Free Marketing Channels to Max Out Before Paying for Ads

"There's a lot of free stuff we can get you set up with to automate—and we should make sure those are working first."

I said this to a client who was about to sign up for a $1,900/month advertising contract. Not because ads are bad, but because they hadn't done the basics yet.

Their Google Business Profile had outdated hours. Their social media hadn't been posted to in weeks. They had hundreds of past customers who'd never been asked for reviews or referrals. They had no email list, no content strategy, and no way for people to find them organically.

And they were about to pay nearly two thousand dollars a month to put their name in front of strangers.

The Spending Sequence Is Wrong

Most small businesses approach marketing like this: "We need more customers, so let's run ads."

It feels proactive. It feels like doing something. And ad platforms make it incredibly easy to get started—a few clicks and your credit card is being charged.

But paid advertising should be the last thing you do, not the first. There are free channels that need to be working before paid channels make sense. Otherwise, you're paying to send people to a business that isn't ready to be found.

Your Google Business Profile Is Free

Let's start with the most obvious one.

Google Business Profile is completely free. It's also often the first thing potential customers see when they search for your services in your area. The business name, hours, phone number, reviews, photos—that's your storefront on Google.

And yet, I constantly see profiles with wrong hours, missing service descriptions, and photos from three years ago. Some don't have photos at all.

Before you spend money driving traffic, make sure this is dialed in:

• Hours accurate and updated for holidays
• Phone number that goes to someone who answers
• Service area correctly defined
• Categories properly selected
• Photos that show real work (before/after shots are gold)
• Posts updated at least monthly

This costs nothing except time. And it's the foundation everything else builds on.

Reviews Are Free (And Compound)

You probably have customers who would happily leave you a five-star review—if you asked.

Most businesses don't ask. They assume happy customers will leave reviews on their own. Some will. Most won't. People are busy. Leaving a review requires effort. Without a prompt, it doesn't happen.

Here's what works: immediately after a job is completed, send a text message with a direct link to your Google review page. Not "please leave us a review if you have time." A direct link, one click, takes them straight to the review form.

We're building this automation for clients right now. Job finishes in House Call Pro, customer automatically gets a text: "Thanks for choosing us! If you have 30 seconds, we'd love a review: [link]."

Every review makes the next customer more likely to choose you. Reviews compound. And they're completely free—you just have to ask systematically.

Organic Social Media Is Free

I know, I know. "We don't have time to post on social media."

You don't need to become an influencer. You need to exist.

When potential customers are researching your business, they check your social media. Not necessarily to follow you—just to see if you're real, active, and legitimate. A Facebook page that hasn't been posted to in six months signals a business that might not be around anymore.

The bar is low. One post per week showing your work. A quick before/after photo. A shot of the team. A mention of a job well done. Ten minutes of effort, scheduled in advance.

This isn't about going viral. It's about showing signs of life. A consistent social presence tells customers: "We're here, we're working, we're active."

And there's a secondary benefit: search engines and AI systems pull from social media when people ask questions. The more content you have out there associated with your business name, the more likely you are to surface in search results. It's not magic—it's just having more data points connected to your business.

Email Marketing Has the Best ROI

Studies consistently show email marketing returns about $36 for every $1 spent. That's not a typo. Email is one of the highest-ROI channels in marketing—and most small businesses ignore it completely.

Start simple. Collect emails from your customers. Send them something useful once a month—a maintenance tip, a seasonal reminder, a special offer for existing customers.

You don't need fancy automation or drip campaigns. A simple monthly email to your customer list reminding them you exist is better than nothing. And it costs almost nothing—many email platforms are free under a few hundred subscribers.

The customers you've already served are the easiest to serve again. Email keeps you top of mind when they need you next.

SEO Is Free (But Slow)

Search engine optimization sounds complicated, but at its core, it's simple: make your website easy for Google to understand so you show up when people search for what you do.

For local service businesses, this means:

• Your website clearly states what you do and where you do it
• Each service has its own page with relevant content
• Your Google Business Profile is linked and consistent
• You have content that answers common customer questions

SEO takes time—months, not days. But once you rank, that traffic comes in without you paying for it. It's the gift that keeps giving.

Before you pay for ads to appear at the top of search results, make sure you're doing what you can to appear there organically.

The Right Sequence

Here's the order I recommend:

1. Google Business Profile: Complete, accurate, and regularly updated.
2. Review generation: Automated asks after every completed job.
3. Website basics: Clear, mobile-friendly, with contact info prominent.
4. Social media presence: At least one platform, posted to weekly.
5. Email marketing: Basic list building and monthly communication.
6. SEO foundations: Content that helps you rank for relevant searches.

Only after all of those are working—after you've maxed out the free channels—does it make sense to start paying for ads.

Because here's the thing: paid ads amplify whatever's already there. If your foundation is solid, ads accelerate growth. If your foundation is weak, ads just expose the gaps faster.

Get the free stuff working first. Then spend.