How to Read Your Contractor Ad Report

A contractor ad report is useful only if it answers one question: did these ads lead to real jobs? Impressions, clicks and click rates are interesting, but they don’t tell you that. Look at calls, booked estimates and closed jobs, and compare them to what you spent.

Which numbers in a contractor ad report matter?

Most reports are packed with numbers. For a small contractor, only a few matter:

• Leads: how many calls, messages and forms came from the ads.
• Cost per lead: what each lead cost, as a rough guide.
• Booked estimates: how many of those leads turned into a visit or quote.
• Closed jobs: how many turned into paid work.
• Cost per booked job: your ad spend divided by the jobs you actually won.

The last one is the number to care about. A cheap lead that never books is not cheap. An expensive lead that turns into a big job can be a bargain.

Numbers that look good but don’t help

Some figures make a report look healthy without telling you anything:

• Impressions: how many times your ad was shown.
• Clicks: people can click and leave right away.
• Click rate: a good click rate on the wrong search can still cost you.
• Reach and followers: nice to see, hard to turn into a job.

These aren’t useless. They can explain why leads went up or down. They just aren’t the goal.

Where do the leads actually come from?

A good report breaks results down by source. You want to see which campaign, ad or search term brought in the leads. If one campaign brings most of the jobs and another brings none, you can move money from one to the other.

It also helps to know which kind of lead you got. Phone calls tend to be more serious than a form from someone just browsing, but not always. Ask your provider to separate them.

Check the calls yourself

Numbers can be wrong, or they can count the wrong things. Once a month, listen to a handful of call recordings if you have them, or read through the messages. Ask yourself:

• Were these people looking for the service I sell?
• Were they in my area?
• Did we answer, and how fast?
• Did anyone say how they found me?

This takes a few minutes and tells you more than a chart. If many of the calls are wrong-fit, that’s a signal to adjust the targeting.

What are the red flags in a report?

A report can look professional and still hide the truth. Watch for these:

• It shows clicks and impressions but never mentions calls or booked jobs.
• It only gives averages and never breaks results down by campaign or search term.
• It can’t tell you how many leads were spam or the wrong service.
• Numbers jump around and nobody can explain why.
• You can’t see how the ads are set up or what you’re paying for.

You’re paying for the ads, so you should be able to understand what they did. If you can’t, ask for a plainer report.

Connect the report to your jobs

The report only knows about leads. You know which of them became customers. Keep a simple list of new jobs and where each one came from. Even a notebook works. Once a month, match your list to the report and figure out what you paid per won job.

Questions worth asking whoever runs your ads:

• What changed this month, and why?
• Which search words brought the most leads?
• What did you stop spending on?
• How many leads were wrong-fit or spam?

A provider who welcomes these questions is a good sign. If you’d like help setting up call tracking and a clean report you can actually read, book a call and we’ll walk through what your ads should show you.

Quick answers

How often should I look at my ad report?

Glance at it weekly for anything odd, and sit down with it once a month to compare spend to booked jobs.

What’s a good cost per booked job?

It depends on your trade and how much a job is worth to you. A good number is one that leaves a healthy profit after the job is done.

Should I stop ads that don’t bring jobs right away?

Give them enough time to learn and collect data, but not forever. If nothing improves after you’ve fixed the targeting and your follow-up, change the plan.