Boosting Your Local Service Business: How to Supercharge PPC and LSA Campaigns for More Leads
Are you looking to maximize the return on your marketing investment and drive more booked calls to your plumbing or HVAC business? Optimizing your PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and LSA (Local Services Ads) strategies could be the key to unlocking more leads, lowering costs, and ultimately growing your business.
If you’re a local service provider—whether you’re just getting started or have been serving your community for decades—understanding how to make the most out of these online advertising tools can make all the difference.
Here’s a breakdown of strategies you can implement today to boost your digital ad performance, improve conversion rates, and win more local customers.
1. Optimizing PPC Campaigns: Drive Conversions, Lower Costs
Your PPC campaigns are a powerful way to generate leads, but how you manage your campaigns determines your success. If you’re already running Google Ads for your plumbing or HVAC business, you’ll want to pay close attention to metrics like cost per conversion, impression share, and conversion rate. Here’s how you can get the most out of your PPC efforts:
a) Monitor Your Cost Per Conversion
Tracking your cost per conversion is key to understanding how effectively your ads are performing. Ideally, you want to see this number dropping over time as your campaigns are optimized. To achieve this, separate your campaigns based on service type. For example, create dedicated campaigns for water heater repairs, drain cleaning, and leak detection.
If you notice that some campaigns have a higher cost per conversion, try reallocating your budget to the campaigns that perform best. Every dollar counts—make sure your budget is spent on services that generate the best results.
b) Understand Impression Share & Budget Allocation
One often overlooked metric is “Impression Share,” which shows how often your ads are being shown to potential customers. If your impression share is low, that means your ads are missing a significant portion of searches. In other words, you might be leaving money on the table. A low impression share often points to either a limited budget or the need for better-targeted ads.
Let’s break it down: If you’re losing 50% of your impression share due to budget constraints, adding more to your budget in that campaign can significantly boost your visibility.
Pro Tip: Work with a PPC specialist who understands how to effectively distribute your ad spend across services and geographic locations. This ensures every dollar is working towards generating the highest quality leads at the lowest possible cost.
c) Boost Quality Leads with “Poaching Campaigns”
If you have strong competitors in your area, bidding on their brand names can be an effective strategy. Known as “poaching campaigns,” this tactic involves targeting keywords related to competitors. For instance, if someone searches for “Best Plumber in [Your City]” and includes your competitor’s name, your ad could show up, offering your services as an alternative.
Keep in mind that while these campaigns may bring in slightly lower conversion rates, they can result in more affordable clicks and help you stand out from the competition.
2. Leveraging Local Services Ads (LSA) to Boost Lead Quality
Local Services Ads (LSAs) can be a game-changer for service-based businesses, allowing you to connect directly with local customers who are looking for services like plumbing or HVAC in real time. LSAs place your business at the top of local search results, and Google backs these ads with the “Google Guaranteed” badge—instantly boosting your credibility.
Here’s how to make the most of LSAs:
a) Prioritize Getting More Reviews
Reviews play a huge role in your LSA performance. The more positive, authentic reviews you gather, the higher your business ranks in Google’s local search results. Encourage your team to ask satisfied customers to leave a review—every single one matters.
Implementing a review incentive program for your team can help encourage this behavior. Whether it’s a small bonus for every review received or a monthly competition with a prize, making reviews part of your team’s culture will pay off in the long run.
Pro Tip: Make it easy for customers to leave a review by providing a QR code or a direct link to your Google profile.
b) Respond Quickly to Leads & Calls
Your response time is another factor that Google tracks closely. Make sure you have a system in place to answer every call swiftly, whether that’s through a dedicated phone team or an AI-based booking system. Not only will this help you rank higher on LSAs, but it also improves the customer experience—leading to more booked appointments.
Remember, you only have about 30 seconds to connect with a lead before they move on to the next provider. Being quick on your feet will help convert more leads into customers.
c) Take Advantage of LSA Messaging
Beyond calls, Google LSAs offer messaging features that allow potential clients to connect with you via text. While these leads may convert at a slightly lower rate than phone calls, they’re often half the cost, giving you an opportunity to secure business at a lower price point.
Make sure you have a process to respond to these messages within 24 hours to maximize your chances of converting them into booked appointments.
3. The Secret Sauce: Training Your Team to Convert Leads
It’s not just about getting more leads; it’s about converting those leads into paying customers. To make sure your investment in PPC and LSA is profitable, here are a few things your team can do to improve booking rates:
a) Train for Better Lead Handling
Equip your customer service representatives (CSRs) and technicians with call scripts and booking tools that allow them to quickly qualify leads and set appointments. Role-playing and call reviews can help your team handle objections and close more bookings.
b) Set Clear Performance Metrics
Regularly track key performance indicators (KPIs) like booking rate and call duration. Aim to book at least 50% of the calls that come in, which can significantly bring down your cost per booked call and maximize the value of every lead.
c) Continuous Improvement & Follow-Up
Ensure you have a follow-up process for missed opportunities. If a lead doesn’t book an appointment right away, it’s crucial to have a plan in place to reach out to them later. Often, a simple follow-up can turn an initial “no” into a booked job.
Ready to Optimize Your Digital Ad Strategy?
By optimizing both your PPC and LSA campaigns, investing in generating positive reviews, and training your team to handle leads efficiently, you can dramatically improve your lead quality, lower your costs, and ultimately grow your business. If you’re ready to start dominating your local market and want to see how you can supercharge your online ad campaigns, book a consultation with our experts today!
Unlock more leads. Lower your costs. Grow your business. It’s possible with the right strategy—let’s make it happen.