5 things I’d test with $1K ad spend

Let’s be blunt:
$1K is pocket change in advertising.

Most brands burn it on broad awareness campaigns, get zero real insights, and then complain: “Ads don’t work for us.”

But here’s the truth: $1K is a lab budget, not a growth budget.
You’re not scaling with it—you’re extracting maximum signal.

If I had $1K to test, here’s exactly how I’d split it:

1. $250 → Dark post showdown

Take your 3 sharpest ad angles (pain-point, aspiration, contrarian). Run them as dark posts against the same narrow audience.
Why? Because $250 is enough to see which idea sparks clicks/comments before you even think about scaling.

2. $200 → Hook vs. Hook test

Forget fancy targeting. Put two radically different creative hooks head-to-head. Example:

• Hook A: scare them with a problem.
  

• Hook B: seduce them with a dream.
  $200 is enough to see which worldview your audience actually buys into.

3. $200 → Cheap retargeting loop

Run retargeting only to people who engaged with your ad (not site visitors). Test if social proof + urgency (“Only 48 left”) moves them.
This tells you: does your product even have pull once they’ve seen it once?

4. $150 → UGC vs. polished creative

Everyone says UGC works. Everyone believes pro creative builds trust.
You don’t know until you run both. $150 is enough to find out which direction your creative strategy should lean.

5. $200 → DM funnel experiment

Run an ad that drives people to DM you instead of a landing page. Offer a lead magnet, mini-audit, or direct Q&A.
Why? Because conversations = gold. You’ll learn the exact language, objections, and buying signals you can later weaponize in copy and landing pages.

💡 Notice what’s missing?
No broad targeting.
No "brand awareness" fluff.
No blowing $1K on one ad and praying.

With a micro-budget, your only job is to learn fast and cheap. These tests give you signal, not vanity metrics.

And if you do find a winning angle?
That’s when you double, triple, or 10x the spend.

🔥 Here’s the bold truth:
$1K is worthless if you expect sales.
It’s priceless if you use it to uncover the truth about your market.

👉 Know someone still wasting $1K on “awareness” campaigns? Forward them this newsletter—they’ll thank you later.