Reader question: should I keep running ads in winter when I can't pour?
A concrete contractor asks whether winter ad spend is wasted when the ground freezes. The plain answer, what to cut, what to keep, and how to book spring now.
"We shut down pouring from about mid-December to March. Every year I keep my Google Ads running and every year I wonder if I'm just paying for calls I can't do anything with. Should I turn them off for winter?"
Short answer: turn most of it down, not off. Winter is when a lot of next spring's driveways and patios get decided, and the contractor who is still visible in January gets first look. But the ads you run in winter should not be the same ads you run in June.
Here is how to think about it.
What homeowners are doing in winter
People do not stop thinking about concrete when it gets cold. They stop calling for it this week.
In winter, homeowners are:
- Looking at the cracked driveway every time they shovel it
- Planning a spring patio before they get their tax refund
- Getting quotes early so they are not stuck waiting in May
- Comparing contractors slowly, with time to read reviews
That last point matters. Winter shoppers are not in a hurry. They read your website, look at your photos and check your Google reviews. If you are not visible, you are not in the comparison.
What to cut
Cut the emergency and "this week" language. Ads that say "Fast scheduling" or "Pour this week" set the wrong expectation and bring calls you have to turn away.
Cut broad keywords. In summer, a broad term like "concrete contractor" might bring enough real jobs to justify the waste. In winter, the waste wins. Pause anything that is not clearly a driveway, patio, sidewalk or slab search.
Cut the budget. Most contractors who keep ads running drop to a third or a half of their summer daily budget. The Google Ads guide covers how to structure campaigns so you can scale them up and down without starting over.
What to keep
Keep searches for the jobs you want in spring. "Stamped concrete patio," "driveway replacement," "concrete driveway cost." Those searchers are planning.
Keep any indoor or cold-weather work you can do. If you pour basement floors, garage slabs in heated spaces, or do repairs and sealing when the weather allows, advertise those specifically.
Change the offer. Instead of "Call for a free estimate," try "Book your spring pour now. Winter estimates lock in a spot on our April and May schedule." That is a real reason to call in January.
A reasonable winter setup
Here is a clearly hypothetical example for a one-crew company that spends $60 a day in summer:
- Winter budget: around $20 to $30 a day
- Campaigns: one for driveways, one for patios, both pointed at a spring booking page
- Ad copy: "Planning a new driveway this spring? Get your estimate this winter and lock in an April date."
- Landing page: your pricing ranges, recent photos, and a form or text line for winter estimates
If that brings even two or three signed spring jobs, it paid for itself several times over.
Use the slow months for free marketing too
Ads are only one part of it. Winter is when you have time for the things that cost nothing but time.
Reviews. The median concrete contractor in our data has 7 Google reviews, and 57.9% have fewer than 10. A winter project of texting every customer from this year can move you past most of your market by spring. The review guide has the wording.
Your Google profile. 38.8% of concrete listings show no hours. Add hours, add your best photos from this season, and post once a week about spring booking. The Google Business Profile guide walks through each field.
Your website. 25.7% of concrete contractors have no website. If you are one of them, winter is the time to fix it. If you have one, add a pricing page with ranges so winter shoppers can plan. The pricing guide shows what to publish.
Answer the winter calls
The biggest waste in winter is not the ad spend. It is a winter shopper who calls, gets voicemail and never calls back because there is no urgency. Pick up, or text back within a few minutes. "Thanks for calling. We're booking spring pours now. Can I grab a few details and set up an estimate?"
That one habit turns your winter ads from a cost into a spring calendar.
The short answer
Do not shut the ads off. Cut the budget and the broad keywords, keep driveway and patio searches, change the offer to spring booking, and spend the slow months on reviews and your website. The seasonality guide has the full month-by-month plan.
If you want a winter campaign and spring booking page set up for you, the free 14-day trial covers any one service, no card: text or call (385) 832-6924.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, concrete contractors among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor