Pay-per-lead sites vs running your own ads for a remodeling company
By the Margin Media team · Updated
For a remodeling company, pay-per-lead sites are quicker to start and your own ads are better to own. A lead site sells one homeowner's details to several contractors, so you race on speed and price. Your own ads take setup and patience, but the homeowner contacts you alone, and the account and its history stay yours.
How do the two compare side by side?
They differ on who the homeowner thinks they contacted. On a lead site, the homeowner asked a website for contractors. With your own ad, they asked your company about a project. That one difference shapes the speed you need, the talk about price and what you are left with when you stop paying.
| Pay-per-lead sites | Your own ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Who else gets the lead | Several contractors at once | Only you |
| Time to first enquiry | Fast: you sign up and leads arrive | Slower: the account, ads and page are built first |
| What you pay for | Each lead, whether or not you reach them | Clicks or views, paid to the platform |
| Choice of project | What the site sends, within its categories | You name the project and the area |
| What you keep if you stop | Nothing | The account, its history and your page |
| Work on your side | Calling within minutes, every time | Setup, upkeep and counting, or someone to do it |
When is a pay-per-lead site the better choice?
A lead site is the better choice when you need work now and have little to show yet. A new remodeling company with few reviews and no project photos will struggle to make its own ads convince anyone.
When are your own ads the better choice?
Your own ads are the better choice once you have finished projects to show and want a particular kind of work, such as kitchens, baths or additions. You choose the project, the neighborhoods and the message. The homeowner arrives having seen your photos, so the first conversation is about their house.
How does Margin handle this for a remodeler?
Margin runs the second option for you. The ads are built and run on Facebook and Instagram, in an ad account you own, with a booking page for each campaign. The budget is your money, paid straight to the platform.
Mia, the AI receptionist, answers every call the ads bring, or only the ones your team misses, and books the consultation onto the portal calendar. Texting a missed caller back starts once the phone carriers approve your number. If lead sites are the right tool for you today, the audit will say so.
What Margin sets up for this.
- Ads on Facebook and Instagram, in an account you own
- Mia, the AI receptionist, on every call
- Booking onto your calendar
- Missed calls texted back within a minute
What a business needs is decided on its audit. It is a one-time setup fee and a monthly fee, with exact numbers on the audit.
How Margin works for remodelersSee the portal with a sample business
Related questions
Should a remodeler use pay-per-lead sites and its own ads at the same time?
A remodeling company can run both while its own ads get going, as long as each is counted separately. When your own ads produce consultations at a cost you can live with, the lead site is the thing to cut.
Why do remodeling leads from lead sites not answer the phone?
A homeowner on a lead site can hear from several remodelers within minutes and stop picking up after the first one or two. Some only wanted a rough idea of cost. Calling fast helps, and so does a text that names your company and the project they asked about.
Who owns the ad account when someone runs ads for my remodeling company?
You should. If an agency runs your remodeling ads in its own account, the history leaves with the agency. Ask for the account to be opened in your company's name, with your card paying the platform directly.