How Meta charges you
Every time your ad could appear in someone’s feed, Meta holds a quick auction among the advertisers who want that person. Your budget sets how much you are willing to spend, and Meta spends it over the days you chose. You never pay more than the budget you set.
Two numbers tell you if the money is working. The first is the cost per 1,000 views, called CPM. The second matters more for a shop: the cost per enquiry, meaning each lead form filled or each WhatsApp chat started.
What makes one ad cost more than another
Your audience is the biggest factor. A salon in Koregaon Park, Pune, targeting women aged 25 to 45 within 5 km competes with every other salon, boutique and gym chasing the same women. A tyre shop in a small town targeting men across the district has far fewer rivals, so its views come cheaper.
Creative quality matters too. Meta favours ads that people stop for and respond to, so a clear photo with a real offer tends to get cheaper results than a crowded poster full of text. Season plays a part as well, which is covered further down.
- Who you target: area, age and gender
- How many other advertisers want those same people
- The time of year
- How good the image and the offer are
- The goal you pick, since a lead costs more than a view
What a small budget can bring in
The ranges our app uses for estimates are ₹45 to ₹70 per 1,000 views, ₹45 to ₹65 per lead from a lead form ad, and ₹35 to ₹55 per WhatsApp chat started. These are planning figures, and real results can land above or below them.
Taken at face value, ₹1,000 of ad spend would buy roughly 14,000 to 22,000 views, or around 15 to 22 lead form enquiries. A coaching class in Kota spending ₹500 a day on ads for ten days could plan for something like 75 to 110 enquiries on those ranges. Treat that as a starting guess to check against your own first week, and expect only some of those people to become paying students.
Most first-time advertisers find a 10 to 20 day run more useful than a 2 day test. Meta needs a few days to learn which people respond, and you need enough enquiries to judge whether they are the right kind.
Setting a Facebook ads budget: daily or total
In Ads Manager you can set a daily budget or a total budget for the whole run (Meta calls it a lifetime budget). With a daily budget, Meta aims to spend about the same amount each day. With a total budget, it spreads the money across your dates and may spend more on days when it expects better results.
For a shop with a fixed amount to spend this month, a total budget is easier to think about. A daily budget suits an ad you plan to keep running for weeks and adjust as you go.
Why festival weeks cost more
Before Diwali, Navratri, Eid or the wedding season, jewellers, clothing stores, sweet shops and electronics stores all start advertising at once. More advertisers bidding for the same people pushes the auction price up, so the same budget buys fewer views.
Starting two to three weeks before the festival helps. Costs are lower before the last-minute rush, and people buying gifts or planning functions are already deciding. If you sell year round, a quieter month is a good time to test your ad and find out which design works before the expensive weeks arrive.
Questions
What is the least I can spend on a Facebook ad?
Meta allows small daily budgets, but very small amounts give you too few results to judge. Plan for at least a few thousand rupees over 10 days or more so you can tell whether the ad is working.
Is GST charged on Facebook ads?
Check whether any price you are quoted includes GST, because it changes the total by 18%. Our plans quote prices that already include ad spend, design and GST, so the number you see is the number you pay.
Are results guaranteed for the amount I spend?
No. The auction changes every day, so nobody can promise a number of leads. Estimates help you plan, and your first run tells you what your own area and trade really cost.