Paid acquisition tools: Google Ads, LinkedIn, Meta, and TikTok under one scorecard

What to take away

A startup paid acquisition stack usually starts with one platform, not four. This comparison uses current platform documentation and public pricing pages. It is not hands-on testing, and features, eligibility, inventory and prices change. Cost figures are typical planning ranges, not quotes.

What each platform actually sells

Google Ads sells intent. Someone typed the problem into a search box, and you bid against other answers. That makes it the strongest channel for demand capture and the weakest for creating demand that does not exist yet.

Typical US cost per click runs from low single digits to low tens of dollars, and typical cost per lead runs about $30 to $150.

LinkedIn Campaign Manager sells reach into a named job title at a named company. You pay for that precision. Cost per click typically runs three to five times Meta's in most B2B categories, so the channel only works when a qualified meeting is worth far more than a click.

Typical US cost per click runs about $8 to $15, and typical cost per lead runs about $50 to $250. LinkedIn documents a minimum daily budget, so check the current floor before you commit.

Meta Ads Manager sells cheap attention and fast creative iteration. Its targeting is broad and its learning is fast, which suits demand creation and offers with a visual hook.

Typical US cost per click runs under $1 to low single digits, and typical cost per lead runs about $10 to $50.

TikTok Ads Manager sells creative volume. The format rewards native, fast-cut video and punishes repurposed assets. If your team cannot ship new concepts weekly, the channel stalls.

Typical US cost per click runs under $1 to about $2, and typical cost per lead runs about $20 to $80. Market eligibility varies, so confirm your target countries in the account before launch.

The platform-specific checks

For Google Ads, confirm inside the live account that search terms are visible, negative keyword lists exist, and conversion actions match your CRM stages. Check whether Performance Max is pulling spend away from branded search, and whether your billing profile and payment threshold are set.

For LinkedIn, confirm that your contact list uploads cleanly, that lead form data lands in the CRM, and that the account has the permissions your agency needs. Test whether job title targeting is narrow enough to exclude students and job seekers.

For Meta, confirm pixel and Conversions API events fire, that placement exclusions are set, and that Advantage+ expansion is on or off by choice. Check the ad account's payment method and who holds admin rights.

For TikTok, confirm the events API is connected, that your target markets are eligible, and that creative production can keep pace. Check brand safety controls and comment moderation before launch.

Run one bounded trial

Use a single offer, three to five distinct concepts, and a tested landing page. Add one qualified conversion definition, a maximum loss, and a fixed observation window. The observation window must last at least two weeks. A startup paid acquisition checklist keeps those fields in one place so nothing gets scored twice.

Keep the ad account, billing, domain, pixel, audiences and creative under company ownership. Agency access should be revocable in one click. A platform recommendation is an input to a decision, never budget authority.

What to export before you decide

Pull these items:

If a platform will not let you export change history, that is a finding.

The GOV.UK technology selection guidance asks buyers to weigh adaptability, data control, security review and total ownership cost.

Those questions transfer cleanly to ad platforms.

The GOV.UK open standards guidance ties open standards to interoperability and reduced supplier dependence, which is the test for whether your startup paid acquisition data can leave one vendor for another. Applied to ad platforms, that test means the company owns the ad account, the pixel, the audience data and the change history, and can export them.

Platform scorecard

Disclosure

No platform paid for inclusion. These four appear because their public documentation covers broad paid-acquisition and measurement capability. This is not a ranking.

Common questions

Which platform should a startup test first?

See the first takeaway. Start where your buyer already searches or scrolls, and where your team can produce the required creative. A B2B team with no video capacity should not open with TikTok.

How many platforms can one team run well?

One, until it produces qualified conversions at a cost the unit economics survive. Adding a second channel before the first is stable splits attention and budget.

What kills a pilot fastest?

Borrowed benchmarks. A cost per lead from another company's deck tells you nothing about your offer, your market or your sales cycle.