Remodeling marketing budgets are often set by feel or by a percentage of revenue. Neither tells you whether the money will produce the projects you can actually take on. Remodeling is a business of few, large jobs, and the budget should start from that.
Start from capacity, not from revenue
How many new projects can your crews and project managers start next quarter without the existing ones suffering? That number - not a revenue target - caps what marketing can usefully buy. Spending to win projects you cannot staff produces delays, unhappy clients and reviews that cost you the next project.
Then work backwards through the funnel
You need three numbers from your own records: how many consultations it takes to sign a project, how many enquiries it takes to book a consultation, and what a signed project is worth to you in gross profit. The figures below are illustrative only - replace them with yours.
Say you sign one project in four consultations, book a consultation from one enquiry in three, and want three more projects a month. That is twelve consultations and thirty-six enquiries. If you are willing to spend $1,500 of marketing to win a project worth far more than that in profit, the budget is $4,500 a month - about $125 per enquiry. Whether that is realistic depends on your market, which is what a first test tells you.
In remodeling, the expensive part of a bad lead is not the lead. It is the evening a salesperson spends at the kitchen table of someone who was never going to sign.
Count the consultation, not just the lead
A consultation costs a salesperson or designer several hours including travel and the proposal. If a cheap lead source fills the diary with homeowners whose budget will never meet the job, its true cost is those hours. That is why qualifying on project type, budget band and timing before booking matters more in remodeling than in almost any trade.
Where the money usually goes
- Search ads for project-specific searches - kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel, basement finishing - in your area
- Meta ads with real project video to create demand among homeowners still dreaming
- A website whose project pages and process page do the persuading
- Follow-up that lasts as long as remodel decisions do - often months
Search captures people who have decided; Meta reaches people who have not yet. Both need qualifying forms. We cover the search side in Google Ads for remodeling contractors and the demand side in Facebook ads for remodeling contractors.
Judge it on signed projects
Remodeling decisions take months, so judge a channel over a long enough period to see signatures, not just enquiries. Track each lead to an outcome, compare cost per signed project by source, and move budget to what signs. More on how we approach it is on our remodeling marketing page.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a standard percentage remodelers should spend on marketing?
- Rules of thumb exist, but they cannot tell you whether the money will produce projects you can staff. Start from capacity and your own funnel numbers, then check the result against what you can afford.
- How long before remodeling marketing pays off?
- Often months, because decisions take months. Enquiries can start within weeks, but judge channels on signed projects over a period long enough to see them.
- How do we reduce wasted consultations?
- Ask project type, budget band, timing and address before booking, show typical ranges where you are comfortable, and run separate campaigns by project type. Fewer, better consultations are the goal.
- Should a small remodeler use Facebook or Google first?
- Usually search first, for homeowners already looking, then Meta to create demand once search is producing consultations at a sensible cost. Both need qualifying forms and patient follow-up.
Where this applies
Notes from the team running paid media, funnels, and growth systems for Platino Sol clients every day.