Why Cost Per Lead Is Misleading for Home Service Businesses

Is your marketing actually working — or is Google taking credit for everything? Attribution in home service marketing is broken for most operators, and in 2026, that mistake is getting more expensive.

John Wilson sits down with returning guest Tony Castelucci from Wanamaker Advertising to break down how home service businesses should really think about attribution, demand generation, and measuring ROI across channels like PPC, LSA, SEO, TV, radio, and more.

They unpack why cost per lead is often the wrong metric, how demand capture and demand creation work together, and what operators need to track if they want to scale profitably instead of just chasing cheap leads.

What we cover:

• Why last-click attribution gives too much credit to Google
• Why cost per lead is one of the most misleading metrics in marketing
• The difference between demand capture vs demand creation
• Why branded traffic and direct traffic are often your best leads
• How to use timestamps, call data, and CRM reporting to measure true marketing ROI

If you're spending more on marketing but still struggling to understand what’s truly driving booked jobs and profitable growth, this episode is for you.

Host: John Wilson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbwilson1/

Guest: Tony Castelucci (Wanamaker)
[https://wantmore-leads.com]

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💼 Extra Special Thanks to Service Scalers!

We’ve been partnering with Service Scalers to maximize our Local Service Ads (LSAs) and optimize our Google My Business profiles, and the results have been incredible. With hundreds of thousands in sales and 900+ calls in a single week, GMBs are now our top-performing organic lead channel.
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John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

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