Marketing for Australian trades · From $500K revenue · Accessible pricing
Tradie marketing scored on booked jobs, not leads.
Most tradie marketing reports the form-fill count and the cost per lead. The number that pays the wages is the booked job. We connect ServiceM8, Tradify, or your CRM back to the ad platforms so Google Ads and Meta optimise against jobs you actually win, not enquiries you have to qualify. Built for owner-operator trade businesses doing $500K and up, with pricing that suits the size of the business.
1 of 2 Q2 2026 spot remaining
From $500K
Trade business revenue. We work with owner-operators, not just $5M-plus operations.
From $1,800
Tradie Tracking Audit. Two weeks, written report, prioritised fix list.
From $4,800
Tradie Profit Setup. Four weeks, full measurement rebuild and CRM connection.
How we work tradie marketing
Four principles. They constrain the work as much as they direct it.
Principle 01
Booked jobs, not form fills
Most tradie marketing reports leads. The number that pays the wages is booked jobs. We connect the CRM (or the booking software) back to the ad platform so Google Ads optimises against the booking event, not the form submission.
Principle 02
Phone calls are the conversion
For most trades, the booking happens on the phone. We track the call (CallRail or call tracking equivalent), pass the conversion event back to Google and Meta as an offline upload, and report cost per booked-call separately from cost per form-fill.
Principle 03
Job profitability, not just job volume
Cheap leads are easy. Profitable jobs are the work. We score campaigns against job-level profitability (job value minus COGS minus overhead) instead of cost per lead. Some campaigns drive volume that does not clear margin; we kill those first.
Principle 04
Marketplaces vs paid ads vs organic
hipages, Service Seeking, Oneflare, and the local Google Business listings all compete with paid Google and Meta. We work the mix together; chasing a 'pure' channel cost is usually missing the bigger picture.
Deliverables
What an engagement actually delivers.
01
Booking-event measurement: form, phone call, online booking, and job-management software conversions all unified through the measurement layer.
02
Offline conversion uploads from your job-management or CRM system (ServiceM8, Tradify, simPRO, AroFlo, Fergus, Jobber, HubSpot) back into Google Ads and Meta. The optimiser learns to target booked-job audiences.
03
Lead-quality scoring tied back to source. Which marketplace, which keyword, which audience produces booked jobs (not just enquiries).
04
Reporting layer that ties marketing spend to actual booked job revenue. Monthly reconciliation. Cost per booked job by channel, by service line.
05
Marketplace allocation review: hipages vs Service Seeking vs Oneflare vs paid Google. Which gives you booked-job profitability above your break-even, which doesn't.
06
Documented playbook for the in-house marketing person or your existing agency.
Who this is for
- Australian trade or services business, $500K and up in annual revenue
- Spending at least $1,500 a month on Google Ads, Meta, hipages, Service Seeking, or similar
- Job-management or CRM software in place (ServiceM8, Tradify, simPRO, AroFlo, Fergus, Jobber, ServiceTitan, HubSpot, or similar)
- Owner or operator who wants the work explained and the playbook handed back
Who it isn't
- Looking for a virtual assistant or someone to run accounts day-to-day
- Pre-revenue or sub-$500K trying to fix marketing before the offer is proven
- Want a permanent retainer with no defined end-date
- Already running clean ServiceM8/Tradify offline conversion uploads with reconciliation
Pricing for trades
Fixed-scope. Written number up front. Sized for trade businesses, not enterprise.
Three accessible engagements. Pick the one that matches where you are. None of them are retainer-shaped; each ends with a documented handover the in-house person operates afterwards.
Tier 01 · Diagnostic
Tradie Tracking Audit
$1,800 AUD
Two weeks. Read-only diagnostic of your existing setup. Written report with a prioritised fix list and a 60-minute walk-through. The right starting point if you want to know what is broken before you commit to fixing it.
Tier 02 · Build
Tradie Profit Setup
$4,800 AUD
Four weeks. Full measurement rebuild: ServiceM8 / Tradify / CRM connection, offline conversion uploads to Google and Meta, call tracking, Google Business Profile fixes, and a simple booked-job reporting layer. Documented handover so the in-house person operates it afterwards.
Tier 03 · Optional
Tradie Quarterly Review
$480 AUD / qtr
90-minute quarterly check-in after the Profit Setup. We review the booked-job report, flag what has drifted, and write up the three fixes that will move the most revenue this quarter. Cancel anytime.
Larger trade businesses (typically $5M and up with multiple service lines or locations) often benefit from the full PROFIT framework engagement at a different price point. We will flag this on the strategy call if the scope warrants it.
Frequently asked
Eight questions about tradie marketing.
Is tradie marketing different from regular digital marketing?
The acquisition channels are tighter (Google search, hipages, Service Seeking, Oneflare, local Google Business profiles, Meta for some categories) and the conversion event is usually a phone call rather than a form submission. The pricing has to be different too, because most trades have not built a $20K-a-month marketing budget yet. We've stripped the engagement down to what an owner-operator can afford and still get real measurement.
What's the best channel for getting tradie work?
Depends on the trade and the locality. High-intent Google search dominates for emergency-style trades (plumbing, electrical, locksmiths). hipages and Service Seeking work for project-based trades (building, renovations, landscaping) where customers compare quotes. Meta and Google Display work for brand-building and seasonal pushes (HVAC pre-summer). Run the channels in parallel and let the booked-job data tell you which is paying off.
How much should a tradie business spend on digital marketing?
Rough heuristic: 5 to 10 percent of revenue on total marketing, of which 60 to 80 percent goes to digital. A $750K trade business is spending $40K to $75K a year on marketing, with $25K to $60K on digital. A $2M trade business is spending $100K to $200K a year. Your break-even ROAS depends on your job margin; the calculator at /tools/roas-calculator returns the number for your business.
Are hipages and Service Seeking worth it?
Sometimes. Both produce volume; the question is whether the cost per booked job from the marketplace clears your margin. Most tradies we audit are losing money on marketplace leads in their lowest-margin job categories and making money on them in their highest-margin categories. The fix is segmenting the marketplace spend, not killing it outright.
Do you handle Google Business Profile and local SEO?
Yes — for trades, the Google Business Profile is often the single highest-leverage acquisition channel. We diagnose the GBP setup as part of every Tradie Tracking Audit and the Profit Setup engagement covers the highest-impact fixes (categories, services, reviews, photos, posts, citations). Day-to-day content production stays with the in-house team or a specialist provider we recommend.
Will you work alongside our existing tradie marketing agency?
Yes. Most clients have an existing local agency, hipages account manager, or virtual assistant running the marketing. We work alongside whoever runs the day-to-day. About half of clients ask us to recommend a delivery agency or freelancer at the end; we keep a short list we trust at trade-business price points.
How much does this cost?
We have three accessible price points for trades. Tradie Tracking Audit is $1,800 AUD (two-week read-only diagnostic with a written report). Tradie Profit Setup is $4,800 AUD (four-week measurement rebuild including ServiceM8 / Tradify connection, offline conversion uploads, GBP fixes, and a reporting layer). Tradie Quarterly Review is an optional $480 per quarter check-in afterwards. Fixed-scope, billed up front, written proposal after the strategy session.
Why is the trade pricing so much lower than your other engagements?
Because trade businesses do not need a twelve-week PROFIT framework engagement. The work is more contained: connect the job-management software to the ad platforms, fix the Google Business Profile, set up call tracking, build a simple reporting layer. We do that work in four weeks for a fixed fee and the in-house person operates it afterwards. Everyone wins; we keep the engagement honest at the size that suits the business.
Next step
Built for owner-operator trades. Pricing that suits the size of the business.
If your trade business is paying for leads but not winning the jobs you should be, the next step is a 20-minute strategy call. Bring a month of marketing spend, a month of booked jobs, and one channel you suspect is not earning its keep. We will tell you on the call which of the three engagements above (or none) is the right fit.