A siding job can be a $2,800 elevation patch or a $38,000 fiber cement wrap. Same house, same homeowner, wildly different revenue — and usually the difference is when you reached them, not how good your crew is.
Most siding companies build their whole year around storm season and the spring rush. That works right up until the hail misses your market or every competitor within 40 miles is bidding the same three neighborhoods. Here is how siding demand actually behaves, what each channel costs per acquired job, and the math for sizing a budget against a revenue number.
Why do siding leads split into two completely different buyers?
Exterior work creates two homeowners who behave nothing alike.
The planning buyer. The siding is chalking, fading, or just dated. Nothing is leaking. This homeowner has been thinking about it for one to three years and will act when something tips them over: a refinance, a neighbor's finished job, a new front door, a kid's graduation party, or a quote that finally includes financing. Typical ticket: $12,000 to $50,000, because they are wrapping the whole house and often upgrading material at the same time.
The forced buyer. Hail or wind damage. Woodpecker holes. Rotted trim behind a failed J-channel. An insurance adjuster with a scope in hand. A home inspection during a sale that flagged siding. This homeowner searches on a phone, calls two or three companies, and books whoever can get out to look this week. Typical ticket: $2,500 to $30,000 depending on whether the damage is one elevation or the whole envelope.
The forced buyer is a race. The planning buyer is a conversation you start before your competitors know it exists. Both belong in the plan, and they should never be measured against the same cost-per-lead target. Our siding lead generation page walks through how campaigns get built for each side.
What is a siding job actually worth in 2026?
You cannot set a lead-cost ceiling until you know your real ticket mix. Prices vary by region, home size, stories, and access, but these ranges are typical for a full exterior.
| Scope of work | Typical installed price | Buyer type |
|---|---|---|
| Scope of workRepair, trim, soffit and fascia | Typical installed price$500-$3,000 | Buyer typeUrgent |
| Scope of workSingle-elevation replacement | Typical installed price$2,500-$7,000 | Buyer typeUrgent or partial |
| Scope of workStandard vinyl, full wrap | Typical installed price$9,000-$20,000 | Buyer typePlanned |
| Scope of workInsulated vinyl, full wrap | Typical installed price$13,000-$26,000 | Buyer typePlanned |
| Scope of workEngineered wood, full wrap | Typical installed price$14,000-$32,000 | Buyer typePlanned |
| Scope of workFiber cement, full wrap | Typical installed price$18,000-$50,000 | Buyer typePlanned |
| Scope of workStorm or hail replacement (insurance) | Typical installed price$10,000-$30,000 | Buyer typeEvent-driven |
| Scope of workHouse wrap or rigid foam upgrade | Typical installed price$1,500-$5,000 | Buyer typeAdd-on |
The pattern matters more than any single number. Moving one homeowner from a $6,000 partial to a $22,000 full wrap with an insulation upgrade is worth more than winning four extra repair calls. That is a lead-source decision and a sales-process decision before it is a pricing decision.
The formula that sets your ceiling
Run this before you spend a dollar.
Max cost per lead = (average job value x gross margin x close rate) / 3
A siding company averaging $14,000 per job at a 35% gross margin and a 25% close rate: $14,000 x 0.35 x 0.25 = $1,225, divided by 3 = a $408 maximum cost per lead. Exclusive siding leads land well under that. Shared marketplace leads look cheaper on the invoice and often break the ceiling once the close rate is applied.
Why is cost per lead the wrong number for siding contractors?
Because cost per lead ignores how many other companies got handed the same homeowner. Cost per acquired job is the only number that pays a crew.
| Channel | Cost per lead | Typical close rate | Cost per acquired job |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChannelReferrals | Cost per lead$0 | Typical close rate40-60% | Cost per acquired jobNear $0 |
| ChannelGoogle Business Profile / organic | Cost per lead$0-50 | Typical close rate20-40% | Cost per acquired job$100-250 |
| ChannelShared marketplace leads | Cost per lead$35-100 | Typical close rate5-12% | Cost per acquired job$500-1,600 |
| ChannelGoogle Ads and Local Services Ads | Cost per lead$80-300 | Typical close rate15-30% | Cost per acquired job$400-1,800 |
| ChannelMeta advertising | Cost per lead$25-110 | Typical close rate10-20% | Cost per acquired job$250-1,100 |
| ChannelExclusive leads (performance partner) | Cost per lead$50-200 | Typical close rate20-35% | Cost per acquired job$200-1,000 |
| ChannelExclusive booked appointments | Cost per lead$200-400 | Typical close rate25-40% | Cost per acquired job$600-1,400 |
A $60 shared lead closing at 8% costs $750 per job. A $130 exclusive lead closing at 28% costs $464 per job — and the average ticket is usually higher, because you are not one of four companies racing to shave dollars off a square-foot price the homeowner does not understand yet. The full breakdown of that math is in our guide on exclusive vs. shared leads.
There is a second cost nobody puts on a spreadsheet: measure time. A real siding estimate is a walk-around, a ladder, a square count, a photo set, and a color conversation. Call it 60 to 90 minutes on site plus drive. Ten shared leads at 8% means roughly a dozen measures to sell one job. Price that at your estimator's loaded hourly cost and the cheap lead stops being cheap.
How do you reach full-wrap siding buyers before they search?
The $25,000 job almost never begins with a Google search. It begins with a homeowner looking at their own front elevation and deciding they are tired of it.
That is why Meta advertising outperforms search on the high-ticket side of siding.
- Lead with finished exteriors, not product shots. Full-frame before-and-after of a real house you wrapped. Curb appeal is the product. A close-up of a lap profile sells nobody.
- Sell the elevation, not the material. "Make the front of your house look like the newest one on the street" pulls a bigger buyer than "vinyl siding installation."
- Use visible symptom hooks. Faded or chalky panels. Warped boards near the driveway. Peeling paint on wood siding. Cracked trim. Homeowners recognize what they see long before they recognize a spec.
- Name the trigger events. Refinancing, listing the house next spring, a whole-exterior project with new windows or a roof, an HOA letter. These are the moments a tolerated problem becomes a funded one.
- Put financing in the ad. A $22,000 wrap reframed as a monthly payment converts a homeowner who would never respond to a five-figure number in a headline.
- Run bundles. Siding pairs naturally with windows, gutters, and trim. Contractors who cross-sell should be reading our window replacement lead guide alongside this one, because the same homeowner is often two jobs.
The campaign should run through your own ad account so the homeowner sees your company name on every impression, your pixel keeps the audience data, and your retargeting list keeps compounding. That is the whole point of building demand instead of renting it.
How do you win the storm and repair siding call?
The forced buyer is decided in minutes, not days.
- Answer the phone. Every time, including evenings during and after a storm event. Unanswered calls are the single largest leak in most exterior companies.
- Get an inspector out inside 48 hours. The first contractor on the ladder sets the scope, the damage narrative, and the price frame. Everyone after that is bidding against a story already told.
- Keep the Google Business Profile fed. Recent job photos, current service areas, and a steady flow of reviews. Storm-week search volume goes to whoever looks most established in the map pack.
- Have an insurance process, not an insurance opinion. Photo documentation, supplement handling, and a clear explanation of what the homeowner pays. Confusion loses jobs you already earned.
- Bump spend after the event, then pull it back. Storm weeks spike both demand and cost per click. Ride it, do not build on it.
Speed is not a personality trait, it is staffing. The full system for it is in speed to lead.
When should siding campaigns actually start?
Siding installs cluster from late spring to late fall in most of the country, which means the buying decision happens earlier than contractors expect.
| Window | What to run | Why |
|---|---|---|
| WindowLate winter | What to runPlanning-phase Meta campaigns, color and material content | WhyBook the first six weeks of install season before competitors show up |
| WindowSpring | What to runFull budget, financing offers, bundle windows and gutters | WhyPeak demand, peak competition, highest intent |
| WindowSummer | What to runStorm-response spend on top of baseline | WhyHail and wind events, insurance-driven volume |
| WindowEarly fall | What to runUrgency messaging tied to winter | WhyRot, moisture, and "get it done before cold weather" |
| WindowLate fall and winter | What to runReduced spend, retarget the pipeline, book spring | WhyCheapest impressions of the year, warm list for March |
The expensive mistake is turning everything off in December and restarting in April. You pay a premium to re-enter the auction at the exact moment every competitor does, and you start the season with an empty pipeline.
How many siding leads do you need to hit a revenue target?
Work it backward. Pick the revenue number, not the lead number.
- Revenue goal: $600,000 in added siding work.
- Average job value: $14,000.
- Jobs required: 600,000 / 14,000 = 43 jobs.
- Close rate on exclusive leads: 25%.
- Leads required: 43 / 0.25 = 172 leads per year, about 15 per month.
- Lead cost at $120 each: roughly $1,800 per month, plus ad spend paid directly to Meta from your own account.
- Cost per acquired job: $120 / 0.25 = $480, or about 3.4% of the ticket.
That is the math. Change the close rate to 15% and the same revenue goal needs 287 leads a year and a $800 cost per acquired job. Which is why sales process and follow-up are lead generation, not something separate from it. Run your own numbers in the ROI calculator before you commit to a budget.
What kills siding leads after they come in?
Most "bad lead" complaints in this trade trace back to four fixable things.
- Slow first contact. A form filled at 7pm Sunday and called Tuesday afternoon is not the same lead anymore.
- No color or material conversation on the phone. Siding buyers are visual. If the first call is only about scheduling, you have not started selling.
- Measure with no proposal. Estimators who leave and "email something over" close far less than estimators who present, price, and offer financing on site. An in-home estimate is a sales appointment — staff it like one.
- No follow-up past three days. Full-wrap decisions frequently take 30 to 90 days. Companies with a real 30-day cadence book jobs their competitors already wrote off.
The short version
Siding has one urgent market and one planning market. Chase only the urgent one and your year rides on weather. Build the planning one and you own a pipeline that fills in February for work you install in May.
Price every channel on cost per acquired job. Set your ceiling with the max-CPL formula. Start campaigns 6 to 10 weeks before install season. Answer the phone on the storm calls, and follow up for 30 days on the rest.
If you want exclusive siding leads running through your own ad account, with your name on every ad and your pixel keeping the data, book a call and we will show you the live numbers.
Frequently asked questions
What do siding leads cost in 2026?
Shared marketplace siding leads typically run $35-100 each but close at 5-12% because three to five contractors get the same homeowner. Exclusive siding leads generally run $50-200 each and close at 20-35% because one company owns the conversation. Exclusive booked in-home appointments usually run $200-400 and close at 25-40%.
How many siding leads do I need to add $600,000 in revenue?
At a $14,000 average job you need about 43 additional jobs. At a 25% close rate that is roughly 172 leads a year, or about 15 exclusive leads a month. At $120 per lead that is around $1,800 a month in lead cost, plus the ad spend you pay directly to Meta out of your own account.
When should siding contractors start advertising for the season?
Start 6 to 10 weeks before your local install season opens, usually late winter. Full-wrap siding is a considered purchase with color selection, financing, and often two or three quotes, so the homeowner who books an April install was thinking about it in February. Contractors who wait for the spring rush pay more per lead and buy into the busiest auction of the year.
Is Meta advertising or Google better for siding leads?
Use both for different jobs. Google and Local Services Ads capture homeowners actively searching after storm damage or visible failure at roughly $80-300 per lead with high intent and limited volume. Meta advertising reaches homeowners during the planning phase before they search, which produces larger full-wrap tickets at $25-110 per lead and lets you scale volume up or down by adjusting spend.
Why do siding leads go cold before the appointment?
Siding is rarely an emergency, so a homeowner who fills out a form on Sunday night is easy to lose by Wednesday. If the first call happens hours later, a competitor has already been out, set the material spec, and framed the price. Same-day contact and a confirmed appointment time on the first call fix most of what contractors label a bad lead.
Frequently asked questions
What do siding leads cost in 2026?
Shared marketplace siding leads typically run $35-100 each but close at 5-12% because three to five contractors get the same homeowner. Exclusive siding leads generally run $50-200 each and close at 20-35% because one company owns the conversation. Exclusive booked in-home appointments usually run $200-400 and close at 25-40%.
How many siding leads do I need to add $600,000 in revenue?
At a $14,000 average job you need about 43 additional jobs. At a 25% close rate that is roughly 172 leads a year, or about 15 exclusive leads a month. At $120 per lead that is around $1,800 a month in lead cost, plus the ad spend you pay directly to Meta out of your own account.
When should siding contractors start advertising for the season?
Start 6 to 10 weeks before your local install season opens, usually late winter. Full-wrap siding is a considered purchase with color selection, financing, and often two or three quotes, so the homeowner who books an April install was thinking about it in February. Contractors who wait for the spring rush pay more per lead and buy into the busiest auction of the year.
Is Meta advertising or Google better for siding leads?
Use both for different jobs. Google and Local Services Ads capture homeowners actively searching after storm damage or visible failure at roughly $80-300 per lead with high intent and limited volume. Meta advertising reaches homeowners during the planning phase before they search, which produces larger full-wrap tickets at $25-110 per lead and lets you scale volume up or down by adjusting spend.
Why do siding leads go cold before the appointment?
Siding is rarely an emergency, so a homeowner who fills out a form on Sunday night is easy to lose by Wednesday. If the first call happens hours later, a competitor has already been out, set the material spec, and framed the price. Same-day contact and a confirmed appointment time on the first call fix most of what contractors label a bad lead.