Free Tool — Ad Decision Tool

Where should your business actually advertise?

Answer a few questions about your business and see how each kind of advertising — search, social, direct mail, referrals, and more — fits your specific situation.

All tools

A thinking tool, not advertising advice.

This is an educational framework to help you reason about where to spend an advertising budget. It is not advertising, marketing, financial, or business advice, and it can't see your specific market, competitors, or how well a given channel gets executed.

We build a shared local mail card (Bloc Card), so it's fair to ask whether this tool is rigged toward us. It isn't. Direct mail is scored by the exact same rules as every other channel against your answers. If it doesn't fit your business, the tool will say so.

0 / 8

What do you most need right now?

Pick the one that matters most this quarter — channels differ a lot by goal.

Do you already have customers and a way to reach them again?

Some channels (email, texts, referrals, loyalty) only work if you have existing customers or contacts to build on.

Roughly what can you spend per month on advertising?

Be realistic about what you can sustain for a few months, not a one-time splurge.

Are people already looking for what you offer?

Do customers search for your category, or do they not know they need you until they see you?

Who is your customer?

How much does location matter?

How much does a typical sale cost, and how often do customers buy?

Not sure? The CLV calculator on this site can help you work this out.

How much time can you put into managing ads?

Answer all 8 questions to see how each advertising channel fits your business.

How the scoring works.

Each channel starts from a neutral baseline. Your answers then add or subtract points based on plain, stated rules — for example, search ads gain points when demand already exists and lose points on a very small budget; whole-area mail gains points for a tight local audience and loses them when your customer is a scattered niche. Every rule that fired is shown to you as a plus or minus under the channel. Nothing is hidden.

Direct mail, shared and solo, runs through the same rules as everything else. We deliberately don't weight it up because it's what we sell.

Think the rules are wrong or a channel is missing? hello@getbloccard.com. We'd rather fix the framework than defend it.

The advertising channels, explained

The realistic menu a local small business actually faces. Direct mail (shared and solo) sits here as a peer, not a headliner — the tool scores it by the same rules as everything else.

Google Business Profile + local SEO

Your free Google listing (Maps, the local pack) plus the basic on-site work that helps you show up when nearby people search for what you do.

Cost to start: Free to start. Optional cost if you pay someone to manage reviews and listings.
Best for: Almost every location-based business. This is the foundation — people who already want what you sell look here first.
Watch out for: It rewards consistency (accurate hours, steady reviews, photos) over time, not a one-time setup. Results build slowly.

Google Search Ads

Paid spots at the top of Google results for the exact terms people type when they want what you offer.

Cost to start: Moderate to high. You pay per click, and competitive local categories can get expensive fast.
Best for: Capturing high-intent demand that already exists — when someone searches "emergency plumber near me," you can be first.
Watch out for: Costs scale with competition and clicks. Easy to overspend without tight targeting, negative keywords, and a page that converts.

Meta / Instagram Ads

Paid posts and stories on Facebook and Instagram, targeted by location, interests, and demographics.

Cost to start: Low to moderate to start. Flexible — you can begin with a small daily budget.
Best for: Building awareness and demand, showing off visual work (food, before/after, spaces), and reaching a specific kind of person nearby.
Watch out for: Reaches people who weren’t looking, so intent is lower than search. Creative quality matters a lot, and results need testing.

Shared direct mail (e.g. a shared local card)

A printed mailer you share with other non-competing local businesses, sent to homes in a defined area, splitting the cost.

Cost to start: Low to moderate per mailing, because printing and postage are shared across several businesses.
Best for: Broad-appeal local businesses serving a tight area, where reaching every nearby household matters more than reaching a specific person.
Watch out for: You share the card with several other businesses, so you compete for the reader’s attention — response per piece runs below a solo mailing. Works through repetition, not one drop, and is hard to attribute without a unique code or offer.

Solo direct mail / EDDM

Your own postcard or flyer mailed to chosen routes or a purchased list — you own the whole piece.

Cost to start: Moderate to high. You carry all the printing and postage yourself, so cost per home is higher than sharing.
Best for: Businesses that want full control of the message and the timing, with enough margin per customer to justify the higher cost.
Watch out for: You pay for the entire mailing alone. The math only works when each new customer is worth enough to cover a higher cost per piece.

Referral & loyalty programs

A simple system to reward existing customers for coming back and for sending you new ones (cards, discounts, "tell a friend").

Cost to start: Low. Mostly the cost of the incentive plus a little setup — no media spend.
Best for: Trust-driven local businesses with repeat customers. Often the cheapest growth available because your best customers do the selling.
Watch out for: Only works if you already deliver something worth recommending. It compounds slowly and won't fix a weak core offer.

Email & SMS (your own list)

Messages to people who already gave you their contact info — past customers, sign-ups, walk-ins.

Cost to start: Low. Inexpensive tools, and you own the audience rather than renting it from a platform.
Best for: Driving repeat purchases and bringing past customers back. The highest-return channel once you have a list worth mailing.
Watch out for: Needs a list, which takes time to build. Useless on day one if you've never collected contacts. Respect opt-in rules.

Local print & community sponsorships

Newspaper or program ads, event sponsorships, team jerseys, school programs — putting your name where the community gathers.

Cost to start: Low to moderate, and highly variable. Often as much goodwill and relationship as it is advertising.
Best for: Businesses whose customers value community ties and word-of-mouth. Builds trust and recognition more than direct response.
Watch out for: Hard to measure, and easy to overpay for vanity placements. Treat it as relationship-building, not a lead machine.

Out-of-home (billboards, transit, signage)

Billboards, bus and transit ads, and large outdoor signage along routes your customers travel.

Cost to start: Moderate to high, usually on a monthly contract. Among the higher commitments on this list.
Best for: Broad awareness for businesses with wide appeal and the budget to keep a placement up long enough to be remembered.
Watch out for: Almost impossible to measure precisely, and short runs are usually wasted. Needs sustained budget and broad relevance to pay off.