How pay per lead and retainers work
With pay per lead, a vendor runs its own ads and sells you inquiries, usually at a set price each. With a retainer, you pay an agency a monthly fee to run ads in your own ad account, and you pay the ad platform directly. You own the results.
| Pay per lead / lead vendor | Agency retainer | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs the ads | The vendor, in their account | The agency, in your account |
| Who owns the leads | Often shared or resold | You, exclusively |
| Lead quality | Varies; often low intent | Filtered by your own landing page |
| Cost model | Per lead | Monthly fee plus ad spend |
| What you keep if you stop | Nothing | Ad account, data, page, leads |
What about pay per appointment?
Pay per appointment is closer to what you want, because you pay for booked jobs instead of inquiries. Check who runs the ads, whether the appointments are exclusive to you, and what counts as an appointment. No-shows charged as bookings are a common catch.
Which is better for a tint, PPF or detail shop?
If you want to test demand with no setup, pay per lead is easy to try. If you want steady months, exclusive leads and a cost per booking that falls over time, run your own ads through a specialist agency. Building your own lead flow is how shops stop depending on someone else's.
Motorgrowth runs ads in your own account, filters leads through your own landing page, and handles every lead for you. One shop per area. See how it works.
The math on shared leads
A lead sent to three shops gives you roughly a one-in-three chance at best, and the buyer is now comparing on price. A lead from your own ad, on your own priced page, is yours alone and arrives having accepted your price. Compare cost per booked job, not price per lead.
| Shared pay-per-lead | Your own ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per lead | $30 | $25 |
| Shops receiving the same lead | 3 | 1 |
| Share of leads you book | 1 in 6 | 1 in 3 |
| Cost per booked job | $180 | $75 |
Questions to ask a lead vendor or film-brand program
- Is each lead sent only to me, or to other shops too?
- Where do the leads come from, and what did the buyer fill in?
- Do I pay for duplicates, wrong numbers and out-of-area leads?
- Can I see the ad and page that produced the lead?
- If I stop, do I keep anything: data, pages, audiences?
Names that came up on our calls include film-brand lead programs and several automotive lead vendors. We're not naming them here; ask each one these five questions and compare the answers.