Comparing the Cost of Online Ads and Direct Mail: A Worksheet for Toronto Home Services
For a plumber, cleaner, landscaper or HVAC company, the useful question isn’t which channel is cheaper per view. It’s what each one costs per booked job. Only your own numbers can answer that, and this worksheet shows how to work them out.
The number to compare
Money spent on a channel ÷ jobs booked from it = cost per booked job
Use booked jobs, not leads or clicks. A channel that produces lots of inquiries that never turn into work can look cheap on paper and cost you a lot in time.
How online ad costs work
Search and social ads usually charge per click or per thousand impressions. Prices are often set by an auction, so they vary with your trade, the season and how many competitors are bidding at the same time.
To find your real cost per booked job, pull three numbers for the last few months from your ad accounts and your job records:
- Total ad spend
- Inquiries that came from ads
- Jobs actually booked from those inquiries
If you don’t currently track which jobs came from ads, start there. It’s worth knowing whatever else you decide.
How a Spotix spot’s cost works
A Spotix spot has a fixed monthly price, set before you book, and every package lists delivery to 10,000 homes:
| Spot | Ad space | Targeting | Tracking included | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo Spot | 1/8 page | 1 neighbourhood | None built in; use an offer code | $247 |
| Duo Spot | 1/4 page | 2 neighbourhoods | QR code | $397 |
| Full Spot | 1/2 page | Full coverage | QR code + phone tracking | $597 |
Because the price is fixed, the only unknown is how many jobs the card brings in. That’s why tracking matters: a QR code, a tracking number or an offer code lets you count the jobs that came from the card.
Worksheet: how many jobs cover the spot?
Start with the gross profit on a typical job, meaning what you keep after materials and labour. Then divide the spot price by it to see how many booked jobs cover the cost of the spot.
| Gross profit per job | Solo ($247) | Duo ($397) | Full ($597) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| $200 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| $400 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
This is arithmetic, not a prediction. How many people respond to a mailing depends on your offer, trade, area and timing, and Spotix doesn’t promise a particular result.
Do the same calculation for your online ads using your real cost per booked job, and you have a like-for-like comparison.
Things that skew the comparison
- Attribution. Someone may keep the card, then search your name weeks later. That job shows up as search, not mail. Asking “how did you hear about us?” on every booking helps.
- Timing. Home services needs are seasonal. Compare the same months where you can, and time your offer for when people need the service.
- Lead quality. Count jobs booked, not calls received.
- Sample size. A single mailing is one data point. Make decisions from more than one month of results.
Using both
Search ads catch people who need someone today. A postcard reaches homes in your service area before they need you, so your name is familiar when they do. Plenty of businesses run both, and knowing the cost per booked job for each tells you where to put the next dollar.