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GuideMarketing

How much does Facebook advertising cost?

You decide what your Facebook advertising costs. What matters is how much you get for your money. Here we explain how the price is set, what budget makes sense and what it costs to have someone manage it for you.

Viktor Åkerlund

Reviewed by Viktor Åkerlund

Marketing specialist at Skale4 min readUpdated

Short answer

You set a budget per day or for the whole campaign, and Meta shows your ads as long as the budget lasts. The price is set in an auction and depends on your audience, the season and how good your ad is. The same ads can appear on both Facebook and Instagram. At Skale, management costs a fixed fee from SEK 10,000 a month, and we recommend an ad budget of at least SEK 6,000 a month.

Illustration of an ad in a mobile feed and a budget slider

How the price is set.

Facebook ads are bought in an auction, just like on Google. The difference is that on Facebook, people aren’t searching for you. You reach them based on who they are, where they live and what they’re interested in. You choose a campaign objectiveGlossaryCampaign objectiveWhat you ask Meta to optimise for, such as enquiries, sales or visits.Read more in the glossary, such as enquiries, sales or website visits, and Meta shows your ads to the people most likely to do what you want.

Feed
Stories and Reels
  1. 1The "Sponsored" labelShows it's an ad. It appears on every ad.
  2. 2Your textShort and clear. Most people only read the first line.
  3. 3Image or videoWhat makes people stop. This is where the ad succeeds or fails.
  4. 4The buttonLeads to your site, a form or a call.
The same ad can appear in the feed and in Stories and Reels, on both Facebook and Instagram. Example with a made-up business.

You set a daily budget or a total budget for the campaign and never pay more than that. How you’re charged depends on your objective and settings. Most often, the cost is counted per thousand impressions, known as CPMGlossaryCPMCost per thousand impressions. This is how the price is usually counted on Facebook and Instagram.Read more in the glossary.

What affects the price?

  • Your audience. A narrow or sought-after audienceGlossaryAudienceThe people you want to reach, based on things like location, age and interests.Read more in the glossary costs more to reach than a broad one.
  • The season. Before major holidays and during the autumn, there are often more advertisers, which makes it more expensive.
  • The quality of your ad. Ads that people stop at, click on and react positively to become cheaper to show.
  • Your objective. An objective that asks more of the customer, such as a purchase, costs more per result than a website visit.

Work out your budget.

Move the sliders to see what different budgets could deliver. The share of people who click is called the CTRGlossaryCTRThe share of people who see your ad and also click it.Read more in the glossary. Just as on Google, what matters is what a new customer costs, not what an impression or a click costs.

Calculate with your own budget
Impressions per month75,000
Clicks per month750
Enquiries per month23
Ad cost per enquirySEK 261

This example only covers the ad budget. Your own figures depend on your industry, audience and ad.

Facebook or Google?

Google Ads reaches people who are already searching for what you sell. Facebook and Instagram reach people before they've started looking, and create the need. Choose what you want to achieve:

What do you want to achieve?
Our advice

Start with Google Ads

When the customer is already searching, Google is often the fastest route to an enquiry. You appear right when the need is there.

Many businesses get the best results with both.

Read more in How much does it cost to advertise on Google Ads?

What does an agency cost?

Agencies usually charge in one of three ways:

Percentage of budget

The fee grows with the budget

The agency takes a share of what you spend on ads. The more you spend, the more the agency earns.

Fixed fee

Same price whatever the budget

You know what it costs every month, and we earn nothing from you spending more on ads.

Hourly rate

Pay for the time

You pay for the hours spent. Harder to know in advance what a month will cost.

We charge a fixed fee from SEK 10,000 a month and no percentage of the ad budget. We handle the ads, audiences and tracking, and you see what every krona brings in. Your first ad is live within 48 hours. Read more about Meta Ads.

Getting more from your budget.

  • Start with the image or video. That’s what people stop for. Test several versions.
  • Track with the Meta pixelGlossaryMeta pixelA piece of code on your site that tells Meta what visitors do, once they've accepted cookies.Read more in the glossary and conversions. That way Meta learns who actually gets in touch or buys.
  • Reach people who have already visited. This is called retargetingGlossaryRetargetingAds to people who have already visited your site or account.Read more in the glossary. People who have been to your site are usually the cheapest to turn into enquiries.
  • Let the ads run for a while before you change them. Meta needs a few days to learn who to show your ads to.

Key takeaways

1

You set the budget yourselves and never pay more than that.

2

Facebook creates demand, Google captures the demand that's already there.

3

The image or video matters most. Test several.

Terms in this article

Full glossary
CPM
Cost per thousand impressions. This is how the price is usually counted on Facebook and Instagram.
CTR
The share of people who see your ad and also click it.
Audience
The people you want to reach, based on things like location, age and interests.
Campaign objective
What you ask Meta to optimise for, such as enquiries, sales or visits.
Meta pixel
A piece of code on your site that tells Meta what visitors do, once they've accepted cookies.
Retargeting
Ads to people who have already visited your site or account.
Conversion
An action you want visitors to take, such as calling, sending an enquiry or buying.
Cost per enquiry (CPA)
Your ad spend divided by the number of enquiries or sales.

Frequently asked questions

What many people ask.

Is there a minimum budget?

You can start with a small amount per day. We still recommend at least SEK 6,000 a month, so Meta gets enough data to find the right people.

Is Instagram included?

Yes. Ads created in Meta's ad tool can appear on both Facebook and Instagram.

Do we need a Facebook page?

Yes, the ads are shown from your business page on Facebook, and on Instagram from your business account if you've connected it.

How quickly will we see results?

Your ads start showing once they're approved. It usually takes a few weeks to find the ads and audiences that work best.

Read more

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