How much do Facebook ads cost?

Are Facebook Ads worth it?

Social media has become a huge part of digital marketing with social media ad spending valued at approx £3.59 billion in 2019!

Though posting content is free, platforms such as Facebook have paid ads to help get your posts seen by a wider audience. This is clearly a big revenue earner from them given the figures above!

However, the question of ‘how much do Facebook ads cost a small or medium-sized business?’ often arises.

Without paid promotion, the algorithms of these social media platforms can limit your reach and visibility, even to your own followers.

That isn’t always the case, and there are numerous examples of organic posts (non-paid ones) which go ‘viral’ or where companies have worked with influencers or reviewers to gain exposure.

But to be fair, many of these examples are not that meaningful to many SME businesses!

In this blog, we’re going to discuss what Facebook ads are, how they work, and how much Facbook ads cost. We’ll then look at the potential return you could get through successful Facebook ads, and how Growth by Design can ensure your Facebook ads have a high success rate.

How do Facebook Ads work?

When you post content to Facebook, the option to ‘boost your post’ is available. If you choose to do this, you will be able to:

• identify the budget you have available to promote your post
• the audience you want to target with options of age, gender and location
• the length of time you would like the paid ad to be available for.

If on the other hand, you want greater targeting options, you can setup a Facebook business account and run your ads through there instead.

This gives you more options around the format of your ad e.g. carousel ads, use of video etc and enhanced targeting options which can become very sophisticated and specific! On the flip side, this does require greater planning and management, but equally a greater chance of a higher return on your investment. 

What content should I promote?

Many business owners struggle at the best of times to identify what they want to say on social media, let alone an ad.

If you have a Call to Action post that will help you to achieve one of your business goals, such as ‘New products released, shop online now’ or ‘Sale now on, head to our website’ that involves a link, it’s a good idea to use Facebook ads to promote these.

A Facebook ad allows you to include a visible link underneath the photo you choose with a Call to Action as the link name.

That makes it incredibly easy for people who are interested in your post to click the link and go to your website or wherever it is the link leads.

What are the benefits of Facebook Ads?

As mentioned before, Facebooks Ads allow you to select the age, gender and location you would like the post to be shown. This allows you to get your content right in front of your target audience, and the link included makes it incredibly convenient for them to take the next step towards fulfilling your goal if they are interested in your post.

Having your content target the right audience gives a much higher chance of receiving interaction. It also means that you are being seen by more people who are interested in what you’re offering than you would with an organic post.

Even though those viewing the promoted content might not be interested in purchasing or following your Call to Action when they first see it, you will come to mind when they are ready.

Boosted posts on Facebook also have detailed analytics of the number of people who viewed your content, engaged with it and clicked the link included in the post. This allows you to see which of your posts perform best, helping you to develop a strong social media marketing strategy.

How much do Facebook Ads cost?

The beauty of Facebook Ads is you can choose your budget.

The higher the budget, the more people will see your post either through the number of people you choose to target, or by the length of time you promote your post.

The minimum budget for a Facebook Ad is £0.82 for 1 day. This budget would allow your post to reach between 137-395 people in your target market.

However, for a successful Facebook Ad, we would suggest having an available budget of around £250 for a month. That isn’t to say your ad would run for the whole month or that all this budget would be spent, but it gives you the flexibility to give it time, refine and have the best chance of getting a return.