Hi there,
Thanks for getting in touch. Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your question about Meta ad costs. It's a question we get asked a lot, and the truth is, the answer isn't a single number. The cost can vary massively, but it's not random. It depends on a few specific things you can actually control or at least influence.
I'll walk you through how we think about it and what you should expect. Hopefully this will give you a much clearer picture.
We'll need to look at your objectives and targeting first...
Before we can even guess at a cost, the first question is always: what are you trying to achieve? Are you looking for email signups, leads for a service, or direct eCommerce sales? The cost for a simple signup is going to be completely different from the cost to acquire a paying customer for a high-ticket item. Your conversion objective is the biggest factor.
The second biggest factor is who you're targeting and where they are. Advertising in developed countries like the UK, US, or Australia is naturally more expensive than in developping countries. The competition is higher and people have more purchasing power. We've run campaigns for clients where the cost per click (CPC) in the US was ten times higher than in other regions. That doesnt mean you should just target cheaper countries though, as the quality of the traffic is often much lower, which is something a lot of people overlook.
Essentially, your final 'cost per result' (whether that's a lead, a sale, or something else) comes down to two main levers:
-> Cost Per Click (CPC): How much you pay every time someone clicks your ad. This is influenced by your targeting, competition, and how good your ad is.
-> Conversion Rate (CVR): What percentage of people who click your ad actually do the thing you want them to do (e.g., buy something, sign up). This is all about your landing page, your offer, and how well your ad targeting matches what's on the page.
Your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) is basically just your CPC divided by your CVR. So if your CPC is £1.00 and your CVR is 10%, your CPA is £10. You can lower your final cost by either lowering the click cost or increasing the conversion rate. Usually, focusing on the conversion rate gives you more bang for your buck.
I'd say you can expect these kind of costs...
Okay, with that out of the way, let's talk numbers. Based on the campaigns we've run for dozens of clients, we've got a pretty good idea of the ballpark figures. I've broken it down by objective and country type, as that's the most imporant distinction.
For something like a lead, an email signup, or a free trial user, the barrier to entry is low, so you'd expect a higher conversion rate, maybe somewhere between 10% and 30% from the ad click. For direct sales, the conversion rates are much lower, usually around 2-5% for a typical eCommerce store. This makes a huge difference to the final cost.
Here's a rough guide to what you might expect. These are just averages, but they're a realistic starting point.
Objective: Leads / Signups / Subscribers
| Country Type | Typical CPC Range | Typical CVR Range | Resulting CPA Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Developed Countries (UK, US, CA, AU, etc.) | £0.50 - £1.50 | 10% - 30% | £1.60 - £15.00 |
| Developing Countries | £0.10 - £0.50 | 10% - 30% | £0.33 - £5.00 |
Objective: eCommerce Sales / Purchases
| Country Type | Typical CPC Range | Typical CVR Range | Resulting CPA Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Developed Countries (UK, US, CA, AU, etc.) | £0.50 - £1.50 | 2% - 5% | £10.00 - £75.00 |
| Developing Countries | £0.10 - £0.50 | 2% - 5% | £2.00 - £25.00 |
As you can see, the ranges are massive. Someone telling you "Meta ads cost X" is giving you an incomplete picture. I remember one campaign where we helped a software client achieve over 5,000 trial signups at about $7 each on Meta. Another time, while working with an eCommerce client selling women's apparel, the focus wasn't CPA but Return On Ad Spend (ROAS), and we achieved a 691% return.
You probably should focus on a solid targeting stratergy...
Seeing the lower costs for developing countries, it's tempting to just run a worldwide campaign to get the cheapest clicks and signups possible. This is almost always a mistake. We usually advise clients to exclude the 30 or so lowest-income countries straight away, as traffic from there is often plagued by bots and clicks that will never turn into real customers. You'll get amazing headline numbers, like a £0.20 cost per lead, but your business won't see any actual benefit.
Instead, your targeting stratergy should be built around your Ideal Customer Persona (ICP). Where do they live? Start there, even if its more expensive. It's better to pay £7 for a genuine potential customer in the UK than £1 for three signups from a country you can't even ship to. Quality over quantity is the name of the game.
When you are just starting out, you'll likely be using 'cold' audiences based on interests and demographics. The key here is to be specific. A common mistake we see is targeting interests that are too broad. For example, if you sell high-end kitchen knives, targeting the interest 'Cooking' is way too general. You'll reach millions of people who just watch Gordon Ramsay videos but never cook. A better approach would be to target interests like 'Fine Cooking magazine', specific celebrity chefs known for their knife skills, or high-end kitchenware brands like 'Le Creuset'. You want to find interests that your ideal audiance follows, but the general public doesn't.
You'll need to build a proper funnel to bring costs down...
A proper campaign structure is what separates the pros from the amateurs, and it has a huge effect on your costs. You shouldn't just run one ad set at one audience. We structure campaigns based on the marketing funnel: Top of Funnel (ToFu), Middle of Funnel (MoFu), and Bottom of Funnel (BoFu).
-> ToFu (Top of Funnel - Cold Audiences): This is where you target people who've never heard of you, using the interest targeting we just discussed. Your goal here is to get cheap clicks and build up an audience of people who've shown some interest.
-> MoFu (Middle of Funnel - Warm Audiences): This is for retargeting. You show different ads to people who have visited your website, watched your videos, or engaged with your page, but haven't taken that final step. These people are warmer and more likely to convert, so your costs here should be lower.
-> BoFu (Bottom of Funnel - Hot Audiences): This is for people who got really close to converting. They added a product to their cart or initiated checkout but then left. Hitting them with a specific "Forgot something?" ad can be incredibly effective and often delivers the highest return on ad spend.
Once you have enough data (at least 100 purchases, but ideally more), you can create Lookalike Audiences. This is where you tell Meta "go find me more people who look just like my existing customers". These are often the best-performing cold audiences you can build.
I remember one B2B software client where we were able to get their cost per registration down to just $2.38 by building a solid funnel and testing different lookalikes of their existing users. It's a process of continous optimisation. You test audiences, creatives, and landing pages, find what works, and double down on it. It sounds simple, but it takes time, expertise, and a structured approach to get it right.
This whole process can feel a bit overwhelming, and a lot of money can be wasted on testing if you don't know what you're doing. It's not just about setting up an ad; it's about building and managing an entire system designed to acquire customers profitably and at scale.
If you'd like to go over your specific situation, we're always happy to book in a free, no-obligation consultation call. We can take a look at your goals and give you a more concrete strategy for what would work for your business.
Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh
