The short answer: Google first for urgent jobs, Meta for planned ones
If customers call you when something is broken or urgent (plumbing, HVAC, locksmith, emergency dental), start with Google Ads. People are already searching for your service, so the leads cost more but close faster. If customers choose you when they feel like it (salons, med spas, cleaning, landscaping, personal training), Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) usually gives you cheaper leads and more volume, though fewer of them are ready to buy today.
Most local firms end up using both. The order matters, though, and so does what happens to the lead once it arrives. A cheap lead you answer 6 hours late is worth less than an expensive one you answer in 2 minutes.
How the two platforms differ
The difference comes down to intent.
- Google Ads shows your business to someone who has typed "emergency plumber near me" or "teeth whitening Sacramento." They want a result now.
- Meta Ads shows your business to someone scrolling Instagram or Facebook who fits your target profile, such as homeowners within 15 miles. They were not looking for you, so you have to interrupt them with a good offer.
Google captures existing demand. Meta creates demand. Neither is better in the abstract. Each fits a different kind of buying decision.
What each one costs
Published benchmarks are the best starting point, but treat them as a floor, not a quote. The most detailed home-services data we could verify comes from WordStream and LOCALiQ, and it is dated (2021). Costs have almost certainly risen since.
In that report, across all home services categories, the average cost per click on search ranged from $2.94 to $9.03, and the average cost per lead from $29.08 to $101.49. For social ads, average cost per click ran between $0.92 and $1.92. One example from the same report: air conditioning services paid $62.80 per lead on social ads, with an average monthly spend of $500.
A later WordStream analysis found that 21 of 23 industries saw cost per lead rise year over year on Google Ads, by 19% on average. That is a 2022 finding, so check your own account data rather than assuming today's numbers match.
What these figures show:
- Clicks on Meta are cheaper. A click on Google search costs several times more in most local categories.
- Cost per lead is closer than you would expect. A Meta lead is cheaper to buy, but fewer Meta leads turn into booked jobs.
- Cost per customer is the number that matters. A $40 lead that books 1 time in 10 costs $400 per customer. A $90 lead that books 1 time in 3 costs $270.
Those two lead examples are illustrations of the arithmetic, not benchmarks.
Which platform fits which kind of business
Choose Google first if you are:
- An HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing or garage door company. Jobs are urgent and high value.
- A locksmith, towing or water-damage firm. Customers decide within minutes.
- A law firm or clinic where people search for a specific problem.
- Any business with a high job value, where paying $50 to $100 for a lead still leaves room for profit.
Choose Meta first if you are:
- A salon, med spa, barber or beauty clinic. Visual results sell the service.
- A gym, studio or personal trainer, where an offer such as a free trial works well.
- A landscaper, house cleaner, painter or pressure washer, where the need is real but not urgent.
- A new business with little search volume for your name or service.
Use both if your service is both urgent and visual, or you have the budget to run Google for ready-to-buy demand and Meta to fill the quiet periods. Our marketing services page covers how we run each channel, but the decision rule above holds whoever runs the ads.
Google's local options: Search ads and Local Services Ads
Google is not one product. For local firms there are two main routes.
Search ads appear above the organic results when someone searches. You pay per click, so you pay whether or not the visitor calls. Good keyword choice and negative keywords matter a lot here. Without them, you pay for clicks from people looking for jobs, free advice or services you do not offer.
Local Services Ads (the "Google Guaranteed" or "Screened" badge shown at the top of results for many trades and professional services) work differently. You pay per lead rather than per click. Eligibility depends on your category and location, and you go through background and licence checks first. Check Google's current category list for your area before planning around it.
If you are in a covered category, Local Services Ads are worth testing early. They tend to produce phone calls rather than web visits, which suits most local firms.
Where Meta Ads work well, and where they struggle
Meta's strengths for local businesses are reach, creative and price. You can target by location, age and interests, and a 15-second video of a finished job or a before-and-after photo can do the selling.
Its weaknesses are just as real:
- Lower intent. Someone who filled in a form on Instagram may have done so on impulse. Expect more no-shows and "who is this?" replies.
- Creative fatigue. The same ad shown to a small local audience wears out fast. Plan to refresh your images or videos every few weeks.
- Tracking limits. Privacy changes on phones make it harder to see exactly which ad produced which customer. A simple "how did you hear about us?" question on every call fills the gap.
- Poor fit for emergencies. Nobody scrolls Instagram when their pipe has burst.
Meta works best with a clear, specific offer: a free quote, a first-visit discount or a limited-time package. "Quality service since 1998" rarely gets a response.
What decides whether either platform pays off
Ad platform choice gets most of the attention, but three other things usually decide the result.
1. Speed of response. A lead who enquires and hears nothing for an hour has often contacted two competitors by then. If your office is busy or closed evenings and weekends, missed calls waste ad spend. Many local firms handle this with a call-answering service or an AI receptionist, but a staff member who commits to a 5-minute reply also works.
2. Your landing page or form. Sending ad clicks to a home page with 12 menu items loses leads. Send them to a page with one offer, a phone number that can be tapped and a short form.
3. Tracking. Set up call tracking and form tracking on day one. Without it, you cannot tell which platform is producing paying customers, and you will cut the wrong one.
A sensible budget and a 90-day plan
There is no universal figure, and anyone quoting one without knowing your area and trade is guessing. The report above showed an average monthly social spend of $500 in one category, which gives a sense of the smaller end. In competitive California metros, search clicks cost more, and a budget too small to generate a handful of leads a week will not teach you much.
A practical approach:
- Month 1: Pick one channel based on the rule above. Set a monthly budget you can afford to lose entirely. Track every call and form.
- Month 2: Review cost per booked job, not cost per click. Fix the slowest part of your follow-up. Refresh weak ads.
- Month 3: If the first channel is profitable, add the second with 20% to 30% of the total budget. If it is not, fix the offer, page or follow-up before adding spend.
Expect Google to show results within days, because search demand already exists. Meta often needs 2 to 4 weeks of testing before the audience and creative settle. That is a rule of thumb from experience, not a published figure.
When ads are not the right answer
Be honest with yourself about a few situations.
- You cannot take more work. If your calendar is full, ads add cost and stress. Raise prices or refer overflow instead.
- Your Google reviews are weak. People compare you with the other three businesses in the map results. A rating below roughly 4.0 stars undermines paid traffic.
- You are a very small area business. If you serve a few postcodes and have little search volume, local SEO and a well-kept Google Business Profile may bring more at lower cost than paid search.
- Your margins are thin. If a typical job earns you $150 and a lead costs $60 with a 1-in-4 close rate, the maths does not work.
Do that arithmetic before you spend a dollar.
FAQ
Is Meta or Google better for a local business?
Neither wins outright. Google is usually better for urgent, high-value services where people search when they have a problem. Meta is usually better for planned or visual services where you need to put an offer in front of people. Choose based on how your customers decide, not on which platform sounds more familiar.
Can I run both Meta ads and Google ads at the same time?
Yes, and many local firms do. Start with one so you can learn what works, then add the second once your tracking and follow-up are reliable. Run them as separate campaigns with separate budgets so you can compare cost per booked job on each.
How much should a local business spend on ads each month?
It depends on your trade, your area and your job value. Cheaper categories can test Meta from a few hundred dollars a month, while competitive Google search in a large California city costs more. Work backwards from the number of jobs you want and what you can pay to win each one.