453: Gym Facebook Ads Using AI: $3 Cost Per Lead in a 9,000-Person Market

This is part of how we help gym owners build ad systems like Joel's. See the plan here:

https://100kplan.com

Joel Holland never ran a gym ad in 14 years. He used AI to build his first campaign. $3 cost per lead. 84 leads in 10 days. Here's how.

This gym Facebook ads using AI breakdown starts with Joel Holland, who runs 902 Athletics, a 17,000 square foot CrossFit and commercial gym in a 9,000 person market in Nova Scotia, Canada. In 14 years of business he had never run a paid ad. Everything was organic and referral based.

Ten days before this conversation, Joel taught himself how to run gym ads using Claude, an AI tool, and built his entire campaign from scratch. No agency. No prior experience. The result was a $3 cost per lead, compared to the $20 to $35 most gyms are paying right now, and 84 leads in 10 days.

Mike and Joel walk through the exact setup: the lead objective, the offer, the 34 second video ad, and why Joel wanted to learn ads himself before ever handing the account to an agency. They also cover why most agencies get bad results even when the technical setup is correct, and what the Meta algorithm actually does to gym ads that lose attention in the first two seconds.

If you have been told paid ads do not work for your gym, this look at gym Facebook ads using AI might change your mind.

In this episode you'll learn:

— Why Joel never ran a paid ad in 14 years of business, until now

— How he used Claude to build his entire ad campaign from scratch, no agency

— The lead objective, offer, and 34 second video ad that got him $3 leads

— Why he chose a two week trial with no charge instead of worrying it would devalue his gym