When Meta is worth it, and when it is not
Google reaches people already looking. Meta reaches people who were not looking, which makes it a poor fit for urgent low-value work and a strong fit for expensive projects with a long decision window. A homeowner does not search for an outdoor kitchen until they have decided they want one. Seeing three of them built well in their own county is often what starts that.
If your average job is under a few thousand dollars, we will usually tell you to put the budget into Google instead.
What the work covers
- Creative from your own projects. Real crews and real yards outperform stock photography by a wide margin here, and it is the one asset you already have.
- Before and after as the core format. The transformation is the product.
- Geographic and demographic targeting. Homeowners in your service area, filtered on the signals that correlate with the budget for this work.
- Retargeting. People who viewed a service page and did not enquire are the cheapest audience you have.
- Lead forms and landing pages tested against each other. In-platform forms convert more and qualify less; which wins depends on your close process.
- Creative refresh on a schedule. Fatigue is faster here than on search, and stale creative quietly doubles your cost per lead.
How it turns into quoted work
Expect a longer path than search. Someone sees a patio build, follows the page, sees two more, and enquires six weeks later. That means judging it on cost per qualified enquiry over a quarter rather than per week, and it means the enquiries need nurturing rather than an immediate hard quote.
How we run it
- Setup. Pixel and conversions API installed and verified, audiences built, creative pulled from your existing project library.
- First six weeks. Several creative angles tested against each other on a small budget before anything scales.
- Ongoing. Monthly creative refresh, retargeting maintained, reporting on qualified enquiries per quarter.
What you get
- A Meta business account and pixel under your control
- Creative built from your project photography
- Prospecting and retargeting campaigns
- A shot list telling your crew what to photograph on site
- Quarterly reporting on qualified enquiries and cost per enquiry
Proof
[CLIENT_RESULT_REQUIRED] Add a design and build engagement with spend, qualified enquiries and date range once approved.
Questions
We do not have good photos. Can we still run this?
Not effectively, and we would rather say so than take the budget. The fix is a shot list your crew follows on the next three jobs, which costs nothing but a few minutes before packing up. Start there and run ads in a month.
Are the leads worse than Google?
Less urgent, not necessarily worse. Someone who saw an ad is earlier in their decision than someone searching, so they need a follow-up sequence rather than an immediate quote. Judged on close rate over a quarter, they can be comparable.
Should we do this instead of Google Ads?
Usually alongside, and usually second. Google captures the demand that already exists, which is quicker to prove. Meta is worth adding once search is producing and your job values justify a longer payback.