How much do Facebook ads cost?

Launching an ad campaign with Facebook gives your business access to the biggest network of social media users in the world. However, before you set up a Facebook business page and create a campaign in Facebook Ads, you’ll need to have a keen understanding of how much your project could set you back. 

To put it simply, no Facebook ad campaign costs the same. The price you’ll expect to pay will depend on a litany of factors, including the industry you’re in and the objectives of your campaign. For instance, while a small-scale CPV (cost per view) video campaign could cost you as little as £50, the costs of a more ambitious CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) campaign could easily exceed £5,000 per month. 

There’s a lot to cover when it comes to the cost of Facebook ads, including the platform’s unique bidding system and the different types of models available. We cover all of these bases and more to help you crunch the numbers confidently before your campaign launch. 

How do Facebook ads work?

Facebook ads are paid promotional advertisements displayed to targeted users across Facebook’s vast ecosystem, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network. 

Facebook’s ad platform offers flexible budget controls, allowing businesses to set daily or lifetime budgets that align with their financial goals. It also lets businesses pause or adjust campaigns anytime, giving them the chance to save money on underperforming ads and prevent ad fatigue by finding new audiences. 

Facebook limits the number of advertisements that each user sees to prevent a swarm of ads clogging up their feed. This results in limited availability of ad space, but high demand from businesses that want to promote their products and services on the platform.

To secure an ad spot, businesses enter an auction, bidding against competitors. However, Facebook doesn’t simply pick the highest monetary bid. Instead, it evaluates three key factors to determine the winning ad:

• Advertiser bid: the financial value you place on the ad, which shows Facebook how invested you are in securing the placement.
• Estimated action rates: the likelihood that a person will take the action you are optimising for with your ad (for example, by signing up to a newsletter or subscribing to a service).
• Ad quality and relevance: high-quality, well-targeted ads are preferred by Facebook because they’re more engaging for users.

Bidding model costs can vary based on competition, demand, and when you choose to advertise. Refer to Facebook’s business help centre for a more detailed breakdown of different bidding strategies you can adopt to optimise your campaigns.

Facebook advertisements glossary

Before we start crunching the numbers, you need to know your CPC from your CPV. Here are some top advertising models that platforms like Facebook and Instagram use, explained. 

CPC = Cost Per Click

CPC advertising involves advertisers only paying a fee every time someone clicks on their online ad. CPC is an effective way to drive targeted traffic to a website, and it provides a higher return on investment (RoI) than other models as it focuses on demonstrated interest, rather than exposure. 

CPM = Cost Per 1,000 Views

CPM, or Cost Per Mille (Latin for a thousand), lets advertisers set a price for every 1,000 views their ad receives. This model focuses more on sending messages to wide audiences, over securing conversions, making it a good choice for businesses interested in maximising their brand exposure.

CPA = Cost Per Acquisition

Also known as Cost Per Action, Cost per Acquisition advertising is a performance-based model where advertisers only pay after a specific action is achieved, after users interact with the ad – for instance, when a user submits a form or makes a sale. Its focus on performance makes it ideal for businesses prioritising measurable results. 

CPL = Cost Per Lead

The CPL model requires advertisers to pay for each new lead generated through their campaigns. A lead refers to a potential customer who has shown interest in a product or service by providing their contact information (e.g., email address, phone number). This is often the model of choice for businesses building a sales pipeline to secure leads.

CPV = Cost Per View

CPV, or Cost Per View, requires advertisers to pay each time their video ad is viewed for a predefined duration. The exact definition of a “view” can vary by platform (e.g., 2 seconds, 30 seconds, or a full watch). CPV ensures you’re paying for actual views, making it a strong choice for businesses that want to boost views on their video content. 

How much do Facebook ads cost? 

Calculating the costs of advertising on Facebook isn’t easy, as the amount varies quite substantially depending on several factors. 

However, we’ve broken down the costs associated with different advertising models to help you determine how much you’d be likely to spend on your ad campaign.

What factors influence Facebook advertising costs?

The costs of advertising on Facebook aren’t fixed. They’re shaped by a wide variety of factors, which we explore next. 

Industry

The industry you’re in will probably be the biggest determining factor, with advertisers in competitive industries like legal, financial, healthcare services, and high-end retail often paying more of a premium. Advertisers in sectors like hospitality, travel, and arts and entertainment are likely to pay much less, on the other hand. 

Timing

The time of the year will greatly impact how expensive advertising on the platform is. For example, during Christmas and Black Friday, more businesses will be buying ads, which will push up the prices and increase the competition. The same can be said for the time of the day – peak times are during the day, dropping off between midnight to 6am.

Ad quality

Facebook will reward your business if it produces high-quality, targeted ads by charging you less to reach a wider target audience. Make sure your marketing team works hard on your ad campaigns to ensure that you win bids based on quality, and pay less as a result.

Target audience

When advertising in a saturated market, you will have more competitors competing for ad placement. The more competitors there are bidding at an ad auction, the higher the bidding will go, which will increase advertisement costs.

CPV strategy

When it comes to CPV ads, the price will also be determined by a slightly different set of factors, including the video length, level of audience engagement, and whether you’re optimising for three or five-second views.  

Learnings from three winning Facebook ad campaigns

Launching an ad campaign on Facebook unprepared is a recipe for disaster and a sure-fire way to waste time and resources. 

So, before you devise your strategy, you need to have a clear set of objectives in mind, from improving the awareness of your brand and securing more interested leads, to boosting traffic to your website, landing page, or social media page.

Learning from real-world examples of successful ad campaigns and replicating their wins is another way to increase your likelihood of achieving a high return on investment (RoI). Here are three impactful Facebook ad campaigns for you to take inspiration from. 

Franco Manca

Popular Neapolitan sourdough pizza chain Franco Manca successfully leveraged Facebook advertising to drive up local footfall throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The campaign: During various stages of the pandemic, Franco Manca shifted its focus from in-restaurant dining to promoting takeaway and delivery services. The restaurant chain leveraged Facebook’s precise location-based targeting to serve ads directly to users within a specific radius of their open restaurants.

The results: While Franco Manca doesn’t release performance metrics publicly, by targeting local audiences on Facebook ads, the company was able to maintain revenue streams when dine-in options were restricted, and recover much faster than its competition when the lockdown was lifted. 

Lidl

Beloved high-street retailer Lidl is no stranger to bold advertising. However, the partnership with Facebook Instant Experience struck a particular chord due to the utilisation of immersive graphics.

The campaign: In 2019, Lidl Ireland paired up with Facebook Creative Shop to create digitally printed leaflets which users could tap on for digitally immersive experiences. Users could use the leaflet to browse products, as they would have done with a physical copy, and find out where to buy them with clear calls to action. 

The results: According to Gather Social, Lidl Ireland’s Facebook campaign generated a 10x return on ad spend (ROAS) overall. The trial stores involved in the campaign saw a 2.3% increase in annual turnover, alongside a 2.7% increase in sales for promotional items. 

Who Gives a Crap

Who Gives a Crap, an ethical UK brand selling sustainable toilet paper and other paper products, won over the internet in 2023 for its tongue in cheek, charitable ad campaign. 

The campaign: On May 10, 2023, Who Gives a Crap launched its first global campaign titled “Uncrap the World”. Its Facebook blitz involved witty and refreshingly transparent video and image ads to targeted audiences. It also highlighted their core mission of donating 50% of their profits to build toilets in developing countries. 

The results: According to insights from PMG, the Facebook campaign drove a 9 and 11-point lift in awareness in the UK and Australia, along with double-digit increases in ad recall and a 3% surge in consideration in both countries.

How much should small businesses budget for Facebook ad campaigns? 

Estimating the price of your Facebook ad campaign isn’t simple, due to the wealth of factors involved. However, using the current ad-spend cost averages, here’s a rough benchmark of how much you can expect to pay per month, depending on your campaign’s purpose.

How to plan your advertising budgets in six steps

1. Define your goal: start by clearly defining what you want to achieve. For example, are you intending to increase your brand awareness, drive up traffic, or generate leads? 
2. Identify your audience: pinpoint who you want your campaign to reach. Facebook’s targeted software will come in useful during this stage, by helping you ensure your ad spend is directed towards interested leads.
3. Choose an ad type: consider which ad model will help you achieve your objectives. Selecting the right ad type will significantly impact the performance of your campaign.
4. Set a budget: to avoid overspending, set daily, weekly, or monthly budgets to keep your outgoings on track. We recommend starting conservatively and being prepared to scale up if necessary.
5. Launch your ad: once your ad is live, consistently monitor the performance of the campaign in Meta Business Suite. Pay close attention to metrics like clicks, impressions, and leads.
6. Review and adjust: your journey isn’t over once your ad is live. If your campaign is underperforming, use A/B testing to trial out new variations or adjust your targeting for better results.

Mistakes to avoid when running Facebook ads

Even experienced marketers fall into common traps when rolling out ad campaigns. So, if you want your Facebook ad campaign to hit a home run, here are some mistakes you need to avoid.

• Overspending without setting goals: if you don’t set clear objectives before launching your effort, chances are you’ll end up wasting money. Before launch day, clearly establish what you want to achieve, and align all your actions with this goal.
• Targeting too broad an audience: in the world of marketing, you can’t win them all. Instead of targeting a wide pool, use Facebook’s detailed targeting options to define your ideal customer based on behaviours, insights, and demographics.
• Ignoring performance data: data-driven insights can help you make informed decisions about your campaigns. So, regularly monitor key metrics like CPC, CPM and CPA to analyse what’s working for you, and what isn’t. 
• Letting underperforming ads run too long: ad fatigue is real. Avoid potential customers going numb to your messaging by being prepared to pause or refresh ads when they aren’t delivering the results you expected.