Is $10 a day enough for Facebook ads?

Our Rule: $15 a Day Per Creative You Test

The old version of this post said $30 a day was the floor. Our rule today is $15 a day for every creative you test. Testing two ads means $30 a day. Testing three means $45.

Why $15? It gives Facebook enough budget to figure out which ad is the winner. Once it finds one, we can scale from there. Starve the test and Facebook never gets enough data to decide.

Can $10 or $20 a Day Work?

Yes, but much slower. The problem is data. At $10 a day, Facebook doesn't get enough signal to find the right people or tell you which ad is working.

When an owner insists on starting at $10 a day, it usually tells me two things. They're scared of investing, and they're stuck in a referral based business that can't scale. Any predictable business costs money to run. You already know that if you've ever hired someone.

When You Can Spend Less

There's one exception. Once you have a proven winner with plenty of data behind it, and your cost per lead is low, you can absolutely bring the budget down. We've seen pool leads come in at $3.42 each, high quality, and some of them closed. Every account is different. But you earn the right to spend less by finding the winner first.

What $50 a Day Did for a Plumber

A Georgia plumbing client spent about $50 a day for three weeks. The ads brought in 62 leads at $18.60 each, and they sold four water heaters in that window. That's what a real testing budget looks like: enough leads to find what works, and enough jobs to pay for it. See more on our results page.

How to Split Budget Across Test Ads

Facebook will automatically spread your budget toward the ads it thinks will perform best. Your job is mostly to let it run.

A few exceptions:

• Turn off obvious losers. If an ad is running at a few hundred dollars per lead, it's clearly not the winner.
• Give overlooked ads a second chance. Sometimes Facebook barely spends on a few ads. Pull those out and put them in a new ad set or campaign. As long as you have a couple in there, you'll often find another winner.

On a Small Budget, the Creative Matters More

If you're not spending much on ads, you have to get creative with the ads themselves. Think hard about hooks that grab attention and offers so good they outsell rough production.

The idea behind the ad often matters more than the production value. You can see it in Alex Hormozi's content: as his production got simpler, the substance carried it. What's said in the video matters more than how polished it looks.

The Equation for a Better Ad

Every strong ad does at least one of these:

• Increase the value: add something they want, like premium hardware, a lighting upgrade or a free 3D design.
• Decrease the risk: guarantees, warranties, reviews and proof that you've done this many times.
• Decrease the time to completion: show how fast they'll get what they want.

For more on putting this into a script, read how to write a Facebook ad for a home services business.

How Budget Changes by Trade

Job value and sales cycle both matter. A business with a long sales cycle needs more runway and more money up front before the return shows up. A plumber is often selling something the homeowner already needs, so the return comes faster. Use our Lead Math calculator to see what your trade's cost per lead means at different budgets.

How Far Small Clients Can Scale

We've had smaller clients start at $50 a day and scale to several hundred, even $1,000 a day, with steady results. We also work with businesses spending $1,500 a day on their own ads.

As you scale, some metrics get more expensive, because you're reaching deeper into a limited audience. You can't control that part. But as long as your cost per booked appointment and customer acquisition cost stay strong, it doesn't matter. Read what's a good ROI for Meta ads for the numbers we watch.

What Happens If You Scale Too Fast

We've done it. Nothing broke, but CPM and cost per lead climbed. Raise budgets about 30% at a time and give each step time to settle. It's the nature of the beast: the wider you reach, the more each result costs, just as a national campaign won't match the efficiency of a statewide or city specific one.

Does Location in Georgia Change Your Budget?

Location changes everything about the ad: the primary text, the call out, the hooks and who you're speaking to. That's why we only work in Georgia. An agency in California doesn't know the difference between Buckhead and Brookhaven. They know their own market, and they'll run the same generic ads they run there. We test and learn the nitty gritty of Georgia markets, so your ad speaks to the homeowners you actually serve.

What to Do With $300 a Month

Honestly? Don't run ads. $300 a month isn't enough, and that business isn't ready for our service. Put that money and your time where your customers already are:

• Print cards with an irresistible offer for first time customers.
• Go to the meetups, events and conventions your buyers attend. If you're a pool builder, where do future pool owners gather?
• Join your local chamber of commerce and network.
• Try guerrilla marketing that gets you face to face with buyers.

Build up your margins first. When you're ready to invest in a predictable way to get customers, come back to ads. Read are Facebook ads worth it for contractors to see where the math starts to work.

The Bottom Line

$10 a day can produce leads, but slowly, and it rarely gives Facebook enough data to find a winner. Budget $15 a day per creative you test, aim for $50 a day once you're serious, and scale about 30% at a time when you hit 4x return on ad spend or better.

Setting it up yourself? Read how to set up your first Meta ad campaign.

Frequently Asked Questions