How Do I Run Paid Ads Without an Agency?
A step-by-step recipe for running paid ads with Revnu instead of an agency. Connect your ad account, set up the outcome you want, set a monthly budget and approve the test budget. Revnu writes the ads, builds them paused, launches on your yes and judges them on results, not clicks.
Connect your ad account, set up the result you want your ads to bring in, set a monthly budget and approve a test budget. Revnu writes the ads, builds every campaign paused, launches on your yes, judges each ad on that result rather than clicks, and pauses what's burning money.
What you need
An ad account on Google, LinkedIn, X, Reddit, Microsoft or TikTok, with a payment method on it. Revnu can't create one for you. Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is a pilot open to some accounts only.
Someone, or a coding agent such as Claude Code or Cursor, who can add a few lines to your site and server. That's how Revnu counts results. See set up outcomes if nobody can.
A monthly ad budget of at least 50 in your ad account's currency. The platform bills your card directly. Revnu adds no markup and takes no cut.
Step by step
Tell Revnu you want ads first
start with a google ads test, not email
Revnu picks a starting channel from what it knows about you. Say plainly if you want ads.
Connect the ad account
Open Connections > Advertise and press Connect on the platform's row. Sign in with the login that can open the ad account. Connecting never launches an ad or spends money.
Google will probably say it hasn't verified Revnu yet. Click Advanced, then the link that starts Go to and ends (unsafe). See connect Google Ads.
LinkedIn Ads needs the person connecting to be an admin of your company page.
Set up the result your ads should bring in
Open Ads, go to the Revnu Tag tab and press Set Up on Trial Start, Booked Call or Purchase. The setup has three steps:
Define a Win: choose which results count.
Connect: enter your website, press Copy Setup Prompt and paste it into your coding agent. It installs the Revnu Tag and the server side.
Verify: press Open Website and complete a real one yourself.
Revnu waits for an outcome before it launches anything, because without one it has nothing to judge an ad on.
Set the monthly budget
On Ads, press Set Budget on the Monthly Ads Budget card, enter the most Revnu may spend across every channel in a month, and press Save Budget. Or say it:
spend up to $800 a month on ads. start with google search ads for people looking for bookkeeping for restaurants in london
Revnu can move money between channels inside that total. It can't raise it.
Approve the test budget
Revnu puts a card on Ads, such as Approve a Google Ads Learning Budget, with a Total, a Daily maximum and a Length. The total is your worst case. Press Approve Learning Budget. Approving doesn't launch anything.
To spend less, say "make it $15 a day for two weeks" and Revnu prepares a new card. See ad budgets.
Approve each launch
Revnu builds each new ad paused in your ad account and asks before it goes live. Read it and approve. Want to send your own image? Attach it in chat and say which campaign it's for.
Read the results
Open the Analytics tab on Ads for spend, clicks and results per campaign, and the Concept Ranking of which ad idea cost least per result. Or ask:
which ad actually got us the booked calls?
After a sales call, tell Revnu how it went: "they signed" or "no-show". It records exactly what you said against that booking.
Tip
Pick something that happens often for your first outcome. A trial start or sign-up suits most software.
Counting Calendly or Cal.com bookings
Counting bookings also needs a small receiver you host, and Calendly only sends bookings on paid plans.
Does each launch always ask me first?
On Pro, Ad Tests starts on Ask Me First in Settings > Agent, so each new ad waits for you. Set it to Just Do It and Revnu launches and swaps tests inside your approved test budget without asking. Every budget and every budget change still waits for you.
What to expect, and when
Right after connecting and setting an outcome: ads written and a campaign built paused, waiting for your budget and launch approval.
Nothing spends until you approve. Every budget and every budget change waits for you.
At least 3 days: before Revnu pauses a losing ad on its own. It tells you what it paused and the numbers, and a reply resumes it.
Longer for rare results: Revnu waits until an ad has spent about twice what one result is worth to you before calling it. Reddit ads run at least two weeks unchanged and TikTok at least one before they're judged. Google can stay in learning for weeks.
At your monthly budget: Revnu pauses every campaign before reported spend can pass it.
If it doesn't work
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Nothing has launched | Work down the list: is an ad account connected, is an outcome set up, is there a monthly budget, did you approve the test budget and the launch? Check Ads and Review for a waiting card. See why your ads aren't running |
| Google says no advertising account was found | The Google login isn't on the ad account. Add it in Google Ads under Admin > Access and security, then connect again |
| Every ad paused | Spend got close to your monthly budget. Raise it with Edit Budget if you want, press Resume Ads, then tell Revnu which campaigns to resume |
| Bookings say Receiving and count for nothing | Press Set Up on the Booked Call row and finish Define a Win |
| Clicks but no results | On the Revnu Tag tab, check each outcome says Live, Last seen is recent and Reported to lists your platforms |
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
You do, directly. Campaigns run in your own ad accounts and the platform bills the payment method on that account. Revnu adds no markup and takes no cut. Your Revnu plan is separate, $99 a month on Pro.