What delivers the best cost per lead for the service industry?

9 replies
  • PPC/SEM
  • |
I am providing PPC services to a client I am also providing SEO and website redesign work for. They are a pest control business but I suppose HVAC, plumbing or any other home service advertising advice would be comparable. They will be using paid advertising till I get the SEO ranked.

I currently have them spending $50 per day on paid advertising. I have Adwords that go to landing pages that convert at a decent rate. He averages about $38 per lead at about 5 leads per week.

I recently talked him into adding $250 a month to invest into Thumbtack. I set up his page, beefed up his profile and got him started.

The leads from the paid advertising aren't doing that great because my call tracking software shows most of calls I send him going to voicemail during business hours, nothing I can do about that. So I'm a little worried this Thumbtack lead generation is going to go in the same direction.

I do have other customers though so I want to continue improving, so my question is what paid advertising platforms give the best return with the home service industry businesses like HVAC, plumbers, pest control etc. Or, better yet, if you had about $1500 month budget for online ad spend what would you put it into to generate the most leads? Facebook, AdWords, Thumbtack? Thanks for reading.
#cost #delivers #industry #lead #service
  • Profile picture of the author TrafficExpert
    Nobody can really answer that unless they have prior experience in that niche and I doubt they would speak up and hand over their hard earned information on a silver platter for another competitor.

    The best thing you can do is test them all and see what works best. Obviously the best places to start would be ad networks that give you the ability to target down to your clients locations and go from there.
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    • Profile picture of the author r0ck5t4r
      Yup, that's generally the risk that's taken when asking questions and you may be right since I didn't find much when searching the forums. Also, yes it's that experience within that niche I'm looking for and it won't hurt to ask and see if anyone is willing to share some knowledge, sometimes it works out pretty well.
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      • Profile picture of the author dburk
        Hi r0ck5t4r,

        Instead of asking "What delivers the best cost per lead?", you ought to be asking "What delivers the best value per lead?" Pursuing lower cost leads is typically the path toward lower total profits, while the pursuit of high value leads tends to grow profits.

        You need to do two things:
        1. Place a "Request an Estimate", or Schedule an Appointment" form prominently on the landing pages.
        2. Show your client the number of missed calls and recommend an inbound call center marketing service provider to catch and convert live calls into scheduled appointments.

        Lead Capture Service, Inbound Call Centers
        https://answerfirst.com/lead-capture/
        Call Experts : Capture That Lead : Virtual Answering Service
        Lead Capture Service - MPC Call Center

        I would also suggest that you test landing pages without phone numbers, just appointment/quote forms, and separate Call only campaigns. By separating those marketing objectives and optimizing each, you will likely get better overall performance.
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        • Profile picture of the author Leadsupply
          Originally Posted by dburk View Post

          Hi r0ck5t4r,

          Instead of asking "What delivers the best cost per lead?", you ought to be asking "What delivers the best value per lead?" Pursuing lower cost leads is typically the path toward lower total profits, while the pursuit of high value leads tends to grow profits.
          I totally agree on engaging in buying leads. It does give high chance of ROI if done right and with the right service. There are a lot of this services offered all around. Based on experience I would say it is well worth it.

          Kudos to your post.

          Thanks.
          Signature
          https://www.rankleads.com/ Fresh Web Design and SEO Leads for Sale.
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        • Profile picture of the author longrobnc
          Originally Posted by dburk View Post

          Hi r0ck5t4r,

          Instead of asking "What delivers the best cost per lead?", you ought to be asking "What delivers the best value per lead?" Pursuing lower cost leads is typically the path toward lower total profits, while the pursuit of high value leads tends to grow profits.

          You need to do two things:
          1. Place a "Request an Estimate", or Schedule an Appointment" form prominently on the landing pages.
          2. Show your client the number of missed calls and recommend an inbound call center marketing service provider to catch and convert live calls into scheduled appointments.

          Lead Capture Service, Inbound Call Centers
          https://answerfirst.com/lead-capture/
          Call Experts : Capture That Lead : Virtual Answering Service
          Lead Capture Service - MPC Call Center

          I would also suggest that you test landing pages without phone numbers, just appointment/quote forms, and separate Call only campaigns. By separating those marketing objectives and optimizing each, you will likely get better overall performance.
          I own a home service business and we currently do about 600 projects a month in 1 city. I never use web forms. They are an epic waste of time for most. Phone calls convert at 6x the rate of web forms for us. That's been the data across thousands of leads. We no longer use web forms on our site, ever. They can access our schedule and book an appointment online or they can call. Otherwise, they can just look for someone else. Too much time wasted trying to call them back over and over again. Just my .02.
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      • Profile picture of the author MarkFSimmons
        Honestly, if calls are going to voicemail, this is a process issue. Calls are leads and if they can't handle the current lead volume...

        Address the process first.
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        • Profile picture of the author r0ck5t4r
          Originally Posted by dburk View Post

          Hi r0ck5t4r,

          Instead of asking "What delivers the best cost per lead?", you ought to be asking "What delivers the best value per lead?" Pursuing lower cost leads is typically the path toward lower total profits, while the pursuit of high value leads tends to grow profits.

          You need to do two things:
          1. Place a "Request an Estimate", or Schedule an Appointment" form prominently on the landing pages.
          2. Show your client the number of missed calls and recommend an inbound call center marketing service provider to catch and convert live calls into scheduled appointments.

          Lead Capture Service, Inbound Call Centers
          https://answerfirst.com/lead-capture/
          Call Experts : Capture That Lead : Virtual Answering Service
          Lead Capture Service - MPC Call Center

          I would also suggest that you test landing pages without phone numbers, just appointment/quote forms, and separate Call only campaigns. By separating those marketing objectives and optimizing each, you will likely get better overall performance.
          Great info, I'm checking out your links now and will perform that split test with the phone and form.
          Originally Posted by Bright Future View Post

          Hi, r0ck5t4r

          Obviously, you won't know for sure what works the best before you test it. However, for services like plumbing and pest control search engine ads make the most sense.

          In my experience, Facebook works very well with offers which can be matched to some interests or hobbies. Nobody is interested in pest control. But when someone needs it he would probably head to a search engine. So, I would go for AdWords and Bing ads primarily.

          Regarding the landing page - I agree with dburk. Just place simple noticeable lead forms there. Add a reassurance like "we will call you back shortly" or something. I hope the client cares enough about new customers and can at least call them back in a few hours.
          This wouldn't be the first time I've read that Facebook isn't the best choice for this. Thanks.
          Originally Posted by MarkFSimmons View Post

          Honestly, if calls are going to voicemail, this is a process issue. Calls are leads and if they can't handle the current lead volume...

          Address the process first.
          I agree, I've brought this to his attention and were working on improving hit sales conversions and answer rate.
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        • Profile picture of the author techppc
          Originally Posted by MarkFSimmons View Post

          Honestly, if calls are going to voicemail, this is a process issue. Calls are leads and if they can't handle the current lead volume...

          Address the process first.
          i agree with this .In my industry too 90% of unattended calls (from us/canada) leads to voicemail during outbound or the lead has already been gone to someone else
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  • Profile picture of the author Bright Future
    Hi, r0ck5t4r

    Obviously, you won't know for sure what works the best before you test it. However, for services like plumbing and pest control search engine ads make the most sense.

    In my experience, Facebook works very well with offers which can be matched to some interests or hobbies. Nobody is interested in pest control. But when someone needs it he would probably head to a search engine. So, I would go for AdWords and Bing ads primarily.

    Regarding the landing page - I agree with dburk. Just place simple noticeable lead forms there. Add a reassurance like "we will call you back shortly" or something. I hope the client cares enough about new customers and can at least call them back in a few hours.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10511629].message }}

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