How We Cut a Plumbing Company's Cost Per Lead by 71%

Family-owned plumber, $4k/mo ad spend

71%

Lower Cost Per Lead

$2,400/mo

Waste Eliminated

3.4x → 7.2x

Return on Ad Spend

The Challenge

A family-owned plumbing company was spending $4,000 per month on Google Ads with a cost per lead of $180. Their account had no negative keywords and relied heavily on broad match, which meant they were paying for clicks from people searching for 'plumbing supplies,' 'plumber salary,' and 'DIY pipe repair.' None of these searchers would ever become customers, but they were consuming over half the monthly budget.

The Strategy

  • Search term audit: A deep audit of search term reports revealed $2,400/mo in wasted spend on completely irrelevant queries
  • Match type overhaul: Rebuilt all campaigns using exact and phrase match keywords, eliminating the broad match waste
  • Negative keyword library: Added 500+ negative keywords including DIY, supplies, salary, hiring, and equipment terms
  • Campaign segmentation: Separated emergency plumbing (high intent, high value) from general plumbing services
  • Call tracking: Implemented call tracking with recording to measure lead quality and train the team on conversion
  • Mobile landing pages: Built mobile-first landing pages with click-to-call buttons — 70% of plumbing searches happen on mobile

The Results

Cost Per Lead

$180 → $52

71% decrease in cost per lead
Wasted Spend

$2,400/mo → $0

Eliminated all irrelevant ad spend
Return on Ad Spend

3.4x → 7.2x

More than doubled ROAS
Monthly Leads

22 → 77

250% increase in monthly leads
Call Answer Rate

+25% Improvement

Better call handling through tracking insights
“They found $2,400/month in wasted spend in our first audit. That alone paid for their management fee three times over.”
James L. — Plumbing Company Owner

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