Budget & Metrics

How to set a Meta Ads budget

An advertising budget should not be based on rumours about what competitors spend.

Local Meta Ads strategy and enquiry tracking

Peter Puchniarz — Founder of Peter Creates UK · 4 min read · Last reviewed 2026-11-14

Key takeaway

Use profit per job to decide what you can afford to spend acquiring it.

An advertising budget should not be based on rumours about what competitors spend. It should reflect the value and margin of a job, your capacity to follow up and what the business can genuinely afford to test. A large renovation contract may be valuable, but no campaign can guarantee one will be won.

Start with the economics of a single job

Take revenue excluding VAT and deduct genuine direct costs such as materials, labour, travel and subcontractors. What remains must support overheads, marketing and profit. Worked example: £6,000 received less £4,500 in direct costs leaves £1,500. Spending £300 to acquire the job leaves £1,200 before overheads and tax. This is arithmetic, not a predicted profit margin.

Separate media spend from service fees

Meta charges advertising spend directly to the business's ad account. Campaign management is a separate fee. Photography, a landing page or extra CRM software may add costs. Compare your total acquisition cost, not only the sum displayed in Ads Manager.

Measure suitable enquiries, not just form fills

If £750 produces 15 form submissions, the average cost per form is £50. If just seven are suitable jobs, the cost per suitable enquiry is approximately £107. That is not yet the cost of winning a customer; you need paid outcomes before calculating the latter.

Agree the stop rules before you begin

Do not commit to spend the business cannot sustain. Set the budget, the minimum data required for an evaluation and the review date. Pause if enquiries cannot be handled, billing needs attention or advertising claims become inaccurate. Scale only when capacity and evidence support the decision.

Checklist

Estimate job contribution before overheads and tax.
Separate Meta spend from PCUK fees.
Define a qualified enquiry.
Calculate costs per form and suitable enquiry.
Check delivery capacity.
Set a review date and affordable test limit.

Frequently asked questions

Is £750 enough?

It is the minimum media budget in PCUK's offer, not a guarantee of enquiry volume in a particular market.

Is cost per lead the cost of acquiring a customer?

No. Customer acquisition cost requires paid jobs and must account for the enquiries that never convert.

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Facebook Ads for UK renovation firms

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Worked examples are educational, not PCUK client results. Check current Meta, ASA/CAP and data-protection requirements before advertising.