How Much Should a Contractor Spend on Marketing?
By ExceloWeb Solution · Parker, Colorado · Updated August 2026
The short answer: established contractors typically invest 5–10% of revenue in marketing; growth-mode contractors often run higher. But percentages hide the real question — the only number that matters is cost per lead measured against your average job value. If $1,000 of marketing produces leads that close into $12,000 of work, the budget question answers itself.
What the Pieces Actually Cost
Websites and landing pages: from a few hundred for a starter page to several thousand for a full build — ours start at $199 for a lead-ready starter page. SEO: commonly a few hundred to a couple thousand per month depending on market competitiveness. Google Ads: your click budget (often $10–50/day locally to start) plus management. Bought shared leads: $50–$100+ each, sold to several competitors at once — the most expensive option once you count the bidding wars.
The Math That Should Drive Every Decision
Work it backwards from a job: if your average job is $4,000 and you close one in five leads, a lead is worth up to $800 to you — so a $40 exclusive lead is a bargain and a $100 shared lead is a coin flip. Track three numbers monthly: cost per lead, close rate, and revenue per marketing dollar. Any vendor who can't show you those numbers — including us — doesn't deserve the budget. How leads get produced in the first place is covered in the complete guide.
Where a First Budget Should Go
In order: fix capture first (a converting page multiplies everything after it), then Google Business Profile and reviews (cheapest ranking wins), then a modest ads budget on buyer-intent searches, then SEO content that compounds. Skipping straight to ads with a leaky website is how budgets die — see why websites get traffic but no leads.
Common Questions
What should a contractor lead cost?
Exclusive leads from your own presence commonly run $20–$75 depending on trade and market; shared platform leads run $50–$100+ and are sold to competitors. Judge every source against your job value, not against each other.
Is $500 a month enough for contractor marketing?
It can be, if it's focused: capture fixes plus GBP and reviews first, then a small ads test. Spread across everything at once, it disappears.
How do I know if my marketing is working?
One test: can you trace this month's jobs back to their source? If nobody can show you which dollar produced which lead, the honest answer is you don't know — and fixing tracking comes before spending more.