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#11 Meta Ads vs. Google Ads: How We’ll Spend (and Win) in 2026

#11 Meta Ads vs. Google Ads: How We’ll Spend (and Win) in 2026

We’re pulling back the curtain on how we chose our 2026 “work-on-the-business” initiatives—and how you can run the same process for your team. You’ll get quick-win “Things You Should” tactics, our operator’s guide to Meta vs. Google ad spend, and why I picked our founding sponsors. Plus a few personal snapshots and favorite tweets from the week.

Christopher Hoffmann
November 07, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes

In Today’s Newsletter

How we picked our 2026 initiatives
Things you should do…
Founding Sponsors… and why I picked them
Meta ads vs Google ads
Favorite Tweets from the past week

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My friend and former Army 160th pilot, Christian Ruf, is helping business owners build high-performing teams by placing special operations veterans - think Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, Green Berets - in senior operations roles inside of businesses like yours. Check out his business, Uncommon Elite, and let him know that Chris sent you.

What’s on my mind?

How We Pick 2026 Initiatives (and Why It Creates Real Alignment)

Every fall, once budgets are largely set, we run a separate, disciplined process to choose the “work on the business” initiatives that will shape the coming year.

This is not about hitting a monthly P&L target. It’s about creating clarity, accountability, and shared ownership around the improvements that will matter most in 2026.

Here’s exactly how we do it—and how you can adapt it inside your own shop.

Step 1: Set four company-wide themes

As CEO, I start by selecting the themes that matter most to our business in the year ahead. For 2026, they are:

Strengthen recruitment, engagement, and retention
Elevate business performance
Embrace automation & AI
Refine procurement & warehousing operations

I then share my thinking about each theme so leaders understand the “why,” the outcomes we’re after, and the guardrails (success metrics, constraints, dependencies).

This cascades cleanly across brands and functions—Blue Sky, Ferguson, Hoffmann Brothers, plus HB Solutions Group functions like Marketing, Accounting, CX, HR, IT—so everyone is pointing at the same North Star while tailoring to local realities.

Step 2: Teams author their own initiatives (brand and function)

Each brand and each HB Solutions Group function proposes the initiatives they want to deliver within their span of care—directly tied to one of the four themes. Because our strategic framework already clarifies mission, purpose, values and multi-year goals, teams aren’t guessing at context; they’re choosing the highest-leverage work that advances the plan.

A few examples from 2025:

Recruit/Engage/Retain: Redefine the frontline leader role with tighter scope, training cadence, and role-specific KPIs; expand leadership tracks via HBU.
Business Performance: Tighten the customer journey (scheduling, confirmation, dispatch, and updates) to reduce friction and time-to-completion, and to lift NPS.
Automation & AI: Deploy after-hours/overflow AI intake and targeted outbound to capture 100% of demand and increase booked jobs and LTV—measured, not hand-wavy.
Procurement/Warehousing: Evaluate VMI model, standardize truck stock and inventory control, and select fit-for-purpose inventory software across markets.

Tip: use the SMART goal framework when creating initiatives (the above examples are abbreviated and don’t follow this framework - just Google it if you want to learn more).

Step 3: Score every idea on Impact and Effort

Once lists are in, we score each initiative on two dimensions:

IMPACT — quantified upside in revenue, cost, or friction reduction
EFFORT — time, complexity, change-management load, system work, and required headcount.

We then place the items on a 2×2:

High Impact / Low Effort: Do first—these become top priorities.
High Impact / High Effort: Stage or phase (MVP → full); assign clear owners and milestones.
Low Impact / Low Effort: Batch or delegate.
Low Impact / High Effort: Defer or drop.

Step 4: Convert priorities into projects, measures, and cadence

For each selected initiative we define:

Owner + team (and manning requirements)
Definition of done (what outcome, by when)
Few, crisp measures tied to the theme (e.g., reduce abandoned calls to near-zero during peaks using AI intake; raise “scheduled→complete” speed; lower overhead as % of sales; increase first-visit completes).
Operating rhythm (weekly stand-ups, monthly reviews, quarterly post-mortems)

All of these initiatives should have clear ties back to our broader themes—so day-to-day work ladders into strategy, not away from it.

Why this works

Clear strategy → better initiative ideas. The plan frames what “good” looks like (people, quality, growth, operations, partnerships), so teams propose work that moves the needles that matter.
Focus beats volume. A short “can’t-fail” list with owners and measures outperforms a long wish list every time.
Tech with teeth. We back AI and automation only when it elevates the customer experience, improves execution, and lowers cost to serve.

Pro tip for small operators

You don’t need a big corporate stack to do this. Start with three themes, ask each leader to bring 3–5 initiatives mapped to those themes, then run a ruthless Impact/Effort sort. Cap it at five “can’t-fail” projects company-wide. Meet bi-weekly, measure the few numbers that matter, and ship in six-month waves. The payoff is real: tighter execution, less thrash, and a team that knows exactly what matters—and why.

-Chris

Our team participated in a walk supporting those with type-1 diabetes; my brother, Joe, on the left is a T1D guy.

Celebrating FIVE years of serving customers in the Nashville community - what an awesome milestone.

First day out with a bow this year… and mission accomplished at 7am. Is it always this easy? ;)

Perhaps one of my daughter’s favorite things to do at the farm… feed her animals.

Things you should…

1. If you haven’t re-negotiated pricing with some of your largest vendors, you should lean into this heading into 2026. This is a more challenging business environment, and protecting your margins during a tougher environment is critical.

2. If you haven’t mapped the customer journey in your business (i.e., all of the touchpoints and communication from booking thru job completion), you should do this with an eye towards elevating professionalism and the overall quality of the experience.

3. If you are still sitting on the sidelines when it comes to AI powered customer intake, you should get in the game and begin testing AI intake for after-hours calls that come in. Low risk - and you get to learn + refine the AI tools you implement in a lower risk setting.

Can you do me a favor?

To help me create the best content for you, can you answer this quick (4 question) survey? I promise it won’t take more than 30 seconds :)

The Path Less Traveled - Founding Sponsors

I handpicked these sponsors for a reason

When I wanted to launch The Path Less Traveled, I didn’t just want to take any sponsor who would write a check.

On the contrary - I continue to turn down a ton of sponsor inquiries because of one reality: I want my sponsorships to be authentic, and be companies that I work with AND believe in.

Software: ServiceTitan - THE leading software platform for residential and commercial service providers; to be blunt - there is no alternative for scaled enterprise platforms - and that is why it is incredibly rare to find any company over $100M who is NOT using ServiceTitan.

Agentic AI: Netic - Netic has built transformative AI tools that execute end-to-end workflows across speech, text, and data, powering entire functions inside of HB Solutions Group. Elevating the customer experience while reducing friction and cost.

Consumer Financing: GreenSky Home Improvement - helps HB Solutions Group to delight our customers AND grow our business by giving us one of the most powerful tools we can possess: the ability to increase our customers’ buying power.

Final thought: we publish TPLT on/around the 1st and 15th of each month, and we will incorporate a deeper dive into our relationship with each of the partners above on the release on/around the 15th while including this abbreviated section on the release on/around the 1st of each month.

¹ The views and opinions expressed here are owned by The Path Less Traveled and its author and may not reflect the views of GreenSky®

CEO: Growth Mindset

Meta Ads vs. Google Ads: How We’ll Spend (and Win) in 2026

Across HB Solutions Group, we’ll invest roughly $5M on Meta + Google in 2026. Both platforms work—but they do different jobs. Here’s our playbook for using each the right way, and the non-negotiables that make the spend worth it.

The Short Version

Google Ads = capture demand.
Very expensive, live auction, and increasingly opaque. It’s where homeowners go in moments of NEED (“no heat,” “burst pipe,” “panel tripping”). You’re paying to be there right now.
Meta Ads = create demand.
Lower cost, broader reach, and best for top-of-funnel interest building—stimulating WANTS like water quality, energy savings, duct cleaning, humidification, lighting upgrades, IAQ bundles, and memberships.

Use Google to harvest today. Use Meta to sow for tomorrow—and to smooth seasonality.

How They Actually Differ (Operator’s View)

Dimension	Google Ads	Meta Ads
Primary Job	Capture in-market NEED	Create/shape WANT
Cost Profile	High CPC/CPA; bids spike at peak weather	Lower CPM/CPC; cheaper reach
Auction/Control	Live auction; tight match types; less transparency over time	Algorithmic distribution; audience/creative lead
Time to Cash	Faster (emergency & high intent)	Slower (nurture → quote → close)
Best Creative	“Find/Call/Book Now,” trust signals, urgency	Thumb-stopping video, before/after, bundles, education
Landing Page	Single CTA, phone + online booking, proof stacked	Quiz, calculator, explainer, lead magnet, low-friction form
Measurement	Call quality, booked jobs, revenue per booked	Lead quality, nurture → booked rate, assisted revenue

When We Lean Google vs. Meta

Google: emergency service, branded search defense, high-intent installs (“water heater install near me”), after-hours coverage, peak-weather surges.
Meta: IAQ and filtration, water quality systems, home electrification & lighting upgrades, duct cleaning, memberships, off-season demand gen, recruiting creatives.

Think of Google as the demand capture floor and Meta as the demand creation engine.

Creative & Offer Angles (steal these)

Meta (WANT):

“Breathe better this winter: Whole-home air scrubber from $29/mo. 60-second explainer.”
“Taste-test challenge: See what a softener does to your tap water in 7 days.”
“Ducts cleaned before the holidays—see the before/after.”
“Light up your kitchen: LED under-cabinet + dimmer bundle.”

Google (NEED):

“No heat? On-time today or it’s free to diagnose.”
“Leaking water heater? Get a quote in 5 minutes; install tomorrow.”
“Breaker tripping? Licensed electricians—book a 4-hour window now.”

Budgeting: A Simple Starting Split

Set a Google floor that protects emergencies + brand (e.g., 40–60% of market/brand need capture, heavier in peak seasons).
Allocate Meta to build tomorrow’s pipeline (e.g., 40–60% to IAQ/water/lighting/member growth, heavier off-season).
Flex monthly based on capacity: if boards are light, tilt Meta toward lead-gen; if boards are slammed, tilt Google to high-intent and pause lower-quality keywords.

(Note: splits will vary by market/channel maturity. The rule is capacity-first, not channel-first.)

Funnel Mechanics That Matter

Match ad promise to page in 3 seconds. Headline, hero image, CTA must mirror the ad.
Multiple ways to book: phone, SMS, online scheduler, and “request a quote.”
Proof stack: reviews, badges, “technician of the week,” before/after.
Down-sell on exit: “Not ready? Save this offer via email/text.”
Follow-up automation: 3 touches in 72 hours on every non-booked lead (text first, then call, then email).
Membership cross-sell: every service CTA shows the member price.

Pro tip: grade campaigns by dollars back, but grade creatives by attention + action metrics before downstream revenue matures.

The Three Non-Negotiables (regardless of channel)

Be willing to experiment.
Run creative sprints: 5 hooks × 3 offers × 2 formats. Kill losers fast; scale winners. Refresh monthly.
Let data drive decisions.
Every test has a target KPI, sample size, decision rule, and owner. Weekly scoreboard; monthly “keep/kill/iterate.”
Pair strong creative & copy with your budget.
No “more money behind a bad ad.” We only scale ads that prove they move from attention → action → booked.

2026 HB Solutions Group Play

Maintain a Google capture floor for emergencies + branded defense in every market.
Fund Meta demand creation for IAQ, water quality, lighting, duct cleaning, and membership growth to stabilize shoulder seasons.
Operate on a capacity dial: shift 10–20% of monthly spend between platforms based on board load.
Keep a rolling creative backlog (30+ concepts), and ship new variations every two weeks.

Bottom line: Google turns on the “open sign” when the need is urgent. Meta convinces homeowners to care before it’s urgent. We’ll invest in both—on purpose, with clear jobs, tight measurement, and relentless creative testing—so that every dollar works twice: once today, and once tomorrow.

This Week’s Favorite Tweets

Friends of The Path Less Traveled

Who are the VENDORS that fuel our success?

MARKETING

Choosing a marketing agency that is both (1) competent and (2) CARES about your specific business is hard. Over the last 5 years, I have become great friends with the founder of RYNO Strategic Solutions, Chris Yano, and can say with confidence that his agency is among the few that I would trust with my own brands. If you are searching for a partner, send a note to Jeff Bowab at [email protected] and tell him that I sent you.

PAYROLL & HR

Inova Payroll & HR has been a partner to our companies for over 10 years. They have provided us with a payroll technology platform that has been able to keep pace with the demands of our fast-growing organization (now serving team members across 4 states). Inova’s platform works seamlessly with our CRM, ServiceTitan, and with our accounting back-end, Sage Intacct.

COACHING & TRAINING

If there is one organization - perhaps more than any other - that has fueled our growth over the last 10 years… that organization would be Nexstar Network. I like to say that Nexstar Network has built & refined a “process playbook” that touches on so many facets of our business. Don’t try and re-create the wheel… come and learn from the best. Reach out to my friend Kara Schuster at [email protected] and tell her that I sent you.

#grateful for the “Friends of TPLT” sponsors in this section

Hey…I could use your help connecting with like-minded business leaders:

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