the following representative service levels: 1. One-time account audit and campaign setup 2. Essential management: one focused campaign, up to two active ad variations, straightforward targeting, routine monitoring, basic adjustments, and a monthly performance snapshot 3. Strategic management: up to two campaign initiatives, up to four active creative variations, custom geographic and demographic strategy, seasonal budget planning, lead forms, retargeting, weekly review, optimization, and a monthly strategic report 4. Performance management: multiple campaign initiatives, structured testing, deeper tracking and attribution, lead or booking reconciliation when data is available, detailed reporting, and monthly strategy recommendations 5. Advanced tracking, ManyChat, CRM, funnel, Pixel, Conversions API, dashboard, or automation work outside regular campaign management Please explain exactly what is included in each representative price, what is excluded, and approximately how much monthly attention the account receives. WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR The ideal candidate: • Has proven experience managing Meta campaigns for local or service businesses • Understands Instagram placements, Reels, Stories, feeds, engagement audiences, forms, and retargeting • Can work effectively with modest local advertising budgets • Makes decisions based on business goals rather than vanity metrics • Communicates clearly in written and spoken English • Can create professional reports that Apex can confidently present to clients • Is dependable, responsive, organized, honest, and detail-oriented • Can overlap with agreed Central Time working hours when necessary • Is comfortable operating as a behind-the-scenes agency partner • Will communicate problems, limitations, or uncertain attribution honestly • Can manage accounts independently after receiving the approved strategy, creative assets, budget, and client information Meta certification is welcomed but not required. Demonstrated results, judgment, communication, reliability, and reporting quality matter more than certificates alone. WHEN APPLYING Please include: • Your location and time zone • Your hourly rate • Your representative audit, setup, and per-account pricing requested above • Your typical turnaround time for an account audit and initial campaign setup • The number of client accounts you can responsibly support • Two relevant Meta Ads case studies, preferably for local or service businesses • The client’s industry, approximate ad spend, campaign objective, your personal responsibilities, and the measurable result for each case study • A redacted client-facing report or dashboard example, if available • Your experience with Meta Instant Forms, retargeting, ManyChat, funnels, Meta Pixel, Conversions API, GA4, CRM connections, and automation • Your availability for Central Time communication • A brief explanation of how you would approach a local service business with a $500 monthly ad-spend budget Please do not provide only broad claims about ROAS, screenshots without context, or results you cannot personally verify. We need to understand the campaign objective, budget, timeframe, your exact contribution, how the result was measured, and what you learned. We are looking for a capable long-term specialist who can help Apex turn professional creative work into measurable, responsible, and continuously improving local advertising campaigns.