Define a Lead Generation Strategy

In a service business, you can feel the slowdown before you can measure it.

The phones aren’t as busy.
The calendar has more white space than you like.
Sales meetings feel more like troubleshooting sessions than growth planning.

You can still point to good weeks, but there’s a nagging sense that you’re working harder for the same results.

That’s what happens when your lead generation machine starts to slip.

It’s rarely about one bad month or one failed ad. More often, it’s a series of small issues that add friction to your marketing system. A campaign you’ve relied on for years starts producing less. A new channel you were excited about never really gets traction. Budget gets spread too thin, and no single source has the strength to carry growth on its own.

We’ve been through this enough times to know the pattern. The companies that recover fastest don’t chase every shiny new platform. They take a hard look at where their leads actually come from, double down on what works, and replace what’s failing before it drags down the rest of the operation.

What follows isn’t theory. It’s the framework we’ve built from both our own experience and conversations with operators spending anywhere from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand dollars a month on marketing.

Lead Generation Strategy: Where We Begin

In the early days, the temptation is to act like a big company with a small budget. That’s a mistake. If you are spending $1–2K per month, an agency will eat most of it in fees before a single lead comes in. At that level, your money and time are better spent where the work is personal and high touch. We’ve watched small operators own their market on:

• Nextdoor posts targeted to specific neighborhoods
• Local Facebook groups where actual homeowners ask for help
• TikTok organic videos showing real jobs and results
• Hyper-local content that bigger players cannot replicate at scale

When you do buy leads, start small and test aggressively. We’ve seen companies find real ROI on Angi’s List or Thumbtack. Others try those and get nothing. The point is to keep switching until you find the partner that can produce consistently for your area and trade. Only once you have a budget big enough to move the needle should you even consider an agency.

Channel Selection and Budget Allocation

This is where the discipline matters. Too many companies hit $3K or $5K per month in marketing spend and then split it five ways. The result is five weak channels instead of one strong one. Our approach is to find a winner and push it to its limit. If Local Services Ads (LSA) are working, max them out before moving on. If PPC is converting profitably, keep raising budget until you stop seeing returns.

For smaller companies:

• Focus on channels with direct, quick ROI
• Buy leads
• Use platforms you can personally dominate

For larger companies:

• Diversify into brand spend, SEO, and longer-term media
• Protect your main channels but don’t let all growth depend on them

The danger is thinking you are “diversifying” when you’re really diluting.

Marketing Budget Benchmarks That Hold Up

The healthy range for most operators we’ve spoken to is 8–10% of revenue. In high-growth phases, we’ve seen companies profitably push to 15%. The number itself isn’t the point. The structure is.

• Split spend between direct lead generation and brand/media
• Track which side is producing booked revenue, not just clicks or impressions
• Invest in “owned” lead sources like membership programs. A well-run membership plan turns into a built-in pipeline that replaces thousands of dollars in ad spend each month

Members don’t care about your PPC bids. They call you directly. That’s leverage.

Paid Advertising Insights That Still Apply

PPC isn’t dead. LSA isn’t fading. But both demand active management.

For LSA:

• Review volume and response times directly impact ranking
• If you do not meet minimum review thresholds, you may not get traction
• Even with few leads at first, start now so the account matures for when you need it

For PPC:

• Prune low-converting keywords regularly
• Keep landing pages sharp and consistent with the ad promise
• If you don’t have the expertise in-house, outsource to a specialist

We’ve seen operators push LSA budgets to $90K a month because it was working, while others never get off the ground because they tried to manage it on the side and lost momentum.

Choosing and Working With Marketing Agencies

When you’re ready for an agency, protect yourself:

• Own all accounts and data. No exceptions
• Avoid “too cheap” fees. A $500 PPC retainer means your campaign is on autopilot.
• Watch for inflated % of ad spend charges. Thirty percent of a large budget is more than some companies make in net profit.

Vetting matters. Look for:

• Agencies with real experience in your trade and service area size
• Clients you can talk to directly
• A track record with businesses at your stage of growth

And remember: revenue size doesn’t make someone’s advice valuable. If their profit margins are weak, their strategy might be too.

Google My Business and Local SEO as a Growth Lever

Ranking in the top three of Google’s Map Pack is one of the highest-value positions you can hold. And with AI search shifts coming, it is about to matter even more. We’ve seen companies spend thousands per month on GMB optimization because:

• Reviews are a trust engine and ranking factor
• Frequent updates signal activity to Google
• Visibility translates directly to calls and booked jobs

For some, GMB has become the highest-ROI marketing spend they have.

Transitioning to New Markets or Trades

When you enter a new market or add a new trade, the organic leads aren’t there yet.

Electrical service doesn’t have the same natural search demand as HVAC or plumbing. In those trades, you can get by with a stronger organic mix.

In electrical, you’re going to be buying a high percentage of your leads at the start.

The good news is that bought leads are a level playing field. With the right spend and processes, a startup can compete with a 30-year incumbent.

Website Redesign SEO Pitfalls

We’ve watched companies launch a beautiful new site and watch leads evaporate. The cause is usually technical, not creative.

• Old URLs disappear or change
• Google can’t find the pages it used to rank
• No redirects are in place, so traffic hits dead ends

Before you go live:

• Keep URLs the same wherever possible
• If you must change them, map every old page to its new location with a 301 redirect
• Verify indexing after launch

Skip this, and you’re rebuilding search authority from scratch.

Think about it this way…

Marketing rarely fails in one big moment. It erodes in small ways that are easy to miss until the damage is obvious.

Letting lead flow slip will take you down a bad path. Rectify any problems today (with the help of the guidance above).

Want to learn more? Check out this video with Sam Preston of Service Scalers.

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