Buying Leads: Angi, Thumbtack, Houzz, etc.
Short answer: Expensive, competitive, time-intensive, and really not for most service businesses.
These companies have been around for ages: with Angi (Formerly HomeAdvisor) being the most recognizable name. While in the past they were a reliable way for smaller handymen, contractors, and home-service providers to find clients, that landscape has change drastically since social media.
You’re paying top dollar to join a speed-to-dial knife fight. These platforms often resell the same lead to multiple contractors. You’re not buying customers – you’re buying a shot at a race.
Why it fails:
- Shared leads = low margins, high refunds
- Quality varies wildly; some aren’t even real people
- Dependency trap: turn it off, your pipeline collapses
What to do instead:
- Run targeted Google Ads for high-intent local search terms
- Build a landing page with proof, pricing, and a single CTA
- Own your reviews, email list, and referral system
Boosting Social Posts Instead of Running Real Ads – Easy, Limited
Short answer: Boosting can work at a small scale but lacks control and efficiency.
Boosted posts are easy to launch but offer limited targeting, less data, and higher CPCs as you scale. You’re paying for reach without real strategy.
What to do instead:
- Use Ads Manager to control audience, placements, and goals
- Split test 2–3 hooks per ad group
- Retarget site visitors or engagers with tailored offers
Overspending on Ads with Wide or Inaccurate Demographic Targeting
Short answer: You’re paying for junk traffic.
Broad match without negatives pulls in irrelevant searches that drain budget fast.
What to do instead:
- Start with exact and phrase match keywords
- Check search terms weekly
- Add negatives ruthlessly
SEO Packages That Don’t Move the Needle
Short answer: You’re buying checklists or funding busywork, not improving your rankings.
Agencies love selling “technical audits” and “SEO work” without explaining what’s happening. SEO should involve optimizing the structure of your site. It should also develop its authority and content over time. This helps cover a wide variety of topics related to your business. If your marketer can’t explain the deliverables from their SEO work, they might not be actively working on it. They could be sitting on their hands waiting for your site to naturally gain traffic.
What to do instead:
- Build useful, skimmable pages that match real search intent
- Interlink pages and answer real questions (think: “best HVAC system for old homes”)
- Track rankings for revenue-driving terms
Direct Mail Campaigns with No Tracking
Short answer: It’s expensive sending bulk mail and you won’t know if it worked without a real analytic tracking setup.
Postcards, mailers, flyers, and coupons can still work – but only when they’re measured. Adding a tracking method can be as simple as using the right QR code or link, and any marketer should be able to set a campaign like this up and explain how it works. These mail campaigns work best when they integrate with your existing online analytics info, like Google Analytics.
What to do instead:
- Include trackable offers or QR codes
- Combine mail with email or social touchpoints
- Only send to highly qualified local zones
Influencer Deals with No Fit
Short answer: The audience isn’t yours.
Paying influencers who don’t match your buyer is brand cosplay.
What to do instead:
- Use micro-creators with engaged niche audiences
- Run whitelisted ads using their content
- Track leads or sales per creator, not impressions
Software Bloat – Paying for Tools You Don’t Use
Short answer: You’re drowning in dashboards.
SaaS subscriptions stack up. Half of them don’t get logged into.
What to do instead:
- Audit your stack quarterly
- Consolidate into fewer platforms
- Kill tools without clear ROI
Overbuilt Websites with Weak Offers
Short answer: Looks great, converts terribly.
Pretty sites don’t mean booked jobs. If you’re not giving people a reason to contact you, you’re just showing off.
What to do instead:
- Prioritize speed, clarity, and one offer per page
- Use testimonials, pricing signals, and dead-simple CTAs
- Kill any section that doesn’t lead to conversion
Contests That Attract Freebie Hunters
Short answer: Your list grew. Your sales didn’t.
“Win a free iPad” gets emails from people who will never buy.
What to do instead:
- Use lead magnets that align with your offer (checklists, pricing guides)
- Qualify leads with intent questions
- Follow up with value, not just more promos
Agencies That Hide Data or Logins
Short answer: You’re paying for a black box.
If you can’t see your ad accounts, analytics, or performance breakdowns, you don’t own your marketing.
What to do instead:
- Demand access to all accounts and logins
- Require KPIs: CPL, CAC, ROAS, and lead quality
- Review change logs and reports monthly
Summary: Which Marketing Strategies are Best?
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angi / Thumbtack | $50–$100 | Low | High | Inconsistent | Low | No |
| Modernize / Networx | $75–$150 | Low–Medium | Medium–High | Variable | Low | No |
| Google Ads (Search) | $25–$60 | High | Low | High | High | Yes |
| Local SEO | Time-based | Medium–High | None | High | Very High | Yes |
| Referrals | Free–Low | High | None | Very High | Extremely High | Yes |
| Social Media Ads | $10–$40 | Medium | Low | Medium–High | Medium–High | Yes (if tracked) |
| Social Media Messages+ UGC | Time-based | Low–Medium | N/A | Variable | Medium | Sometimes |
FAQ: What Business Owners Actually Ask
Is it worth buying leads for a service business?
Buying leads from platforms like Angi and Thumbtack can deliver volume but not quality. Most leads are shared with multiple competitors, meaning you pay a premium to fight for attention. The conversion rate is low, the price per booked job is high, and the refund process is slow. For long-term growth, building your own lead funnel is cheaper and more predictable.
Is social media worth it for a restaurant?
Yes. For restaurants, social media is your visual storefront. It drives first impressions, shows off your food, and helps build local buzz. Instagram and Facebook especially help influence people choosing where to eat. Regular updates, local engagement, and customer reposts can directly affect foot traffic.
Do boosted posts work for small business marketing?
Boosted posts can help with visibility but give you little control over targeting, placement, or optimization. They’re best for light awareness plays, not for conversion. Use Ads Manager instead to run real campaigns with tracked goals and optimized audiences.
Is direct mail marketing good for local businesses?
Direct mail works best when it’s targeted and tracked. It’s not dead, but spraying generic postcards with no measurement is a waste. Use QR codes, promo codes, or unique URLs to tie mailers to results. Combine with email or digital ads for multi-channel lift.
Should I run broad match ads on Google Ads?
Not at first. Broad match can burn your budget fast with irrelevant clicks. Start with exact and phrase match. Monitor your search terms weekly and stack up negative keywords to filter out unqualified traffic. Only expand once you’ve dialed in profitable campaigns.
What does a good SEO strategy look like for a small business?
Good SEO strategies build out a content silo that covers your core services and focuses, and then gets more detailed as you delve into the niches of your site’s topic. Go for useful, intent-driven content. Answer real questions your customers search, structure content clearly (H2s, bullets), and interlink relevant pages. Local businesses should focus on location + service keywords and have a fast, mobile-friendly site. SEO is more like a toolkit than a ruleset sometimes: use it to your advantage.
How much should I spend on marketing?
The standard rule is 5–10% of gross revenue, but the real answer is: spend what drives ROI. Track every dollar. If $1 in gets you $4 out, spend as much as you can scale. If something burns cash without results, pause and reassess. Most businesses cut their marketing costs when cash on hand is low or profits drop, but this can be a death sentence if you want to expand (or rely on a regular stream of new clients to stay in business.)
What marketing tools are worth paying for?
If you’re using a marketing agency, they’ll likely give you access to reporting tools or regular reports as pdfs. If you’re going to buy a tool for yourself focus on the ones that impact leads or revenue. If a tool doesn’t help with tracking or increase conversions somehow, it’s worth considering if it’s helping. Costs can add up quickly, especially if you hire a shoddy marketing company who load up your site with costly Shopify plugins or page-builder apps.
How do I tell if my marketing agency is doing its job?
You should have full access to your ad accounts, CRM, analytics, and reporting dashboards. If they gatekeep logins, hide performance details, or confuse you with jargon and unclear KPIs, they’re probably hiding poor results or sitting on their hands. A good marketer should make you feel informed about what realistic returns across different tactics look like.
SEO Isn’t rocket science: If they can’t explain what they’re doing in a way you can somewhat understand, they’re probably not doing anything.
