Roofing Marketing: Why Your Best Leads Are Next Door
Yard signs with QR codes, drone photos, and home show booths. The local marketing playbook for roofing companies.
A roofing contractor outside of Minneapolis did an experiment. After every completed roof, he put a yard sign in the front lawn with a QR code linking to a gallery of the project photos. Then he offered a 5-10% "neighbor discount" to anyone on the same street who booked within 30 days.
Over one season, he tracked it carefully. Every completed roof generated an average of 3.2 additional inspection requests from the same neighborhood. Of those, 1.4 converted to full replacements. That is $14,000-$21,000 in additional revenue per completed job, triggered by a $15 yard sign and a stack of door hangers.
The roofing industry spends more on marketing than almost any other residential trade. Most of that money goes to Google Ads, lead services, and storm chasing. But the highest-converting, lowest-cost marketing channel is literally next door.
Yard Signs with QR Codes
Every job site needs a yard sign. Not the tiny, generic "ABC Roofing" signs from the 1990s. A professional sign with your company name, phone number, and a QR code that links to photos of the actual project.
When a neighbor walks their dog past a house getting a new roof, curiosity is automatic. They look at the sign. If the QR code takes them to a gallery showing the before (damaged shingles, flashing issues) and after (clean new roof, straight ridge lines), they are already halfway sold. They start thinking about their own roof. They text the link to their spouse.
Leave the sign up for two to three weeks after the project is complete, with the homeowner's permission. The new roof looks its best in the first month. Let the neighborhood see it. Let them scan the code. Let the photos do the selling.
A good yard sign costs $10-$15. Your crew should plant one at every single job, no exceptions. This is the highest-ROI marketing investment in roofing.
Drone Inspection Photos Sell Themselves
Most homeowners have never seen their own roof from above. When you fly a drone and show them high-resolution photos of their roof (missing shingles, cracked flashing, granule loss, lifted edges), the conversation changes instantly.
This is no longer a sales pitch. It is evidence. The homeowner is looking at their own roof and seeing problems they cannot deny. Close rates on drone-documented inspections are 40-50% higher than ground-level assessments because seeing is believing.
Invest in a basic drone ($500-$800) or partner with a licensed drone operator. Offer free drone inspections as your primary lead generation tool. Post the dramatic images on Instagram and Facebook: aerial views of storm damage, side-by-side before/after comparisons of the same roof from the same angle.
One roofer in Colorado Springs uses drone footage in every estimate presentation. He shows the homeowner the photos on a tablet, points to specific damage areas, and says, "Here is what the insurance adjuster is going to see." His close rate on insurance jobs is 65%, nearly double the industry average.
Home Shows: The $2K Lead Machine
Home improvement shows are expensive to attend. A booth costs $2,000-$5,000 depending on the market. Most contractors write them off as brand awareness with no measurable return.
The roofers who crush home shows do three things differently. First, they display dramatic before/after photos on large banners, not brochures, not business cards. Giant prints that stop foot traffic. Second, they offer a specific incentive for booking at the show: free drone inspection plus 5% off if scheduled within two weeks. Third, they collect phone numbers, not emails. A text follow-up the next morning closes far more than an email drip campaign.
Well-executed home show booths generate 15-30 qualified leads over a weekend. At a 30-40% close rate on those leads, that is 5-12 new jobs. On an average $10,000 roofing ticket, a $3,000 booth investment returns $50,000-$120,000 in revenue.
The key is follow-up speed. Call every lead within 24 hours of the show closing. Most of your competitors will wait until Monday. By then, the homeowner has forgotten which booth was which.
Insurance Claims Are Your Differentiator
In markets where hail and wind damage are common, the ability to navigate insurance claims separates successful roofers from struggling ones. Most homeowners find the claims process intimidating and confusing. The roofer who simplifies it wins the job.
Offer to be present when the insurance adjuster inspects the roof. Document everything with photos and measurements. If the adjuster's estimate misses legitimate damage, prepare a professional supplement with your own documentation. Know Xactimate line items. Speak the adjuster's language.
When you present the homeowner with an estimate that matches or exceeds their insurance payout, and you explain that their out-of-pocket is only their deductible, the close is almost automatic. The homeowner was expecting a confusing, expensive ordeal. You turned it into a guided process that costs them $1,000-$2,500 out of pocket for a $12,000 roof.
Market this capability explicitly. "We handle the insurance paperwork" should be on your truck, your website, your yard signs, and your door hangers. In storm-prone markets, this single message generates more calls than any other marketing angle.