How to choose a marketing agency for your remodeling company
Eight questions to ask before you sign anything, and the answers that should end the conversation.
PJC Media · · 7 min read
How do I choose a marketing agency for my remodeling company?
Ask what they are measured on, who owns the ad account and the website, whether they work with your competitors, how fast a new lead gets a reply, and what happens if they miss the target. A good agency for remodelers reports on signed contracts rather than leads, puts any guarantee in writing with the conditions spelled out, lets you keep everything they build, and can put you on the phone with a contractor in your own trade.
Why this is harder than it should be
Every agency pitching a remodeler says the same things: more leads, better leads, a proven system. The words do not separate anyone. The answers to specific questions do, and most remodelers never ask them because they do not know which ones matter.
These are the questions we would want a contractor to ask us, and the ones we would ask on their behalf if they were hiring someone else.
The eight questions
- 1. What are you measured on?
- Leads, appointments, or signed contracts. An agency paid on leads is paid to produce leads, whether or not they sign. You want the one willing to be judged on contracts.
- 2. Who owns the ad account, the website and the CRM?
- It should be you. If the agency owns them, leaving means starting again from nothing, and that is the real reason some contracts are hard to exit.
- 3. Do you work with other contractors in my trade in my area?
- If yes, you are paying them to compete against you for the same homeowners. Ask for exclusivity in writing.
- 4. What happens in the first five minutes after a lead comes in?
- If the answer is that it lands in your inbox, the agency has handed you the most expensive part of the job. Look for an automatic text and email inside a minute and a sequence that runs for weeks.
- 5. Can I speak to a client in my trade?
- Not a testimonial page. A phone call with someone who does what you do. Hesitation here tells you a lot.
- 6. What is the guarantee, exactly?
- If there is one, get the number, the time window, what counts towards it and what you have to do on your side. A guarantee without conditions in writing is a sales line.
- 7. What does it cost, all in?
- Setup, monthly management and ad spend are three different numbers. Make sure you know which you are paying, which goes to Google or Meta, and which stops if you leave.
- 8. How do I leave?
- Notice period, what you keep, and how the handover works. A good agency answers this without flinching.
Answers that should end the conversation
- The ad account is theirs and you cannot have admin access.
- They cannot tell you how many signed jobs their leads produced for anyone.
- They already work with a competitor down the road and do not see the problem.
- A twelve-month contract with no exit before you have seen a single lead.
- Results are described in impressions, clicks or leads, never in signed work.
Specialist or generalist
A generalist agency can run good ads. What it usually cannot do is tell you what a kitchen buyer asks before signing, how long a basement decision takes, or why a roofing lead expires in hours. That knowledge shows up in the form questions, the creative and the follow-up, which is where remodeling campaigns are actually won.
If you are weighing two agencies of similar quality, pick the one that has done your trade before and can prove it with a contractor you can call.
How we answer them
Since this is our site, here are ours. We are measured on signed contracts: $200,000 in signed work inside 90 days, or you do not pay us. You own the ad account, the site, the CRM and the data. We work with one contractor per trade per market. Every lead gets a text and email inside a minute. And the contractors on our case studies page are on video, by name, in their own words.
Questions people ask
- What should I ask a marketing agency before hiring them?
- What they are measured on, who owns the ad account and website, whether they work with your competitors, how fast leads get a reply, what the guarantee says exactly, the full cost, and how you leave.
- Should a remodeler hire a specialist or a general marketing agency?
- A specialist, if the quality is similar. Knowing a trade shows up in the form questions, creative and follow-up, which is where remodeling campaigns are won or lost.
- Who should own my ad account and website?
- You should. If an agency owns them, leaving means rebuilding from nothing.
Keep reading
- How to write a remodeling estimate that wins the jobHomeowners compare estimates by the total on the last page. Here is how to write one that makes the comparison work in your favor.
- How hardscapers win the job when their quote is higherYour patio costs more because of the base nobody sees. Here is how to make the homeowner see it before they compare numbers.
- How to sell more bathroom remodels at a higher ticketMost remodelers lose bathroom jobs on the first phone call, not on price. Here is how to fill the calendar with primary suites instead of vanity swaps.
- Remodeling marketing trends for 2027: what is changing and what to do about itFive shifts in how homeowners find and choose a remodeler, and the practical response to each.
$200,000 in signed work in 90 days, or you do not pay us. One remodeler per market.
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