How Much Should Local Businesses Spend on Ads in 2025?

One of the most common questions local service business owners ask is: “How much should I spend on ads?”
Whether you're running HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical, or restoration services, the right ad budget depends on your goals, service area, and category competitiveness.

Here’s the 2025 guide to help you decide.

Typical Monthly Ad Spend for Trades in 2025

Based on industry benchmarks and thousands of campaigns, most local trades fall into these ranges:

• Small markets: $1,000–$3,000/month
• Mid-sized markets: $3,000–$7,000/month
• Competitive metros: $7,000–$15,000/month
• Emergency trades (water damage, HVAC repair): $5,000–$25,000/month

These ranges correlate directly with expected CPL (cost per lead).

Average Cost Per Lead (CPL) by Vertical

• HVAC: $50–$120
• Plumbing: $60–$150
• Roofing: $80–$200
• Electrical: $40–$110
• Water Damage / Restoration: $120–$300
• Garage Door Repair: $30–$90

If your CPL is significantly higher, either the targeting or the funnel is inefficient.

What Determines Your Required Budget?

1. Service Area Size

More zip codes = more impressions required.
More impressions = higher cost.

2. Competitiveness

Roofing and restoration are notoriously aggressive verticals.
Electrical and pest control are more moderate.

3. Urgency of Jobs

Emergency jobs demand higher ad pressure.

4. Capacity

If you only need 20 booked jobs per month, you may not need a huge budget.

Should You Hire an Agency or Run Ads Yourself?

Running ads yourself is possible, but risky. Most SMBs end up wasting money due to:

• incorrect targeting
• weak creative
• improper bidding
• no optimization
• hitting learning phase resets

This is why many turn to lead marketplaces (Angi, Thumbtack) or agencies.

But the best ROI path is increasingly automation.

Where biddable fits in

Instead of:

• learning Meta or Google
• hiring an expensive agency
• depending on shared marketplaces

You can simply set:

• your monthly budget
• your vertical
• your goals

And biddable handles everything from targeting to creative to optimization.

Predictable cost. Predictable results.

Final Takeaway

There is no universal ad budget for every local business. But if you know your vertical’s CPL range and you understand how much monthly work you need, you can reverse-engineer your ideal spend.

In 2025, automated tools like biddable make it easier than ever to get high-quality local leads without being a full-time marketer.