What’s a Good Cost Per Lead for Plumbers? The Truth (and What to Watch Out For)
What’s a Good Cost Per Lead for Plumbers? The Truth (and What to Watch Out For)
What’s a good cost per lead for my plumbing business?
This is the question that every marketer gets over and over again. If the answer was simple you could Google it and walk away. There is a reason why it’s complicated to get to the bottom of this conundrum. And here is where I’m going to tackle it.
Why Cost Per Lead is Important
There’s a reason why you’re asking this question and it’s a good reason. With a predictable expectation on cost per lead you can calculate your margins, estimate your scaling opportunity and really put the pedal to the metal when it comes to your plumbing company. This isn’t unique to plumbing companies. It’s ANY service based business.
There ARE Benchmarks, but They Aren’t Your Answer
You will find benchmarks out there. Lots of different companies will provide you with studies, market analysis, research and such that will give you an answer. However, there’s a reason why they never seem to match up from one marketing agency to another and why the numbers vary so wildly.
One, is a lot of Agency’s take their best performers and promise you that. Which is bullshit. Never take a case study at face value because there are too many factors in cost per lead that they can guarantee you an outcome for the same price. These agencies don’t control your phone system, CSR training, sales process, market fluctuations, and a myriad of other factors. So if someone promises you a very specific lead cost and outcome, go tell them to pound salt. If you don’t, just remember this moment where one marketer told you the dirty little secret that a lot of marketer promises are based on smoke and mirrors.
The second problem you run into is the problem of comparison. We serve 70+ plumbers across North America and I can promise you what works for one, may or may not work as well for the others. That’s it, a very tenuous promise with very little certainty. This is because of the factors that I mentioned before. There are SO many variables in the pathway for leads that you cannot feasibly predict the placement of all of them. You HAVE to launch campaigns to the best of your ability, analyze the information you’ve purchased with that ad spend, and then start making adjustments.
Why Cost Per Lead is Tricky
Humans are Squirrely
Marketing in general is far more complex than it looks from the outside. This is because humans are tricky. Our behavior is largely unpredictable. Marketers like myself are always in the weeds, trying to guesstimate the most likely path of the customer and the current trends, but even when we hit it right, we are still hit with surprises and blindsided by behavioral shifts in the market. Do you think that Budweiser knew the fallout that they would face when they made Dylan Mulvaney theirs spokesman? A 136 BILLION dollar company with all the cash to drop on the best marketers in the world?
Nope. They got people slapped.
Marketing is Never One Thing
Part of the issue, is this question is wrapped up in how much a lead should cost per platform and it naturally assumes that every platform exists in a silo. They don’t. Your customer service quality, word of mouth, longevity, reviews, and pricing will all affect your overall cost per lead. Everything your company does will affect it’s performance on advertising. Online and off.
Marketing Initiatives Stack
The notion that your Facebook ads don’t affect your PPC ads is ridiculous and shortsighted. Your Facebook ads hit the market before they need a plumber. They build a reputation and a personality that your market adopts. Then they know who you are, so when they need a plumber, you’re farther up their mental list. Sweet, you got the lead! Right?
Oh…wait, they went to look you up to call and they saw 10 reviews and terrible photos on your Google Business listing. Facepalm moment indeed. You lost the lead there because you dropped the ball on the PATH of the customer.
See? they all help lift and elevate you but they all require each other to perform optimally.
The more brain space you occupy in the market the cheaper your leads will be. You can advertise PPC and bid to be 4th and get the click if you are a known plumber in your market.
If you run LSA ads and you have 70 reviews and the competitor next to you has 1,000. You can STILL with the lead if they trust you from your brand presence.
Marketing Success Takes Solid Business Operations
Here’s another wrinkle. Whether or not the price of the lead makes sense for your company is MASSIVELY dependent on your business.
Are you expensive? Better have sales dialed in because you’ll lose a lot.
Do you have answering service? If you want leads you should have one because people call at 8pm, a lot.
Do you have sales scripts, upsells, downsells? If you want any marketing to feel good, then get on this.
Each of these can lose the lead and skyrocket your cost of paying customer. As much as I would LOVE to promise you that a marketer like myself can promise to pull your business to new heights. I’m not responsible for running over half of the equation of success. This is why it’s vital that you don’t take a backseat to your marketing, even when and agency is doing large swaths of it. Because you MUST support it, understand it, and collaborate with everyone who touches it.
Thinking about doing radio? Make sure your sales rep understands your business and its customers. Billboards? Ask them where the best residential customers drive.
So What CAN You Do to Ensure Leads Make Sense?
Now down to brass tacks and some stats about what you want to know. These are stats that we have pulled from the first half of 2025 across our Client base. You might see similar costs, you might not.
Keep in mind. These are PER LEAD, not per paying customer.
Google LSA - $15 - $125
Google PPC - $50 - $250
Angies, Yelp, Thumbtack - $30 - $150
Facebook & Instagram - $???? This is SO variable because it depends on the offer you are asking. $99 inspection? $39 drain cleaning? $150 OFF water heater installation? All of these yield different results.
The range is large, because Paso Robles, California is very different than Pensacola, Florida. You put yourself out there with the best foot forward, and then you take the data you have and start learning your market. That’s TRUE marketing. No promises, only relentless testing and analysis.
Pay Attention to Ranges of Time and Costs
It’s important for you to understand your cost per lead every month. The averages will help you determine direction. We look at things monthly but quarterly and annually are also SUPER important to understanding your market fluctuations.
Watch the Trends
If you see things spiking in costs, then consider what’s changed in your market.
Pay attention to weather anomalies.
Holidays ALWAYS take the attention of the market.
Did competition move in?
Understand that an increase in spends on brand building takes MONTHS to build it’s effects.
Compare YOU for YOU
You have to start advertising and start comparing yourself against yourself. Sure, pay attention to the large scale benchmarks across the nation, but also understand that your market has its own makeup and your business itself is unique in that as well. Learn as you go, nothing is a silver bullet.
When you’re comparing your company, cost per lead, or even perceived success against someone else down the road, keep in mind the factors that separate you and them. Even something as simple as employee pay and company longevity can make a HUGE difference in your cost per lead.
True Marketing is This
When plumbing breaks in the home of your prospect, they go to Google and they look for you and you alone. Those leads are cheap, convert like crazy, pay higher prices, and will happily shout about your company from the rooftops.
The Bottom Line
Your cost per lead isn’t just a number — it’s a reflection of your marketing, your reputation, and your operations working together. Start tracking, testing, and tweaking.
