Deck Builder · DuPage County · Paid Growth
Deck Builder Marketing: Cost per Booked Estimate Cut From $88.64 to $47.60 in 30 Days
A deck builder we work with paid $47.60 per booked estimate on Facebook and Instagram ads. The dates were August 16 to September 14, 2026. In the 136 days before, he paid $88.64. Sources: Meta Ads spend and the CRM, his customer contact system.
$47.60
per booked estimate
Aug 16 to Sep 14, 2026. Was $88.64 over the 136 days before.
41
leads in the CRM
30 days, $22.06 per lead.
19
booked estimates
46% of leads. 15 of the 19 booked the same day.
92.5%
of ad spend on one owner video
$836.20 of $904.47. It produced every lead.
Numbers current through
The $904.47 of ad spend brought 41 leads into the CRM. Of those, 19 booked estimates. Over the previous 136 days, the same ad account spent $3,811.35. That brought 130 leads and 43 booked estimates, at $88.64 each.
Booked means an estimate appointment that was not cancelled. A deal at the Estimate Scheduled step in the CRM, or a later step, also counts as booked.
By Derek B., founder of A2Z MKTG Published
See the Paid Growth PlanAt a glance
- Who
- A deck building business in Roselle, IL (DuPage County)
- What they bought
- Paid Growth: Meta ads and a quiz landing page. We also managed the CRM and AI receptionist. A separate website build went live August 29, 2026.
- Time frame
- Our ads went live April 3, 2026. The new funnel went live August 16, 2026
- What we measured
- Cost per booked estimate, counted in the CRM
01 The Problem
The Owner Knew What a Lead Cost. Nobody Knew What a Booked Estimate Cost.
The account bought leads at a fair price, then lost track of them.
This deck company came to us from another agency. It ran one Facebook campaign into a lead form inside Facebook. Between February 9 and March 13, 2026, that campaign collected 25 lead forms for $620.00, or $24.80 per lead.
That is a fair price. To The Max Media's guide to Facebook ads for deck building puts leads for new builds at $40 to $100 each.
The trouble sat after the form. Nobody could say how many leads booked an estimate, so nobody could say what an estimate cost. Good deck builder marketing gets judged at that step. Our first job was to make it countable.
02 What We Did
What We Changed, With Dates
We kept the ad account and rebuilt everything around it. Every step but the new website is part of our Paid Growth plan.
-
Our first ad spend, same ad account
Same account the last agency used, still feeding a lead form inside Facebook.
-
Receptionist booking rebuilt
We rebuilt how the AI receptionist books. Now every caller gets offered an estimate slot.
-
Campaign rebuild
We paused the old campaigns and launched a rebuilt one.
-
Quiz pages live
Quiz pages ask what the project is before they ask for a phone number. The answers land in the CRM.
-
Phone outage found and fixed
A forwarding setting had sent every caller to voicemail for four days. We fixed it.
-
Owner video and quiz page take over
One video of the owner replaced the photo ads and the Facebook form. Every click now lands on the quiz page.
-
New website live
A new website went live. It is a separate build from the ads.
-
The 30-day window closes
03 The Results
Cost per Booked Estimate Fell 46%, and the Drop Survives Stricter Counting
From $88.64 down to $47.60. We also counted it two stricter ways. All three point the same way.
Figure 1
Cost per booked estimate, counted three ways
Figure 2
Where $904.47 went in 30 days
-
$904.47
ad spend
Meta, new campaign only
-
41
leads in the CRM
$22.06 per lead
-
19
booked an estimate
46% of leads, $47.60 each
-
15
booked the same day
15 of the 19 booked leads
The same-season check puts the 30 days right before the change next to the 30 days after. Cost per booked estimate fell 37% there, from $75.10 to $47.60.
04 Why It Worked
One Owner Video Did the Work. Cost per Lead Fell 25%.
One plain video brought in every lead. Cost per lead fell from $29.32 to $22.06, and 19 of the 41 leads booked an estimate.
Figure 3
Share of ad spend, by ad
- One video of the owner, talking to the camera Produced all 41 leads $836.20 92.5%
- Nine other ads: photos, carousels and a second video Produced no leads $68.27 7.5%
Figure 4
Cost per lead, before us and with us
The booked estimate got 46% cheaper, from $88.64 to $47.60.
One video of the owner carried about 92% of the campaign spend, $836.20 of $904.47. It produced every lead. The nine other ads in the same ad set spent $68.27 between them and produced none.
Cost per lead fell too. The current funnel pays $22.06 per lead in the CRM, down from $29.32 over the 136 days before. Across all of our campaigns since April 3, a Meta lead cost $24.76. Now every lead can be followed to a booked estimate.
Figure 5
The phone side: the AI receptionist since April 28
285
calls to the AI receptionist
219
conversations longer than 10 seconds
57
estimates booked during the call
Answered calls into his office rose from 1.1 a day to 2.4 a day after the video launched. We compared June 1 to August 15 against August 16 to September 15, 2026. From August 16 to 28, before the new website went live, answered calls ran at 2.85 a day.
05 The Numbers
Every Number on This Page, in One Table
Rows that use a different window say so.
| Metric | Before (Apr 2 to Aug 15, 2026) | After (Aug 16 to Sep 14, 2026) | Change | Source | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per booked estimate | $88.64 | $47.60 | 46% lower | Meta Ads spend, CRM calendar and deal stages | Ad spend divided by booked estimates. Booked means an estimate appointment that was not cancelled. A deal at the Estimate Scheduled step in the CRM, or a later step, also counts. |
| Meta ad spend | $3,811.35 | $904.47 | n/a | Meta Ads, by day and campaign | Amount spent on Meta ads. The after figure is spend on the new campaign. |
| Leads in the CRM | 130 | 41 | n/a | CRM contacts by date added | One contact from Meta ads, created inside the window. No duplicates by phone or email. |
| Booked estimates | 43 | 19 | n/a | CRM calendar and deal stages | Leads from the window that booked, as defined in the first row. |
| Share of leads that booked | 33% (43 of 130) | 46% (19 of 41) | 13 points higher | Booked estimates divided by CRM leads | The share of new leads that booked an estimate. |
| Cost per lead in the CRM | $29.32 | $22.06 | 25% lower | Meta Ads spend divided by CRM leads | Ad spend divided by leads in the CRM. $3,811.35 for 130 leads, against $904.47 for 41. |
| Same-season check: cost per booked estimate | $75.10 (Jul 17 to Aug 15, 2026) | $47.60 | 37% lower | Meta Ads spend, CRM calendar and deal stages | $826.10 for 11 booked, against $904.47 for 19 booked. Two back-to-back 30-day windows. |
| Strictest check: confirmed appointments only | $127.05 | $90.45 | 29% lower | Meta Ads spend, CRM appointment status | $3,811.35 for 30 confirmed, against $904.47 for 10 confirmed. |
| Booked the same day the lead came in | n/a | 15 of 19 | n/a | CRM appointment creation time | The appointment was created on the same day as the contact. |
| Ad spend on the owner video | n/a | $836.20 of $904.47 (92.5%) | n/a | Meta Ads, by ad | Nine other ads in the same ad set spent $68.27 (7.5%) and produced no leads. |
Want to know your own cost per booked estimate?
06 Method
How We Measured It
Spend comes from the ad account. Everything after the click comes from the CRM.
Sources and definitions
- Spend. The Meta Ads account, by day, campaign and ad.
- Leads. Contacts from Meta ads added to the client's CRM inside each window.
- Booked estimates. Estimate appointments on the CRM calendar that were not cancelled. Deals at the Estimate Scheduled step or later also count.
- Calls. The AI receptionist's call logs.
07 What It Means for You
What This Means for Deck Builder Marketing
Judge your marketing by cost per booked estimate, not cost per lead. That takes ads, a landing page, a CRM and a phone that work as one system.
Our Paid Growth plan includes the ads and a CRM with an AI receptionist. We start with lead forms and add a landing page when your leads need one. Your first month covers setup and one free promo video. It is shot in this same owner-on-camera style. The monthly report tracks costs through to booked estimates.
The published fee is $1,000 a month for one ad platform, or $1,500 for Google and Meta together. You also pay ad spend to the platform, at least $750 a month.
- Put the owner on camera. One plain video beat the nine other ads.
- Ask about the project first. Better questions make better leads.
- Count booked estimates in the CRM. A report that stops at cost per lead stops too early.
Most contractor Facebook ads are judged on cost per lead. Judge yours on cost per booked estimate.
We run the same lead generation for contractors in other trades. See our page on home remodeling marketing. We also work across DuPage County. See how a new site helped a local business in our landscaping website design case study.
Paid Growth plan
$1,000 to $1,500/mo
$1,000 for one ad platform, $1,500 for Google and Meta. Ad spend goes to the platform, $750 a month minimum. 3-month minimum, then month to month. The ad accounts stay in your name.
Not sure ads fit yet? The free marketing audit will tell you.
08 Questions
Deck Builder Facebook Ads: Common Questions
How much do Facebook ads cost for a deck builder?
The deck builder in this case study spent $904.47 over 30 days, August 16 to September 14, 2026. He paid $22.06 per lead in his CRM and $47.60 per booked estimate. Ad spend is paid to Meta. Our published Paid Growth fee is $1,000 a month for one ad platform, or $1,500 for Google and Meta.
What is a good cost per lead for a deck building company?
From August 16 to September 14, 2026, this deck builder paid $22.06 per lead in his CRM. That is 25% less than the $29.32 per lead he paid over the 136 days before. To The Max Media's guide to Facebook ads for deck building quotes $40 to $100 per lead for new deck builds. The bigger drop was per booked estimate, from $88.64 to $47.60.
What is a good cost per booked estimate for a deck builder?
A deck builder we run ads for paid $47.60 per booked estimate from August 16 to September 14, 2026. He spent $904.47 and booked 19 estimates. Over the 136 days before, the same ad account paid $88.64 per booked estimate. Booked means an estimate slot that was not cancelled, or a deal at the Estimate Scheduled step or later.
Do Facebook ads work for deck builders?
They worked here once the ad, the landing page, the CRM and the phone ran as one system. In 30 days, $904.47 of spend produced 41 leads and 19 booked estimates. One video of the owner talking to the camera took 92.5% of the spend and produced every lead. Nine other ads spent $68.27 and produced none.
Should a deck builder use Facebook ads or Google ads first?
Start with one channel and measure it all the way to the booked estimate before you add a second. This deck builder's ads run on Facebook and Instagram. That one channel, measured past the lead, booked 19 estimates in 30 days at $47.60 each.
What does an AI receptionist do for a deck company?
It answers the calls you miss and books an estimate while the caller is still on the phone. On April 28, 2026, we rebuilt how this deck builder's AI receptionist books. From then to September 16, it took 285 calls and held 219 conversations longer than 10 seconds. It booked 57 estimates during those calls.