Leads and what marketing costs

Open your inbox on a quiet Monday and there is a good chance a lead platform, an agency and a "page one of Google" cold caller have all been in touch. They each want a slice of your marketing budget, and they are selling three very different things. This page sorts them out.

The lead platforms you will meet

• hipages. The biggest name in trade leads. Read is hipages worth it and how much hipages costs. Pricing and rules change, so check current terms before signing.
• Oneflare. A local services marketplace. See the Oneflare review for tradies and our Mitch vs Oneflare page.
• ServiceSeeking. Another quote marketplace. It lets you list your business and view leads in an app, but its public pages do not say what it costs, so ask first.
• Airtasker, True Local, Yellow Pages. Airtasker is a task marketplace. True Local and Yellow Pages are directories.

Looking elsewhere? hipages alternatives lists them.

What you buy and what you do not

You buy an introduction to someone who wants a job done. You do not buy a relationship, and the reviews you collect there generally stay on that platform, not your Google listing. The question is whether the jobs you win cover the cost of all the leads you did not.

Do the sum with your own figures. Say you spend A$600 in a month, quote 12 leads and win 3 (an example, not a benchmark). That is A$200 a job before you have driven anywhere. A A$450 service call loses money at that rate. A A$6,000 bathroom does not. Count the evenings you spent writing quotes as well. The post paying for leads vs owning your reputation walks through it, and the comparison page sets the two side by side.

What agencies charge

For a small local business, retainers commonly sit between A$800 and A$2,500 a month, often on a 6 or 12 month term, as a typical range rather than a quote. Check whether GST is on top, and who owns the website, domain and ad accounts if you leave. How much a marketing agency costs a trades business has questions to ask. Compare it with hiring an agency vs Mitch.

How much to spend at all

There is no single percentage that suits every trade. A sole-trader sparky with a full diary needs less than a new builder trying to fill the next six months. Marketing spend is generally a business expense, so ask your accountant how it fits with your GST and BAS.

Referrals go through Google first

The neighbour who recommends you is not the end of the sale. The person they tell opens Google and looks. If your last review is from 2023, the referral can leak away quietly.

Doing it all yourself

Free in cash, expensive in Sundays. The DIY comparison shows when it is the right call.

A sensible split

1. Keep a lead source only while the cost per job won stays acceptable.
2. Ask every customer for a Google review, including the lead-platform ones. If you ask by text, check you have their consent first, name your business in the message and include an easy way to opt out. The ACMA's avoid sending spam page explains the rules.
3. Keep your Google listing current.
4. Look at the numbers once a quarter and cut what is not earning.