It’s Not About Who Clicks the Buttons—It’s About Who Sets the Vision
If you’re running a home service business, you’ve probably asked (or avoided) this question: Who should be responsible for our marketing—the owner or a manager?
And like most things in business, the answer is: it depends.
But here’s what doesn’t change—somebody has to lead. Marketing is too important to leave on autopilot, and too connected to hiring, pricing, and growth to treat like just another task.
In this article, we’ll break down when it makes sense for the owner to lead marketing, when a manager can (and should) take over, and how to make sure marketing doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
1. Why Owners Can’t Fully Let Go—At Least Not Yet
In the early stages of a business—or during periods of transition—the owner should always lead the marketing strategy. Why? Because no one else sees the whole picture.
As the owner, you understand what makes your business different. You know your goals, your profit margins, your ideal customers. Marketing decisions—like which jobs to target or how aggressively to advertise—are business decisions. And business decisions belong to leadership.
If you outsource strategy too soon, you risk wasting money chasing the wrong leads or investing in marketing that looks good but doesn’t align with how your business actually runs.
Even if you’re not writing ads or editing web pages, you need to set the tone, define priorities, and approve the strategy. Marketing without leadership turns into noise.
2. When and How a Manager Should Take the Wheel
Once your business has a clear marketing foundation—website, Google profile, review system, ad budget, basic reporting—it makes sense to delegate execution to a manager.
This person might be an office manager, operations lead, or even a dedicated marketing coordinator. Their job isn’t to decide what your brand stands for or what results matter—it’s to make sure your plan is getting done.
Managers can:
- Monitor campaigns and flag issues
- Coordinate with vendors or agencies
- Schedule content or review requests
- Track simple KPIs and report back
But here’s the key: they need guardrails. If you hand marketing off with no expectations, it’ll drift. They need clarity on budget, voice, priorities, and outcomes. The owner still owns the vision—the manager owns the checklist.
3. What Happens When No One Owns It
Too often, marketing ends up in no-man’s land. The owner is too busy to lead it. The manager isn’t trained to run it. The agency is waiting on direction. And suddenly… nothing happens.
- The website doesn’t get updated.
- Reviews stop coming in.
- Ads run on autopilot.
- Reporting gets ignored.
Meanwhile, leads slow down, and the business starts reacting instead of growing. When no one owns marketing, it becomes reactive—and expensive.
Marketing, like hiring or scheduling, needs a lead. Not necessarily someone doing all the work—but someone who’s responsible for making sure it happens.
4. A Simple Division of Labor That Actually Works
Here’s a model we recommend for many of the home service businesses we work with:
- The Owner owns the strategy.
You decide the priorities: growth goals, budget, target services, seasonality focus, brand tone. - The Manager runs the playbook.
They make sure the website is current, the review asks go out, the ads are live, and the reports come in. - The Agency or vendor executes.
They do the technical work: ad management, SEO updates, design, etc.—all aligned to the plan.
When all three roles are clear, things move fast, stay focused, and actually get done.
5. What If You’re a One-Person Show?
If you don’t have a manager or a marketing partner, that’s okay. But the job still needs to be done. Block out one hour a week—non-negotiable—to:
- Review your Google Business Profile
- Check your website contact forms
- Look at your most recent reviews
- Track leads and where they’re coming from
Even basic consistency beats random effort. And when you’re ready to delegate, you’ll know what to look for—because you’ve done the work yourself.
Marketing Leadership Isn’t Optional
Whether it’s you, your manager, or a trusted partner, someone has to own the direction of your marketing. That doesn’t mean doing all the work—it means making sure it aligns with your goals, gets done consistently, and evolves as your business grows.
You wouldn’t let your techs install systems without specs. Don’t let your marketing run without leadership.
