How to Plan Your Marketing Budget for Google Ads, Facebook & Instagram – A Real Story

NNN II
3 days ago
3 min read

When I first started my business, I had great ideas, a beautiful website, and a lot of energy, but zero clients. I thought, “If I just post on Instagram and Facebook, people will magically find me.”

Spoiler: they didn’t.

I had no portfolio, no references, and no social proof. My posts reached maybe 10 people, mostly friends and family. That’s when I realized — if no one knows you exist, your website and social media alone won’t bring sales.

Step 1: Start With a Clear Goal

Before spending a single dollar, ask yourself:

Do I want brand awareness, more leads, or actual sales?
Who is my target audience, and where do they spend time online?

For me, the first goal was simple: get real traffic to my Instagram and website, so I could start building credibility.

Step 2: Use Advertising to Boost Visibility

This is where Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Instagram Ads come in. Even a small budget can make a huge difference if you plan it correctly.

For example:

On Facebook, I promoted posts that showed my services and testimonials from friends I had helped.
On Instagram, I ran stories and posts targeting local users interested in my niche.
On Google Ads, I used keywords like “best haircuts near me” (if you’re in beauty) or “affordable web design services” (if you’re in marketing) to appear in search results.

💡 Pro Tip: If you’re just starting with Google Ads, you can often get promo codes through Google Partners. These are usually for new advertisers and can give you free ad credit. For example, you might get a code like: Spend $500, Get $500 credit. At NNNII, we help you claim and apply these promo codes so you can stretch your budget further.

Step 3: Track Everything

Every ad, every click, and every comment was data I could use. How much did I spend? How many people clicked? How many inquiries converted into clients?

I started writing all numbers in a simple Excel sheet — revenue, ad spend, hours worked — and calculated my actual profit per client.

Step 4: Build Trust With Your Traffic

Even if people land on your website or social media, they need a reason to trust you:

Add before/after examples of your work
Include testimonials or short case studies (even from friends or small projects)
Show your contact info clearly and make it easy to reach you

The traffic you pay for is worthless if you don’t convert it into trust.

Step 5: Scale Carefully

Once I understood how much I spent per click and per client, I could plan my budget for the next month. I could see which ads worked, which platforms gave the best results, and how much profit I made.

Even a small daily budget — $5 to $10 — can be enough to start building your audience, test ads, and grow a real business.

Practical Tip:

You don’t need to pay for expensive strategists when you can plan your campaigns smartly. Start with small budgets, use real data to adjust, claim promo codes to maximize your Google Ads spend, and gradually scale up.

At NNNII, we help business owners plan advertising campaigns, optimize budgets, and save time and money — so you avoid mistakes and grow faster.

Check out our services here: Digital Marketing & Advertising

Take Control of Your Advertising Budget with Our Free Social Media Calculator

Running ads on Google, Facebook, or Instagram can quickly get complicated—and expensive—if you don’t plan ahead. How much should you spend? What results can you expect? And most importantly, what’s your profit?

We’ve made it simple. Our all-in-one Social Media Budget Calculator helps you:

Plan daily and total budgets for Google Ads, Facebook, and Instagram campaigns.
Track your spending over time with a built-in calendar.
Calculate estimated clicks, conversions, revenue, and profit automatically.
Understand exactly how your advertising spend impacts your business growth.

This isn’t just about tracking expenses—it’s about making your business more transparent and strategic. You’ll see where your money goes, which campaigns are performing, and how to optimize your ad spend for maximum results.

Plus, all your ad expenses are neatly documented, so you can claim them on your taxes and reduce your taxable income.