What digital marketing should a contractor run?
Start with the channels that reach homeowners when they need a contractor right now: Google search ads, Google Local Services Ads and your Google Business Profile. Add social ads, retargeting and streaming TV once those are producing calls, to sell the bigger jobs people plan ahead for.
That order matters more than the total budget. A contractor who spreads $2,000 a month across six channels usually gets less than one who puts it into two channels and runs them well. If you want the wider picture first, our guide covers what a full digital marketing setup includes for a small business.
The channels, ranked by how close they are to a booked job
| Channel | What it does for a contractor | When to add it |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | Decides whether you show in the map results. Free. | Day one, and keep it current |
| Google search ads | Catches people searching "roof repair near me" or "AC not cooling" | First paid channel |
| Google Local Services Ads | Pay-per-lead listings above search ads, with a Google verification badge | Alongside search, if your trade qualifies |
| Retargeting | Brings back people who visited your site and didn't call | Once your site gets steady traffic |
| Facebook, Instagram and Nextdoor ads | Sells planned jobs: replacements, maintenance plans, remodels, seasonal offers | Once search is producing calls |
| Streaming TV and online video | Builds your name before people need you | Once the basics work and you want to grow |
Search ads and Local Services Ads do the heavy lifting because they reach people with a job ready to go. Home and home improvement businesses paid about $8.33 per click and $91 per lead on Google Ads in 2026, according to WordStream's 2026 benchmarks, and emergency searches cost more than that.
Social, Nextdoor and streaming TV ads won't catch the burst pipe at 11pm. They work on the homeowner who will need a new roof, a new system or a kitchen remodel in the next few months, and they make your name familiar when that day comes.
Where to spend, trade by trade
Each trade has its own mix and its own busy season. A starting point:
| Trade | Lead with | Busy season (Southeast) | Worth adding |
|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC | Search + Local Services Ads | Cooling late May–Sept; heating Nov–Feb | Social for tune-ups and maintenance plans |
| Plumbing | Search + Local Services Ads | Year-round, spikes in freezes | Retargeting for repipes and water heaters |
| Roofing | Search, plus fast response after storms | Spring and after major storms | Geofencing storm-hit neighborhoods |
| Electrical | Search + Local Services Ads | Year-round | Social for generators, panels and EV chargers |
| Landscaping | Social + search | Spring and fall | Nextdoor and seasonal offers |
| Remodeling | Search + retargeting | Late winter planning into spring | Streaming TV and email for long decisions |
We go deeper on individual trades in our guides to HVAC marketing in Atlanta and home services marketing in Gwinnett County.
Where contractor ad budgets leak
Most wasted contractor spend comes from a few repeat problems:
- Targeting the whole metro. If your crews cover 20 miles, ads shown 40 miles away buy clicks you can't serve. Draw the area around the ZIP codes you can reach profitably, and raise bids where your best jobs come from.
- One campaign for every job type. Emergency repairs, replacements and maintenance are worth very different amounts. Mixed together, cheap clicks eat the budget meant for the valuable ones.
- Calls going to voicemail. Emergency ads that run after hours with nobody answering are paying for leads to go to a competitor. Schedule them for when someone picks up.
- No call tracking. Most contractor leads are phone calls. Without tracking, nobody knows which channel produced the job, and budget decisions become guesses.
- Shared leads in place of your own ads. Lead websites sell the same homeowner to several contractors. Your own ads send the call only to you, and they get cheaper per job as the campaigns learn.
- Ads that never change. The same ad running for months to the same small local audience gets more expensive over time. See why your ad creative stops working.
How to split a contractor marketing budget
This is an illustration, not a rule. Your mix depends on your trade, area and season.
A contractor with $3,000 a month in ad spend, running in one metro area, might start like this:
- Google search ads: about 50%. The searches closest to a booked job.
- Local Services Ads: about 25%. Pay-per-lead, above the search ads.
- Retargeting and social: about 25%. Bring back site visitors and sell planned jobs.
Hold streaming TV until the first three are producing calls at a cost per job you're happy with. Then shift budget toward whatever is producing booked jobs most cheaply, and lean into each trade's busy season.
Want a starting split for your own business? Our free digital media plan builder asks a few questions and suggests channels and a budget split in dollars.
What to measure
Clicks and leads are easy to count and easy to be fooled by. The number that matters is cost per booked job, by channel:
1. Track every call and form, with a separate tracking number or source for each channel. 2. Mark which leads became booked jobs, and what each job was worth. 3. Divide each channel's spend by the jobs it booked.
Review it monthly. A channel with expensive leads can still be the best one if those leads book large jobs.
Where Deep Thought fits
Deep Thought runs digital marketing for contractors and other local businesses, all in one place: search, Local Services Ads, social, retargeting and streaming TV, planned and run by our team. It costs a fraction of what an agency charges, month to month. Whoever runs your ads, make sure the accounts are in your name. Our ad account ownership checklist shows how to check.
Sources
- WordStream, Google Ads Benchmarks 2026: home and home improvement averages.
What is the best digital marketing for contractors?
For most contractors, the best starting point is Google search ads, Google Local Services Ads and a complete Google Business Profile with steady reviews. These catch homeowners at the moment they need a contractor. Once those produce calls, social ads, retargeting and streaming TV help sell bigger planned jobs like replacements and remodels.
How much should a contractor spend on digital marketing?
There is no single right number, but plan on at least $1,500 to $2,500 a month in ad spend per trade campaign in a metro area. Below that, campaigns rarely get enough clicks to learn what works. Home and home improvement clicks averaged about $8.33 on Google Ads in 2026, and emergency searches cost more, so start with the channels closest to the job and add others as they pay off.
Are Google Local Services Ads good for contractors?
For most licensed trades, yes. Local Services Ads appear above regular search ads, carry a Google verification badge, and charge per lead rather than per click. Run them alongside regular search ads, because verification can take a few weeks and the two reach slightly different searches.
Should contractors buy shared leads from lead websites?
Shared leads are sold to several contractors at once, so you compete on speed and price for every job. They can fill gaps, but your own ads send the call only to you, build your reviews and brand, and get cheaper per job as the campaigns learn.
How do I know if my contractor marketing is working?
Track calls and form fills from every channel, then count how many became booked jobs and what each one cost. If you can't see cost per booked job by channel, fix the tracking before changing the budget.