Digital marketing for tradies, measured in booked jobs.
Not impressions. Not likes. Booked jobs. Here's exactly what digital marketing costs an Australian trade business, which channels actually produce work, and how to stop paying for enquiries that never get answered.
Digital marketing budgets by trade business size.
Real Australian numbers. The right budget is whatever keeps your cost per booked job below your gross profit per job — everything else is guesswork.
| Business size | Monthly spend | Focus | Target cost per job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo / 1 van | $800 – $2,000 | Google Business Profile, reviews, missed-call text-back, small ads budget | Under $120 |
| 2 – 5 vans | $2,000 – $6,000 | Google Ads across suburbs, suburb SEO pages, AI call answering | $120 – $200 |
| 6 – 20 vans | $6,000 – $15,000 | Full SEO programme, multi-campaign ads, CRM + reactivation | $150 – $300 |
| Franchise network | $15,000+ | Brand campaigns plus per-franchisee local marketing and lead routing | Varies by trade |
Where Australian trade leads actually come from.
Google Business Profile
The single biggest lead source for local trades. Complete profile, weekly photo posts, 5-star review velocity and service-area targeting put you in the Maps Pack.
Google Ads
Instant leads on buying-intent keywords like 'emergency electrician [suburb]'. Expensive if unmanaged, unbeatable when the keywords and negatives are tight.
Website & landing pages
Pricing visible, phone number sticky, 60-second form, suburb pages for SEO. Most tradie sites are brochures — yours needs to be a booking machine.
SEO content
Service pages, suburb pages and buyer guides that rank for years. Slow to start, free traffic forever after.
Missed-call text-back
Instantly texts anyone you couldn't answer. The cheapest lead recovery in trades — you already paid for that call.
Email & SMS to past customers
Service reminders, seasonal offers and reactivation campaigns. The highest-ROI channel and the one almost every tradie ignores.
From no marketing to a working lead engine.
Days 1–14 — plug the leaks
Turn on missed-call text-back and AI call answering. Add pricing and a short lead form to the website. Set up a single inbox for every enquiry so nothing gets lost between the ute and the office.
Days 15–30 — own your Google profile
Complete the Google Business Profile, add services, service areas and 20+ real job photos. Start automated review requests off job completion — aim for 4–8 new reviews a month.
Days 31–60 — buy demand
Launch tight Google Ads campaigns on emergency and buying-intent keywords in your top three suburbs. Track calls and form fills, not clicks. Kill anything above your target cost per job.
Days 61–90 — build the compounding asset
Publish service and suburb pages for SEO, launch reactivation SMS to your past customer list, and set a 3-touch follow-up sequence on every quote.
Channel-by-channel guides.
SEO for Tradies
Rank in the Google Local Pack and organic search across your suburbs.
Read the SEO for Tradies guideGoogle Ads for Tradies
Keywords, budgets and ad copy that book jobs instead of burning spend.
Read the Google Ads for Tradies guideTradie Advertising
Every advertising option compared — online, print, vehicle and local.
Read the Tradie Advertising guideMarketing Agency for Tradies
What to look for, what to pay, and when to hire versus automate.
Read the Marketing Agency for Tradies guideCRM for Tradies
Track every lead, quote and follow-up in one place.
Read the CRM for Tradies guideMarketing for Tradies
The complete Australian marketing playbook and pillar guide.
Read the Marketing for Tradies guideDigital marketing for tradies — your questions.
What is digital marketing for tradies?
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Digital marketing for tradies is every online channel that puts your trade business in front of someone who needs a job done right now — Google Search and Maps, Google Ads, your website, review platforms, email and SMS. For Australian trades the practical stack is a Google Business Profile earning weekly reviews, a conversion-tuned website with pricing, Google Ads on emergency keywords, and automated follow-up so no enquiry goes cold.
How much does digital marketing cost for an Australian tradie?
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A single-van operator typically spends $800–$2,000 per month all-in: $500–$1,500 in Google Ads spend plus management, and a platform fee for website, reviews, SMS and follow-up automation. Multi-van and franchise operations run $3,000–$15,000 per month. The number that matters is cost per booked job — most trades should be under $150 for reactive work and under $400 for high-value planned work.
Which digital marketing channel works best for trades?
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Google is where the money is. Roughly 70–80% of profitable trade leads come from Google Business Profile (Maps), organic search, and Google Ads. Social media builds brand and works for planned work like renovations and solar, but people with a burst pipe search Google — they don't scroll Instagram. Start with Google, then add email/SMS to your existing customer list, then social.
Can I do digital marketing myself as a tradie?
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You can run the basics: claim and complete your Google Business Profile, post job photos weekly, and ask every customer for a review. What genuinely needs a specialist or automation is Google Ads bid management, website conversion, and follow-up sequences — those are the parts that lose money quietly when done badly. Most tradies do the profile work themselves and automate or outsource the rest.
How long before digital marketing brings in jobs?
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Google Ads brings calls within 24–48 hours of going live. Google Business Profile improvements show in 2–6 weeks. SEO takes 3–6 months for meaningful rankings in competitive suburbs. Missed-call text-back and follow-up automation produce results immediately — they recover leads you already paid for.
What's the difference between digital marketing and lead generation for tradies?
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Digital marketing is the demand side — getting people to find and contact you. Lead generation platforms like hipages or Airtasker sell you shared enquiries that three competitors also received. Owned digital marketing costs more upfront but the leads are exclusive, the customer is yours, and the asset compounds. Most trades use bought leads to fill gaps and owned marketing to build the business.
Want the plan built for your trade?
Book a free discovery call and we'll map your digital marketing plan, budget and expected cost per booked job.