How do you plan an advertising budget?
The most common mistake in budget planning is putting everything into one channel and one piece of creative. The better approach is to split the budget across three jobs: learning, scaling and defending.
1. Measurement first, spend second
Spending without conversion tracking is flying blind. No campaign should start before GA4, Google Tag Manager and the platform pixels are installed and verified. No measurement, no optimisation.
2. Creative count matters more than channel count
Reaching the same audience with different messages beats opening another channel. Run at least three to five creative variants per campaign; the algorithm will find the winner.
3. Build the funnel in three tiers
Awareness, consideration and conversion each need their own budget and their own message. Brands running conversion campaigns alone hit rising costs the moment the audience pool runs dry.
4. Don't intervene too early
The learning phase averages 7–14 days. Changing bids and targeting every day breaks the algorithm's learning. The first meaningful optimisation belongs after the second week.
5. Match the report to sales
Clicks do not talk; revenue does. Once revenue data is shared, the return on every lira spent (ROAS) can be calculated and budget moved to the campaigns that actually produce.
How much should the monthly budget be?
It depends on the sector and the goal, but the general rule holds: putting in enough to gather meaningful data on one channel beats splitting across three and learning nothing on any of them. For meaningful data, aim for at least 30–50 conversions per campaign.
How should agency fees work?
A model that takes a percentage of media spend creates a conflict of interest around raising the budget. On a fixed management fee, the agency's interest is a better result, not a bigger budget.
