Is $10 a day enough for Facebook ads?

$10 daily ($300 monthly) is lean but can work if targeting super-efficient or testing specific angle. Problem: Meta needs 50 events per week minimum to optimize. $10 daily, depending CTR and conversion, hits 30-40 events weekly. Below threshold, algorithm guessing instead of learning. Data sparse.

Real math: $10/day = $70 week. CPM $10 average = 7k impressions. 1% CTR = 70 clicks. 0.5% conversion = 0.35 conversions (basically zero). For week two? Algorithm has nothing. "Optimize for conversions" on 1-2 conversions is noise.

When $10 works:

Retargeting only. Website visitors (warm audience) convert 5-10% typical. 70 clicks, 3-7 conversions weekly. Algorithm learns. This works. $10/day retargeting > $50 cold traffic.

Tiny niche super-targeted. "Local wedding photographers in Portland" audience maybe 5k. If all 5k see ad, that's huge reach percentage. High conversion likelihood. Algorithm learns fast despite low volume.

Testing creative only. Run 4 different creative angles, $2.50 each daily. Week 1 identify winning creative, kill three. Week 2 scale winner, test new creative. Lean testing methodology works $10.

Expensive product high AOV. Sell $10k consulting package? Even 1 sale monthly = $10k revenue. $300 spend breaking even on acquisition. Scaling month 2 obvious.

When $10 fails:

Generic targeting cold traffic. "Anyone interested in web design" in broad US. 70 clicks, 0.5 conversions. Algorithm blind. Money wasted teaching machine nothing.

Conversion objective weak. $10 targeting "Add to Cart" events, getting 2-3 events weekly. Below optimization threshold. Better: use Traffic (clicks cheap), retarget clickers later.

High-churn market. Competitive niche where bids high. $10 buys 20-30 clicks. Too few to gather pattern. Money disappears.

Timeline: $10/day needs 8 weeks minimum (5.6k spend) to reach profitability and scaling confidence. Four weeks? Too early. Results noise, not signal.

Real example: web dev consultant ran $10/day retargeting website visitors. Week 1: 5 clicks, 1 quote request ($8 conversion cost). Week 2: 7 clicks, 2 quote requests. Week 3: 9 clicks, 3 quote requests. Week 4: algorithm optimized, 12 clicks, 4 quote requests. After four weeks, cost per lead $175, sales conversion 30%, customer value $5,000. Math works. Scale to $20/day month 2, $50/day month 3.

Comparison: same budget cold traffic. $10/day broad "web design interested" audience. Week 1-2: 15 clicks, zero conversions. Week 3-4: 20 clicks, zero conversions. Algorithm blind, money wasted. $280 spent learning nothing.

CPM variance: if niche cheap (CPM $3-5), $10 = 2k-3.3k impressions. If niche expensive (CPM $20-25), $10 = 400-500 impressions. Cheap niche gets data, expensive barely visible.

Scaling path: $10/day three months (~$900) proves model. If 2-5x ROAS, scale to $30/day month 4. ROAS holds, go $100/day month 5. Compound. By month 6, $3,000/day spend possible if growing 2-3x monthly.

Pitfalls: $10 on unproven offer. Data bad regardless budget. Test offer organically first (free content, organic sales), prove conversion rate before paid. Then $10 gains clarity. Spend $10 across multiple angles (5 campaigns, $2 each). Each starves. Concentrate: one campaign $10 or one $7, one $3 test.

Frequency budgeting: $10 daily might show you one time person weekly instead of optimal 2-3. Limited budget = limited reach-frequency combo. Accept trade-off: fewer people seeing ad more times versus more people less often. Broad audience once beats narrow audience thrice.

Creative priority: with $10, creative quality paramount. Stock images weak, UGC strong. Poor landing page kills. Every dollar counts. Invest in design, messaging, targeting clarity. Scrappy execution tanked.

Learning approach: run $10 first 2 weeks (learning). Second 2 weeks (testing). Third 2 weeks (scaling winner). By week 6, $10 should clarify if model viable. If yes, $20/day obvious next step. If no, pivot offer/targeting before scaling. Smart approach beats blind scaling.

Tools: use A/B testing splits built-in. $5 control, $5 variant, clear winner by week 2 (if sample big enough). Depends conversion rate if sample sufficient. Rare $10 gives clear winner week 2, but direction visible.

Tax perspective: $10/day = $3,650 annual spend. Track ROAS. Below 2:1? Write-off business loss. Above 3:1? Profitable business expense. Tax implications matter.

Verdict: $10/day enough if retargeting only, ultra-niche, or testing specific angle. Insufficient for general cold traffic awareness. Minimum viable for learning 8-12 weeks. Better: $20-30/day (learns faster, data clearer). If budget truly capped at $10, concentrate on retargeting and creative testing. Avoid cold traffic general targeting. Risk: money disappears, learn nothing. Mitigation: precise audience, proven landing page, clear conversion metric, patience 8 weeks. $10 teaches differently than $50, but teaches. Execute sharp, $10 works. Sloppy? Money burns cold.