What does paid advertising actually cost? Figures from documented campaigns

How these figures were gathered

• Every figure here comes from an ad-dashboard screenshot published on its own case page, which you can open from each row.
• Where the screenshot does not print cost per result itself, it is calculated as spend ÷ results — both of which are shown — and the row is marked accordingly.
• No currency conversion, no combining different platforms, and no blending with export-file figures.
• The weighted average is total spend divided by total results: what the budget actually bought, not an average of averages.
• The page is computed from the published cases automatically, so any change to a case appears here at once.

What these figures say

• In these campaigns specifically, the cheapest messaging campaign and the dearest were only 1.8x apart (EGP 3.79 against EGP 6.84) — the cost of a conversation varied less between them than what happened after it: reply speed, the offer, and how many went on to order.
• The three cheapest messaging campaigns: Butchery & Fresh Meat Retail — Egypt (Mansoura): 3.79 EGP; Confectionery & Pastry — Egypt: 3.83 EGP; Poultry & Food Retail — Egypt (Mansoura): 4.09 EGP.
• In these campaigns a conversation cost roughly 89x an engagement. That shows why engagement campaigns look excellent on screen: the figure is cheap because it measures something that never reaches the bank.

Frequently asked

What does a WhatsApp or Messenger conversation from Facebook ads cost in Egypt?

Across 9 documented Meta messaging campaigns for 7 clients in Egypt, the cost ranged from EGP 3.79 to EGP 6.84 per conversation, with a spend-weighted average of EGP 4.48. These are a limited number of campaigns during their run periods — not a market average, and not generalisable to every business — and what matters next is how many conversations become orders.

What does engagement on Facebook ads cost in Egypt?

Across 15 documented engagement campaigns the cost ranged from EGP 0.0125 to EGP 0.295 per engagement, with a weighted average of EGP 0.0504. They hold for these campaigns during their run periods only; engagement is cheap because it does not measure buying, so never judge a sales campaign by it.

Do these figures apply to my business?

They cannot be applied to your business: they are specific campaigns from specific periods, neither a ceiling nor a target. The figure that matters is the highest cost your margin can carry, which the break-even calculator works out — then compare your campaign with that, not with these tables.