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

How to Budget Marketing in 2026 (Without Wasting Cash)

Jan 27, 2026

Sam Preston, CEO of Service Scalers and marketing expert for home-service companies, shares practical frameworks for budgeting marketing in 2026. He discusses sizing budgets from gross profit, reverse-engineering spend from daily lead needs, and the four-plus-one budget buckets to test, scale, or pause channels. Short, tactical guidance on emergency funds, PPC vs LSA priorities, and a kill-vs-scale testing approach.

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INSIGHT

Budget From Gross Profit Not Revenue

Budget marketing from gross profit rather than revenue to reflect true capacity.
Gross margin differences drastically change viable overhead and marketing spend.

INSIGHT

Market Thawed Into Aggressive Early 2026 Spend

Market sentiment shifted from pullback in late 2025 to aggression in early 2026 as operators seek growth.
Companies are ready to spend but demand careful, productive allocation.

ADVICE

Back Into Budget From Daily Lead Needs

Start your budget by asking how many leads you need each day to fill your board.
Back into spend by multiplying required leads by realistic cost-per-lead.

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In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson is joined by Sam Preston (CEO of Service Scalers) to break down how smart home service operators should budget for marketing in 2026. They explain why one-size-fits-all marketing budgets don’t work, how to reverse-engineer spend from the number of leads you actually need, and why most companies don’t have a lead problem—they have an execution problem.

This conversation goes deep on gross profit–based budgeting, flexible marketing spend, and the exact frameworks operators use to decide what to scale, cut, test, or deploy in emergencies.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

Why marketing budgets should be based on gross profit, not revenue
How to calculate marketing spend by backing into daily lead requirements
The difference between budgeting for a new business vs. a 10-year-old company
The 4 (plus 1) marketing budget buckets every operator should use
A simple kill vs. scale framework to test marketing channels without guesswork

💼 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.
Want to learn how Service Scalers can do the same for you?

🔗Check Them Out Here

If you’re trying to grow profitably in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or any home service trade in 2026, this episode will help you stop guessing—and start budgeting with intention.

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💼Shoutout to Avoca AI!

Looking to train your call center and improve technician performance? Avoca AI helps teams identify issues, improve call quality, and drive results from start to finish.

🔗 Schedule a demo

🔗 Connect
John Wilson: https://x.com/WilsonCompanies

Sam Preston: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sampreston/

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John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.