For the past 15+ years, I’ve helped high-growth startups, scale-ups, and established brands acquire customers, scale revenue, and build profitable paid social systems. While my early career spanned SEO, PPC, and conversion optimisation, today my work is focused almost entirely on Meta ads (previously Facebook ads) and the broader world of paid social.
I started advertising on Facebook in 2009, long before “paid social” was an industry and long before most agencies knew what a News Feed ad even was. Since then, I’ve managed millions in spend, trained hundreds of marketers, and helped companies at every stage harness Meta ads as their primary growth engine.
A Proper Introduction…
Hi, I’m John McElborough. You can call me John, John Mc, or as more than a few people have said: that Meta ads guy.
Yes, I’ve worked across almost every digital channel at some point including SEO, Google Ads, email, CRO and content. I’ve run agencies, advised some of the UK’s biggest brands, consulted for global advertising companies and helped thousands of founders and marketers through my writing and training.
But over the last decade, one channel has consistently delivered the biggest impact across every project I’ve touched:
Paid social and Meta ads in particular.
Why Meta Ads?
Because when done properly, Meta is still the most powerful advertising platform available to most businesses.
Not because of hacks.
Not because of “secret settings.”
But because of the blend of:
- behaviour-based targeting
- creative-led performance
- fast iteration
- massive scale
When brands understand how to work with the platform instead of against it, Meta becomes a predictable and scalable engine for growth.
That’s exactly what I help teams build.
What I Do Today
My work focuses on helping fast-moving brands use Meta ads and paid social to reach new customers, increase revenue and break through plateaus.
That includes:
- Meta ads consultancy and strategic oversight
- Creative strategy and concept development
- In-house team training and capability building
- Fractional performance leadership
- Agency selection, onboarding and quality control
- Coaching founders and growth teams on decision-making frameworks
I don’t just help you run ads.
I help you install a system for acquiring customers.
A Few Things About My Background
- I started advertising on Google in 2006 and on Facebook in 2009.
- I’ve run millions in profitable ad spend across DTC, e-commerce, SaaS, services and subscription businesses.
- I co-own inbound360, an online advertising agency specialising in paid social and search
- I’ve built and exited multiple online businesses including e-commerce, travel and supplements using the same paid social frameworks I teach today.
- I’ve trained hundreds of individuals and organisations in performance marketing and paid social.
- I’ve helped clients generate hundreds of millions in revenue across channels, but paid social has consistently been the most scalable lever.
- I’ve had huge successes, terrible failures and everything in between, and all of it informs the way I coach, advise and build strategy.
Most Importantly… I’m Not a High-Level Strategy Only Guy
A lot of consultants operate high up in the clouds.
I don’t.
My background is technical.
I enjoy the hands-on work including creative testing, data analysis, messaging strategy, account structure and iteration.
I spent years in the trenches running campaigns before I ever started advising teams, I’m still in ads manager every single day.
That means you get someone who understands the big picture and the tiny details equally well.
Who I Write, Teach and Work For
You’ll get the most value from my work if:
- you want to grow fast but sustainably
- you prefer real experience over theory
- you want actionable steps, not vague frameworks
- you care about creative strategy and strong messaging
- you’re willing to test bold ideas and move quickly
- you want to install a performance system, not chase hacks
My content won’t resonate if you’re looking for shortcuts, guaranteed blueprints or plug-and-play tricks. They don’t exist.
If you want to succeed with paid social, you either:
- learn the craft
- hire someone who has already put in the years
If You Want to Work Together
If you’re interested in improving your Meta ads performance, building a stronger creative system or levelling up your in-house team, you can learn more about my consultancy services or get in touch directly.