Education, B2B and B2C, Meta Ads, Berlin
Meta Ads for an education provider: tracking, campaigns and knowledge transfer from one source
Case study by Jan Wischniewsky
SkillShift Akademie sells state-funded training to two audiences: companies that upskill employees through the German Qualifizierungschancengesetz, and individuals with an education voucher. Meta Ads had been run by an agency before, two or three campaigns in the same style, and nobody could say what they had delivered. Pixel and Conversions API were technically connected but only sent page views. We built the foundation first: events that count, HubSpot as the server layer, click attribution all the way to the closed deal in the CRM. Then the campaigns, split into employers and employees, with a creative system that makes hooks and formats measurable. In parallel I recorded a video course with 16 units that teaches exactly this approach.
- Education
- Meta Ads
- Conversions API
- HubSpot
- Google Tag Manager
- Special Ad Category
- Creative system
- Video course
8.5
Event Match Quality, from 5.2
4
Conversion events, from 0
30 h
Course material, 16 units
2
Audiences, each with its own funnel
Event Match Quality went from 5.2 to 8.5, Meta now receives four conversion events instead of page views only, and every closed deal in HubSpot carries the click ID of the ad that started it. The campaigns are live and managed monthly; results will be added once there is enough data to share.
Challenge
The technical state in June 2026: pixel linked to four different websites, Event Match Quality of 5.2 out of 10, domain missing from the allowlist, Conversions API with a gap of 53 events in seven days. Google Tag Manager installed but empty. HubSpot in place but not connected to Meta. Appointment booking ran through Google Calendar, so it could not be tracked. Meta optimised toward page views because that was all it got to see.
Then the industry. Training falls under Meta's Special Ad Category for employment: no age, gender or interest targeting, no lookalikes. The audience has to select itself through the creative. And two audiences with completely different arguments, wage subsidies for employers and free qualification for employees, had been running in one pot.
Approach
Measure first, advertise second. The order: domain verified, pixel cleaned up, appointment booking moved to HubSpot Meetings so that every booked call is a lead event. Google Tag Manager as the browser layer with four events: ViewContent by audience, funding calculator use as a micro-conversion, lead via appointment, lead via PDF. HubSpot as the server layer sends MQL and closed deal back to Meta. The Meta click ID is stored in the CRM, so every closed deal can be traced back to the ad. Only then the campaigns: two strands for employers and employees, Special Ad Category declared, creatives built in concepts and variants, competitor analysis from the Ad Library as the starting point for differentiation.
What I did
- Meta audit, 27 pages: tracking, account, landing pages, competition
- Rebuilt tracking in Google Tag Manager: ViewContent, funding calculator, lead via appointment, lead via PDF, with advanced matching and consent
- HubSpot Conversions API with lifecycle events MQL and Sale, Meta click ID stored as a CRM property
- Landing page optimisation: one consistent CTA, social proof above the fold, funding calculator tracked as a conversion
- Campaign structure by audience, creative briefing and analysis system with hook rate, hold rate and cost per lead per concept
- Ongoing Meta Ads management plus a performance marketing video course with 16 units and 30 hours of material
Project scope
- Role
- Hands-on execution and course instructor, Skalor
- Services
- Meta Ads audit, Conversion tracking, Conversions API via HubSpot, Landing page optimisation, Campaign structure, Creative system, Ongoing Meta Ads management, Video course production
- Website
- skillshift-akademie.de
“We had two or three campaigns running before, always in the same style, and nobody could say what they delivered. Jan cleaned up the tracking first, then the campaigns. Now we see in HubSpot which ad brought which appointment. And because he recorded the whole approach as a course, our participants learn exactly what works for us.”
Learnings
- Under a Special Ad Category the creative is the targeting. People who do not feel addressed do not click, and that is the point.
- A connected pixel is not tracking. Without conversion events Meta optimises toward page views, no matter how well the campaign is built.
- The click ID in the CRM turns "Meta brought leads" into "this ad brought this deal".
Tools
- Meta Ads Manager
- Meta Conversions API
- Google Tag Manager
- HubSpot
- Webflow