For most concrete contractors, Facebook ads (Meta) should come first and Google Ads second: Meta creates demand with before/after visuals and delivers volume, while Google catches homeowners who are already searching. DryScale usually opens Meta first, then adds Google Local Services Ads and Search Ads as the operation keeps up. Either way, speed-to-lead and attribution decide which channel wins more than the platform does.
Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads: intent versus volume
Google Search shows your ad to someone who typed a need into the search bar. That homeowner has a sunken walk or a cracked driveway, wants it fixed and is comparing companies today. Intent is high and volume is capped. You can't buy more searches than people make in your service area, and the other concrete companies in town are bidding on the same terms.
Meta shows your ad to homeowners in your area while they scroll. Most weren't looking for concrete work today. Some have stepped over a trip edge for years; others hate their garage floor and never knew it could be coated. A good before/after in the feed turns that quiet need into a lead. The pool is bigger, intent is earlier, and the creative and the qualification form do the filtering.
Local Services Ads and Search Ads are different tools
DryScale runs two kinds of Google campaigns for concrete contractors, and they work differently. Search Ads are pay-per-click: your text ad shows on results for keywords you choose, and you pay when someone clicks. Local Services Ads, where they're available for your category and market, show your business name, reviews and a call button, often near the top of the results, and you pay per lead instead of per click. Getting set up usually means passing Google's own verification steps, which vary by category and market, and placement tends to favor businesses with strong reviews that respond quickly.
Search Ads take discipline: tight service keywords, a long list of negative keywords to keep out DIY searches and job seekers, a landing page for each service, and call tracking with offline conversion attribution, so Google learns from booked estimates instead of clicks.
Which channel wins for each kind of concrete work
The answer shifts with the work you sell. Treat these as starting points, and let your own tracked numbers have the final say:
- Leveling and lifting: both channels work. Google catches homeowners searching "concrete leveling" or "mudjacking" once they've spotted the problem. Meta reaches the bigger group who assume the only fix is tear-out, and lift video shows them otherwise.
- Epoxy and floor coatings: Meta usually leads. A coated garage floor is a want, and the transformation sells it. Google adds high-intent searches, but you're up against franchises and DIY content for them.
- Decorative and stamped concrete: Meta and Instagram suit homeowners planning a patio or pool deck well ahead of the season. Google catches them when they're ready to price it.
- Flatwork (driveways, patios, sidewalks, slabs): Google is strong for replacement searches, driveways most of all. Meta works for patios and outdoor projects when you have good before/after shots.
- Repair and resurfacing: problem-driven searches like "concrete crack repair" make Google strong. Meta works when you can show a tired, spalled surface coming back.
What drives the cost of a booked estimate
The real cost of a channel is what it takes to put a qualified estimate on the calendar. These factors move that cost more than the choice of platform:
- Speed-to-lead: a lead you reach in 60 seconds is far more likely to book than one you call back tonight
- Qualification: a short form and a first call that screen out renters and out-of-area requests protect estimator time
- Creative and keywords: real before/after footage on Meta, tight service terms and negatives on Google
- Competition: the more companies chasing the same homeowners in your market, the more each booked estimate costs
- Season: demand and competition both swing with the thaw, the building season and the slow months
- Tracking: platforms that learn from booked estimates and closed jobs tend to find more of them than platforms learning from clicks
- Reviews: strong, recent reviews help on Local Services Ads and turn more searchers into calls
Why speed-to-lead and attribution decide the winner
Owners often compare channels on raw lead counts and pick the wrong one. Meta leads come in earlier in the decision, so they cool off faster. Call them back the next morning and Meta looks broken; call them inside 60 seconds and the same leads book. Google leads are warmer, but they're comparing you against other companies on the same page, so a slow callback loses them too.
Attribution is the other half. Without call tracking, offline conversion data for Google and server-side Conversions API data for Meta, neither platform knows which leads became jobs, and neither do you. Wire every lead source into the CRM, push booked estimates and closed jobs back to both platforms, and watch the results live. DryScale's Insight Dashboard updates every 60 seconds with spend, leads, calls and pipeline stage by source.
“Every dollar should be tracked, from the ad to the booked estimate to the closed job.”
How to judge channel costs by booked estimates and closed jobs
A cheap click or a cheap form fill says nothing about revenue. Put every channel on the same scoreboard, use CRM data instead of platform reports, and judge over a full season:
- Tag every lead with its source: Meta, Local Services Ads, Search Ads, organic search, your Google Business Profile, referrals
- Move every lead through the same stages: New, Contacted, Booked, Sat, Quoted, Won or Lost
- Divide each channel's spend by the qualified estimates it booked. That's what the channel charges you to fill a slot on the estimator's calendar
- Divide spend by the jobs it closed. That's what it costs to win a job from that channel
- Put revenue beside both. A channel that books fewer estimates but bigger tickets can be the better buy
- Check capacity. Leads you can't estimate or schedule aren't a bargain at any price
Track close rate by source too, measured as jobs won divided by quotes presented. Two channels can book the same number of estimates and close at very different rates, and the one that closes more of its quotes usually wins, whatever its leads looked like on the platform report.
DryScale's order: where to spend first
DryScale doesn't start with either channel. Phase 0, the Bucket Audit (Week 1), maps spend, attribution, CRM state, speed-to-lead, close rate by source and capacity. Phase 1 (Weeks 2–6) installs tracking, the CRM pipeline and the 60-second follow-up, and lays the SEO groundwork. Phase 2 (Weeks 4–8) pulls revenue out of past customers, dead leads and open quotes.
Phase 3 (Week 6+) opens channels one at a time. Meta usually goes first, followed by SEO, Google Local Services Ads, referrals, Google Search Ads and then content. Each channel earns its turn, and the next one waits until estimators and crews can keep up with the last.
Frequently asked questions
For most concrete contractors, Facebook and Instagram are the better first channel, because concrete work is visual and Meta reaches homeowners before they search. Google is better at catching homeowners who are already looking, but search volume in any service area has a ceiling. The strongest setup runs both, opened in order, with 60-second follow-up and tracking behind them.
Start the SEO groundwork early and add paid search later. DryScale sets up the Google Business Profile, technical fixes and service-area pages in Phase 1 because organic visibility takes time to build, then opens Google Local Services Ads and Search Ads in Phase 3 as the operation keeps up. Both work better with reviews and fast follow-up already in place.
Yes, and growing concrete companies usually end up running both. The risk is opening both at once before follow-up and tracking can handle them, which makes it hard to tell which one is working. DryScale opens channels one at a time so each one proves itself before the next goes live.
Long enough to see booked estimates turn into closed jobs, which usually means a full season rather than a few weeks. Concrete demand swings with the weather and the calendar, so short windows mislead. Judge the channel on booked estimates, closed jobs and revenue instead of early lead counts.
Offline conversion tracking sends what happened after the lead, such as a booked estimate or a closed job, from your CRM back to Google or Meta. The platforms can then optimize toward the leads that turned into revenue instead of every click or form fill. Without it, both platforms optimize on partial information.