How much should you actually spend on social ads?

The honest answer is that budget follows maths, not ambition. Work backwards from the number of customers you want, your close rate, and what a customer is worth.

If you need 20 new customers, close one in four qualified leads, and can afford £40 per lead, you need 80 leads and a £3,200 monthly test budget. That number is a hypothesis, not a promise.

Spend the first 30 days learning rather than scaling. Three to five creative angles, one clear conversion event, and enough volume for the platform to optimise.

Once cost per qualified lead is stable for two consecutive weeks, increase budget by no more than 20–30% at a time so learning does not reset.

Track lead quality, not just lead count. A cheaper lead that never books is more expensive than an expensive one that signs.