Overview
This Lexington-based kitchen and bathroom remodeler has been in business since 2019. When they came to us, they weren’t really looking for a marketing agency. They were looking for an agency that would actually show them the numbers.
Their previous agency had been running Google Ads on a Maximize Clicks strategy and burning through budget without ever opening up the reports. The data behind the scenes was rough: 34 total conversions across the old campaigns, with the worst campaign costing $252.81 per lead. The owner was right to feel a little suspicious about what was going on. He’d been writing checks for months without seeing the proof that any of it was working.
After meeting with them and discussing what we could do for them, we rebuilt the entire account around two focused campaigns, Kitchen Remodelers and Bathroom Remodelers, and switched the bidding from Maximize Clicks to Maximize Conversions. Here’s where the numbers landed:
- 350 conversions at $107.41 each on the new campaigns
- Q3 2024 peak quarter: 98 leads at just $46.53 per lead
- 384 total leads from $41,000 in ad spend across the full window
- For projects worth $10K to $50K+, the math works out fast. At even a 10% close rate on a $20K average project, that's $768K in revenue from $41K in spend
The Challenge
Most contractors who come to us have been through one or two agencies before. The pattern is almost always the same. The previous agency talks a big game, sets up campaigns the contractor can’t really see into, and reports vanity metrics like “impressions” and “clicks” instead of the only thing a remodeling business actually cares about: phone calls and qualified leads from buyers ready to spend money.
That’s exactly what happened here. The old agency had the account on Maximize Clicks bidding, which is the bidding strategy that quietly bleeds budget on home services accounts. Maximize Clicks tells Google one thing: get me as many clicks as possible for my budget. It does not tell Google to find buyers, find leads, or find anyone who’s actually going to call. It just buys clicks.
The result was 34 conversions over the entire run, with one campaign clocking in at $252.81 per lead. For a kitchen and bathroom remodeler, that’s the kind of cost per lead where even a strong close rate isn’t even good.
Worse than the cost was the trust damage. The owner had been writing checks to a company that wouldn’t open up the dashboard and walk through the numbers. By the time he reached out to us, he wasn’t asking for “more leads.” He was asking to see the truth.
Our Approach
Show the Numbers First
Before we changed a single setting in the account, we walked the owner through what was actually in there: where the spend was going, what was converting and what wasn’t, and why the cost per lead was where it was. That conversation alone reset the relationship, because for the first time he was looking at his own marketing data with someone explaining it in plain English.
That’s not a tactic. That’s the standard. Every account we manage is fully transparent to the owner: full access, full reporting, full attribution. If a contractor can’t see exactly where every dollar is going, he doesn’t have a marketing agency. He has a black box.
Switch the Bidding Strategy
The first technical change was killing Maximize Clicks and switching to Maximize Conversions. The difference is simple. Maximize Clicks tells Google to chase volume. Maximize Conversions tells Google to chase outcomes. For a service business where one bad lead and one good lead cost the same to acquire but are worth wildly different amounts, the second strategy is the only one that makes sense.
Two Campaigns, Two Service Lines
Then we restructured the account into two dedicated campaigns:
- Kitchen Remodelers
- Bathroom Remodelers
Each campaign got its own keyword set, its own ad copy, and its own budget. A homeowner searching for “kitchen remodeling lexington” is not the same buyer as one searching for “bathroom remodeling lexington.” Different budgets, different timelines, different decision criteria. Letting one campaign chase both means Google averages everything to the middle. Splitting them lets each campaign train itself on its own audience and get sharper every month.
Conversion Tracking That Actually Works
We rebuilt conversion tracking from scratch: call tracking on every campaign, form tracking with proper attribution, and real conversion goals tied to phone calls and qualified leads, not just page visits or button clicks. That’s how we can confidently say where each of the 350 leads came from and what each one cost.
Revenue math
For a remodeler where a kitchen or bathroom project sits between $10K and $50K, even a modest close rate produces real money:
- 384 leads × 10% close rate × $20K average = $768,000 in revenue from $41,000 in ad spend
- That’s an 18.7x return on ad spend at a conservative 10% close rate, before counting any of the higher-ticket full remodel projects
The Takeaway
If your previous marketing agency won’t open the dashboard and walk you through the numbers, you will be in the same boat as our client was. Maximize Clicks bidding, no clear conversion tracking, and 34 leads at $253 each is what happens when an agency is optimizing for spending the budget instead of growing the business.
We took the same account, switched the bidding to Maximize Conversions, restructured it into two service-line campaigns, and turned 34 leads into 350. Cost per lead dropped from over $250 to $107 on average, and to $46.53 in the best quarter.
Two lessons. Bidding strategy is the lever most home services accounts are losing money on. And if your agency won’t show you the numbers, the numbers are bad. Fix both, and the calendar fills itself.
Results
Old campaigns (Maximize Clicks)
34
total conversions
Worst campaign
at $252.81 per lead
Limited transparency
into the actual numbers
New campaigns (Maximize Conversions, split by service line)
350 conversions
at $107.41 average cost per lead
Q3 2024 peak quarter
98 leads at $46.53 per lead
384 total leads
delivered from $41K in spend
Cost per lead cut by half
overall, and by 5x in the best quarter
Metric
Conversions
Cost/Conversion
Conversion Rate
Worst CPL
Before
34
$121.73
2.69%
$252.81
After Based Agency
350
$107.41
3.44%
$119.58
Change
10x more leads
12% lower CPL
28% better
Cut in half
Key Takeaways: Our Local SEO Domination method helped this client go from almost invisible to the top-ranked result in their area. Within three months, the impact was clear, and the growth has continued month after month for more than two years.
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Boosting sales for a garage builder
Over the course of one month, we delivered 184 qualified leads at an average cost of $19.32 per lead, with an average project value of $45,000.
184
qualified leads
$19.32
Average cost p/lead
$45,000
project value
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