Blog > Paid Ads Cost Guide 2025
The Complete Paid Advertising Cost Guide (Updated for 2025)
By Cullen E
If you’re a growing brand that’s looking to scale your business past word of mouth, referrals and organic content, the first place you’re likely to look towards is PPC and paid advertising.
The problem is - PPC and paid ads come at a cost. And that cost varies widely based on competition, industry, management fees and more.
There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer when it comes to how much paid ads will cost you in 2025.
So, how are you supposed to budget accordingly, or know how much you’ll need to get started?
In this guide to paid advertising costs, we break down all the complicated factors into clear and concise answers so that you know what you can expect to pay, and what budget you’ll need to advertise your business online.
We'll discuss:
Key Takeaways:
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New brands typically spend between £1,000 - £5,000 on paid advertising
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Typical monthly ad spend for businesses is between £10,000 and £20,000
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You can expect to spend between 10-30% of your total ad budget on management fees
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To run profitable ads you need the right foundations: social proof, strong creative, and a converting website
Typical Monthly Ad Spend by Business
Below, we’ve broken down the typical monthly ad spend by businesses based on whether they are a small, medium or large brand, or whether they are just starting out on paid ads:
Budget Size | Monthly Ad Spend |
|---|---|
Large Budget | £20,000+ |
Medium Budget | £10,000 - £20,000 |
Small Budget | £5,000 - £10,000 |
Starting Budget | £1,000 - £5,000 |
Expert Insight: These figures are a general consensus of online brands in the UK. Whilst £20,000 monthly ad spend is considered ‘large’, there are extreme examples on the high end of the scale, with some brands spending north of £100,000 per month on paid ads.
How Much Can You Expect to Spend on Paid Ads to Achieve Results?
In the world of PPC and paid advertising, there is such a thing as ‘too little’.
Whilst it’s easy to say that you should aim to spend the lowest amount possible - which is a view a lot of newcomers have - the reality is you’re simply not going to have enough data to achieve results if you spend too little on your ads.
Here are the reasons why an adequate budget is needed to start with paid ads:
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You need a minimum amount of data to understand the impact on your business
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Campaigns without sufficient data will never mature and will struggle to become profitable
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Platforms like Google and Meta Ads need data to optimise effectively
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Too small a budget makes it impossible to test creative, offers, audiences and landing pages
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Small budgets can delay learnings by weeks, making it harder to fix what’s not working
So, with all that being said, how much can you expect to spend on paid ads to achieve results?
Our recommendation is to budget for a minimum of £5,000 for your monthly ad spend, plus management fees (which we’ll help you determine later).
This will give you an ample amount of data to know whether paid ads are having a real impact on your business.
How to Find the Right Starting Budget:
The amount of budget you’ll need will vary depending on the nature of your business, its industry, and what you want to achieve.
For a definitive answer on how much you need to get started - you need to speak to a professional who will be able to give you a close estimate.
Breakdown of Paid Advertising Costs: What You Actually Spend Money On
There are more costs to paid advertising than simply the ad spend, and it's important to know where your money is going so your business can budget and plan accordingly.
Paid Search or 'PPC' Costs
Paid search ads, often called 'PPC' ,refers to ‘pay-per-click’ platforms such as Google Ads and Bing Ads.
It's a major part of most ad budgets because it allows you to bid on the exact search terms your customers are using to find products or services like yours.
In fact, a whopping 80% of global businesses use Google Ads to sell their product or service online.
What is PPC?
PPC stands for ‘Pay-Per-Click’ and, as the name suggests, is an advertising model where advertisers are charged each time one of their ads is clicked.
The most common PPC advertising platform is Google, where you bid to place your ads on relevant search terms across Google Search and Shopping. You can also create ads to show across the larger Google network too, including YouTube, Gmail and Display.
Paid Social Costs
Paid social ads involves paying for ads on social media platforms such as Meta (Facebook & Instagram), TikTok, Snapchat or Pinterest.
Whereas on Google you are targeting users who are actively searching for something, with paid social you are targeting specific demographics, interests or behaviours to encourage people to find out more about your product/service.
Here’s where your costs come from with paid social advertising:
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Media spend - you are typically charged based on reach or a ‘CPM’ basis (cost-per-thousand impressions)
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Creative production - paid social is visual and fast-moving, so assets such as images and video need to be produced in order to stand out
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Testing and optimisation - paid social requires ongoing optimisation and testing of creatives and audiences, which adds to your overall advertising costs
Management Fees
The cost of management is an important part of paid advertising costs that you’ll need to budget for and will vary based on a number of factors:
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Your monthly ad budget
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The number of services required i.e. the project scope
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The size or complexity of your brand
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Whether you choose to use an agency, hire an agency, or manage in-house
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The pricing model of your agency or freelancer
You can expect to spend anywhere between 10-30% of your monthly ad budget on management fees.
We breakdown management fees in more detail later in this article.
Creative Production
If you’re going to advertise your brand on any of the social media platforms (or even Google these days), you’re going to need quality creative assets that show off your product or service to potential customers.
This will add to your overall paid advertising costs. Thankfully though, there are plenty of options in 2025 when its comes to creative production:
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Look for a paid advertising agency that includes creative as part of their service
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Hire a freelancer to produce creative assets for you
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Keep the cost low by using Canva to creative elegant imagery or video
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Leverage user-generated content (UGC) from your existing customers
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Work with affiliates or micro-influencers to create UGC for you
Find Out Your Exact Starting Budget for Your Ads Today
Use the contact form below or contact me on 07837211760 for a free consultation on starting paid ads for your online brand.
Cullen Evans
15 Minutes
No Commitment
Free Consultation & Advice
Phone, Video Call or Email
"Cullen has helped to grow our online sales by 40% month on month over the last 6 months."
Paid Search Advertising Costs on Google and Bing Ads
Now that we've covered what costs are included with paid advertising, let's break down each one in more detail.
First up: what you can expect to pay when running ads on platforms like Google and Bing Ads.
How You Are Charged
When it comes to paid search - or PPC - you are charged on a ‘cost per click’ basis (CPC), meaning you pay a certain amount for each click on your ads.
While you used to manually set bids (e.g. £2.00 per click), most platforms now use automated bidding, where you set a target ROAS or CPA, and the platform optimises for conversions.
This can feel overwhelming at first, but there’s still plenty of data available to estimate your average CPC and get a realistic idea of costs.
How to Estimate CPC for Your Business (For Free)
Below, we walk you through 3 simple steps to estimate the CPC you’re likely to pay when advertising on Google Ads.
Step 1: Sign Up for a Free Trial to a Keyword Research Tool
Keyword research tools - like Semrush or Moz - offer a 7 day free trial which you can use to find the average CPC for your business’ keywords.
Step 2: Write Down a List of Keywords Related to Your Business
As the business owner or brand manager, no one has a better understanding of your customers than you do.
Use this knowledge to write down a list of relevant keywords that your customers might search to find your business on Google.
For example, if you were running Google Ads for a hair transplant clinic, your keywords might be:
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Hair transplant cost
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Hair transplant near me
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Hair transplant surgery
Step 3: Enter Your Keywords Into the Keyword Research Tool
Once you have your list of relevant keywords, enter these into your keyword research tool to get a list of monthly search volumes and the average CPC it would take to place your ad at the top of the search results.
Average CPC by Industry (2025)
If you don’t want to go through all of the fuss of researching individual keywords, you can view the average CPC listed by industry below.
* Please note that these are general estimates and should not be used to budget for your ads.
Industry | Average CPC (Google Ads) |
|---|---|
Animal & Pets | £1.50 |
Apparel, Fashion & Jewelry | £2.00 |
Arts & Entertainment | £1.50 |
Automotive | £3.00 |
Beauty & Personal Care | £1.50 |
Business Services / B2B | £4.00 |
Construction | £5.00 |
Dental Services | £5.00 |
Education | £4.00 |
Finance & Insurance | £5.00 |
Furniture | £3.50 |
Health & Fitness | £1.50 |
Home Improvement | £5.00 |
Personal Services | £5.00 |
Physicians & Surgeons | £4.00 |
Real Estate | £3.00 |
Restaurants & Food | £1.50 |
Sports & Recreation | £2.00 |
Travel | £2.00 |
Averages are calculated from Ahrefs by taking a range of keywords from each individual industry and niches (2025).
Paid Social Advertising Costs on Meta and TikTok Ads
If you’re looking to advertise on social media platforms such as Meta, TikTok or Snapchat, it’s important to understand how you are charged as it differs compared to PPC.
How You Are Charged
When you advertise on Meta, or TikTok, you are ultimately charged based on the number of times your ad was shown to someone.
This is most commonly measured by a metric called ‘CPM’ or ‘cost-per-thousand impressions’.
The formula for calculating CPM is simply:
CPM = (Total Cost / Total Impressions) * 1000
It’s important to be aware of what your CPM is as it tells you how effective your ads are in reaching users on Meta and TikTok. If your CPM is high, you’re effectively reaching less people for the same budget.
How Your CPM is Determined on Meta Ads
When you publish your ads on Meta, you enter a real-time auction with other advertisers who are competing to reach the same audience.
Here, you are automatically bidding for impressions, and how much you’ll pay is determined by:
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Your bidding strategy and ad objectives
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Audience targeting (who you’re trying to reach)
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Ad quality
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Competition
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Seasonality
Whilst it can be a confusing topic, the bidding process is handled on the backend by Meta when you go live with any ad campaigns.
Average CPM on Meta Ads by Industry (2025)
Below is a list of CPM by industry on Meta Ads.
Please note that these are general estimates and should not be used to budget for your ads.
Industry | Average CPM (Meta Ads) |
|---|---|
Animals & Pets | £7.50 |
Apparel, Fashion & Jewelry | £7.00 |
Arts & Entertainment | £5.50 |
Business Services / B2B | £10.00 |
Construction | £12.00 |
Health & Beauty | £8.00 |
Home & Garden | £6.00 |
Pet Supplies | £5.50 |
Restaurants & Food | £7.50 |
Sports & Recreation | £10.00 |
How to Lower Your CPM on Meta Ads
Your CPM directly affects how many people your ads can reach within your given budget.
The lower your CPM, the more potential customers you’ll place ads in front of. If you want to maximise your reach and stay profitable, follow these guidelines to keep your CPM low:
Target a Broad Audience
Avoid going overboard on interest and demographic targeting and narrowing your audience size.
Typically, a broader audience leads to a lower CPM. A broad audience gives Meta the flexibility to find the right cohort by showing your ads to a larger group of people.
Focus on High Quality Creative
Meta wants users on Facebook and Instagram to be engaged and stay on the platform. As such, they also want users to have positive ad experiences too.
Ads with quality creative, and relevant ad copy, are rewarded with better CPMs.
To achieve this:
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Test native UGC content
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Use strong hooks in your video assets
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Use high quality imagery in the right dimensions
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Refresh creatives every 1-2 weeks to avoid ad fatigue
Avoid Audience Overlap
Audience overlap occurs when you are targeting the same audience multiple times in your ad account.
You are essentially competing with yourself to reach the same people, and driving up your own costs.
To reduce audience overlap, combine ad sets and campaigns that target the same audience with the same products, and leverage Campaign Budget Optimisation (CBO) in the campaign settings.
Improve Your Landing Page Experience
A poor landing page experience can tank your engagement, hurt conversion signals, and reduce your overall ad quality which all lead to higher CPMs.
You can avoid this by:
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Ensuring your landing page loads quickly
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Optimising for mobile
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Turning off pop-up banners
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Keeping consistent messaging between landing page and ad copy
Paid Ads Management Fees
Beyond ad spend, management fees are one of the biggest costs involved with paid advertising.
Whether you work with an agency, hire a freelancer, or manage in-house, you'll be payinf for expertise, strategy and day-to-day optimisation of your campaigns.
In this section, we'll break down what paid ads management typically costs, the options available to you, and what you should expect to get for your money.
What is the Average Cost for Paid Ads Management?
You should expect to pay anywhere between 10-30% of your total ad spend per month in management fees.
The percentage you pay will typically be on a sliding scale downwards the higher your monthly ads budget is.
Option | Typical Pricing Models | Cost Estimate |
|---|---|---|
Agency | Flat Fee,
% of Ad Spend,
Performance Based | 10-30% of Total Ad Spend |
Freelancer | Flat Fee,
Hourly Rate | 10-20% of Total Ad Spend,
£50 - £200 per hour |
In-House | Recruitment and Salary | Dependent on Team Size |
What Factors Influence the Cost of Paid Ads Management?
The factors that influence the cost of paid ads management are:
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Your monthly ad budget
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Your industry and competition
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The pricing model of your agency or freelancer
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Number of services required
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The experience and quality of your agency or freelancer
Should You Use a Freelancer, Agency, or Manage In-House?
When choosing between a freelancer, agency, or in–house management, there are a number of different factors which will determine which is the best choice for your brand:
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The responsiveness and availability you need
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How much you’re willing to pay for ads management
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How you want a paid ads manager to integrate with your team’s workflows
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The amount of experience in your niche or industry you require
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The size of your project and the number of service(s) you need
Whilst one brand may highly value a paid ads manager that can integrate seamlessly with their existing team, another may simply want a low-cost option that works in the background to generate consistent sales.
There is no one size fits all.
In the table below, we give you detailed information for all options to determine which one is right for your business.
Agency vs Freelancer vs In-House: Consideration Factors
Factor | Agency | Freelancer | In-House |
|---|---|---|---|
Collaboration and Workflow | Operate independently with their own systems and workflows. | Able to collaborate with your existing team and adapt to your workflows. | Naturally onboarded to your existing process and workflows. |
Costs | Costs ranging from 10-30% of your ad spend. | Typically between 10-20% of ad spend. Low commitment agreements. | High upfront costs due to recruitment, training and salaries. |
Experience Level in Your Industry | Likely to find agencies with proficiency in your industry or niche. | Likely to find a freelancer that specialises in your industry or niche. | You will need to hire those who have experience in your industry. |
Responsiveness and Availability | Reliable with fast response times, but can be slowed down due to an overload of clients. | Fast responsiveness and great for filling in resource gaps. | Immediate responsiveness and availability as they are part of your core team. |
Service Level | A wide range of services and handle all requirements from onboarding to delivery. | A wide range of services may require more than one freelancer. | You have total control over the services provided. |
Paid Ads Management Pricing Models
There are a number of ways that agencies and freelancers will charge you for paid ads management:
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Flat Fee
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Percentage of Ad Spend
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Hourly Rate
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Performance Based
We’ll breakdown each pricing model below so you can decide which fits best for your business.
Flat Rate
The flat rate model is the most common - you are charged a monthly fee which is the same every month as well as a possible one-time ‘setup fee’.
Aside from the initial setup fee, a flat rate offers predictability in your budget.
As a business, cash flow is king. It’s vital to always know what’s going in and out. Many businesses prefer paying a flat rate to avoid surprise costs and for easy budgeting and planning.
How is the Flat Rate Calculated?
The flat rate is determined from your total ad spend, the scope of the project, and the experience and quality of your chosen agency or freelancer.
Percentage of Ad Spend
Percentage of ad spend is an agency price model that acts like a commission. You will pay a specific percentage based on the amount that you spend on your ads, typically between 10-30%.
The more you spend on ads, the lower you can negotiate this percentage.
This model is suited for those who simply want to scale. However, this might not work for small businesses who need predictability in their budget.
How is the Percentage Calculated?
The percentage an agency might charge is based mostly on ad spend with larger budgets usually qualifying for a lower percentage to reflect economies of scale.
Hourly Rate
You typically pay an hourly rate when hiring a freelancer or specialist, and at times where you foresee the work lasting for a short period of time.
Hourly rates range from $50-$200 depending on the quality and experience of the freelancer.
If you have a specified amount of work for just 3-6 months, an hourly rate can give you the predictability on what you are paying and the service being received.
How is the Hourly Rate Calculated?
The hourly rate you’ll pay will be dependent on the quality and experience of the freelancer.
If you’re looking for someone with direct experience in your niche and proven track record, expect to pay a higher hourly rate.
Performance Based Fees
This pricing model charges a commission or flat fee based on specific performance metrics such as:
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ROAS
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Total volume of sales
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Leads generated
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Inbound calls
It ties your costs directly to results, so you only pay more when your ads perform well. This approach ensures both you and your agency are aligned on delivering measurable outcomes.
How is the Performance Based Fee Calculated?
The performance based fee is calculated around clearly defined KPIs that you and the agency need to agree on.
Typically, there are target outcomes such as ‘£20,000 in sales’ or ‘ROAS of 4.0+’ which the performance fee is based around.
What's Included With a Management Fee?
When paying between 10-30% of your ad spend each and every month, you need to know what you’re getting for your money.
The services included as part of your management fee will depend on the agency you use and the terms you agree with them. However, there is a baseline you should expect:
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Campaign development and strategy
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Ongoing management and optimisation
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Creative support and/or production
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Performance reporting on agreed KPIs
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Progress updates
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Scheduled catch ups
Campaign Development and Strategy
Your agency (or freelancer) is responsible for campaign planning and strategy.
This includes campaign development at the start of your agreement, and also any campaigns which need to be planned throughout the year such as Summer Sales, Black Friday and Christmas.
Ongoing Management and Optimisation
This is the service fulfilment part of the agreement in which your ad campaigns are actively managed, optimised, and scaled,
Testing should also be a core part of ongoing management, so you should expect to see new tests being launched and reported on throughout the contract.
Creative Support
Not all agencies and freelancers will provide creative production, but they should at least be providing support and direction on what your account needs in terms of creative assets.
Performance Reporting on Agreed KPIs
As a client, you should always be up to date with current performance and whether your ads are achieving your pre-agreed KPIs - such as sales, CPA or ROAS.
Progress Updates and Scheduled Catch Ups
Progress updates can be agreed to be sent weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. This is to keep you informed on current performance as well as what’s being worked on, what work has been completed, and what’s in the pipeline.
Catch ups should be scheduled at regular intervals over the phone, by video call, or in-person.
Catch ups are important as it’s how both you and your agency remained aligned on achieving your goals.
How Do I Know If My Brand Is Ready For Paid Ads?
So, you have a budget in mind, and you’ve decided how you’ll manage your ads - whether that’s in-house, through an agency, or with a freelancer.
Now comes the big question:
“Is my brand actually ready to run paid ads”
No one wants to throw money at ads that don’t convert. To make sure you’re not wasting your hard earned cash, and to give yourself the best shot at success, there are 3 key things your brand needs to have in place before launching any paid campaigns:
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Social proof and proof of concept
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Creative content
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A website and landing page that converts
1. Social Proof and Proof of Concept
The first - and arguably most important - sign that your brand is ready for paid ads is proof that people already want what you're selling.
That could look like:
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Reviews from happy customers
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Testimonials or UGC
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Word-of-mouth referrals
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Repeat customers
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An engaged social media following
This is what we call proof of concept.
Real-world validation that your product solves a problem, and people are willing to pay for it.
People trust people. When your ads are backed up by clear social proof - such as a positive testimonial, or a video of someone using your product - you’re much more likely to convert them into paying customers.
2. Creative Content
If you ask any media buyer, agency, or paid ads specialist what matters most right now, they’ll all tell you the same thing:
Strong creative is key to advertising in 2025.
To be ready for paid ads, your brand needs a consistent way of producing quality creative that tells your story, highlights your offer, and showcases your product.
You can do this in a number of ways:
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Hiring an agency that offers creative support
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Working with a freelancer to produce assets for you
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Using low-cost tools like Canva to produce image and videos
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Repurposing UGC from happy customers or influencers
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Creating authentic videos in-house
It’s not just about that one ‘perfect’ video or image. You need a variety of different hooks, angles, and formats to test what works.
If you have a system in place that can deliver good quality creative, chances are you’ll do very well in paid advertising.
Expert Insight: If you’re going to run profitable ads on Google, Meta, TikTok and elsewhere - you’re going to need to invest in quality creative assets. We recommend budgeting for 10% of your overall paid advertising budget to go towards creative production.
3. A Converting Website and Dedicated Landing Page
Paid ads traffic needs a destination.
That means not sending people to your homepage, but instead directing them to a dedicated landing page or relevant product page that’s designed to guide a visitor towards purchase or enquiry.
Before launching any ads, consider:
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Does your website already convert? If organic visitors are coming straight onto the site, and not buying, paid visitors won’t either.
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Is your site mobile-friendly? 64% of all website traffic happens on mobile. If your site isn’t responsive or mobile-friendly, you’ll struggle to make your ads profitable.
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Does your website load quickly? Conversions drop off massively for every second in loading time. Make sure your website loads within 4 seconds before investing in ads.
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Is the path to purchase or enquiry clear? There should be clear call-to-actions on your landing page that direct the user to the end goal, and a smooth navigation to help users around your website.
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Is website tracking setup correctly? There is no use in running ads if you can’t track behaviour on your website. Make sure you have GA4 and conversion tracking set up to measure performance.
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Does your landing page give all the information a user needs to take action? Your page should explain what you’re offering, who it’s for, the cost, and any other important information a user needs to take action.
If the answer is yes to all of these questions, you’re in a great position to start advertising on Google, Meta, TikTok and more.
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How much do you charge for management?We charge a fixed monthly management fee which is worked out on a project-by-project basis. Your fee is based on factors such as ad spend, the service(s) required, and the project scope.
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What sort of health & beauty brands have you worked with in the past?We have worked with brands that provide online sales of skincare and cosmetics products as well as hair & beauty salons, suppliers & wholesalers to trade, health-based supplements and wellness providers (yoga, mental health).
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Do you fixed contracts?Most contracts are rolling. However, we offer contracts that are fixed at the same rate for 3 months (regardless of changes to the project scope). This allows you to make confident cash flow decisions and have the flexibility needed to run paid ads campaigns.
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What budgets do you work with?We work with brands who are spending at least £5,000 per month on paid ads and help them scale anywhere up to £100,000 per month.
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Do you work with brand new accounts?We have a retainer package available for new accounts with the goal of taking you up to £5,000 in monthly ad spend profitably.
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How do you report on results?Reports on KPIs, performance and focus areas are provided every 7 days via email. You will also have access to a Data Studio for real-time insight into how your campaigns are performing. Catch up calls are scheduled as needed to keep you up-to-date as well as monthly updates on performance.
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Do you work only with health, beauty or wellness brands?Most of our clients are in health and beauty but we work with other brands too across retail and e-commerce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cullen Evans
I've managed paid ads campaigns across Google, Meta and TikTok Ads for 10+ years and share my expertise through online content, guides, articles and videos.