- Set the monthly total from jobs wanted, then check what it supports per day.
- Too many campaigns on a small budget means none of them learns anything.
- Video ads wear out. Budget for new creative, not just more spend.
- Judge Meta spend on cost per booked estimate, not clicks.
Start with the monthly number
The overall method is the same as any contractor budget: jobs wanted, back through close rate and booking rate, times what a lead costs you. Our marketing budget guide walks through it. This page is about what that number has to do once it lands in Meta.
Turn it into a daily budget
Meta budgets run by the day or across a campaign’s lifetime. Divide the monthly total by about 30 to see what each day gets. Then ask how many leads that day can realistically produce.
If a day’s spend buys less than one lead on average, results will swing a lot from week to week. Give it a few weeks before you read anything into it.
Worked example (example numbers, not a benchmark)
Say the math gives you $3,000 a month, or $100 a day. At an example cost of $80 per lead, that’s about 37 leads a month.
Spread across six campaigns, each gets about six leads a month. That’s too few to tell a good ad from a lucky one. Put the same $3,000 into one or two campaigns, each built around a project you want, and each gets enough leads to compare ads within it.
Budget for creative, not just spend
The same ad shown to the same homeowners for months gets ignored. When results slide with no change in targeting, tired creative is often the reason.
Plan for new video on a schedule. Footage from real jobs, your crew, and finished projects gives you a steady supply of fresh ads without inventing anything. Treat the filming as part of the budget, not an extra.
What the budget should be judged on
Meta reports clicks, reach, and cost per lead. Those are signals. The budget is working if cost per booked estimate stays under your ceiling and the estimates turn into signed jobs.
- Cost per booked estimate, by campaign
- Booked estimates that show up
- Signed jobs traced back to the campaign
- How long it’s been since each ad got new creative
