How Much Should You Really Spend On Social Media Ads?
Social media advertising can be one of the most effective ways to grow your business, but only if you approach it strategically. Let’s break down what a good budget looks like and how to maximise every pound you spend.
The Real Truth About Social Media Ads
Many agencies will tell you that all ads are guaranteed to succeed. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Success with social media advertising depends on at least four of these key factors:
- A Good Product: Your product or service must solve a real problem or provide genuine value.
- A Great Offer: Make it irresistible. The offer must catch attention whether it’s a discount, free consultation, or exclusive benefit.
- The Right Audience: Your ads need to reach the people most likely to buy – your ideal customers.
- Your Profit Margin: Some locations and audiences are too expensive for the product itself. While you can approach this situation in a few different ways to bring lifetime value, it’s important to be aware up front of what you should expect.
If any one of these elements is off, you might still see results, but not as well as you could.
Setting Your Social Media Advertising Budget
When determining your budget, consider the following factors:
- Your Goals: Are you trying to build brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales? Each goal requires a different level of investment.
- Your Industry: Competitive industries like real estate or fitness often have higher costs-per-click (CPC) Be tactical with your audience.
- Your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): How much is a customer worth to your business over time? This helps calculate how much you can afford to spend per customer/client.
Pro Tip: Start Small & Scale Smart
Rather than committing your entire budget upfront, start with a smaller test budget. For example, gather data on what works, and scale the successful campaigns from there. Perhaps your audience love video ads, you wouldn’t have known that before and a lot of money could have been wasted.
What Makes A Social Media Ad Campaign Successful?
Here’s what you need to know to ensure your money is well spent:
- High-Quality Creatives: Eye-catching visuals or videos are critical for stopping the scroll. Consider investing in professional design or editing if needed.
- Compelling Copy: Your messaging should resonate with your audience and clearly communicate the benefits of your offer.
- Landing Pages That Convert: Sending traffic to a generic homepage? That’s a mistake. Build specific landing pages tailored to each ad campaign.
- Precise Targeting: Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow you to refine your audience by interests, behaviours, and demographics. Use this to your advantage.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Overspending Too Soon: Scaling too quickly without enough data can burn through your budget without results.
- Ignoring Data: Metrics like click-through rates (CTR) and cost-per-conversion are goldmines of insight. Use them to optimise your campaigns.
- Targeting Too Broadly: Reaching millions of people sounds good but often leads to wasted spend. Narrow your focus to attract those most likely to convert.
- Expecting Overnight Success: Social media ads take time to gather data and optimise. Be patient and adjust as needed – however it’s also perfectly possible to hit the ground running straight away!
Free Tips For Success
- Use Retargeting: Re-engage people who’ve already visited your website or interacted with your ads. Retargeting campaigns typically yield higher ROI.
- Test Multiple Creatives: Run variations of your ads to see what performs best. Meta Ads Manager makes split-testing easy.
- Leverage Seasonal Trends: Align your ads with holidays, sales, or events that matter to your audience.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Waste Your Money!
Social media advertising isn’t about throwing money at a platform and hoping for the best. It’s about strategy, creativity, and continuous optimisation. With the right approach, your ads can deliver significant returns – even on a lower budget.
If you’re ready to outsmart your competition and take your social media advertising to the next level, let’s chat!
