Meta Ads for Local Business: Facebook & Instagram on £10/day

Meta vs Google — different jobs

Google Ads catches people actively searching. Meta Ads interrupts people scrolling — you're generating demand, not capturing it. Different tool, different creative, different mindset.

Meta is best for: services people don't search for often (chiropractors, gardeners, aesthetics), local events and offers, awareness in a specific town, retargeting website visitors.

Start with the objective, not the creative

Meta's ad platform defaults to 'Engagement' or 'Awareness' — mostly worthless for a small business. Choose 'Leads' or 'Conversions' from the start. That's what tells the algorithm to find people who'll actually contact you.

Local targeting done right

• Radius targeting: 5-15 miles around your postcode
• 'People living in' — not 'recently in' (avoids tourists)
• Age and gender only if genuinely relevant
• Ignore detailed interests to start — the algorithm now does better without them
• Exclude your existing customers if you have their email list

Creative that actually stops the scroll

Video always beats image. Face-to-camera video always beats stock. 15-30 seconds, subtitles baked in (85% watch on mute), a hook in the first 3 seconds, one clear call-to-action.

The best small-business Meta ads look like organic content, not ads. Native, informal, real people, real premises.

What to skip on a small budget

Advantage+ campaigns (they burn small budgets), video view campaigns (vanity metric), like campaigns (buys you followers with no intent), boosted posts (worst ad type — never use).