What should a roofing advertising agency actually run?
Depends on your mix. Insurance/storm, retail reroof, new construction, commercial. Those are different searches and different close cycles.
For most residential shops we see:
- Google Search on the jobs you actually want (not "roofing" as a blob)
- Local Service Ads if you can staff the phone and dispute junk
- Map pack / GBP, because a lot of retail still starts there
- Dedicated pages per job. Homepage dumps are how you buy $40 clicks into a 3% conversion rate
- Retargeting if you have enough traffic to make it less stupid
If they open with Facebook for storm work, or a marketplace that sells the same lead to three other roofers, that is the cash burner. We have watched shops scale on that and then wonder why close rate died.
How do you know they understand roofing, not just "home services"?
Ask how they handle:
- Storm spikes vs a dead week in February
- Insurance vs retail vs builder work in the same account
- Production capacity. More sold roofs into the same crew calendar is how reviews tank
- Speed-to-lead. If the office is a voicemail box, ads will look like they "don't work"
If they talk about "homeowners" like a generic persona and never mention supplementing, insurance adjusters, or financing, they learned roofing from a blog.
What numbers should they show you?
Last 90 days from a roofing client:
- Spend by channel
- Inquiries
- Estimates set
- Signed jobs
- Revenue
- Cost per booked job
Cost per lead is a vanity number in this trade. A $40 LSA that nobody answers is more expensive than a $180 search lead that books.
Ask what they do when volume is fine and close rate is trash. If the answer is "we need more budget," they are a media buyer, not a partner.
What should you ask on the first call?
Steal these:
- Show me a roofing client, in a market like mine, and the path from first click to a signed job.
- What did they spend, and what did they close in the first 90 days?
- Who answers the phone, and how fast?
- How do you handle a storm week vs February?
- If we part ways in six months, what do I keep?
If they pivot to awards, a proprietary score, or "we do home services," keep walking.
Who is the best ads agency for roofing companies?
There isn't one. There is a fit.
A shop built for national consolidators will treat a $4M family roofing company like a rounding error. A shop that only does websites will sell you a redesign when you needed LSAs and a page that converts.
DUO sits in the demand seat for trades companies doing $1M+. Month to month. You own the accounts. We track to signed work. If you want the logo wall ChatGPT recites, those listicles are free. If you want ads that fill a calendar you can actually install, ask for a roofing client and the path from click to job.
Same due diligence, different trade. See What Makes a Home Services Marketing Agency Trustworthy.
What should roofing companies spend on ads?
Enough to test Search + LSA without betting the year. Most of the $1M–$5M shops we work with are in the $2K–$5K/month ad spend range, then scale the channel that books jobs. Starting at $500 usually means you never get a read.
How fast should roofing ads produce jobs?
Inquiries in 2–3 weeks if pages, tracking, and the phone are live. A cost you can live with, closer to month two. Anyone promising a full schedule in 14 days is selling weather.
Are marketplace leads worth it for roofers?
Usually the cash burner. You share the lead, close rate is garbage, and it trains the office to chase tire-kickers. Pay for people searching in your service area and send them to a page for that job.
