How Much Do Video Ads Cost for a Local Business?

By Maylon, founder of Emerald Media & Marketing · November 3, 2026 · 3 min read

"How much do video ads cost?" is one of the first questions every business owner asks us, and it's a fair one. The honest answer is that it depends, but not in a vague way. There are four specific things that decide what you'll spend, and once you understand them you can budget with confidence.

1. Production: making the ads

This is the cost of planning, scripting, filming and editing. It varies most with who makes the ads and how many you need.

• Doing it yourself costs the least in cash but the most in time, and it usually shows. Shaky footage, bad audio and no clear message are the main reasons DIY ads underperform.
• Hiring a freelancer per video works for a one-off, but you're paying for setup, travel and a shoot every time you need something new.
• A monthly package spreads one shoot across several ads, so the cost per ad drops. This is how we work: one shoot at your business, 4, 8 or 12 finished ads a month.

2. Ad spend: showing the ads to people

Ad spend is the money you pay Facebook, Instagram or TikTok to show your ads. It's separate from production, and you control it completely. You can start small and increase it as you see what works.

How much to spend depends on your goal and your market. A local service business can learn a lot from a modest monthly budget, as long as the creative is strong. In one of our campaigns, $1,880 in ad spend turned into $75k in closed deals. The point isn't that every business will see that exact number; it's that the right ads can make a small budget go a long way.

3. Volume: how many ads you need

One ad is rarely enough. People stop responding to an ad once they've seen it a few times, and you won't know which message works best until you test a few. That's why we recommend a steady flow of new ads every month rather than one big video a year. More ads means more angles to test and fresher content, which usually keeps your cost per lead down over time. We break this down in how many video ads you need per month.

4. Management: running the campaigns

Someone has to set up the campaigns, choose the audience, manage the budget and decide which ads to keep running. You can do it yourself, hire a separate ads manager, or have the same team that makes your ads run them. We offer that last option as Full Service, so the creative and the campaigns are planned together.

So, what should you budget?

Think of it as two separate lines:

• Production and management: a predictable monthly fee for the ads (and, if you want, the campaigns).
• Ad spend: a budget you set and can change any time, paid directly to the platforms.

The cheapest option isn't always the least expensive. A low-cost ad that nobody watches costs you the ad spend behind it too. Professional ads that stop the scroll make every dollar of ad spend work harder.

How our pricing works

Our pricing depends on two things: how many ads you want each month (4, 8 or 12) and whether you add Full Service, where we also run your ads and social media. All packages run on a 3-month minimum, which gives us time to test and find what works. The quickest way to get an exact number is a free call, where we'll look at your goals and recommend the right package.