I've run paid ads for roofing, remodeling, and HVAC companies for a while now, and the same mistake shows up over and over: owners think their lead problem is a targeting problem. It's almost never targeting.

Here's the actual breakdown I see on 9 out of 10 accounts before we take over:

1. No speed-to-lead system. A lead fills out a form and doesn't get a call for 4+ hours. Industry data says your close rate drops over 80% after the first 5 minutes. If your sales process can't respond instantly, your ad spend is subsidizing your competitor who calls first.

2. The offer is generic. "Free estimate" is not an offer, it's the default. Everyone runs it, so it converts like everyone else — poorly. A specific, urgency-driven offer (seasonal, financing-based, or problem-specific) consistently outperforms generic estimate CTAs by 2-3x in my accounts.

3. Landing pages built for browsing, not converting. Contractors send paid traffic to their homepage. Paid traffic needs a page with one job: capture the lead before they think twice. Every extra click costs you money.

4. No retargeting layer. Most home improvement decisions take multiple touches. If you're not retargeting website visitors and form-abandoners, you're paying full price for every single lead instead of a fraction on the second touch.

Fix the system before you touch the budget. More ad spend on a broken funnel just means losing money faster.

Happy to answer questions if anyone's running their own campaigns and wants a gut check.