The best marketing agency for a trade business is the one that can show you, in your own numbers, how many enquiries it brought in, what each one cost and how many turned into jobs. Everything else, from awards to slick sales calls, matters less than that. Before you sign with anyone, check five things: that the advert accounts are in your name, that every enquiry is tracked back to where it came from, how long the contract runs, who actually does the work, and whether they’ll also work for your competitor down the road.
Here’s how to check each one, and what to ask.
The main types of marketing help for trades
- Trades-specialist agencies. Agencies that work only or mainly with trades. They know the jobs and the customers, and usually sell packages built for trades.
- Local general agencies. Agencies in your area that work with all kinds of businesses. They know the area, and quality varies more.
- Freelancers. One person, often cheaper, and good for a single job such as a website. Less cover when they’re busy or ill.
- Lead sites and directories. Checkatrade, Bark, MyBuilder and the like. They sell listings or leads rather than marketing your own business. See is Checkatrade worth it for how they compare.
- Website-only companies. Cheap websites, sometimes with a monthly fee. A website on its own rarely brings in work without adverts or search behind it.
What makes the best marketing agency for tradesmen?
1. Your accounts are in your name
Your Google Ads account, your Facebook ad account and your Google Business Profile should belong to you, with the agency given access. Google Ads lets you add an agency as a user on your own account. If an agency sets everything up in its own name, you lose your history, and sometimes your reviews and website, when you leave.
Ask: “Whose name will the advert accounts, the website and the domain be in?”
2. Every enquiry is tracked to a result
Clicks and “impressions” don’t pay the bills. A good agency tracks calls and form enquiries back to the advert or search that brought them, and reports on enquiries, jobs won and what each one cost.
Ask: “What will your monthly report show me, and can you track phone calls as well as forms?”
3. A contract you can get out of
A short starting term is reasonable, because adverts take a few months to set up, test and settle. After that you should be able to leave with a month or so of notice. Be wary of 12, 18 or 24-month contracts, especially ones that renew automatically. We’ve written about the sales tactics some PPC companies use on trades.
Ask: “What’s the minimum term, and how much notice do I give after that?”
4. You know who does the work
In some agencies a salesperson signs you up and a junior runs your account. Ask who will set up and run your adverts day to day, and how much experience they have.
Ask: “Who will actually run my account, and can I speak to them?”
5. They won’t also work for your competitor
If an agency runs adverts for two roofers in the same town, it’s bidding against itself for the same customers. Some agencies take only one firm per trade per area.
Ask: “Do you work with any other firms in my trade near me?”
6. Proof, not promises
Ask for real results, ideally in a trade like yours, with the numbers behind them. Be wary of anyone who guarantees you’ll be “number one on Google”. Nobody controls Google’s normal results, and paid positions depend on budget and competition.
Ask: “Can you show me results for a business like mine, and how you measured them?”
7. Clear pricing
Most agencies charge a monthly fee for their work, and your advert spend is paid separately to Google and Facebook. Some charge a percentage of your ad spend instead, which means their fee rises when you spend more, whether or not it’s working. Make sure you know what’s included, such as the website, the adverts’ design and reporting, and whether VAT is added.
Ask: “What’s your fee, what does it include, and how much of what I pay goes to Google and Facebook?”
Red flags
- A guarantee of top spot on Google, or of a set number of leads for a tiny budget.
- Pressure to sign on the first call, or a “this price is only for today” offer.
- Long contracts that renew automatically.
- Reports full of clicks and impressions, with nothing about enquiries or jobs.
- Advert accounts, the website or the domain in the agency’s name.
- Fake or paid-for reviews on their own profile. Posting or buying fake reviews is against Google’s rules and, in the UK, against the law.
How to compare two or three agencies
- Check what you’ve got now. Your Google reviews, how your website works on a phone, and whether you show up when you search for your trade and town. Our free website audit does this in about a minute.
- Ask each agency the questions above, and write down the answers.
- Ask what the first three months look like: what they’ll set up, when adverts go live, and what they expect to have learned by the end.
- Agree goals in writing before you sign, from your own numbers: enquiries a month, jobs won and what an enquiry should cost. Then you can both see whether it’s working.
- Look them up. Read their Google reviews and ask to speak to a current client if you can.
Where RareBear fits
We’re a UK marketing agency based in Hunstanton, Norfolk, with a dedicated offer for contractors and trade firms. On the questions above:
- Advert accounts are set up in your name, and the website and domain are yours to keep.
- Every enquiry is checked by a screening form, texted to your phone and tracked back to where it came from.
- A 3-month minimum, then 30 days’ notice.
- Senior marketers plan and run the work.
- One client per trade per area.
- Goals agreed in writing on the kickoff call. If we haven’t hit them by the end of month 3, month 4 of our fee is on us.
- One flat monthly fee, with advert spend paid directly to Google and Facebook. We’re not VAT registered.
See marketing for contractors for everything we do, or start with a free audit of where you stand now.