Ajay KumarQuick answer: how should I split a ₹10 lakh monthly ad budget?
Fix tracking and your landing page first, then put most of the money where your buyers already are. If people already search for what you sell, lean towards Google Search (for example ₹6,00,000 Google / ₹4,00,000 Meta). If you sell a new or visual product people don't search for yet, lean towards Meta (for example ₹7,00,000 Meta / ₹3,00,000 Google). Keep campaigns few and simple, give each one at least 7 days, and judge results against your break-even cost per sale.
Stepping up to ₹10 lakh a month on ads is nerve-wracking. It is a serious commitment even for a growing brand, and every agency, YouTube video and peer has a different opinion on where it should go.
Here is a simple, honest plan. It will not promise 10x returns in month one. It will help you finish the month knowing what works for your business - which is what the first month at this level is really for.
Before you spend a single rupee: the setup checklist
Most wasted budgets are wasted before the first ad goes live. Fix these first.
1. Tracking that actually records sales or leads
- Meta: Meta Pixel on your website plus the Conversions API (most Shopify and WooCommerce apps set this up for you). Test a purchase or lead and confirm it shows in Events Manager.
- Google: Google Ads conversion tracking (or GA4 conversions imported into Google Ads). Turn on enhanced conversions if you can.
Without tracking, neither platform can learn who your buyers are - and you cannot tell which rupee worked.
2. A landing page that converts
Send people to a specific product or service page, not your home page. It should load fast on a mid-range Android phone, show the price clearly, and have one obvious button (Buy now, WhatsApp us, Book a call).
3. Your break-even number
Know how much you can pay for one sale or one lead before you lose money. For products, use our break-even ROAS calculator. For services, work out what a customer is worth and how many leads it takes to close one.
4. An offer worth clicking
Ads amplify your offer - they cannot fix a weak one. A clear reason to buy now (a first-order discount, a free consultation, a bundle) usually beats a bigger budget.
Meta or Google: how to split ₹10 lakh
The right split depends on one question: do people already search for what you sell?
| Your business | Suggested split | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Local service with search demand (clinic, coaching, repairs, interiors) | ₹6,00,000 Google / ₹4,00,000 Meta | People search "near me" when they need you |
| D2C product people search for (organic ghee, protein powder) | ₹5,00,000 Google / ₹5,00,000 Meta | Catch searchers on Google, build demand on Meta |
| New or visual product people don't search for yet (fashion, decor, gifting, gadgets) | ₹7,00,000 Meta / ₹3,00,000 Google | Meta creates demand; Google covers brand and high-intent searches |
| B2B or high-ticket service | ₹6,00,000 Google / ₹4,00,000 Meta (lead forms) | Fewer, higher-intent searches; Meta lead forms for reach |
These are starting points, not rules. After two weeks, move money towards whichever platform is closer to your break-even.
How many campaigns should you run?
Fewer than you think. With about ₹33,000 a day in total, splitting into ten campaigns leaves roughly ₹3,300 each, and none of them gets enough data to learn.
On Meta: one or two campaigns
Run one sales (or leads) campaign with broad or Advantage+ audience targeting and 3-6 different creatives. Meta's learning phase needs roughly 50 optimisation events in a week per ad set to stabilise, so concentrating budget in fewer ad sets helps it learn faster. If an ad set is still well short of 50 purchases a week, don't split it further - consolidate instead.
Example: a ₹7,00,000 monthly Meta budget for a growing D2C brand
Daily spend per campaign
- Sales campaign (broad / Advantage+ audience, 4-6 creatives): about ₹19,000 a day.
- Retargeting website visitors and cart abandoners (optional): about ₹4,000 a day.
That is roughly ₹23,000 a day, or about ₹7,00,000 over the month.
On Google: one Search campaign
Start with one Search campaign on 10-30 high-intent keywords, plus a tiny brand campaign if people already search your name. Read our guide on Performance Max vs Search before you try Performance Max.
Your week-by-week plan
| Week | Spend | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | ~₹2,00,000 | Launch. Don't touch anything for 5-7 days except to fix obvious errors (broken link, disapproved ad). |
| Week 2 | ~₹2,40,000 | Check search terms on Google and add negative keywords. On Meta, see which creatives get the cheapest results. Pause clear losers. |
| Week 3 | ~₹2,80,000 | Add 2-3 new creatives based on what worked. Shift 20-30% of budget to the better platform. |
| Week 4 | ~₹2,80,000 | Scale what is near or above break-even by about 20% at a time. Write down what you learned for month two. |
What to measure each week
- Cost per sale or cost per lead - compared with your break-even.
- Conversion rate on the landing page - if clicks are cheap but nobody buys, fix the page, not the ads.
- CTR - low CTR on Meta usually means the creative isn't stopping the scroll.
- Search terms on Google - what people actually typed before clicking.
Numbers that don't matter much yet
Likes, followers, reach and impressions feel good but don't pay bills. Ignore them for a sales budget.
7 mistakes that waste a ₹10 lakh ad budget
- Boosting posts instead of running proper campaigns with a sales or leads objective.
- Too many campaigns and ad sets for the budget.
- Changing things every day. Every big edit restarts learning.
- Very narrow targeting on Meta (one interest, one small city, tight age band).
- Broad match keywords with no negatives on Google.
- Sending traffic to the home page instead of a specific product or service page.
- Judging by ROAS without knowing break-even - see why a 3x ROAS can still lose money.
What to do after month one
At the end of the month, list the creatives, keywords and audiences that came closest to your break-even. Month two's budget goes behind those, plus a small slice (10-20%) for new tests. That is how a learning budget turns into a growth budget.
Key takeaways
- Treat your first ₹10 lakh month as a learning budget with a clear test plan.
- Set up Meta Pixel + Conversions API and Google Ads conversion tracking before spending anything.
- Split the budget by how people find you: search demand favours Google, new-demand products favour Meta.
- Run few campaigns, give each at least 7 days, and change one thing at a time.
- Judge every campaign against your break-even cost per sale, not likes or clicks.
₹10 lakh ad budget: frequently asked questions
Is ₹10 lakh a month enough to test Meta and Google properly?
Meta Ads or Google Ads - which is better for a growing brand?
How long should I run ads before judging results?
Should I boost Instagram posts with this budget?
What should I do if my first month doesn't make a profit?
Ajay is the founder of ScaleWin. He works hands-on with Meta Ads, Google Ads and SEO for Indian D2C and service brands, and built ScaleWin so that the daily work of a performance marketer - reading numbers, pausing losers, scaling winners - happens automatically.
Drafted with AI assistance. How these articles are written
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