Worksheet · 3-page PDF
The Home Service Marketing Budget Worksheet
By Chris Heidlebaugh24 pointsUpdated 2026-09-01
What this is
This worksheet turns a revenue target into a marketing budget and a channel split. You enter current revenue, your growth goal, average job value, and close rate; the worksheet works back to the leads you need, the spend that implies, and how to divide it across website, local SEO, Google Ads, Local Services Ads, reviews, and follow-up. It replaces guessing with arithmetic you can defend.
“A budget is not a percentage you copied from a blog post. It is the cost of the leads you need to hit the number you already committed to.”
Use it now
0 of 5 checked
Start with your numbers
- Current annual revenue
- Write your number in the PDF
- Target annual revenue
- Write your number in the PDF
- Average job value
- Write your number in the PDF
- Lead-to-booked-job close rate (%)
- Write your number in the PDF
- Current monthly marketing spend
- Write your number in the PDF
- Current cost per lead
- Write your number in the PDF
Work back to the leads you need
- Revenue gap to close
- Target minus current
- Jobs needed
- Revenue gap ÷ average job value
- Leads needed
- Jobs needed ÷ close rate
- Leads needed per month
- Leads needed ÷ 12
- Implied monthly spend
- Monthly leads × cost per lead
- Spend as a % of revenue
- Sanity check, not the starting point
Split the budget
Percentages are a starting frame. Shift toward whatever your scorecard proves is working.
- Website and conversion work
- Typically 10–15%
- Local SEO and content
- Typically 20–30%
- Google Ads
- Typically 25–35%
- Local Services Ads
- Typically 10–20%
- Reviews and reputation
- Typically 5–10%
- Follow-up, CRM, and email
- Typically 5–10%
- Testing reserve
- Typically 5%
Before you commit the budget
How to use this
- 1Fill section one from real records, not estimates.
- 2If cost per lead is unknown, use the range from your own past 90 days of spend and leads.
- 3Re-run the worksheet each quarter — the split should shift as evidence comes in.
Your next step
If you'd rather your own employee owned this every month, that's what the Blueprint trains them to do.
Train your team — Insourced Marketing Blueprint™Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of revenue should a home service company spend on marketing?
Established companies holding steady often land between 5% and 8% of revenue; companies pushing aggressive growth commonly run 10% to 15%. Use the range as a sanity check on the number this worksheet produces, not as the number itself.
Should I cut spend if leads get expensive?
Not automatically. Check close rate and follow-up speed first — an expensive lead that books is cheaper than a cheap lead nobody calls back.
