The single biggest mistake in local ad budgets
Spending $300/month across Meta, Google, and TikTok. You don't have a budget. You have three failed experiments.
The math doesn't work. The platforms each need a minimum amount of data to optimize, and $100/month on Meta won't get you there.
Allocate by stage, not by channel
Stage 1: Pre-revenue or first $5K MRR
- 80% organic content + community
- 20% Google Business Profile boosting + retargeting only
- Total ad spend: $0-200/mo
You don't have enough data yet for paid ads to work efficiently. Spend the time, not the money.
Stage 2: $5K–$25K MRR
- 60% Meta (Instagram + Facebook), primarily local interest + lookalike
- 30% Google Search (branded + local intent keywords)
- 10% test budget for one new channel per quarter (TikTok, Pinterest, etc.)
- Total ad spend: $1,000-2,500/mo
Now you have enough customer data to build lookalikes and retargeting audiences that actually convert.
Stage 3: $25K+ MRR
- 40% Meta
- 30% Google Search + Performance Max
- 15% YouTube/Connected TV (yes, even at local scale)
- 15% experimental + creative testing
- Total ad spend: $3,500-10,000/mo
The rules that matter more than the splits
- Spend on one channel until it breaks before adding another. Most founders diversify too early and never get any single channel to scale.
- Creative is 80% of paid performance. Refresh your top ad creative every 2-3 weeks.
- Track lifetime value, not just CAC. A $40 customer acquisition cost on a $80 first purchase looks bad — until you realize that customer comes back 4 times a year.
- Always have a retargeting layer running. It's the cheapest, highest-converting spend you'll do.
What to cut immediately
- Boosted posts on Instagram without a clear conversion event
- Print ads unless you can attribute revenue to them
- Influencer fees without a creator code or trackable link
- Anything you can't measure within 14 days
A good local business ad budget isn't bigger than your competitor's. It's just allocated better.