Home / Blog / A beginner’s guide to paid advertising for vegan businesses

A beginner’s guide to paid advertising for vegan businesses

If you’re running a vegan business or ethical organisation, especially as a sole trader or with a small team, you might be wondering whether paid ads are worth exploring.

Maybe you’ve seen competitors popping up in your feed, or you’ve noticed your social posts aren’t reaching as many people as they used to. Perhaps growth has slowed, and you’re looking for a way to reach more like-minded customers without relying solely on word of mouth.

Paid advertising might sound expensive or intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, with a small, well-planned budget, you can start reaching more of the right people, faster.

This guide will help you understand the basics of online paid advertising, compare the main platforms, and explore whether it’s a good fit for your business, even on a modest budget.

What are paid ads?

Paid advertising is a marketing model where brands pay to be able to show ads to their target audience. Although TV and radio adverts technically fit in this category, this blog is about internet-based advertising.

How online ads work

Online ads typically work on an auction-style basis where advertisers bid for ad space on their chosen platform (e.g. Google, Facebook). Ads targeting keywords with high search volumes and high levels of competition may be more expensive to run than ads targeting lower competition niche keywords, but the costs depend on the type of ad, audience, ad quality, user engagement, and other factors.

Semrush has put together a great beginner’s guide to paid advertising that you might find helpful.

Common pricing models

What you pay for advertising will depend on the model. You might need to pay:

  • Each time someone clicks on your ad (Pay-Per-Click/PPC)
  • According to the number of times your ad is shown (Cost-Per-Impression/CPM)
  • When someone completes a particular action, like buying something or subscribing to your newsletter (Cost-Per-Action/CPA)

Paid advertising services allow you to set a cap on your budget. For example, you could set a budget of £10 per day for Facebook ads, and once there have been £10 worth of impressions, the ad won’t display again until your budget resets on the next day.

Why paid ads are worth considering

Let’s start with the basics. Why even bother with paid ads?

For many small businesses, the default approach is organic marketing. Usually, this involves creating a website with some basic SEO, posting on social media, relying on word of mouth, or sharing stories through your newsletter. 

While organic marketing is important, the harsh reality is that algorithms can change, throttling your visibility and making organic reach unpredictable. This means that growth through word of mouth, while beautiful and effective, can be slow.

Paid ads give you control. They allow you to:

  • Reach new audiences who share your values
  • Promote your bestsellers, events, or time-sensitive campaigns
  • Retarget people who visited your website but didn’t convert
  • Boost visibility during key launches or growth phases
  • Learn what messaging or offers resonate with your audience

They’re not about shouting louder. They’re about being seen by the right people, at the right time, in a way that supports your mission.

And when you’re doing it on your own, or with a team of one or two, that kind of precision really matters in terms of protecting your time, money, and energy.

Popular paid ad platforms and how they work

Before you invest a penny, let’s explore your platform options:

Google Ads

Google Ads is Google’s advertising platform that lets you reach people right when they’re searching for something online (or even when they’re not, depending on the type of ad you choose).

There are two main parts to the Google Ads universe:

A) The Google Search Network

These are the classic text ads that show up on the Google Search results page, usually at the very top (above the organic listings) or at the bottom.

They appear when someone types in keywords you’ve selected, so you’re reaching people who are actively looking for what you offer.

For example, if someone types “vegan nutritionist near me” and you’ve bid on that keyword, your ad could appear at the top of their results.

These ads can also appear on other Google-owned properties like:

  • Google Maps
  • Google Shopping (text listings, not product tiles)
  • Google Search Partners (some smaller search engines that use Google’s tech)

B) The Google Display Network (GDN)

This is a massive collection of websites, mobile apps, and YouTube videos where Google can place your visual ads (like banners or responsive image ads).

Unlike Search Ads, these aren’t based on what someone just typed – they’re based on:

  • Topics they’re reading about (e.g. vegan recipes)
  • Websites they’ve visited before (retargeting)
  • Interests and demographics (e.g. sustainability, fitness, cruelty-free skincare)

These ads are great for raising awareness and staying visible, but they’re usually not as effective for getting instant purchases because people aren’t in “searching” mode.

Other Google ad types include:

  • Shopping ads: For e-commerce brands, these show product images, prices, and store names, right at the top of search results or in the Google Shopping tab.
  • YouTube ads: Also run through Google Ads. These are video ads that play before, during, or after YouTube videos, or show up as suggestions. You can use them to tell your brand story or promote a launch.
  • Performance Max Campaigns: These use automation to place your ads across all of Google’s properties, including Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and more. Great for busy people but best used when you already have some experience or support.

Google Ads overview

Best for: Reaching people who are already searching for what you sell (especially through Search and Shopping ads).

Pros:

  • High purchase intent – people often click when they’re ready to buy or book
  • Detailed targeting options
  • Scales well if you find the right keywords

Cons:

  • Can get expensive in competitive categories
  • Requires solid keyword strategy and a website that converts

To learn more about Google Ads, try these resources:

Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram)

Meta’s ad platform lets you run campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp – all from one dashboard. Unlike Google, where you’re targeting what people are searching for, Meta Ads target who people are, based on their interests, behaviours, demographics, and past activity.

This makes Meta Ads particularly powerful for reaching new audiences who don’t yet know about you but would want to, and for gently reminding people who’ve engaged with your brand to come back.

Ad types on Meta include:

  • Image ads: A single eye-catching photo, ideal for product launches, offers, or service highlights.
  • Video ads: Short videos that play in the feed or Stories, great for storytelling or demonstrating how something works.
  • Carousel ads: Multiple images or videos in a single scrollable ad. Perfect for showcasing several products or highlighting steps in a process.
  • Stories & Reels ads: Vertical, full-screen mobile ads shown between organic Stories or Reels. Great for immersive, quick engagement.
  • Collection ads: Allow people to browse a mini catalogue within the app, ideal for e-commerce.
  • Lead generation ads: Collect email addresses or enquiries directly inside Facebook or Instagram, without sending people off-site.
  • Retargeting ads: Shown only to people who have visited your website, watched your videos, added items to cart, etc.

Meta Ads overview

Best for: Building brand awareness and trust, telling your story visually, and retargeting warm leads

Pros:

  • Exceptionally precise targeting options
  • Strong visual and emotional impact, especially for values-led brands
  • Works well even with small daily budgets (£5-£10)
  • Seamless retargeting tools (if you’ve set up your Meta Pixel for tracking and analytics)

Cons:

  • Can be overwhelming to learn at first
  • Creative assets (images/videos) matter a lot, so low-quality visuals can hurt performance
  • Organic reach on Meta platforms is low, so you’re often paying for visibility

To learn more about Meta Ads, try these resources:

TikTok Ads

TikTok isn’t just for dances and Gen Z anymore, although it’s still skewed young and fast-moving. If you enjoy creating short-form videos and have a message that can be delivered with energy, authenticity, or a bit of humour, TikTok is worth exploring (you can find our guide to building a TikTok audience for your ethical business here).

The platform is heavily algorithm-driven, so organic reach can be high, but paid ads help you guarantee visibility, especially to people with specific interests.

Ad types on TikTok include:

  • In-feed ads: Appear as native video content in users’ For You feeds. Short, scroll-stopping, and skippable.
  • Spark ads: Boost your own organic posts or even posts from creators that feature your product.
  • TopView ads: The first thing a user sees when they open the app (premium and expensive).
  • Branded hashtag challenges: Invite users to join a trend using your hashtag. Great for brand awareness, less so for direct conversions.
  • Branded effects: Filters, stickers, or lenses users can interact with – better suited to big campaigns or playful product lines.

TikTok Ads overview

Best for: Capturing attention through playful or educational short videos, growing awareness with a younger audience, and humanising your brand through authentic content

Pros:

  • Organic-style ads perform well – polished production isn’t required
  • High potential reach for lower costs compared to Meta
  • Spark Ads allow collaboration with creators or fans

Cons:

  • Requires a steady flow of creative, video-based content
  • Rapidly changing trends – what works one month might flop the next
  • Audience may not convert as readily unless your website is mobile-optimised and compelling

To learn more about TikTok Ads, try these resources:

Pinterest Ads

Pinterest isn’t just for recipes and wedding boards; it’s a powerful discovery tool for ethical products and lifestyle inspiration that operates more like a visual search engine than a social platform. 

People use it to plan, dream, and discover. That makes it perfect for evergreen content and products that align with aspirational or lifestyle goals, so think recipes, eco home goods, plant-based fashion, and cruelty-free self-care routines.

Ad Types on Pinterest include:

  • Promoted pins: Boost your existing pins so they appear in more users’ search results and feeds.
  • Video pins: Short video content that auto-plays as people scroll.
  • Shopping ads: Showcase your products with price, title, and link to buy.
  • Carousel pins: Up to five images for step-by-step content or product showcases.
  • Idea pins (formerly Story pins): Multi-page content for tutorials, recipes, or how-tos.

Pinterest Ads overview

Best for: E-commerce stores with a lifestyle angle or businesses with strong visual content (DIY, recipes, skincare, homeware), as well as driving long-term traffic (pins can resurface weeks or months later)

Pros:

  • Pins have a long shelf life, which means ads can keep working after the campaign ends
  • Great for driving evergreen traffic to blogs, shops, or guides
  • High-intent users often come with purchase plans in mind

Cons:

  • Requires time to develop a content strategy behind your ads
  • Visuals must be branded and polished to stand out
  • Lower click-through rates compared to Meta, but with longer-term payoff

To learn more about Pinterest Ads, try these resources:

Other Platforms (Quick Mentions)

You might also want to explore paid advertising opportunities on platforms such as:

  • LinkedIn: Good for B2B vegan services, but higher cost per click
  • Reddit: Niche communities; tricky to get right without deep audience understanding
  • YouTube (via Google Ads): Great for education and brand storytelling if you have video content

Understanding the metrics that matter

Whichever platform you advertise on, you’ll find there are acronyms to understand, which can be daunting at first! You don’t need to become an expert overnight, but knowing the key acronyms – and, most importantly, the numbers to which they refer – can help you figure out what’s working and what’s not.

Here are the most useful terms to know and track:

  • CPC (Cost Per Click): How much you’re paying each time someone clicks on your ad.
  • CPA (Cost Per Acquisition/Cost Per Action): How much you pay for a conversion (e.g. sale, sign-up).
  • CTR (Click-Through Rate): What percentage of people who saw your ad clicked on it.
  • Impressions: How many times your ad was shown.
  • Reach: The number of individual people who saw your ad.
  • ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): Revenue earned for every £1 spent on ads.

If you’re building awareness, you want high reach and CTR. If you’re selling a product or service, then the CPA and ROAS are your guiding stars.

How to make the most of a small budget

You genuinely don’t need thousands of pounds to run a successful paid ad campaign. Most of the platforms we’ve mentioned above allow you to be incredibly specific about who you target, which means you should be able to reach the right audience with a relatively small spend.

Here’s how to run a lean, purposeful ad campaign without blowing your budget:

1. Start with a clear, measurable goal

One campaign = one purpose. Do you want to get email signups, to sell five units of a new product, or drive traffic to a blog post? It’s vital to be specific, so you can measure success clearly.

2. Focus on targeting

The more precise you are about the audience you want to reach, the further your budget will stretch. You can:

  • Use interest-based targeting (e.g. “vegan cooking,” “zero waste living”)
  • Create lookalike audiences from your email list or customer data
  • Retarget website visitors, video viewers, or social engagers

Avoid “boosting” posts blindly, as it’s usually not the best use of your spend.

3. Use existing content as your test bed

If a Reel or post has done well organically, it’s a great candidate for a paid ad. The groundwork is already done.

4. A/B test with small spends

Run two variations of the same ad with different headlines or images. After a few days, turn off the underperformer.

5. Retarget your warm audience

This is your most cost-effective tactic. Show ads only to people who’ve:

  • Visited your website
  • Engaged with your social media pages
  • Started but didn’t complete a purchase

These people are already halfway there – they just need a gentle nudge!

6. Optimise your ad landing page

If people click but don’t buy, the issue might not be the ad but the page they land on. Check the landing page to make sure:

  • It loads fast (especially on mobile)
  • The message matches the ad
  • There’s a clear next step (buy, book, sign up)

7. Cap your budget

One of the easiest ways to stay in control is to set a daily or lifetime budget cap for your campaigns. Most platforms let you do this with just a few clicks. That way, you can experiment without the fear of overspending. Start small – £5-£10 a day is enough to gather useful data without risking too much. Once you know what’s working, you can scale up gradually.

8. Tap into local and seasonal trends

Use your ad targeting to focus on your local area, especially if you offer services or sell at events. Geo-targeting your town, city, or region reduces waste and can make your ads feel more relevant. 

You can also run seasonal or event-based campaigns, like promoting ethical travel products, Veganuary specials, or festive hampers. This helps your ads feel timely and taps into people’s natural buying rhythms.

9. Use the free analytics tools

Every ad platform comes with its own built-in analytics dashboard, and they’re more helpful than they might seem at first glance. Use them to check which ads are performing best, where your money’s going, and how people are responding. 

Even better, tools like Meta’s Ads Manager, Google Ads Dashboard, and Pinterest Analytics often suggest what to tweak for better results. 

What does ‘Good Performance’ look like?

Now that you know where to advertise, let’s talk about what success looks like. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer unfortunately. Below, you’ll see general benchmarks drawn from cross-industry data. 

Your results may vary depending on your product, audience, and ad goals. Use these as a starting point and compare them to your own past performance wherever possible.

  • CPC: £0.20-£3.50, depending on the platform used and the competition (we recommend looking for data specific to your chosen platform)
  • CPA: Ideally under 30% of a customer’s lifetime value to your business
  • ROAS: 2x-4x is good (higher-value or high-margin products may need a higher ROAS to stay profitable)

If you’re hitting below these, it doesn’t necessarily mean failure, but it might mean that it’s time to tweak your ad, audience, or landing page.

Check in weekly on active campaigns and review monthly to spot trends.

Let paid ads amplify your hard work

Paid advertising doesn’t need to feel overwhelming, manipulative, or out of reach. When done with care and strategy, it can simply be a tool to help your work reach the people it’s meant for.

It’s OK to not run paid ads right now, of course, especially if you’re still finding your audience, your website isn’t ready to convert, or you don’t yet have a clear offer or call to action. Ads should amplify what’s already working, not fix what’s broken or yet to be done.

But if you are ready to explore the potential of paid ads, our advice is to start small and focus on one platform. Set a clear goal, track what happens, cap your budget, and then learn and adjust.

You don’t have to compete with huge brands. You just have to connect with the people who care, and paid ads, used well, can help you do exactly that.

Categories

Recent Posts

Date Archives

Continue Reading

Back to top