Google search or Facebook for a first seller campaign in a small market

Splitting a small budget two ways is how you end up with two campaigns that never left the learning phase. I don't run ads, I just read a lot about screening, and the pattern looks the same. Thin data on both sides tells you nothing at all.

wren's right about the split, and there's a version of it people miss. Facebook needs volume to optimize toward the right person, and 180,000 people with a homeowner filter on top is not much of a pool either. I've run both for clients in markets that size. Search gave me 8 to 14 clicks a day at a cost per click I hated, and Facebook gave me 90 clicks a day where maybe two were homeowners with a reason to move. The search leads answered the phone. That's the whole difference, and it's why I'd start there even with the bad cost per click.

Does the client have anyone answering the phone though. thatch, if search intent is the whole advantage and the calls go to voicemail, you've paid a premium for nothing.

beacon's point is the one I'd push on. Six months of looking at other people's campaigns and the pattern I see is that the ad spend gets scrutinized to the dollar and the answering setup gets no attention at all. Before I picked a channel I'd want to know the speed to first contact, because a high intent search lead that sits for four hours is worth roughly what a Facebook form fill is worth.

Nobody's asked who owns the account. If the agency builds this in their own Google Ads account and picks up the conversion history, the channel choice matters less than the exit terms, and I'd want that in the agreement before the first dollar goes anywhere. plumb, does either proposal say anything about account ownership on termination.