How to Set a Lifetime Budget on a Facebook Ad

Setting a lifetime budget on your Facebook ad gives Meta's algorithm control, but you still choose the destination and how much to spend. This powerful yet simple feature offers flexibility that can lead to better performance, especially for specific types of campaigns. This guide walks you through exactly how to set a lifetime budget, why you'd choose it over a daily budget, and the strategies to get the most value for your money.

What is a Facebook Lifetime Budget?

A lifetime budget is the total amount of money you want to spend over the entire run of an ad campaign or ad set. Instead of telling Facebook, “spend about $10 today,” you’re saying, “spend a total of $300 between June 1 and June 30.”

With that instruction, Facebook’s delivery system decides how to best allocate that $300. It might spend $5 on a slow Monday, $18 on a high-traffic Saturday, and $12 on a Wednesday when it sees many opportunities. The daily spend fluctuates, but it will never exceed your total lifetime budget of $300 by the campaign's end date.

This is fundamentally different from a daily budget, where you tell Facebook to spend an approximate amount each day. The daily budget aims for consistency, while the lifetime budget aims for optimal performance over time.

When Does a Lifetime Budget Make the Most Sense?

So, why would you give Facebook this level of control? A lifetime budget isn't right for every situation, but it truly shines in a few key scenarios:

• You have a fixed-duration campaign. This is the number one reason to use a lifetime budget. If you're running a sale, promoting an event, or launching a product on a specific date, you know your exact start and end dates. A lifetime budget guarantees you won't overspend and that your budget is allocated across the full campaign period.
• You want to use Ad Scheduling. The 'Ad Scheduling' feature, which allows you to run ads only on specific days of the week or at certain times of the day, is only available when you use a lifetime budget. This is a game-changer for businesses that know their customers are most active at certain times.
• You want to give the algorithm maximum flexibility. By removing the constraint of a fixed daily spend, you allow the algorithm to fully leverage its predictive powers. It will aggressively spend when it projects high returns (like on weekends for an e-commerce brand) and pull back when performance is likely to be weak, which can theoretically lower your overall cost per result.

How to Set a Lifetime Budget: A Step-by-Step Guide

Setting this up in Meta Ads Manager is surprisingly straightforward. Let's walk through the process, assuming you’re starting a new campaign from scratch.

Step 1: Create a New Campaign

In your Meta Ads Manager, click the green “+ Create” button to start a new campaign. You’ll be prompted to choose a campaign objective (e.g., Sales, Leads, Engagement). Select the one that aligns with your business goals.

Step 2: Navigate to the Budget &, Schedule Section

The location of the budget settings depends on whether you're using Advantage Campaign Budget (ACB) or setting the budget at the ad set level.

• Option A: At the Campaign Level (Recommended)
• After choosing your objective, you'll see a screen to name your campaign, ad set, and ad. On this screen, find the section for Advantage Campaign Budget and toggle it on. This is Meta’s preferred method, as it allows the system to flexibly distribute your budget across multiple ad sets within the same campaign to the best-performing ones.
• Option B: At the Ad Set Level
• If you prefer to control budgets for each ad set individually, leave Advantage Campaign Budget turned off. You will set the budget in the next step, at the ad set level of your campaign.

Step 3: Choose "Lifetime Budget"

Once you’ve reached the budget section (either at the campaign or ad set level), you'll see a dropdown menu that defaults to “Daily Budget.”

Click this dropdown and select “Lifetime Budget.”

The interface will change slightly, asking for your total budget amount for the campaign's entire duration.

Step 4: Enter Your Total Budget and Set the Schedule

Here’s the most important part! You need to give Facebook two critical pieces of information:

1. Your Budget: Enter the total amount you want to spend for the entire campaign. For example, $500.
2. Start and End Dates: Set a clear start date and, most importantly, an end date. A lifetime budget cannot run indefinitely. This schedule tells Facebook the exact window it has to spend your budget.

Do not skip the end date! If you don't set an end date, platforms like Facebook can interpret this as a directive to spend your *entire* lifetime budget as quickly as possible, sometimes within a single day. The end date is your primary control mechanism.

Step 5: (Optional) Set Your Ad Schedule

Once you’ve set a lifetime budget, a new option called “Ad Scheduling” appears. This is where you can choose to run your ads only at specific times.

• Click on “Edit” next to Ad Scheduling.
• You’ll see a grid representing every hour of every day of the week.
• Simply click and drag to select the time slots when you want your ads to be active.

For example, a restaurant promoting its lunch special might only run ads from 10 AM to 1 PM on weekdays. A B2B company might only run ads from 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, based on the viewer’s time zone.

After this, you can proceed to create your ad as you normally would, choosing your creative, copy, and audience. When you publish the campaign, it will run according to your lifetime budget and schedule settings.

Advanced Strategies and Best Practices

Just setting a lifetime budget isn't enough, using it wisely is what separates a good campaign from a great one. Here are some strategies to keep in mind.

Trust the Algorithm (But Verify!)

The beauty of a lifetime budget is its ability to self-optimize. You will see your daily spend fluctuate. Some days it might spend 25% more than the "daily average," and other days it might spend 50% less. This is not a bug, it's a feature. The algorithm is making data-driven decisions second by second. Resist the urge to make drastic changes based on one or two low-spend days. Let the campaign run for several days to gather enough data before judging its performance. Look at the Cost Per Result over the entire period, not the daily spend.

Combine Lifetime Budgets with Broad Targeting

Giving the algorithm budget flexibility also pairs exceptionally well with giving it targeting flexibility. Instead of using dozens of small, hyper-specific interest targets, try using a lifetime budget with a broader audience. This allows the system to explore different pockets of the audience and spend money where it finds the best results without being constrained by both a tight budget and a tight audience.

When to Stick with a Daily Budget

Lifetime budgets are powerful, but they aren’t the only tool in the toolbox. A daily budget is often a better choice for:

• Evergreen Campaigns: If you have an "always on" campaign that isn't tied to a specific promotion and you want consistent daily spending, a daily budget provides more predictable expenses.
• Strict Cash Flow Management: If you need to manage your ad spend very tightly daily, sticking to a daily budget gives you that control.
• A/B Testing on a Small Scale: When you're testing new creative or audiences and want to ensure each variant receives a similar daily spend for a fair comparison, a daily budget can be simpler to manage.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Setting up lifetime budgets is easy, but a few common mistakes can trip up even experienced marketers.

Mistake #1: Forgetting the End Date

We've said it before, but it bears repeating: a lifetime budget without an end date is a recipe for disaster. The system may try to spend your entire budget as fast as possible to find conversions. Always double-check your start and end dates before publishing.

Mistake #2: The "Rollercoaster" Panic

Advertisers new to lifetime budgets often get nervous when they see daily spend swing wildly. On a $700 budget for a 7-day campaign (avg $100/day), you might see spend like this:

• Day 1: $65
• Day 2: $130
• Day 3: $90
• Day 4: $145

This is normal! The algorithm is spending more when it expects better results. Don't panic and turn off the campaign on Day 1 just because the spend looks low. Focus on the overall performance at the end of the campaign.

Mistake #3: Trying to Switch a Live Ad Set

You cannot change the budget type (from Lifetime to Daily, or vice versa) for an ad set that is already running. The option will be grayed out. If you realize you've made a mistake or want to change your strategy, you’ll have to duplicate the campaign or ad set and set it up fresh with the new budget type.

Final Thoughts

In short, a lifetime budget is more than just a setup option, it's a strategic choice that grants Facebook's algorithm the flexibility to optimize for the best results within a set timeframe and budget. It’s perfect for time-bound promotions and anyone wanting to use the powerful Ad Scheduling feature to zero in on their most valuable customers.

While mastering ad settings is a big part of the puzzle, managing the content that fuels those ads is just as important. In our experience building brands, we saw that the real bottleneck is often the day-to-day chaos of planning and scheduling content across multiple platforms. That’s why we created Postbase, a tool designed to give you a clear, visual calendar for your entire content strategy. It simplifies the planning and scheduling process, so you can focus on creating effective ads instead of wrestling with spreadsheets.