PODCAST: Season 7, Episode 7
Grab your coffee and settle in because this week I’m joined by the brilliant CJ from Vibing Social, and honestly — this conversation is a treat. CJ is a Meta ads strategist with a background in psychology, and she works predominantly with product-based businesses (yes, those of you who sell actual physical shit — this one’s for you!). We’re diving into everything from why people really buy, to the biggest myths around ad spend, to that time CJ burnt out working with a brand founded by a member of the Royal Family. Plus, we bonded over skinning guinea pigs in South America, so there’s that.
A Bit About CJ
CJ’s journey is anything but linear — first career in recruitment, then a Masters in Psychology working with C-suite teams as a business psychologist, followed by solo travelling around South America where she built an entire sustainable travel platform (not just a little blog, a whole platform with 40 writers). When COVID hit and wiped that out, she pivoted into social media, retrained in Facebook ads, and six years later she’s still here — running incredible campaigns for e-commerce brands and helping them scale through data-backed strategy and understanding human behaviour.
Key Topics Covered
In this episode, we get into:
- The psychology of buying — why one headline massively outperforms another and how to find your audience’s real buying triggers
- The biggest myth about Meta ads — spoiler: you don’t need thousands to get started. £10 a day can work
- Creative testing — why your visuals are now doing the targeting for you and how the algorithm rewards variety
- Audience research before ads — why CJ spends up to two weeks doing surveys and data before a single ad goes live
- The Royal Family burnout story — what happens when you have zero boundaries with a high-profile client
- AI in advertising — how brands like Burberry and H&M are already using AI models and what that means for smaller businesses
- Product page vs homepage — why you should never send ad traffic to your homepage (get them as close to the buy button as possible)
- Retargeting in 2025 — how the funnel setup has completely changed from separate campaigns to everything under one roof
CJ’s Background: From Business Psychology to Meta Ads
CJ’s first career was in recruitment before she studied for her Masters in Psychology and became a business psychologist — coaching C-suite teams on leadership, communication and culture. When the commute became unworkable, she took off to South America, built a sustainable travel platform with 40 contributing writers, and was partnering with some really big organisations… until COVID wiped it all out. She pivoted into social media, retrained in Facebook advertising, and hasn’t looked back since.
On the Psychology of Buying
This is where CJ really lights up. She’s not a self-proclaimed “Meta ads geek” — what she loves is understanding what makes people tick. Why do people stop scrolling? Why does one ad with one headline smash it while another flops? For her jewelry client, she ran audience surveys and discovered buying triggers they’d never even considered. The lesson: before you spend a penny on ads, do your audience research. Find out why people are actually buying — is it a gift, a pick-me-up, a life event, a new job? Then build your messaging around that.
Biggest Myths About Meta Ads
You do NOT need to spend hundreds or thousands to see results. CJ has members in her membership spending £10 a day. Her jewelry client started at £1,500 a month three years ago and has scaled from there — going from 20K months to nearly 100K months, with ads contributing 40% of that revenue. The key: spend what you’re comfortable with (maybe a little uncomfortable), have the right strategy, and be patient. Month one might be tough. Month two you’ll see green shoots. Month three is where the magic starts.
On Creative Testing & the New Algorithm
The biggest lever right now isn’t targeting — it’s creative. Your visuals are doing the targeting for you. That means you can’t just use a flat lay of your product. You need B-roll video, talk-to-camera, dynamic carousels, variety. Facebook’s algorithm (Andromeda) is rewarding bigger creative swings. And CJ is exploring AI-generated creative as a game-changer for smaller brands who can’t afford constant photoshoots and influencer partnerships.
The Royal Family Burnout Story
Two years into her career, CJ landed a dream client — a high-end fashion brand founded by a member of the Royal Family. Amazing results, incredible opportunity. But zero boundaries. Calls at 8pm. Messages on weekends. It took over everything and she burnt out. The hardest part? She’d set a benchmark for how much she could give, and winding that back was nearly impossible. She ended up stepping back from the contract entirely. Steep learning curve, but the lesson stuck.
CJ’s Business Structure
- Training + Support Sessions — for e-commerce brands new to ads (teaches them to build and run their own campaigns)
- Monthly Membership (£97/month) — six support calls a month, covers both Google and Meta, ongoing access to CJ
- Mini Management / Consultancy — for brands who’ve run ads before and want help scaling
- Done-For-You Retainer — full ad management for brands spending £3K+ per month on ads
Resources mentioned:
- Meta ads membership from Vibing Social (£97/month) https://linkin.bio/vibingsocial_/
- CJ’s Instagram: @vibingsocial_