Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC Business Growth Podcast

Billboards for Home Service Businesses: When They Work (and When They’re a Waste)

Mar 10, 2026

Sam Preston, CEO of Service Scalers and home-service marketing pro, breaks down billboard advertising for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies. He explains when billboards help and when they distract. Multiple short takes cover creative that sticks, why density matters, how to measure impact via branded search, and why most firms under ~$20M should buy leads first.

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INSIGHT

Billboards Are An Add-On Channel Not A Standalone Solution

Billboards are part of out-of-home marketing and vary from static prints to large digital displays, allowing budgets from ~$500 to $50,000 per month.
They work best as one channel within a larger branding mix like TV or OTT, not as a standalone tactic for small firms.

ADVICE

Buy Density Not Isolated Boards

Avoid buying a single cheap billboard on a low-traffic road; density matters more than a scattershot presence.
Aim for clustered billboards (5–10 in a zip code or along commutes) so repeated exposure builds recognition.

ANECDOTE

Five Million Company Burning Big Budget On Billboards

John recounts a $5M plumbing business spending $200–300k yearly on billboards without meaningful growth.
That budget could've bought huge volumes of direct leads and materially moved revenue instead of flattening it.

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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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