Get more inquiries
Google or Facebook and Instagram ads: where should you start?
Start with Google Search when customers already look for your specific service and you can answer that need. Consider Facebook and Instagram (Meta) when a strong image, demonstration, or timely offer can make someone interested. Choose one platform for the first test, with a clear inquiry goal and someone ready to reply.
Define the inquiry you want to pay for
Write one sentence before opening an ad account: “We want homeowners in our service area to request a quote for kitchen cabinet painting.” That gives you a service, a customer, a location, and an action to measure.
Then define a qualified inquiry. For this business, the person must have a cabinet-painting project, own the property, and live in an area the crew serves. A click, a spam form, or a request for work you do not offer does not meet that definition.
Keep tracking after the first contact. Google distinguishes qualified leads and converted leads, including later outcomes recorded outside Google Ads. You can begin with a manual log before connecting those outcomes to an ad platform.
Match the platform to the offer you can deliver
This comparison covers Google Search campaigns and Meta ads on Facebook and Instagram. Google has other campaign types, so “Google ads” does not always mean an ad in search results.
| Your starting point | Lean toward Google Search | Lean toward Meta |
|---|---|---|
| Customer need | People can name the service and look for a provider. | People may respond after seeing the result or a specific offer. |
| Available material | A clear service page, useful details, and an easy way to ask for help. | Real photos or video that explain the offer quickly. |
| Follow-up | You can answer requests with the urgency the ad promises. | You can explain the offer and qualify people who need more information. |
These are starting judgments, not rules about which platform produces better customers. Google describes Search campaigns as a way to reach people actively searching for products and services. That helps only if relevant searches exist and your offer matches them.
List the phrases a customer might use. Check current estimates for your service area in Google’s Keyword Planner before committing a budget. If both platforms look suitable, start with the one for which your offer, page, and materials are most ready.
The same service. Two ways to discover it.
Someone searching for a painter starts in a different place from someone noticing a kitchen in their feed.
Meet a need they can already name. Google Search may fit when local customers search for your service. The page they land on should answer that same need.
Make the choice for one offer
Illustrative example
A cabinet painter has a useful quote page, several real project photos, and someone available to answer inquiries. The owner wants quote requests for cabinet painting in three nearby towns.
Google Search is a reasonable first test if local search estimates show relevant demand. Send visitors to the cabinet-painting page. State the service area and show the kind of work the crew accepts.
If search demand looks too limited, a Meta test showing a real kitchen transformation could make more sense. The offer still needs specifics, such as what the quote includes. Avoid promising a price or completion date the crew cannot honor.
If the website makes the service hard to understand, fix the path from visit to inquiry before paying to send more people there.
Examples for different businesses
These illustrative choices match an offer to the materials, stock, and staff needed to deliver it.
HVACAdvertise work your team can take on
An HVAC company wants more furnace tune-ups but cannot support a campaign promising round-the-clock emergency repair.
- Start here
- Test one maintenance offer with a clear service area and accurate scope. Google Search is a possible starting point if local estimates show people looking for that service.
- Keep a person involved
- The dispatcher should confirm appointment capacity before launch and review requests that are actually urgent repairs. Change the message if it attracts work you cannot take.
- Check the result
- Separate tune-up inquiries from repair requests. Compare qualified maintenance inquiries and booked visits with the full advertising cost.
Independent retailerPromote one product shoppers can pick up
A homeware shop has a lamp in stock, but its ads show the store without giving shoppers a reason to visit.
- Start here
- Try one pickup offer. A Meta ad could show the lamp in a room and link to its price, dimensions, and pickup inquiry form.
- Keep a person involved
- Staff confirm stock and approve the photos before launch. They must check availability before promising to hold an item.
- Check the result
- Track product inquiries, confirmed holds, and paid pickups separately. Compare advertising cost with profit from those sales; likes alone do not show whether the offer worked.
ContractorSell the project your photos demonstrate
A deck contractor has photos of refinishing work, but its advertising sends visitors to a general page covering every service.
- Start here
- Use a refinishing offer and matching page. Before-and-after photos could support a Meta test; Search may fit if local customers already look for deck refinishing.
- Keep a person involved
- Have the contractor approve the photos and explain when a deck needs assessment before a refinishing quote. Do not imply every damaged deck suits the advertised work.
- Check the result
- Review whether requests concern refinishing, repairs, or new construction. Keep unsuitable jobs visible in the log when judging the test.
Set a test budget and a stopping point
Separate money paid to the platform from fees for setup, management, photography, and website work. Ask for each amount in writing. A management quote is not your total advertising cost.
Illustrative results using our published advertising fees
Suppose a first-month test uses $600 in ad spend, our $500 setup fee, and $400 for one month of management on one platform. That totals $1,500, before any separately quoted website or creative work.
If the test produces 12 qualified inquiries, ad spend per qualified inquiry is $600 ÷ 12 = $50. Including setup and management, it is $1,500 ÷ 12 = $125.
The inquiry count and media budget are invented for the example. They do not predict your results. Judge the cost using your own profit per job and the share of qualified inquiries that become customers.
Set a review date and a spending ceiling you can afford. Check the platform’s budget rules before launch; a daily setting may be an average. Stop to investigate if tracking breaks, the offer is wrong, or you cannot handle the inquiries.
Ask the platform for the action you need
A campaign that finds inexpensive clicks can still produce no useful inquiries. Match the campaign objective, the place people respond, and the performance goal. Meta’s objective-selection course treats these as related choices.
For a call campaign, Meta’s lead generation guide recommends testing Leads call ads against Traffic campaigns optimized for link clicks. The practical pitfall is choosing a click goal and then judging it as though you asked for completed inquiries. Confirm the exact goal available for your chosen form, website, or call setup.
Review inquiry quality before adding more money
Use the same inquiry log throughout the test. Record the source, whether the request qualifies, and whether it becomes booked work. Give recent inquiries time to move through your usual sales process.
A small test may leave you uncertain. Record that uncertainty instead of declaring a winner from a handful of clicks or one sale.
Sources
Choose a first ad test you can measure
Get help choosing a platform, checking the inquiry path, and setting a test budget that includes both ad spend and management.