Ads

Meta or YouTube video ads: which should an Irish business run first?

By Stefan Twomey, Co-Founder, Performance Marketing23 September 20262 min read

Short answer: start with Meta if your product is visual, local and bought within a few weeks, because it is cheaper to test and the creative feedback is fast. Start with YouTube if people research your product for weeks before buying, because that is where the research happens. If the sale takes a long time, run both as one funnel: YouTube to reach people while they research, Meta to retarget them until they enquire. Judge both on cost per lead, never on views.

When Meta wins

Meta, which means Facebook and Instagram, is the right first platform for most Irish SMEs selling something you can see. For Dream Home, a North Dublin stove and fireplace company, one month of Meta and Google campaigns behind fresh monthly video delivered over 108,000 impressions, a 3.11% click-through rate and 27 leads. The creative sells the warmth of a finished install, and a homeowner can decide to enquire the same evening.

Meta also rewards variety. Its algorithm learns faster from a spread of hooks and formats than from one polished ad, which is why we shot fifteen different reels for Plantech in one day: explainers, founder to camera, FAQs and show highlights, all pointed at one goal.

When YouTube wins

YouTube is where people go to research a considered purchase. Solar, home energy upgrades, medical treatments, high-ticket equipment. Someone watching "is solar worth it in Ireland" is closer to buying than anyone scrolling Instagram. For Evolve Eco Solutions YouTube caught homeowners actively researching, and Meta retargeted them with testimonials until they converted. That two-platform funnel has produced more than 12,000 leads over eighteen months.

YouTube also builds an asset. A club review series for McGuirks Golf passed 20,000 clicks on a small channel and keeps earning views long after a Meta ad would have faded.

The honest trade-offs

• Cost to test. Meta can tell you within a week and a few hundred euro whether a hook works. YouTube needs more budget and more patience.
• Creative. Meta wants short, vertical, many versions. YouTube tolerates longer, 16:9, and rewards a consistent series.
• Intent. Meta interrupts. YouTube search meets intent. Retargeting on Meta then closes the loop.
• Fatigue. Meta ads wear out in weeks. That is why we deliver Dream Home a fresh batch every month.

Whichever you pick, fix tracking first

Neither platform can optimise towards leads it cannot see. Before spending, put conversion tracking on the site and landing pages through Google Tag Manager, make sure a form submission or a call is recorded as a lead, and check that the numbers in Meta, Google and your CRM roughly agree. Most "the ads don't work" conversations we have are really "the tracking was never set up" conversations.

A simple decision rule

• Decision in days, visual product, local audience: Meta first.
• Decision in weeks, people Google it, five-figure ticket: YouTube first, Meta retargeting from month two.
• Already have a steady lead flow and want to lower cost per lead: both, with monthly fresh creative.

We produce the videos and run the campaigns as one team, so the creative changes as fast as the data says it should. Book a free strategy call and we will tell you which platform fits your business.