Badger Digital Marketing Solutions is building its business around a change in how customers find contractors. The Pewaukee firm says homeowners now ask ChatGPT and Google which company to call for a burst pipe or a broken furnace, and they get a short list of names. Badger Digital works to put its clients on that list and to keep them from losing the call that follows.
“You don't have to use AI for it to change your business. Your customers already do,” said Alex Albrecht, founder and chief badger of Badger Digital Marketing Solutions. “They're asking ChatGPT and Google who to call for a burst pipe or a broken furnace, and they get a short list of names. Our job is to get you on that list, then make sure you never miss the call that comes from it. A missed call is just a lead you handed to your competitor.”
The agency focuses on owner-run local businesses in Wisconsin, mainly home service contractors in HVAC, plumbing, roofing, gutters and exteriors. It describes most of these owners as busy people who miss calls while on jobs, run an outdated website or hold a weak Google ranking, and want more booked work without wasting money on ads.
Badger Digital says it fixes the basics before selling advertising. The sequence is website, Google Business Profile, SEO and answer engine optimization, then lead handling, then buyer-intent ads on Google, social media, YouTube and streaming. The company serves Lake Country, Milwaukee and the rest of Wisconsin. Its local SEO and AI search marketing for contractors work starts with that foundation, which the firm calls Foundation First, Marketing Second.
The lead handling runs through ProspectMax, the agency's lead management system. It includes an AI receptionist that answers calls around the clock, missed-call text-back, up to 1,000 buyer-intent leads a month, automatic email, text and voicemail follow-up, past-client reactivation and review generation, all in a CRM with a mobile app. The agency says the system also has results outside its own client base: in one case study, a remodeling company raised website lead capture from 5% to 37%, its AI voice agent caught 39 calls that booked 12 estimates, and the owner credited it with 9 new jobs averaging more than $35,000 each.
Albrecht's family has marketed Milwaukee businesses since 1985, when it started TV Weekly The Red Book, a free weekly community shopping and TV guide. The publication is still printed every week, 41 years later, with more than 300 pickup locations across Milwaukee's north side, including grocery stores, meat markets, restaurants and neighborhood shops. Its TV listings have grown into a streaming guide, and each issue is also online and on Facebook and Instagram. Badger Digital clients can buy print, digital or both through one local contact.
Albrecht earned marketing degrees at Waukesha County Technical College and Concordia University Wisconsin, then spent eight years in sales at Schneider National while staying involved in the Red Book. He returned to WCTC for small business classes, wrote a business plan and founded Badger Digital in January 2021. Its first paying client came in June 2021. Albrecht was featured in WCTC's Fall 2026 alumni spotlight, with a video interview.
The firm holds 5-star Google reviews going back three years for website design and marketing work, including repeat clients with multiple projects. Tommy Mischker of Tri-Step wrote in a 5-star Google review: “Alex has been nothing short of amazing... his ability to execute your requests is beyond impressive.” Albrecht also posts about local SEO and marketing to more than 8,000 followers on his personal LinkedIn account.