A useful starting point for most contractors is one thousand to two thousand dollars a month in ad spend. That range gives the platform enough delivery to find your buyers and enough data for you to judge the results.
The better way to set the number is to work backward from the work you want. If you need four extra jobs a month and each job is worth two thousand dollars, you can afford a healthy cost per lead and still come out well ahead. If you need twenty jobs at three hundred dollars each, paid ads get tight quickly.
Whatever number you pick, treat the first sixty days as a learning period and budget accordingly. Cutting spend in week three because the numbers look uneven is the most common way contractors waste the money they already spent.
Once the budget is set, the next question is usually where to put it. The page on whether to use Facebook or Google ads covers that decision.
Related reading: What is a good cost per lead, Should I use Facebook or Google ads and Do I need a website to run ads.
How to set the number
- Start from the number of extra jobs you need each month
- Multiply by what an average job is worth to you
- Set a target cost per lead you can live with
- Give the account sixty days before making a big call
- Increase in steps once a campaign proves itself