How Much Should a Contractor Pay for Marketing?

It's the question every contractor asks and almost nobody gets a straight answer to: what should I actually be paying for marketing? Here's the honest version.

The Model Matters More Than the Number

There's no single right dollar amount — it varies by trade, by market, and by how fast you want to grow. But here's what matters more than the number: how you're charged. A fair, predictable fee for the work beats a mystery percentage every single time.

Why Percentage-of-Spend Pricing Is a Trap

Lots of agencies charge a percentage of your ad budget. It sounds normal until you do the math. Spend more to grow, and their fee climbs too — for the exact same work. It punishes you for scaling and quietly nudges them to push bigger budgets whether or not it's right for you. A flat fee flips that: the price is the price, and any advice about your budget is about your results, not their paycheck.

Separate the Fee From the Ad Spend

Two different buckets, and you should always know which is which:

• Ad spend — money that goes to Google or Facebook to buy clicks. This should go straight to the platform, paid by you.
• Management fee — what you pay someone to build and run the system.

When those get blended into one number, you can't tell what you're really paying for the work. Keep them separate and the fog clears.

How To Know You're Getting Your Money's Worth

Forget impressions and clicks. The only questions that matter: how many real, local leads came in, how many turned into jobs, and what did each real opportunity cost you? If your marketing can answer that and the number keeps improving, you're getting value — whatever the fee.

At WHACK we charge one flat monthly fee, take no cut of your ad spend, and you own everything. It's the pricing we wished existed when we were on the other side of it. If you're not sure you're getting your money's worth right now, that's exactly what a free audit is for.