Solved: Meta Ads Cost for B2B Services Ads?

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch. Happy to give you some of my initial thoughts and guidance on your question about Meta ad costs for B2B services. It's a question we get a lot, and the honest answer is a bit more involved than just plucking a number out of thin air. It really depends on a load of different factors.

I'll walk you through how we'd typically think about this for a client, what influences the costs, and what you should be focusing on to get the best results for your budget. Hopefully this gives you a much clearer picture.

So, how much do Meta ads really cost for B2B?

Alright, let's get straight to it. The short answer is: it varies massively. Anyone who gives you a fixed cost without knowing your industry, your specific service, who you're targeting, and how good your offer is, is probably just guessing.

That said, I can give you some ballpark figures from our experience to use as a starting point. For B2C services, we've seen a huge range. We're currently running a campaign for an HVAC company in a competitive area, and they're seeing a cost per lead of around $60. On the other end of the spectrum, a home cleaning company we worked with was getting leads for about £5 each. This just shows you how much the industry and local competition can affect things.

But B2B is a different beast altogether. The sales cycles are longer, the decision-making process involves more people, and the value of a single client is often much higher. This means you can afford to pay more for a lead, but it also means you have to be much smarter with your approach.

I recall one instance where, for a B2B software client, we secured 4,622 registrations at a cost of just $2.38 each using Meta ads. But that was for a very specific offer with broad appeal. I also remember another B2B software client where we targeted specific decision-makers on LinkedIn, the cost per lead was closer to $22. As mentioned, that was still a great result because the leads were highly qualified and for a high-ticket service. So as a very rough starting point for a B2B service on Meta, you could be looking anywhere from £10 to £50+ per qualified lead. The final number will depend on the factors we're about to go into.

I'd say you first need to confirm the right ad platform...

Before you even think about Meta ad costs, the first question should be: is Meta the right place for your ads? The best ad platform is simply where your target audience can be reached most effectively. Getting this wrong is the quickest way to waste your budget.

So you need to think about your ideal customer. Are they actively searching for a solution to a problem you solve?
-> If yes, then Google Search ads are almost certainly your best bet. Most business services are hard to sell unless a company has an urgent need they're looking to solve *right now*. Google Ads lets you capture that intent. You can target keywords like "AI implementation service" or "software agency near me" and get in front of people who are literally raising their hand for help.
-> If no, and they aren't actively searching, then social media can work. But you have to be careful. For B2B, LinkedIn is often the top choice because the targeting options are built for it. You can target by job title, company size, industry, specific company names... it's incredibly powerful for reaching specific decision-makers. Meta's B2B targeting is much more limited. You can try things like "small business owners" or "business page admins," but it's a lot less precise. We've used it successfully for some B2B clients, but it works best when the service has a broader appeal rather than needing to reach a specific Head of Sales at a FTSE 250 company, for example.

Getting the platform wrong means your targeting will be off, and you'll struggle to get results no matter how much you spend or how good your ads are. It's the foundation of the whole strategy.

You probably should focus on targeting first...

Assuming Meta is the right choice for you, or part of a wider strategy, getting the targeting right is the single biggest thing that will influence your costs. This is where most people go wrong.

I see it all the time in accounts I audit: people test audiences that are way too broad or that don't actually align with their ideal customer. For B2B, targeting an interest like "Business" or "Marketing" is useless. You'll be showing your ads to millions of people who have no interest or need for your service.

The trick is to think about what specific interests, pages, tools, or public figures your ideal customer follows. If you sell accounting services to small businesses, instead of targeting "Small Business", you could try targeting people interested in accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks, or who follow pages that give financial advice to startups. You have to get creative and specific.

Then, you need to structure your campaigns properly. We usually prioritise audiences based on how 'warm' they are:

-> Top of Funnel (ToFu): This is your cold audience. People who've never heard of you. Here, you'll start with those detailed, specific interests we just talked about. Your main priority here is to gather data and see what works.
-> Middle of Funnel (MoFu): These are people who've shown some interest, like visiting your website or watching one of your video ads. You'll retarget them to bring them back.
-> Bottom of Funnel (BoFu): These are people who are close to converting. They might have visited a specific service page or even started filling out your contact form but didn't finish. These are your hottest leads.

Once you have enough data (at least 100 people in an audience, but more is better), you can start creating Lookalike Audiences. These are powerful. Meta can find new people who are similar to your best existing customers or website visitors. A lookalike of your past customers will almost always perform better than a broad interest-based audience.

You'll need a solid offer and sales process...

This is the bit that everyone forgets. Your ad can be perfect, your targeting can be spot on, but if you send people to a website that's confusing, untrustworthy, or has a weak offer, your conversion rates will be terrible. And a low conversion rate means a high cost per lead.

Think about your sales process. What do you actually want someone to do when they click your ad? Schedule a 15-minute discovery call? Download a case study? Request a free audit? This Call To Action (CTA) needs to be crystal clear on your landing page. The page should be designed for one thing only: getting that person to take that action.

For B2B services, an offer like a "Free Strategy Review" or a "No-Obligation Consultation" often works really well. It's low-risk for the prospect and gives you a chance to demonstrate your expertise. I've looked at so many B2B sites where the only option is a generic "Contact Us" form. That's not persuasive enough. You need professional copy that speaks directly to your ideal customer's pain points and makes your offer irresistible.

Remember, it's a huge effort for businesses to bring on a new service provider. They won't do it on a whim. Your website and your offer need to build trust and make it an easy "yes" for them to take that first step. Every percentage point you can increase your landing page conversion rate by will directly lower your cost per lead.

This might all seem like a lot to take in, so I've put the key steps into a simple table to show how you might approach it.

This is the main advice I have for you:

As you can see, it's not just about setting up an ad and hoping for the best. It's a methodical process of understanding your audience, testing, optimising your targeting and creatives, and fine-tuning your landing page and offer.

That's where a professional consultancy like ours can make a huge difference. With years of experience running B2B campaigns, we can help you skip a lot of the costly trial-and-error phase. We can provide insights you might not have thought of and take over the entire implementation and optimisation process for you, ensuring that every pound you spend is working as hard as possible to grow your business.

If you'd like to go over this in more detail and have us look at your specific situation, feel free to book in a free consultation with us. We can walk through your business goals and give you a clearer idea of what's possible.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh