Industries

Why tradie marketing has to be built by industry

An emergency electrician and a pool builder are both “tradies”, and almost nothing about marketing them is the same. One is found by someone standing in the dark with the power out, choosing in the next sixty seconds on a phone. The other is found by someone who has been saving backyard photos for three months and won’t decide for another two. The channel that works, the budget that makes sense, what the website has to say above the fold and when demand peaks — all of it changes.

So each industry page here is built from that trade’s reality: how people search for it, when demand moves through the year, what a job is worth, what customers check before they hire, whether Google or Meta should lead, and the marketing mistake we see most often. It’s the same thinking we apply when we build a campaign — the page just shows the work.

Four industry groups, four different marketing patterns

• Trade & construction — electricians, plumbers, roofers, builders and the renovation trades split between urgent, search-driven work and planned, visual projects. Urgent work belongs to Google Search and a strong Business Profile; planned work rewards photography and Meta.
• Outdoor & property — landscapers, tree services, fencers, pavers and pool builders are the most seasonal group. Demand climbs from late winter and peaks in spring, so the marketing has to be running before the season starts.
• Specialist home services — skip bins, pest control, air conditioning, solar, water damage and asbestos are need-driven and credential-checked. Licences and calm, factual content beat anything glossy, and budgets should follow the season.
• Automotive — detailing and ceramic coating are led by social channels; mobile mechanics and auto electricians by “near me” search in a tight radius.

Three things that change a plan more than the industry does

Metro or regional

The same trade on the Gold Coast and in a regional town is two different marketing problems. In a capital city, clicks cost more and rankings are harder to win, so the budget is weighted toward the highest-value job types to make the numbers work. In a regional area, clicks are cheaper and rankings are within reach, but total demand is smaller — so the plan leans toward owning the map pack and the Business Profile, with a modest, tightly targeted ad budget. Every page here assumes you’ll tell us which you are; the recommendation changes accordingly.

Urgent or planned work

If customers find you when something is broken — a leak, a power outage, a dead air-con, a storm-damaged roof — Google Search and a fast, phone-first website do most of the work, and the campaign needs to ramp when demand spikes. If customers plan for weeks — decks, kitchens, pools, landscaping — the job is to be visible while they’re still saving ideas, which is where Meta, photography and retargeting earn their keep. Most trades are a mix; your trade’s page says which way it leans and why.

Doing more than one trade

Plenty of businesses straddle categories — a builder who also does decks, a plumber who also does gasfitting, a landscaper who also builds retaining walls. Pick the page for the work you want more of, not the work you do most. The marketing gets weighted toward the job types that pay, and the site and campaigns can cover the secondary trade without diluting the main one. If you’re not sure which that is, it’s a good first question for the call.

What every industry page covers

Each page follows the same structure so you can compare your trade with another honestly: how people search for it and what each search says about the customer; when demand moves through the year and how the budget should follow it; what a job is worth and why cost per enquiry by job type matters more than cost per click; what the website needs above the fold and what customers check before they hire; whether Google Search or Meta should lead; the job types we build campaigns around; and the questions that trade’s owners ask before they get in touch. If a section doesn’t apply to a trade, it isn’t there.

If your trade isn’t listed

The approach doesn’t change: real job types, real search behaviour, the channel mix that fits, published pricing. Tell us what you do and we’ll build the plan from scratch — and if we think paid marketing isn’t the right move for your trade right now, we’ll say so before you spend anything.