Campaigns are for big brands? Think again.
From campaign sceptic to campaign convert: how one small brands pulled off a 700% engagement surge
For decades, campaigns have been reserved for the big players. The brands with million-dollar budgets, glossy production teams, and marketing departments that can afford to spend months polishing a single message.
Meanwhile, small businesses have relied on reactivity. Sticking to posting on socials, boosting a few ads here and there, and hoping word of mouth does the rest.
But here’s the truth: Small businesses can, and should, run creative campaigns.
And today’s Got Marketing? guest, Megan Winter, proves it.
From campaign sceptic to campaign convert
Megan is an award-winning Meta Ads specialist and founder of Lume Marketing. She’s worked with global brands, taught countless small business owners how to run their own ads, and knows the backend of Meta inside out.
But until recently, she didn’t think campaigns were for her own business.
Like so many small business owners, she believed that campaigns, especially polished, well-produced ones, belonged in the world of big brands. She also believed that small brands needed to be scrappy to stay relatable, that spending real money on creative was indulgent, and that if she was going to invest, it should go into ads, not assets.
What changed her mind?
After hearing me bang on (inside Marketing Circle) about how campaigns are one of the most powerful tools small businesses need to grow, Megan decided to test it for herself.
The result?
✅ 127% lift in website traffic
✅ 700% increase in organic engagement
✅ 500% increase in profile visits
✅ More DMs, referrals, and leads, even though this was not a conversion campaign.
The campaign: It’s Not You, It’s Them
Megan’s insight came straight from her clients:
The problem isn’t Meta ads, it’s the agencies running them.
She kept hearing the same frustrations:
→ Being handed off to an “expensive intern” after the sales pitch
→ Cookie-cutter copy that could fit any brand
→ Constant pressure to “just spend more” when results were poor
→ Endless “testing” with no actionable insights
So she created a cheeky Valentine’s Day campaign built around one clear message: it’s not you, it’s them.
An anti-marketing campaign that called out the problems in her industry with humour, a little sting, and a lot of clarity.
Why it worked
Megan flipped the small business playbook in three crucial ways:
She invested in creative, not just ads.
Most small businesses will drop money on ads and skimp on the content. Megan did the opposite:
→ $15,000 on creative
→ $1,000 on ads
Because (in her words) “ads are an amplifier, not a fix.” Strong creative, clear insights, and thoughtful positioning always come first.
She treated brand building as essential.
This campaign wasn’t a quick sales play. It was about awareness, repositioning, and elevating Lume Marketing’s profile from “Megan the consultant” to a serious (anti) agency contender. She knew that long-term conversions come from strong brand awareness, not just constant sales pushing.
She let organic content prove itself.
Instead of racing to pour money into ads, Megan let her organic posts run first, testing what resonated, watching how people engaged, and only amplifying once she knew it had legs.
What small businesses can take away
This wasn’t a perfect, smooth, stress-free process (Megan openly admits she nearly “pooped her pants” investing the money.) But the takeaways for small businesses are clear:
✅ Campaigns aren’t just for big brands. With the right idea and the right team, you can run brand-building campaigns that punch far above your weight.
✅ Invest in creative assets you can reuse. Megan’s campaign assets: video, imagery, messaging, will serve her business well beyond the original Valentine’s Day window. She can rerun the campaign next year, adapt it for other touch points, and continue reinforcing her message.
✅ Fear means you’re pushing into new territory. Megan’s fear wasn’t a red flag; it was a signal she was moving beyond the comfort zone, and that’s exactly where the best marketing lives.
✅ You don’t need to go it alone. Megan assembled a dream team of creative collaborators to bring the campaign to life. Marketing is a team sport, and pulling in the right experts made all the difference.
What’s next for Megan?
She’s planning to rerun It’s Not You, It’s Them next February (because let’s be honest: no one remembers last year’s campaign, and if they do, they’ll love the sequel).
She’s also spinning out parts of the campaign, like her “bad ads hotline” into standalone activations.
And most importantly, she’s made annual brand campaigns a regular part of her marketing mix.
Because once you see that campaigns aren’t just for big brands, you realise just how much ground a small business can cover.
👉 Listen to the full episode here:
Until next week,
Mia
P.S. I’d love to hear what you thought of this episode or Substack.