Kitchen Refresh Case Study · Nikola Ognjanovic
Paid Acquisition · Lead Generation · Home Services
Kitchen Refresh
Cabinet Refacing
Home Services

Cut CPL by 51.5%.
10x
More Leads.

Kitchen Refresh had a lead quality problem. Out-of-territory junk was burning the budget while real homeowners in their service area were not being reached. I rebuilt the entire paid acquisition system from the ground up, cut cost per qualified lead in half, and scaled weekly volume by up to ten times.

51.5%
CPL reduction
5-10x
Weekly lead volume
90%+
Junk leads eliminated
34%
Qualified-to-client rate
01

The Challenge

Kitchen Refresh operates in specific service territories. Their ads were not. A significant portion of every dollar spent was going to homeowners who were completely outside their service area, which meant the sales team was fielding leads they could never close, and the budget was paying for it.

On top of the geography problem, they had a single conversion path: book a call. Lower-intent prospects with real interest but no urgency were falling out of the funnel entirely. Volume was low, quality was inconsistent, and cost per qualified lead sat at $178.

  • Out-of-territory leads averaging 6 to 26 per week, wasting sales team time and budget
  • Weekly qualified leads stuck at just 6 to 34, with no predictable floor
  • Single conversion path meant lower-intent homeowners had nowhere to go
  • Cost per qualified lead at $178.32 with no clear optimization path
02

How I Fixed It

1
Geo Targeting
Eliminating Junk at the Source

Built exact ZIP code exclusion lists and strict radius controls around each service territory. Not approximate targeting. Exact exclusions, updated as out-of-territory patterns emerged. Out-of-territory leads dropped from a peak of 26 per week down to a maximum of 12, with the average falling to just 2 to 8. That is over 90% of the waste cut.

2
Dual-Stream Funnel
The Cost Estimator as a Second Entry Point

Instead of one conversion path, I built two. The primary stream drove high-intent prospects straight to booking calls via aggressive Meta targeting at $3 to $7 CPA, consuming 80 to 90% of budget. The second stream introduced a Cost Estimator tool: lower friction, higher volume. Prospects trade contact details for a project estimate, get educated through automated email sequences, and self-qualify by revealing budget and scope. This stream converted at 34%, two to six times the industry average.

3
Platform & Creative
Ruthless Reallocation

Killed the Google Display Network entirely when CPA exceeded 2x Meta's. Moved that budget to Meta where performance was proven. Rotated 2 to 3 new creatives every 30 days to prevent audience fatigue and keep CPAs locked. Combined homeowner status, income levels, and home value data to ensure the ads were reaching people who could actually afford a cabinet refresh.

03

The Numbers

Cost Per Qualified Lead
$86.37
Down from $178.32. A 51.5% reduction, saving $92 per lead.
Monthly Savings
$25,748
Saved per month purely from CPL reduction, at the same lead volume.
Weekly Lead Volume
163
Peak weekly leads. Up from a previous high of 34. That is a 5 to 10x increase.
Close Rate
34%
Qualified-to-client conversion via the Cost Estimator funnel. Industry average is 5 to 15%.
Out-of-Territory Leads Eliminated
90%+
Peak OOT leads dropped from 26 to 12. Average fell from 6 to 19 down to just 2 to 8 per week. The sales team stopped burning time on leads they could never close.
04

Before vs. After

Early 2024 campaign performance versus the rebuilt system in late 2024 and into 2025.

Metric Early 2024 Late 2024 / 2025
Cost Per Qualified Lead $178.32 $86.37 51.5% lower
Weekly Lead Volume 6 to 34 50 to 163 5-10x
Out-of-Territory Waste 6 to 26/week 2 to 8/week 90%+ gone
Conversion Paths Booking call only Dual-stream funnel 2x paths
Monthly CPL Savings $0 $25,748/mo $92/lead
Qualified-to-Client Rate 5 to 15% avg 34% 2-6x better
05

The Stack

📍
Primary Platform
Meta Ads
80 to 90% of budget. CPA locked at $3 to $7. Google Display killed entirely when CPA hit 2x.
🎬
Creative Rotation
Every 30 Days
2 to 3 new creatives per month. Jackpot series, EK Part 2, Minneapolis DIY among top performers.
🧮
Funnel Innovation
Cost Estimator
Second conversion path for lower-intent traffic. Automated email nurture. 34% qualified-to-client rate.
🎯
Audience Layering
3 Signals
Homeowner status, income level, and home value combined. Only reaching people who can afford the project.
📌
Territory Control
Exact ZIP Exclusions
Not radius targeting. Specific ZIP code exclusions built and updated based on where junk leads were coming from. Combined with strict service area radius controls to keep every dollar inside the territory.
06

Work Together

If you are paying too much for leads that go nowhere, or need to scale a local service business without wasting budget outside your territory, let's talk.

Get in touch