Hey guys, I’ve been going through some of the questions coming in on my YouTube videos, and one came through recently that I absolutely love because it’s something I’ve been hearing for years.
The question was simple, “If I’m starting with live webinars, how much should I spend on ads?” That’s such a common question. Everyone wants to know the number. What’s the right budget? What’s the safe number? How much is too much?
But here’s the thing. The real question isn’t how much you should spend on ads. The real question is what your back-end looks like. Because ad spend only makes sense in relation to the offer behind it.
Let me explain what I mean.
It’s not about ad spend. It’s about margin.
You could technically spend $100 to acquire a lead if you’re selling a $100,000 product on the back end. That might make perfect sense depending on your conversion rates.
So instead of asking, “How much should I spend?” you should ask, “What can my back-end support?” Now, generally speaking, a healthy cost per webinar registration might sit somewhere around $8 to $12 per registrant. That’s a reasonable baseline in many markets.
But whether that works for you depends entirely on what you’re selling after the webinar. If you’re selling something for $47, $57, or $67, you’re probably not going to cover your ad spend. You’ll likely be in the red unless you have strong upsells or lifetime value on the back end.
However, if your offer is $500, $997, $2,000, $5,000, or $10,000, now you’re in a completely different position. Now you have a margin. Now you have room to spend.
The smart way to structure this funnel
After coaching people for more than a decade on this exact topic, here’s what I typically recommend.
- Run a webinar on the front end.
- Drive traffic at a reasonable cost per lead, let’s say around $10 per registrant.
- Deliver real value inside the workshop.
Then move people into a booked call for a higher-ticket coaching, mentorship, or service-based offer somewhere in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. That’s where your margin comes from.
And this model works whether you’re a solopreneur, a coach, an expert, or even a larger organization. I’ve seen it work in small businesses and Fortune 500 environments alike.
If you’re selling SaaS combined with services, consulting, done-for-you work, or high-level implementation, this approach makes even more sense.
The webinar builds trust and education. The call closes the deal.
Why low-ticket makes it harder
Here’s where a lot of people struggle. They try to run ads into a webinar that sells a low-ticket product and expect the math to work.
But if your product is under $100, you don’t have much room to absorb ad costs. You need either massive volume or a strong backend upsell structure to make it profitable.
If you don’t have that, you’re basically funding your own marketing out of pocket. That’s why I usually suggest thinking about higher-ticket offers if you’re going to lean into paid traffic.
You want enough margin so that your ad spend feels like an investment, not a gamble.
How the webinar should flow
The webinar itself should be structured around transformation. You might offer something free along the way, like a downloadable guide, worksheet, or framework that supports the training. That helps increase perceived value and engagement.
By the end of the webinar, the audience should feel clear on the problem, clear on the opportunity, and clear that they need support to implement it.
That’s when you invite them to book a call. Before that call, you can include a simple qualifier form so you’re only speaking to people who are a genuine fit. That way, your time isn’t wasted, and your close rates go up.
When this is done correctly, the webinar becomes a filtering system. It educates, qualifies, and warms up your prospects before they ever speak to you.
Reframing the question
So if you’re asking how much you should spend on ads, I want you to reframe that question. Instead of asking, “How much can I afford to spend?” ask, “What does my back-end allow me to spend?”
The higher the value of your offer and the stronger your margins, the more you can comfortably invest on the front end. When you understand that, everything becomes clearer.
If you want to go deeper into this type of funnel and how to structure your offer properly, I have a group called The Sales Experience, where we break this down in detail. We talk about pricing, positioning, and how to build a webinar funnel that actually supports your ad spend instead of draining it.
If you have questions, send me a DM. And if this was helpful, subscribe to the channel because I keep answering more of these real questions that are coming in. I’ll see you in the next one.
