Meta Ads for service businesses: Facebook and Instagram, when your clients are there
Facebook and Instagram reach almost everyone, but you target people by interests, behaviours or audiences you supply, not a list of named companies as on LinkedIn. For a service business selling to individuals or to owners of small companies, that can work. For a firm aiming at three hundred named accounts, LinkedIn is almost always the better fit. The audit decides, with figures.
Price
Priced in your action plan, after the audit.
A go or no-go decision first. If go: audiences, formats, visuals, tracking, management and a monthly report. Media budget paid directly to Meta.
This channel has no published price: what it costs depends on what the audit finds and on whether we do it with you or for you.
When this channel makes sense for you, and when it does not
It makes sense if
- You sell to individuals or to owners of small businesses: succession, wealth, local hiring, training.
- You have visual material: short videos, approved testimonials, events.
- You want to retarget your site visitors or a contact list you are allowed to use.
It is the wrong channel if
- You target a list of named accounts: LinkedIn ABM is built for that.
- You sell financial services to the US, Canada or some European countries: Meta applies a special category that removes age, gender, postcode and lookalike targeting.
- Your M&A or search firm targets executives of large companies: they are on Facebook, but nothing lets you find them there reliably.
What the audit looks at on this channel
- Where your buyers really are, and what your competitors’ campaigns show.
- Your ad account and pixel or Conversions API, if they exist.
- The audiences you are allowed to use: visitors, clients, contacts.
- The constraints of your sector: special ad category, rules of your profession.
What your action plan contains
- Whether to go or not, and why.
- If so: audiences, formats, placements and test budget.
- The visuals and copy to produce, approved by a partner.
- Enquiry tracking and the stop rule.
Before you pick a channel, see where you stand.
The Shortlist Scan is free: 20 buyer questions asked to four AI engines, against 3 competitors. It is where the audit starts. The Diagnostic then turns it into a tailored action plan.
Done with you or done for you
The action plan says what to do. You then choose who does it, channel by channel, and you can change your mind later.
Done with you
- We prepare the audiences, visuals and tracking.
- Your team runs the ads from your account; we review results every month.
Done for you
- We set up and run the campaigns on your own Meta ad account.
- We produce the visuals, approved by a partner.
- A monthly report, and we stop what does not pay.
What we will not do
- Work around a special ad category Meta imposes.
- Use a contact list you have no legal basis to use.
- Hold your media budget. You pay Meta directly.
How this channel works with the others
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum budget on Meta?
Meta requires a minimum but publishes no fixed amount: it depends on your sector, budget type, bid strategy and currency, and Ads Manager warns you if you are below it. On a given day spend can exceed the daily budget by up to 75%, and never more than seven times that budget over a week.
Where do the ads appear?
Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp Status, Threads and the Audience Network, across feeds, Stories, Reels and search. Meta recommends letting the system choose placements.
Can we still exclude interests?
No. Meta removed detailed targeting exclusions from Ads Manager on March 31, 2025. Custom audience exclusions, such as your current clients, still work.
Do financial services have their own rules?
Yes. Since January 21, 2025, ads for financial products and services aimed at the US fall into a special ad category. For those advertisers, and for those reaching Canada and some European countries, age, gender, postcode, exclusions and lookalike audiences are limited or unavailable.
What does it cost?
Management is priced in your action plan, after the audit, if the audit concludes Meta makes sense for you. The media budget is paid directly to Meta.
Platform facts checked at the source on October 20, 2026: Meta Business Help, minimum budget, Meta Business Help, daily budget, Meta Business Help, placements, Meta Business Help, detailed targeting exclusions, Meta Business Help, financial products and services.
One audit, one action plan, and you choose who applies it.
Every page on this site leads to the same starting point: the free Shortlist Scan, then the Diagnostic. The action plan that comes out of it is built for your firm, channel by channel, and applied with you or for you.