How much should a small business spend on social media ads?

By Justin Chambers ·

It is usually the first question an owner asks, and the hardest to get a straight answer to. Spend too little and you never learn what works. Spend too much too soon and it feels like money thrown at a wall.

There is no single right number for every business. But there is a sensible way to work out yours.

Two costs, not one

Most people lump everything together. It helps to split it in two.

  • The ad budget is what you pay the platform, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, to show your ads.

  • The management fee is what you pay someone to plan the ads, make them, run them and handle the inquiries they bring in.

Keep them separate in your head. A low management fee with no ad budget behind it goes nowhere, and a big ad budget with nobody steering it can burn quickly.

Start from the work you want, not a round number

Ask yourself three questions:

  1. How many new customers or jobs could you actually handle each month?

  2. What is one new customer worth to you over the time they stay with you?

  3. How long are you willing to test before you judge the results?

Your answers set the size of the budget far better than a figure picked out of the air.

Give it time

Ads need room to learn. The first weeks are spent finding which message, picture and audience get the right people to respond. Judging after a few days usually means judging too early.

That is why most agencies, including ours, ask for a minimum term. Ours is three months.

What it costs with Horizon

We publish our prices so you can plan before you call. All prices are in US dollars, with a three-month minimum. The minimum ad budget is paid directly to the ad platform.

  • Select: $2,000 a month, with a minimum ad budget of $1,500 a month.

  • Core: $2,750 a month, with a minimum ad budget of $2,250 a month.

  • Complete: $3,500 a month, with a minimum ad budget of $3,500 a month.

Pay the first three months up front and you save 10% on our fee. The ad budget is always paid straight to the platform from your own account, so you can see exactly where it goes. Full details are on our Services page.

What to ask any agency before you sign

  • Is the ad budget included in the fee, or separate?

  • Who owns the ad account if we stop working together?

  • What happens to an inquiry after someone clicks?

  • How long is the minimum term?

Not sure where to start? Book your free 30-minute call and we will help you work out a budget that fits your business.