How much should a contractor spend on marketing?
Spend nothing and you stay invisible; spend blindly and you burn cash. How to set a sane budget and put it where it actually pays.
Most contractors either spend nothing on marketing and wonder why the phone's quiet, or throw money at ads and lead-buying with no idea what works. Neither builds a business. The good news: the highest-return marketing for the trades is mostly cheap or free, and once you know what a customer is worth, setting a budget gets simple. Here's how to think about it.
Start with what's nearly free
Before you spend a dollar on ads, max out the marketing that costs little and returns the most: a complete Google Business Profile, a steady flow of reviews, and lead capture so you stop losing calls you already get. Most contractors have huge gains sitting untapped here - it's cheaper to stop losing leads than to buy new ones.
Know what a customer is worth
You can't set a budget without this. Take your average job value and how often a customer comes back or refers - that's what a customer is really worth. Once you know it, you know how much you can afford to spend to win one and still profit.
Setting the number
A common rule of thumb is spending a single-digit percentage of revenue on marketing - more when you're growing hard, less when you're booked out. But the percentage matters less than the discipline: only scale what you can measure paying off.
- Cover the free basics first - they're pure ROI.
- Set a monthly number you can sustain, tied to revenue.
- Measure cost-per-job by channel; keep what pays, cut what doesn't.
See how you score on this.
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Scan my businessWhere contractors waste money
The classic traps: buying shared leads that five competitors also got, paying for ads that point to a weak website, and 'branding' spends you can't measure. Spend on things that produce trackable jobs, and make sure your profile and site can convert the attention before you pay to send traffic to them.
“I was buying leads that everyone else bought too. I moved that money into my Google presence and reviews and got better jobs for less - and they were mine, not shared.”
Start with the free, high-return basics (Google profile, reviews, lead capture), know what a customer is worth to you, then spend a sane slice of revenue on what you can measure. Track cost-per-job and double down on what works.
Common questions
Often a single-digit percentage, higher when actively growing. But start with the free basics and only scale paid spend you can measure - the percentage is a guide, not a rule.
Sometimes, but shared leads are sold to multiple contractors and get competitive fast. Measure cost-per-booked-job; owning your own Google presence usually beats renting leads long-term.
For almost every trade: a complete Google profile, steady reviews, and capturing the leads you already get. Cheap or free, and it compounds.