Are Billboards Worth It for Home Service Businesses? (Or Just an Expensive Ego Boost?)

Billboards can feel like a milestone for a growing home service company—your name on the highway, customers saying they saw your brand, friends texting photos of your sign. But for most HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies, billboard advertising starts too early and becomes an expensive distraction from what actually drives growth: leads.

In this episode, John Wilson sits down with Sam Preston (CEO of Service Scalers) for another installment of the Clicks to Calls series. They break down when billboards actually work, when they don’t, and why most contractors under $20M are usually better off buying more leads instead of investing heavily in brand campaigns.

They also unpack what makes a billboard memorable, why density matters more than just “having one,” and how brand channels like billboards show up in your data through branded search rather than traditional attribution.

You’ll learn:

• When billboards actually make sense for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies
• The biggest mistake contractors make: running one or two billboards instead of building density
• Why most companies under ~$20M should prioritize buying leads over brand marketing

Host: John Wilson — https://x.com/WilsonCompanies

Guest: Sam Preston — https://x.com/HeySamPreston


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John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

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