How much does it cost to advertise my salon on Facebook and Instagram?
I’m obsessed with Facebook and Instagram ads.
In fact, I’ve been known to spend $10,000 or more on social ads in one month. And I’m not spending this money willy-nilly. I spend this kind of money knowing without a doubt that the return on investment is so worth the price tag.
You might have just made an audible gasp. I totally get it.
Here’s the great thing though: you don’t have to spend a ton of money on ads to get them to work for you.
I work with plenty of beauty business owners who can’t just go spending thousands a month in ads, due to a tight budget. You might be a booth renter, suite renter, or in your first year of biz as a hairstylist, esthetician, makeup artist, or waxer.
Even if you’re just starting out, or have a smaller budget, Facebook and Instagram ads can still work incredibly well for your beauty business.
Facebook and Instagram ads can help you to:
Introduce yourself to thousands of potential new clients on social media very quickly (even if you’ve got a small or nonexistent following!)
Get people to actually take action and book with you, instead of just liking and commenting on your posts. Engagement doesn’t put money in your bank account!
Brand yourself as the local expert in your beauty niche.
Create huge revenue in your business and build your income!
The benefits are way worth the cost, every time.
For $5 a day, you can grow your reach and fill up your appointment books
I’ve worked with thousands of beauty professionals on their ads, and usually one of the first questions I get is:
“How much does it *actually* cost to do ads that attract the right kind of clients to me?”
This is a totally fair question, and I do have the answer for you (and it’s gonna tickle you pink.)
But I think the heart of the question is where the problem lies, so I’d like to help you reframe it quickly.
By asking “how much will it cost me?”, you’re thinking of social media ads as “just another expense” - but what they really are is a huge investment opportunity, without a hefty price tag.
I’ve taught hundreds of beauty business students how to run profitable social media ads, and every time, the results have been business and life-changing for them. My students have had to stop running their ads because of how fast their appointment books have been filled.
That’s what an investment does. It pays you back, often in double and triple returns, or even more. Expenses are just a charge you pay to keep getting the same results or service.
Whenever I spend money in my business, I always ask myself, “What am I going to get out of this? How much? And when?”
If I can’t answer those questions, it’s just not worth it. And with my social ads, I always have the answers I need to make the best decision in a short period of time.
The great thing about promoted posts on FB and IG is that you can track how much you’re spending vs making.
You’ll be able to track that you spent $50, had 5 clients book with you, and made back $400 in bookings and sales, for example.
Armed with this knowledge that your ad investment will consistently be showing results and opportunities for tinkering, let’s talk about how much to invest in your social ads.
This isn’t a copout answer, I promise: the amount you spend on ads is totally dependant on your situation and needs.
It depends on a few things:
If you offer high-ticket services, your ad budget should also be higher. It costs more money to book someone in for a big ticket service than a “starter” service. If your goal is to get more clients in for less money, try advertising a less expensive service.
Smaller towns tend to have lower ad costs than big cities. There is more competition in larger cities for ads, so the costs are higher. Service rates in larger cities are higher to balance this dynamic out a bit.
However, for most beauty businesses, spending $5 a day is a good place to start with your ads. If you’re happy with your results, you can always adjust to spend more and gain more! But to get a good amount of people seeing your ads, start there and adjust accordingly.
Your goals and your budget will be individual to your situation. But here are some pretty amazing results from past clients who took the leap and invested - maybe you’ll find the inspiration you need to try it out and experience the magic of using social ads for your marketing!
Rebecca built her entire clientele with one Facebook ad
First up is Rebecca, who recently opened up her own beauty studio. She tried her hand at making a Facebook ad using what I taught her, and was blown away by the results. Here’s what she had to say:
“I’m not exaggerating when I say, almost my whole clientele was built on a single Facebook ad! I’ve had 244 new clients find me through my ad, I’ve made £13,420 in revenue directly from advertising. And did I mention I was only spending £5 a day?”
Rebecca developed an ad and spent about $150 a month running it. She let it run for 3-4 months. She made more than $13,000 from that investment!
Rebecca loved that she was able to consistently check in and ensure that her investment was still bringing in the business she wanted. Facebook and Instagram ads give you the power to constantly monitor how your money’s being spent.
Martine knows how well Facebook ads work firsthand
Next, let me introduce you to Martine. She’s a hair and beauty salon owner whose goal was to fill up her appointment books consistently with repeat clients.
These days, Martine has her own books full, but she uses social ads to grow clientele for the apprentice hairstylists that work for her. She has seen how profitable social ads for her business, so she always makes room in her budget to use them.
After learning my formula for Facebook and Instagram ads, Martine spent £43.79 advertising hair extensions, and got back £725 in client revenue. For another ad campaign, she invested about £19 in advertising services for hair loss, and made back £700 in appointment sales, plus upsells and product sales. She has replicated this success many times over and now routinely gets new social ads up whenever she has a little spare time and wants to pump up her bookings.
Mindy sold out of her online nail classes by running Facebook ads
Mindy is a nail expert, and during the first set of lockdowns in 2020, she started teaching online nail art classes to keep her revenue steady. Using the formula I taught her for profitable ads, she began advertising her classes on her socials - and she sold out in a matter of weeks!
She spent a total of about $60 on her Facebook ads, and sold $5,250 worth of tickets for her classes.
That’s the power of running profitable FB and IG ads. The ROI is incredible, and you’re always able to monitor your spending vs. revenue to adjust as needed.
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You don’t need to be a tech wizard to run social media ads.
You don’t need to break the bank to get an amazing return on your ads.
You don’t need to spend a ton of hours painstakingly writing out what you think people need to hear to come visit your beauty business.
All of the ladies I just told you about were students in my course, The Facebook Formula for Salons. In this program, we go through every step of creating profitable Facebook and Instagram ads, from creating an irresistible offer, to writing captions, to making videos, budgeting, targeting, and more. It’s a comprehensive permit to run profitable ads that get the results you want: your dream clients filling your book with appointments, quickly and often.
In the Facebook Formula for Salons, we don’t focus on spending money to get likes and engagement. We calculate ROI: Return On Investment. That’s the most important measure of success for me and my students: finding the right amount of money for the right amount of revenue coming back to you.
All of my students have had lots of worries before joining: that they won’t be tech-inclined enough, or have enough of a budget to run social ads, or that they won’t know how to show up for their audience and say the right stuff. And one by one, each of their fears have started to melt away as they’ve realized how easy, profitable, and effective social ads are using the techniques I teach.
If you’d like to join, you can get all the details here. I could not be more excited to teach the next round of beauty business owners how to do social media ads right!
