Is this ad spend only?

Yes. Management fees, creative, and landing pages are separate.

Below about that level, most accounts do not collect enough data each month for the ad platforms to learn what works. You can still run ads, but results are noisier and slower to read.

What if I do not know my cost per lead?

Leave "Not sure" checked. You will see three example scenarios. They are illustrations, not benchmarks.

Is a 3 to 1 return the right target for my business?

It is a common starting point. Businesses with long customer relationships or strong cash flow can sometimes go lower. A strategy call is the place to work out your real number.

Do you keep the numbers I enter?

No. They stay in your browser unless you ask us to email them. If you do, they are saved with your email address so we can send them and one follow-up.

Ad Spend Calculator

How much should you spend on ads?

Start from what a customer is worth, not from a budget. Enter five numbers and see what you can afford to pay for a customer, how many leads your goal takes, and the monthly spend that gets you there.

Start calculating

No email required. Your numbers stay in your browser unless you ask us to send them.

What is a typical customer worth over the whole relationship?

Total revenue from one customer, start to finish. If they buy once, use that sale.

What is your gross margin?

The share of that revenue you keep after the direct cost of delivering it.

How many new customers do you want each month?

From ads alone, not referrals or repeat business.

Of qualified leads, what share become customers?

If you're not sure, 20% is a starting assumption. Change it to see how much it matters.

What does a qualified lead cost you?Not sure

From your ad account or past campaigns. Leave "Not sure" checked to see three example scenarios instead.

What do you spend on ads each month now? (optional)

Helps compare where you are with where the math says you'd need to be.

The math works

Monthly ad spend for your goal

If a lead costs $75

$1,500

If a lead costs $150

$3,000

If a lead costs $300

$6,000

These are example costs, not industry benchmarks. Your real cost per lead depends on your market, offer, and targeting. The verdict and the advice below use the $150 example.

Leads needed per month: 20
Cost to win a customer: $375 to $1,500
Break-even cost per customer: $10,000
Healthy cost per customer (3 to 1): $3,333
Highest healthy cost per lead: $667

At $150 a lead, each new customer costs about $750 and returns about $10,000 in gross profit. That leaves room for agency fees, slow months, and testing.

Below $5,000 a month, results are hard to read. At this budget, most ad accounts don't collect enough clicks and conversions each month for the platforms' bidding to learn. Results swing week to week, and it can take months to know what's working. It can still pay off in a small, tightly targeted market, but plan for slower learning, or put the effort into referrals and conversion first.
The lever most people skip. Raising close rate from 20% to 25% would cut the spend you need to about $2,400 a month for the same number of customers.
Figures are ad spend only. Management fees, creative, and landing pages are separate.

Find what's really holding growth back

Ad spend is one lever. Growth also depends on converting buyers, keeping them, and earning referrals. The 3-minute Growth Constraint Check shows which of the four is holding you back.

Take the Growth Constraint Check

Change any number to your own and you can have the results emailed to you.

How the math works

Four numbers, one goal.

Gross profit per customer

Customer value times gross margin. The most you could pay to win a customer and break even.

A healthy cost per customer

About a third of that, using a 3 to 1 ratio of gross profit to cost as an example target. That leaves room for fees, slow months, and testing.

Leads needed

The customers you want, divided by your close rate.

Monthly ad spend

Leads needed, times what a qualified lead costs you.

The number most businesses can move fastest is not the ad budget. It is the close rate. A few points there change the leads you need and the spend that buys them.

Questions

Before you run the numbers.

Is this ad spend only?: Yes. Management fees, creative, and landing pages are separate.
Why $5,000 a month?: Below about that level, most accounts do not collect enough data each month for the ad platforms to learn what works. You can still run ads, but results are noisier and slower to read.
What if I do not know my cost per lead?: Leave "Not sure" checked. You will see three example scenarios. They are illustrations, not benchmarks.
Is a 3 to 1 return the right target for my business?: It is a common starting point. Businesses with long customer relationships or strong cash flow can sometimes go lower. A strategy call is the place to work out your real number.
Do you keep the numbers I enter?: No. They stay in your browser unless you ask us to email them. If you do, they are saved with your email address so we can send them and one follow-up.

Not sure ads are the constraint?

Ad spend is one lever. The Growth Constraint Check shows which of the four engines is holding the rest back, in about three minutes.

Take the 3-minute check Book a Strategy Call