Agency, freelancer or do it yourself: how a fence company should buy marketing, the red flags and a fair price
When a fence contractor should handle marketing in-house, what an agency or freelancer should cost, the red flags in the pitches fence companies get, and why a trial beats a contract.
Every fence company with a Google listing gets the same calls. Someone promises page one, or 50 leads a month, or exclusive territory, and asks for a six-month contract before a single estimate has been booked. The pitch is tuned for a trade that sells big tickets in a short season, because the owner is anxious in February and has no time to check in April.
This guide is about how to buy marketing without getting burned: what to do yourself, what to pay someone for, what it should cost, and how to tell a vendor that will produce estimates from one that will produce a report.
What to do yourself, always
Three things should never leave the company, because they depend on being there:
- The install-day review ask. Only the crew lead can do it. Pay them per review.
- Job photos. The crew takes them, every job, street side, in daylight. No vendor can replace this.
- Answering the phone in spring. A vendor can set up text-back and a follow-up sequence. Only you can decide that a human picks up between 8 and 5.
If those three are not happening, no agency will fix the business. Start with the reviews guide and the missed calls guide.
What is reasonable to hand off
Google Ads management, because the search terms report needs weekly attention and most owners will not give it. Meta ads, because the creative and testing takes time. The website build. Profile maintenance and posting. Review request automation. Bookkeeping. Commercial cold-calling. These are repeatable, measurable, and someone who does them for twenty fence companies is faster than you doing them for one.
What a fair price looks like
Ranges from real engagements in this trade:
- Google Ads management: $400 to $1,200 a month for a one to three crew company, plus the ad spend paid to Google on your card. Percent-of-spend pricing above 20% is high at these budgets.
- Meta ads: $400 to $1,000 a month plus spend.
- Website: $1,500 to $5,000 one-time for a site that does the seven things in the website guide, then $10 to $50 a month hosting. Monthly "website subscription" plans that run $300 a month forever should come with ownership of the site; many do not.
- Profile management and posting: $150 to $400 a month.
- Review automation: $50 to $200 a month for software, more if someone writes replies.
- Full-service bundles: $1,500 to $3,500 a month for a company under five crews. Above that, ask what you are getting that the separate pieces would not provide.
A freelancer is often half these numbers with a narrower skill set. That is fine for one channel. It is risky when the freelancer is the only person who knows the ad account password.
Red flags in the pitch
- A contract before any work. Six or twelve months, with an early-termination fee, before you have seen a single call.
- Lead guarantees. "50 leads a month guaranteed" means the definition of lead is loose. Ask for the definition in writing.
- Exclusive territory. Usually a sales tactic, occasionally real. If real, it should be in the contract with the specific towns.
- You do not own the accounts. The Google Ads account, the Meta ad account, the domain, the website files and the phone tracking numbers should all be in your name. If the vendor leaves and takes the account, you start from zero.
- No call recordings. If a vendor cannot show you the calls, they cannot show you the leads.
- Reports about impressions and clicks instead of calls, estimates and booked jobs.
- A vendor who does not ask your per-foot pricing, your service area, your close rate or your average job. They are about to run the same campaign they run for a roofer.
- Pressure tied to the season. "Spring is coming, sign today." Spring comes every year.
Questions to ask before signing anything
- Who owns the ad accounts, the website and the tracking numbers?
- What is the cost per estimate appointment for fence companies you work with now, and can I hear three recorded calls?
- What do you need from me each month, in hours?
- What happens if I stop after month one?
- How will you know if it is working at day 14?
A vendor who answers all five plainly is probably fine. A vendor who answers the fifth with "it takes six months to see results" is asking you to pay for six months before you can judge.
Why a trial should come first
The honest way to buy marketing is the way you sell a fence: show the work, then get paid. A two-week trial in your own accounts, with call recordings and a cost per estimate you can check, tells you more than any proposal. If a vendor will not do that, ask why. The usual answer is that the first month is where they make their margin.
The benchmark report is worth reading before any sales call. Knowing that the median fence contractor has 16 reviews, that 22.8% have no website and that only 11.6% have passed 100 reviews gives you a way to judge whether what a vendor proposes would actually move you in your market.
Frequently asked
Should I hire an in-house marketing person? At five or more crews, maybe. Below that, a part-time office person who answers the phone, sends quotes and posts photos beats a marketing hire, and a vendor handles the ads.
Is a big national lead-gen platform a replacement for this? Angi, Thumbtack and similar sell the same lead to several companies. They can fill gaps, especially for repair work, but the cost per booked job is usually higher than your own Google Ads once those are set up right.
How long should I give a vendor? Two weeks to show calls. Ninety days to show a cost per booked job you are happy with. Anyone asking for longer before any measurement is asking for too much.
Every service on this site is offered as a free 14-day trial in your own accounts, no card, and you keep what is built. Text or call (385) 334-3643.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, fence companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor