What does advertising on Facebook and Instagram cost?

The short answer

You pay for two things. First your ad budget: you choose that amount yourself, per day or for the whole campaign, and you pay it to Meta. Then the management: who sets up your campaign, reads your numbers and adjusts. You do that yourself, you have an agency or a freelancer do it, or you use an app.

You choose your ad budget yourself

At Meta you set a daily budget or a total budget. Meta may spend a bit more on some days and less on others, but stays within your budget over the week. You stop whenever you want, without a contract.

What you get for that budget depends on how many other advertisers want to reach the same people. Meta sells ad space through an auction. That is why there is no fixed price per click or per 1,000 impressions. In busy weeks, such as around Black Friday and the holidays, you usually pay more for the same reach.

Meta does not publish an official price list. Averages you find online usually come from other countries or from a single agency. Use them at most as a rough guide.

How much budget do you need?

Work backwards from what a customer brings you. What do you earn on one sale or job? How much of that can go to ads? That is your maximum per customer. Multiply by the number of customers you want per week, and you have a weekly budget.

Also give Meta enough to learn from. According to Meta’s Business Help Center, an ad set leaves the learning phase when it gets about 50 results in 7 days. With a small budget that takes longer, and your numbers fluctuate more in the first days. In the article about your ad budget we work it out step by step.

What does the management cost?

• Doing it yourself: you only pay your budget, but it takes time. You work in Ads Manager yourself, read your numbers and adjust.
• A freelancer or an agency: usually a fixed amount per month, sometimes with a percentage of your ad budget on top. Ask what is included in that amount: images, texts, reports, and how often things are adjusted.
• An app like AdSweet: a fixed amount per month. Starter costs €97, Pro €197 and Agency from €397 per month, excluding VAT. AdSweet takes no percentage of your ad budget.

Boost or a campaign?

On your Facebook page or in Instagram you can promote a post, also called boosting. That is the fastest way to give a post more reach. You do choose less yourself: the goal, the tracking and the split of your budget are simpler than in a campaign. If you want to measure sales or enquiries, set up a campaign.

Don’t forget VAT

Meta invoices your ads from Ireland. Whether you pay VAT and how you declare it depends on your VAT number and your situation. Enter your VAT number in your payment settings at Meta and ask your accountant how to process it.

Three questions before you start

1. 1What may a new customer cost you? That is your maximum per sale or enquiry.
2. 2How long can you keep it up for a month, even if the first weeks are disappointing?
3. 3Who reads your numbers and adjusts: you, an agency or an app?