Are Facebook ads worth it for a kids’ club? Our real numbers

Lots of club owners have tried boosting a post, spent £20, got some likes and decided ads don’t work for them. I understand why. But likes aren’t members, and a boosted post isn’t really an ad campaign.

Here’s what happened when we ran proper ads for our own club for four weeks.

What we spent and what it made

Four weeks of ads at our club

1. £145spent on ads
2. 24free trial bookings
3. 8new paying members
4. £4,620a year in new fees

Our own academy, 21 September to 17 October 2026. Seven members at £50 a month and a sibling at our 30% family rate. These are our numbers, not a promise of yours.

That works out at about £6 for each trial booking and about £18 for each new member. That first number is your cost per trial, and it’s the one to watch.

And the £4,620 is only the first year. Children who enjoy a class tend to stay for years, and they bring their brothers, sisters and friends.

Why it worked

We advertised a free trial, not the club

“Come and try a free class” is something a parent can say yes to in ten seconds. “Check out our dance school” isn’t.

We only advertised classes with space

When a class filled, its ads stopped. There’s no point paying to find families you can’t take.

We kept it local

Parents drive a few miles for a children’s class, not twenty. The ads only showed to families close enough to come every week.

We showed the class, not a poster

Real photos and short videos of real children having fun, with the age group and the day it runs.

Every booking was looked after

This is the part most people miss. An ad only gets you a booking. What happens next decides whether it becomes a member: the confirmation, the reminders, the coach at the door and the follow-up afterwards. That’s why 15 of our last 22 trials turned up.

When ads aren’t worth it

Ads aren’t magic. They don’t work well if:

• your classes are already full (spend the money when you open a new class instead)
• nobody replies to enquiries for days
• trial bookings get no reminders, so half of them never arrive
• joining afterwards means paperwork and bank transfers

Fix those first, and the same money goes much further.

How much should a kids’ club spend?

You don’t need a big budget. We spent about £35 a week. Start small, watch what each trial booking costs you, and spend more on the classes that have space and fill well.

Questions