Level: Beginner
A first budget should be sized around what you can afford to spend testing, not around what you hope to earn back, since early campaigns are primarily a learning investment.
Budget for Learning, Not Just Results
Your first spend should be enough to gather a meaningful sample of data — clicks, conversions — rather than the minimum amount that feels comfortable.
Set a Daily Cap You Can Actually Afford to Lose
Early testing carries real risk of an inefficient result, so budget with the assumption that this specific spend might not be profitable, only informative.
Reserve Budget for a Second Round
Spending your entire test budget on one single campaign leaves nothing to apply what you learned; reserve a portion for a follow-up test based on the first round's results.
Next step: Use the Sales Letter Writer to put real thought into the offer and copy your test budget is actually funding — a well-crafted ad makes a small test budget go considerably further.