Is door hanger marketing cheaper than Google Ads in Calgary?
For most home-service trades in Calgary, yes — by 3× to 15× on cost-per-lead. A $1,500/month StreetDrop campaign typically generates 100–300 inbound calls at $5–$15 each, while the same $1,500 on Google Ads buys 60–375 clicks (depending on industry CPC) that convert to only 3–20 leads at $75–$500 each. Plug your industry and close rate into the calculator below for a personalized projection.
Door Hanger vs Google Ads: Calgary Cost Calculator
Same monthly budget, two channels, head to head. Plug in your industry and city; the calculator returns cost-per-lead, calls per month, jobs per month, revenue, and ROAS for a StreetDrop door-hanger campaign and a Google Ads campaign side by side. Real 2026 Calgary CPCs. Real StreetDrop zone economics.
How this works
This calculator pits two of the most common Calgary acquisition channels against each other on the only number that ultimately matters: cost per booked job. Both sides start with the same monthly budget you enter, then route that spend through the actual unit economics each channel runs on. There is no hand-waving and no “assumed lift” multiplier — every number in the output is derived from an input you can see and change.
StreetDrop side. Door hanger zones are sold whole at $325 each. A Calgary zone covers roughly 4,000 doors; Red Deer zones cover ~2,000; Cochrane and Airdrie sit between the two at ~2,500. The calculator buys as many whole zones as your budget allows and computes total doors reached. Industry response rates come from StreetDrop's own delivered campaigns and sit between 0.5% and 2% per door — junk removal and lawn care lean high because both are impulse-buy economics, while painters and eavestrough trades lean low because the buyer has to actually be in-market when the hanger lands. Multiply doors by the response rate and you get calls. Apply your close rate and you get jobs. Multiply jobs by your average job revenue and you get monthly revenue. Cost-per-lead uses the actual zones bought × $325 (not the raw budget), so the comparison stays fair when a budget can't evenly divide into whole zones.
Google Ads side. The same budget is divided by the average Calgary cost-per-click for the industry — these CPCs are not made up. They come from Google's Keyword Planner refreshed in 2026 and from real StreetDrop client account audits: roofing $35, HVAC $22, pest control $15, painters $12, junk removal $8, eavestrough/windows $7, snow removal $5, lawn care $4. Clicks are then converted to calls at a 5% lead conversion rate — the consensus benchmark for home-service landing pages with a phone number above the fold and a Google Forms quote intake. From there the math matches the StreetDrop side: close rate × revenue × ROAS.
What it does not include. The calculator deliberately ignores Alberta GST (5% on both sides, so the ratio is unchanged), the time cost of managing a Google Ads account (10–20 hours/month for a serious account), and lifetime value beyond the first booked job. Pest control and lawn care in particular get destroyed by the LTV gap — a $250 first job for pest control routinely turns into 4–6 recurring treatments over two years. If you want a more detailed projection including LTV multipliers and Meta Ads as a third channel, use the full ROI calculator.
All inputs are URL-syncable. Hit Share and the result link encodes industry, city, budget, revenue, and close rate so your team lands on the exact same numbers you just modeled.
FAQ
Where do the Google Ads CPCs come from?
They are 2026 Calgary averages pulled from Google Keyword Planner plus StreetDrop client account audits — junk removal ~$8, roofing ~$35, HVAC ~$22, lawn care ~$4, painters ~$12, pest control ~$15, snow removal ~$5, eavestrough/windows ~$7 per click. Your real CPC depends on your Quality Score, hours bidding, and how many competitors are in the auction with you.
Why is the StreetDrop response rate so much higher than my Google click-through rate?
A door hanger physically blocks the door — it has to be touched before it can be discarded, which is a much higher attention floor than a search ad scrolling past on a phone. Across our delivered campaigns we see 0.5%–2% of doors call within 90 days of the drop, with the high end being seasonal services (lawn care, junk removal) and the low end being painters and trim work.
What close rate should I use?
For a phone call from a hanger we recommend 25% as a baseline if your office answers calls live and books on the spot. Quote-then-callback flows drop closer to 15%. Trades that quote on site (roofing, HVAC retrofits) can go higher — 30–45% — because the inspection itself is most of the sales close.
Does this calculator account for Alberta GST?
No. The figures shown are pre-tax. Both door hanger zones and Google Ads spend attract 5% GST, so the comparison ratio is unchanged either way.
Why is some monthly budget "wasted" on the StreetDrop side?
Zones are sold whole at $325. If you set a $400 budget, you can only buy one zone — the leftover $75 sits on the table unless you bump up to $650 for the second zone. The calculator uses *actual zones bought* for the StreetDrop cost-per-lead so the comparison stays honest.
Can I embed this calculator on my site?
Not yet, but we are working on a `<iframe>` version. In the meantime, link to this page and we will keep the math current as Calgary CPCs and zone pricing evolve.
Stop modeling. Book a zone.
The calculator returns numbers. A live zone returns customers. One Calgary zone covers ~4,000 GPS-proven doors for $325 — pick yours and we will print, deliver, and timestamp the proof.