Meta's cost per customer went up 38% in twelve months.
A free field guide for service businesses whose customer acquisition depends on one channel. Seven alternatives, the benchmark data behind each one, an explicit "wrong for" note per channel, a six-question concentration scorecard, and a 30-day test plan.
- Meta CPA moved from $27.66 to $38.19 in twelve months; CPM from $11.82 to $14.19.
- Google Local Services Ads: $53 average cost per lead, 43.9% book rate, 7.84x closed ROAS.
- Performance Max is the campaign type that buys eligibility for Google AI Mode and AI Overviews placement.
- 45% of consumers used AI to find a local business last year, up from 6% the year before.
- Also covers Reddit, database reactivation, direct mail, and YouTube Shorts.
- Free PDF. The full text is published free at /blog/one-channel-trap-service-businesses.