How much should you actually spend on Google Ads?

There's no magic number — but there is a method. Here's how to set a budget that's tied to your goals, not guesswork.

Start from your goal, not a percentage

Forget rules of thumb like '7–10% of revenue.' Work backwards from a target: how many customers do you need, at what close rate from leads, at what cost per lead? Multiply it out and you have a spend floor that's actually anchored to outcomes.

Respect the learning phase

Algorithms need conversion data to optimize. Starve a campaign and it never exits the learning phase. A useful minimum is roughly 30 conversions per campaign per month — set budget so each campaign can realistically hit that, even if it means running fewer campaigns.

Separate testing budget from scaling budget

Carve out 10–20% for experiments — new audiences, creative, and keywords — and keep the rest on what's proven. This protects performance while still feeding the pipeline of next winners.

Watch pacing, not just spend

Overspending early in the month distorts results and can blow the budget before your best hours. This is exactly what Mars, our paid-media agent, monitors continuously — flagging pacing issues and reallocation opportunities for your specialist to approve.

A quick way to sanity-check your number

Take your target customers per month, divide by your lead-to-customer close rate to get required leads, then multiply by your cost per lead — that’s a spend floor tied to outcomes. If that floor can’t clear roughly 30 conversions per campaign, consolidate campaigns before you add more.

Common budgeting mistakes

Spreading too thin across many campaigns, starving the learning phase, changing budgets daily, and lumping test spend in with proven spend. Fix those four and most accounts get more from the same dollars.

Related: Paid Media War Room · Mars

Google Ads budget questions

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