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Teach yourself Meta lead ads with Claude so your first gym campaign can run without an agency
Joel Holland, owner of 902 Athletics (about 17,000 sq ft CrossFit, Hyrox, personal training and commercial gym floor in a ~9,000-person market in Nova Scotia), on the Behind Gym Doors podcast (GSD Gyms; he is in their A-Class group)
He used Claude to learn Meta campaign setup and build the first lead campaign from a template: lead objective, Sign up CTA, instant form (name, email, phone, Instagram handle), and a 34-second video for a free two-week CrossFit intro (two 1.5-hour sessions plus commercial-gym access). He texted each lead from his own phone while learning the process, intending to hand ads to an agency after 30–45 days. Daily budget started at $15 and rose in ~15–20% steps ($18, $21, then $23).
Claude: from $17/mo (checked prices)
Medium · or we do it from $149/mo
Claude, Meta Ads Manager, Facebook, Instagram
The problem
A referral-built gym with about 1,000 members had never run paid ads in 14 years, and hiring an agency first felt risky without understanding how Meta campaigns actually work.
What happened
Self-reported on the podcast: about 84 leads in 10 days at roughly $3 cost per lead; about 38 signed up from the CrossFit-intro ad path, plus more for a commercial-gym intro. Historic free-trial close rate was about 70–75% before paid ads (self-reported). Treat CPL and signup counts as owner-reported.
Quoted in the source: Joel Holland, owner, 902 Athletics. Source: Behind Gym Doors podcast ep. 453: Gym Facebook Ads Using AI (Joel Holland, 902 Athletics) (2026-09-03) · Added 2026-10-14.
How to set it up yourself
- What he did: asked Claude to walk him through Meta lead-ad setup, then launched a Sign-up lead campaign with a clear free-trial offer and a short video.
- Write the offer and landing promise first (he used a free two-week intro with named coaches and gym access).
- In Claude, paste your offer, avatar and market size and ask for: campaign objective, form fields, first-3-second hook script, and a 30–35 second video outline.
- Build a Meta lead campaign yourself (lead objective, Sign up, instant form). Start with a small daily budget and raise it only ~15–20% at a time.
- Reply to every lead the same day by text or Instagram DM; do not wait until you have automation.
- Refresh creative every couple of weeks so the ad does not fatigue.
- DIY adaptation: if you already use ChatGPT more than Claude, the same setup walkthrough works there; keep Meta Ads Manager as the place the campaign actually runs.
Copy-paste prompt
You are a Meta ads coach for a boutique gym. Market size: about {N} people. Offer: {FREE TRIAL DETAILS}. Avatar: {WHO WE WANT}. Using only that, give: 1) recommended campaign objective and CTA, 2) instant-form fields, 3) a 34-second video script with a hook in the first 2 seconds, 4) a first-text reply template under 320 characters for new leads, 5) a budget ramp from $15/day in ~15% steps for two weeks. Do not invent results or claim a cost per lead.One short email a day: 3 new AI use cases from real small businesses, each with its source and setup steps, plus a Tool of the Day. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Tools used
Claude
AI assistant for writing, long documents, analysis and coding help.
From $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) (checked 2026-10-13)
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Checked prices: Claude: from $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) (verified 2026-10-13)
Rather not do it yourself?
We'll set this up in your tools, in your voice, tested. $149/mo with setup included (6-month minimum), or $497 pay-once. Satisfaction guarantee: we'll fix it until it works. Pay-once setups: or we refund your setup fee. $149/mo plan: cancel in the first 30 days and we refund your first month. Terms. We reply within 1 business day.
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