Most contractors ask how little they can spend on Google Ads. Cardinal asks a better question: does another dollar come back with a profit, and do we have the capacity to serve the job? In a February 2026 client interview, marketing manager Andrew Bonds said Cardinal was increasing its Google Ads budget by roughly 10–15% per month on the strength of the returns.
Jared Wittman, marketing manager at Cardinal Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing & Electrical, on the working relationship.
| Company | Cardinal Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing & Electrical |
|---|---|
| Market | Madison, Wisconsin and surrounding areas |
| Channels | Google Ads, Local Service Ads, SEO |
| Interview, Feb 2026 | Andrew Bonds, marketing manager |
| Video interview | Jared Wittman, marketing manager |
Start with the economics, not the budget
Cardinal watches cost per lead, cost per acquisition and ROI, then increases investment when the margins justify it. Notice the order of operations. They did not begin with a number they were comfortable spending and work backwards. They began with whether the campaign produces profitable customers — and when it does, and the operation has capacity, the rational move is to feed it.
Why the date on that stat matters
Cardinal has been measured across different channels and reporting periods — annual Local Service Ads investment, monthly blended lead reports, dispatch-matched revenue. Those are different measurements, and treating them as one snapshot produces bad decisions. Date every report, define every metric, and compare like with like. We would rather show you a number with a date attached than a rounder number without one.
The relationship is operational, not quarterly
When budgets are moving every month, the partnership has to keep up. Andrew described our team as feeling like an extension of Cardinal’s internal team, with fast communication and the ability to adapt campaigns around the company’s objectives. Jared, in the interview above, describes the same thing from the day-to-day side.
“They take care of a lot of stuff that is way above my head and makes my job much easier. If I have any questions and I send them through email, I get a response right away — and confirmation that it was taken care of, and when.”
Jared Wittman, Cardinal Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing & Electrical
“If it's not going well, they'll suggest that we change some things around and increase the budget — or vice versa. I trust them to be good at what they do, and they are.”
Jared Wittman, Cardinal Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing & Electrical
That “or vice versa” is worth noting. An agency paid as a percentage of ad spend has no reason to ever recommend spending less. We tell clients to pull back when the numbers say pull back.
Do you know what another $1,000 in ad spend would return?
If the answer is “not really,” that’s the first thing to fix. A strategy session starts with your numbers, not our packages.
