The short answer: for most motorized shade companies, Meta is the better place to start and Google is the better place to scale. Meta delivers cheap leads quickly on a modest budget. Google leads cost far more, but they close at a much higher rate, and Google needs a bigger budget and more time to optimize.
- Meta leads often cost $20 to $45. Google leads in the accounts below ran from about $44 to more than $170.
- Google leads close far more often. In one company running both, about 1 in 4 Google leads bought, versus about 3 in 100 on Meta.
- Google usually needs $3,000 to $5,000 a month or more before it has enough data to work well.
- With $1,500 to $3,000 a month, start on Meta, track every lead to revenue, then add Google as revenue grows.
It depends on two things
Where to spend your first ad dollar comes down to your budget and how your sales process closes. How much can you spend each month while the campaigns learn? And how many leads can your team actually call, visit and quote? Meta is built for volume. Google is built for intent. The right starting point is the one your budget and your sales team can support.
Same company, both platforms
Here’s one motorized shade company running both platforms, tracked from lead to closed revenue.
| Meta | Google (largest campaign) | |
|---|---|---|
| Period | Sept 15 to Oct 15 | 12 months |
| Ad spend | About $12,300 | About $31,000 |
| Leads | 280 | 174 |
| Cost per lead | About $44 | About $178 |
| Closed jobs | 8 | 42 |
| Lead-to-close rate | About 3% | About 24% |
| Revenue | About $73,000 | About $347,000 |
| Revenue vs. ad spend | About 6× | About 11× |
One client’s Meta account, Google Ads account and CRM. The periods differ, so compare the rates, not the totals. The Meta campaign was relatively new and not yet optimized for booked appointments and purchases.
On cost per lead alone, Meta looks like the clear winner. On revenue, Google pulled ahead, because its leads were far more likely to buy. That’s why we judge every campaign on booked appointments, closed jobs and return, not lead cost.
Why Meta and Google leads behave so differently
Meta is interruption
Homeowners see your ad while scrolling. Meta’s audience is huge, so it learns quickly who responds, often within hours, and leads stay inexpensive. The trade-off is that many of those homeowners weren’t shopping yet, so a smaller share books and buys.
Google is intent
Homeowners search for what you sell, land on your page, see your gallery and reach out. They’re further along, so they close more often. But clicks are expensive. In the accounts we manage, motorized shade clicks run from about $9 to $25 each.
What your first $1,000 buys on each platform
| Meta | ||
|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | About $20 per lead with strong creative | About $25 per click in higher-cost markets |
| What $1,000 buys | About 50 leads | About 40 clicks |
| Leads from that spend | About 50 | About 2 to 4, at a 5% to 10% conversion rate |
| How fast it learns | Days | Weeks to months |
Illustrative math based on the ranges above. Optimized Google accounts can convert closer to 20% of clicks, but that takes time and data.
This is the core problem with starting on Google with a small budget: there isn’t enough data for Google to learn from. In our experience, Google usually needs $3,000 to $5,000 a month or more on its own to work well.
What the Google campaigns returned
Over 12 months the same company spent about $61,000 on Google Ads, with an average cost per lead of about $171. Results varied a lot by campaign.
| Campaign | Spend | Revenue | Revenue vs. spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign A | About $31,000 | About $347,000 | About 11× |
| Campaign B | About $17,000 | About $50,000 | About 3× |
| Campaign C | About $2,300 | About $81,000 | About 35× |
| Campaign D | About $700 | About $23,000 | About 33× (8 leads, 3 sales) |
Campaigns C and D are outliers. Small spends with a couple of large jobs produce big multiples that don’t hold at scale.
For most motorized shade companies, a healthy target on either platform is roughly 6 to 12 times ad spend in revenue. Results above that happen, but they aren’t typical.
Which should you start with?
| Your situation | Where to start |
|---|---|
| $1,500 to $3,000 a month for ads | Meta. It gets leads and data in the door fastest. |
| Under $3,000 a month for Google alone | Meta first. Google likely won’t get enough data. |
| $3,000 to $5,000+ a month you can dedicate to Google | Add Google alongside Meta. |
| A small sales team with limited time to follow up | Go carefully on Meta volume and add qualifying questions to your forms. |
| Meta is profitable and your calendar is full | Expand into Google to capture high-intent searches. |
The path we recommend for most companies: start on Meta, track every lead to revenue, grow the Meta budget as it pays back, then add Google. To see what a Meta budget produces, read what $5,000 gets you on Meta ads.
How to make Meta leads work harder
- Add friction to your forms. Questions about budget, location and timeline filter out homeowners who aren’t ready.
- Follow up fast. Meta leads cool off quickly. Our follow-up system for motorized shade leads responds in minutes and keeps going until they book.
- Send results back to Meta. Booked appointments and sales tell Meta which leads to find more of. Close rates improve as the account learns.
- Make sure you have capacity. Meta can produce more leads than a small team can call. Plan for the volume before you scale.
Frequently asked questions
Is Meta or Google better for motorized shade companies?
Both can work. Meta usually produces cheaper leads faster and is the better starting point on a modest budget. Google leads cost more but close more often, so it’s a strong channel to add once you have the budget.
How much does a Google Ads lead cost for motorized shades?
In the accounts in this article, Google leads ranged from about $44 to more than $170, with clicks costing about $9 to $25 depending on the market.
How much should I spend on Google Ads?
In our experience, Google usually needs $3,000 to $5,000 a month or more on its own before it has enough data to optimize well.
Why do Google leads close more often than Meta leads?
Google leads are searching for what you sell, so they’re further along in deciding. Meta leads saw your ad while scrolling, so more of them are early in the process.
Kyle builds the strategy behind every Shade Lab account and keeps each one pointed at booked in-home consults for motorized shade, screen and awning companies.