What’s the Average ROI for Trades Marketing?
It's a fair question, and a tricky one to answer with a single number. A trade business's return depends heavily on job value, which varies enormously between, say, a boiler service and a full rewire. Still, there are useful benchmarks, and a simple way to work out your own.
What counts as a "good" return for a trade business
A common rule of thumb across service businesses is at least 3 to 1: three pounds back for every pound spent. Well-run local marketing often reaches 5 to 1 or more, especially once Google ranking and reviews start building on each other rather than relying on paid ads alone.
What pays back fastest
Systems that catch work you're already being offered: missed-call text back, fast replies to new enquiries, quote follow-ups and review requests. They capture demand that already exists rather than trying to create new demand. Someone searching "emergency plumber near me" already wants a plumber. You're just making sure they reach you, and that you reply first.
Paid ads and SEO content usually take longer to pay back. Ads cost you per click until the targeting is right, and SEO takes months to build. Both can grow further than word of mouth once they're working, but they work much better once the systems behind them stop leads leaking away.
A worked example
Say your average job is worth £600:
On our Basic plan at £297 a month, one extra job a month pays for it, with £303 left over.
On Pro at £497 a month, one extra job still covers it.
On Premium at £697 a month, two extra jobs (or one bigger one) covers it.
Every job after that is profit. For trades with higher job values, like boiler installs, rewires and roof replacements, breaking even is even easier.
Why one big job can distort the picture
Don't read too much into a single month. Land one large job and that month looks incredible. Have a quiet fortnight and it looks poor. Neither tells you the real story. Look at your return over a rolling three to six months.
A simple way to track your own
Ask every new customer, briefly, how they found you
Note the source wherever you track your jobs
Add up job value by source each month
Divide it by what you spent on that channel that month
If you don't know your numbers yet, that's completely normal, and it's the first thing worth fixing before spending more. With every enquiry, quote and invoice in one place, it gets a lot easier to see where your work actually comes from.
Want to see it working in your business? Get in touch and try your first month free. Call 07830 364377, email info@nohasslefortrades.com or use the contact form on our website.
