How Greenlee Roofing Hit $47 CPL and 6.2x ROAS After Being Burned by Their Previous Agency
Rebuilt paid media from scratch, deployed conversion-optimized landing pages, and implemented full call tracking - generating 127 qualified leads in 90 days.
The Client
Greenlee Roofing is a residential roofing contractor serving homeowners across their local market. They had built a strong reputation through years of quality workmanship and word-of-mouth referrals, but knew that relying solely on referrals wasn't a scalable growth strategy. They wanted a predictable flow of qualified leads that would allow them to plan crew schedules, hire confidently, and expand into new service areas.
The problem was that their previous experience with digital marketing had been a disaster. They'd hired an agency that promised results but delivered vague reports filled with impressions and click counts - metrics that sounded impressive but didn't translate into actual jobs on the schedule. After months of spending without a clear return, Greenlee Roofing fired the agency and was understandably skeptical about trying again.
When they connected with Carpenter Productions, they were looking for one thing above all else: accountability. They needed a partner who would show them exactly where every dollar went and prove - with real data - that marketing was generating revenue, not just activity.
The Challenge
Our initial audit of Greenlee Roofing's marketing revealed a series of compounding problems that explained why their previous agency had failed to deliver. The issues started with fundamentals and cascaded through every part of the funnel.
Poorly Structured Ad Campaigns
The previous agency had set up Google Ads campaigns with excessively broad keyword targeting. Terms like "roofing" and "roof repair" were running on broad match with no negative keyword lists, meaning Greenlee was paying for clicks from people searching for DIY roof repair videos, roofing material suppliers, and roofing jobs - none of whom would ever become customers. The campaign structure was a single campaign with one ad group containing dozens of loosely related keywords, making it impossible to write relevant ad copy for any specific search intent. Cost per lead was inflated because budget was being wasted on irrelevant traffic that would never convert.
No Conversion Tracking
Perhaps the most damaging failure of the previous agency: there was no proper conversion tracking in place. Google Ads was tracking "page views" as conversions - meaning every time someone visited the contact page, it counted as a lead whether they filled out the form or not. Phone calls - which account for a majority of roofing leads - weren't being tracked at all. The agency had no call tracking system, no form submission tracking tied to specific campaigns, and no way to tell Greenlee which ads were generating actual phone calls and estimates. The "results" in their monthly reports were fictional.
Generic Landing Pages
All ad traffic was being sent to Greenlee's homepage - a general-purpose page that talked about the company's history, showed some project photos, and had a contact form buried in the footer. There was no messaging alignment between the ads and the landing experience. Someone searching for "emergency roof leak repair" landed on a page that started with "Welcome to Greenlee Roofing, serving your community since..." The disconnect between search intent and page content killed conversion rates. Visitors would bounce within seconds because the page didn't immediately address what they were looking for.
Weak Online Reputation
Greenlee had good reviews from their existing customers, but not enough of them. Their Google Business Profile had fewer than 20 reviews, while top-ranking competitors in their market had 80 to 150+. In roofing - where homeowners are trusting a contractor with a five-figure investment on their most valuable asset - review volume and recency are critical trust signals. The lack of a systematic review acquisition process meant that satisfied customers rarely left reviews unless they thought of it on their own.
No Source Attribution
Beyond the ad tracking issues, Greenlee had no system for understanding where their leads came from across all channels. When someone called the office, there was no way to know if they found Greenlee through a Google Ad, an organic search result, a Google Business Profile listing, or a referral. Every lead was treated the same, which meant marketing decisions were being made on gut feeling rather than data. The team suspected their digital marketing wasn't working, but they couldn't prove it either way - and that uncertainty was the most dangerous problem of all.
The Solution
We built Greenlee Roofing a complete lead generation system from scratch - starting with the foundation of tracking and attribution, then rebuilding every layer of the funnel from ad click to booked estimate.
Phase 1: Paid Media - Built From Scratch
Rather than trying to salvage the existing Google Ads account, we started from zero. The previous campaign structure was beyond repair - we needed a clean foundation with proper architecture.
We built campaigns organized by service type and intent level. High-intent campaigns targeted searches like "roof replacement estimate [city]", "emergency roof repair near me", and "roofing contractor free estimate" - people who are actively looking to hire. A separate campaign targeted mid-funnel searches like "roof replacement cost" and "signs I need a new roof" with educational content that built trust and captured leads earlier in the buying cycle.
Negative keyword lists were built aggressively from day one. We excluded DIY terms, supplier queries, job searches, competitor brand names, and irrelevant modifiers. Within the first two weeks, we identified and excluded over 200 negative keywords that would have wasted budget.
We also launched Meta retargeting campaigns to stay in front of homeowners who visited Greenlee's website but didn't convert. The retargeting creative featured project photos, review highlights, and a clear "Get Your Free Estimate" CTA. Roofing is a considered purchase - homeowners often research for days or weeks before committing. Retargeting kept Greenlee top-of-mind throughout that decision process.
Every campaign was built with proper conversion tracking from day one. Form submissions, phone calls, and click-to-call actions were all tracked as distinct conversion types with appropriate values, giving Google's bidding algorithms accurate data to optimize against.
Phase 2: Conversion-Optimized Landing Pages
We built dedicated landing pages for each major service area and campaign type. A homeowner searching for "roof replacement" landed on a page specifically about roof replacement - not a generic homepage. Someone searching for "storm damage roof repair" landed on a page addressing storm damage, with relevant project photos and urgency-driven messaging.
Each landing page followed a proven conversion architecture: headline matching the search intent, sub-headline establishing credibility and location, hero image showing Greenlee's actual work (not stock photos), a prominent phone number and "Get Free Estimate" form above the fold, social proof section with review count and star rating pulled from Google, project gallery showing before-and-after photos, a service details section addressing common homeowner questions, and a repeated CTA at the bottom.
The forms were designed to be as frictionless as possible. We asked for name, phone number, address, and a brief description of the project - nothing more. Every additional field reduces completion rates, and we'd rather get 100 quick submissions than 30 detailed ones. The sales team could gather specifics during the follow-up call.
Mobile experience was a priority. Over 70% of Greenlee's traffic came from mobile devices - homeowners searching on their phones while looking at their roof. Click-to-call buttons were prominent, the form was optimized for mobile keyboards, and page load times were kept under 2 seconds.
Phase 3: Call Tracking & Full Attribution
This was the foundation that the previous agency had completely missed. In roofing, the majority of high-value leads come through phone calls, not form submissions. If you're not tracking calls, you're flying blind on the most important conversion channel.
We implemented a full call tracking system with dynamic number insertion on the website. Every visitor saw a unique tracking number based on their traffic source - Google Ads visitors saw one number, organic search visitors saw another, direct visitors saw the main business line. When a call came in, the system automatically recorded the source, campaign, keyword (for paid traffic), landing page, and call duration.
Form submissions were tracked with equal granularity. Each submission captured the traffic source, campaign, ad group, keyword, and landing page URL. The data was pushed into both Google Ads (for bidding optimization) and a central dashboard where Greenlee could see all leads in one place.
For the first time, Greenlee could answer the fundamental questions: "How many leads did we get this week? Which campaigns generated them? How much did each lead cost? And which leads turned into actual roofing jobs?" The clarity was transformational. Instead of hoping their marketing was working, they could see - in real time - exactly what was happening.
Phase 4: Review Acquisition System
Online reviews are the lifeblood of local service businesses. A roofing company with 150 five-star reviews will always outperform a competitor with 15 reviews - both in search rankings and in conversion rates. Homeowners read reviews before calling, and the companies with more recent, positive reviews win.
We built an automated review request system that triggered after job completion. When a project was marked as complete in Greenlee's system, an automated sequence sent the homeowner a personalized text message and email thanking them for their business and including a direct link to leave a Google review. The timing was intentional - we sent the request within 24 hours of completion while the experience was still fresh and the homeowner was excited about their new roof.
For homeowners who didn't respond to the first request, a gentle follow-up was sent three days later. The messaging was conversational and personal - not a generic corporate template. This two-touch approach significantly increased review response rates without feeling pushy.
The impact was immediate. Greenlee's Google review count began climbing steadily, which improved their visibility in Google's Local Pack results and increased conversion rates on their landing pages as the review badges showed increasingly impressive numbers. The reviews also provided a steady stream of social proof that we incorporated into ad creative and landing page content.
The Results
Within 90 days, Greenlee Roofing went from distrusting digital marketing to having a predictable, profitable lead generation engine they could plan their business around.
Cost Per Qualified Lead
Return on Ad Spend
Qualified Leads in 90 Days
CPL Reduction vs. Previous Agency
Call & Form Attribution
Service Area Expansion Enabled
The $47 cost per lead represented a 70% reduction from what Greenlee had been paying with their previous agency. More importantly, these were qualified leads - homeowners actively seeking roofing services in Greenlee's service area, not junk traffic from broad match keywords. The quality improvement meant that a higher percentage of leads converted to estimates, and a higher percentage of estimates converted to signed contracts.
The 6.2x ROAS meant that for every dollar Greenlee invested in advertising, they generated $6.20 in revenue. With full attribution tracking, this wasn't an estimate - it was a verified number calculated from actual closed jobs traced back to their originating ad campaigns. Greenlee could see exactly which campaigns were profitable and by how much.
127 qualified leads in 90 days created a predictable, manageable pipeline that allowed Greenlee to plan crew schedules weeks in advance. Instead of the feast-or-famine cycle common in roofing, they had a steady flow of estimates and jobs. This consistency was the foundation for their next milestone: expanding into adjacent service areas.
With reliable lead flow and clear unit economics, Greenlee was able to confidently invest in expanding their territory. They knew exactly what it cost to acquire a customer in their existing market, so they could project costs and returns for new areas with confidence. The same campaign structure, landing pages, and tracking systems were replicated for the new territories - producing results that tracked closely with the original market.
Most significantly, Greenlee Roofing went from distrusting digital marketing to making it a core pillar of their growth strategy. The transparency of full attribution tracking restored their confidence. They could see every lead, every call, every dollar - and they knew exactly what their marketing was doing for their business.
Services Used in This Engagement
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