How Much Should Roofing Companies Really Spend on Marketing?

When roofing owners and managers talk about their roofing marketing spend, I’ve heard everything from $0 all the way up to 25%.

Some try to base their marketing budget on profit margin, but that does not make sense because roofing margins swing constantly.

Others base it on what they can afford right now, but that approach never scales and keeps them stuck in the feast-or-famine cycle.

The Small Business Administration recommends 7% to 15% of gross revenue for small business growth. That is fine as a generic guideline, but roofing is far too competitive and seasonal for a broad suggestion like that to be useful.

The tough love truth is simple:

Your roofing marketing spend should be based on your growth goal & nothing else

To figure that out, ask yourself two questions:

1. How much does it cost you to acquire a new customer right now?
2. How many new customers do you need to hit your revenue goal?

From there, assume you will need to increase your current cost per customer by 20% to 60% as you scale your roofing business.

This happens because:

• You run out of easy wins
• You expand into harder ZIP codes
• You compete against more roofers
• Ads get more expensive when you widen your radius
• SEO requires more authority, content, and consistency
• Competitors increase their spend as they grow

A 20 percent increase in customer acquisition cost is very optimistic. A 60 percent increase is conservative and protects you from surprises.

A Simple Example Using Realistic Roofing Numbers

Let’s say you are doing $1 million per year and your current average cost per customer (CAC) is $600. If your average job size is $20,000, you closed 50 customers to reach $1 million in revenue.

Your marketing investment so far:

50 customers × $600 CAC = $30,000

If you want to grow to $2 million, keeping the same $20,000 average job size, you will need 100 customers.

If your CAC increases 60% from $600 to $960, your new marketing investment becomes:

100 customers × $960 CAC = $96,000

Some business owners believe that if they simply double what they are currently spending, they will double their revenue. As you can see, that is very far from the truth.

Roofing Marketing Spend Example: CAC Scaling Table

This is simplified, but the scaling behavior is accurate for almost every roofing company that grows beyond its referral comfort zone and begins taking its roofing marketing spend seriously.

A Healthy Benchmark for Roofing Companies

If your profit margin is around 30%, a good rule of thumb is:

About 10% of revenue going to marketing is reasonable during growth years.

This follows the common model where:

• 1/3 of your gross margin funds marketing
• 1/3 funds sales
• 1/3 funds operations

So if your average roof is $20,000, then being comfortable spending up to around $2,000 to acquire that customer is realistic, healthy, and scalable. This directly ties into your roofing marketing spend and whether your budget aligns with your revenue goals.

And this is how you determine whether a marketing channel is scalable:

If the cost per customer stays well below 10 percent of job value, that channel can scale. If it consistently exceeds that threshold, it has a ceiling.

Stop Believing the $1 Million on a $200 Budget Myth

Let’s be honest. If you say you made $1 million last year and only spent $200 on marketing, something is not adding up. That would mean your roofing marketing spend was virtually nonexistent, because:

• You used spreadsheets for your CRM, or some free DIY system that you had to build yourself
• You had no conversion tracking, so you have no idea what worked
• You had no professional help or AI tools for content creation
• You built your own website and SEO’d it, or do not have one
• You posted your own social media and valued your time at $0
• You set up your own Google Business Profile and faced almost no competition
• You had no automation, no SMS review requests, no reminders, no follow-ups
• You did not wrap your trucks
• You left behind no printed material when door-knocking
• You are working 16-hour days, 6-7 days a week, to manually do every role yourself
• Your $200 budget probably went to Vistaprint business cards and a yard sign

In other words, you are not being honest with yourself about your true roofing marketing spend, and that mindset is never scalable.

No successful business in any industry has a marketing spend of 0.0002 percent.

The Bottom Line

Roofing companies that grow do not guess their budget. They calculate it based on:

• What a customer costs today
• What growth requires tomorrow
• How customer acquisition cost reliably increases as you scale

If you understand those three things, you can build a roofing marketing spend that actually matches your goals, not wishful thinking.

Frequently Asked Questions About Roofing Marketing Spend

How much should a roofing company actually spend on marketing?

Most roofing companies spend between 7% and 15% of revenue on marketing, but the real number should be based on your growth goals. A healthy, scalable roofing marketing spend is typically around 10% of revenue during growth years.

What is the average marketing budget for a roofing business?

A typical roofing marketing budget ranges from about $30,000 to well over $200,000 per year, depending on revenue, market size, competition, and how aggressively the company wants to grow.

Does customer acquisition cost increase as a roofing company grows?

Yes. As roofing companies scale, customer acquisition cost usually increases 20% to 60% due to increased competition, larger service areas, higher ad costs, and the need for more consistent branding and authority building.

What is a good cost per customer for a roofing business?

A healthy cost per customer for roofing is typically between $600 and $1,500, depending on market competition and job size. As long as CAC stays under 10% of the average job value, it is usually considered scalable.

Is 10% of revenue a good marketing budget for roofers?

Yes. Ten percent of revenue is a realistic and healthy benchmark for roofing companies that want consistent growth. It aligns with a balanced model where marketing, sales, and operations each take one-third of gross margin.

Why do some roofing companies claim they spend almost nothing on marketing?

Roofers who report very low marketing spend usually ignore hidden costs like their own time, DIY web tools, fuel, door knocking, or the value of referrals. In reality, no successful roofing business grows on a near zero marketing budget.

How do I calculate my roofing marketing spend based on growth goals?

First, calculate your current cost per customer. Next, determine how many new customers you need to reach your revenue goal. Then increase your CAC by 20% to 60% to account for scaling. Multiply the new CAC by the number of customers needed to estimate a realistic, growth-based marketing budget.

What is the difference between cost per lead and cost per customer in roofing?

Cost per lead is the cost to generate a homeowner inquiry, such as a form fill or phone call. Cost per customer measures the cost to acquire a closed roofing job. Cost per lead is always lower. Cost per customer is what truly matters for budgeting and scaling.

Why is roofing marketing more expensive in competitive markets?

Roofing marketing becomes more expensive in competitive markets because ad auctions are more crowded, more companies are bidding on the same keywords and leads, SEO is harder, and it takes more investment to stand out as the trusted brand.

How can I tell if a marketing channel is scalable for my roofing company?

A marketing channel is scalable if the cost per customer remains well below 10% of your average job value as you increase spend. If CAC rises too high when you try to scale, that channel has a ceiling and cannot reliably support long-term growth.