How Much Should a Trade Business Spend on Marketing?

A practical way to set your trade marketing budget around profitable jobs, capacity and what you can afford to test.

5 MIN READ

What should your marketing budget include?

Your budget needs to cover more than the money going into an advertising account. Otherwise a campaign can look affordable until the other costs land.

Advertising spend: the amount paid to platforms such as Google.
Management: the time or fee needed to plan, run and improve campaigns.
Your website: service pages, enquiry forms, hosting and improvements.
Local SEO and content: helping customers find and understand your services.
Tracking and follow-up: knowing where enquiries came from and what happened next.

Separate one-off setup costs from ongoing monthly costs. A new website is a different decision from a recurring ad budget. Ask for both clearly before agreeing to a plan.

How do you work out an affordable cost per job?

Start with the money a typical job leaves after its direct costs. That means taking account of materials, labour and other costs needed to deliver it. Revenue alone can make an expensive lead look better than it is.

Then decide what you can afford to put towards acquiring that job while leaving enough for overheads and profit. This is a planning decision for your business, not an industry benchmark.

Worked example — illustrative figures, not a promise of results: suppose a job leaves £800 after direct delivery costs. You decide that up to £160 can go towards acquiring it. If you win one in four suitable enquiries, your target acquisition cost per suitable enquiry is £40: £160 × 25%.

If the campaign generates 20 suitable enquiries and five booked jobs, a total acquisition cost of £800 equals £160 per booked job. Include campaign management and related costs in that £800 if you want a fair view of the economics.

These figures are ceilings to test against, not instructions to spend £800. Your real margins, conversion rate and cash position could make a very different budget sensible.

How many extra jobs can you actually take on?

Work backwards from capacity. An electrician wanting five extra consumer unit replacements needs a different plan from a building company wanting one extension enquiry that becomes a signed project.

Choose the service you want more of.
Define the areas you can serve profitably.
Decide how many extra jobs you can deliver.
Estimate how many suitable enquiries you need to win them.
Set a test budget you can afford without depending on immediate sales.

If you cannot answer every enquiry or deliver the work, buying more traffic may create more admin than profit. Plan your response process alongside your spending.

Should you spend on Google Ads, SEO or your website first?

Choose based on the actual bottleneck. If customers land on a confusing website, improve that before pouring more money into it. If the site makes your services clear but hardly anyone finds it, visibility needs attention.

Paid media can put your offer in front of people searching for a service, but results depend on demand, targeting, competition and your ability to convert enquiries. Local SEO builds visibility through useful pages and a stronger search presence; it is ongoing work, with no guaranteed timetable.

For a small budget, focus on one service and a manageable area first. A roofer promoting roof replacements across three nearby towns has a clearer test than a campaign promoting every roofing job across half the country. Our marketing for roofers page explains how that focus fits a trade business.

When should you increase your marketing spend?

Increase it when you can see which work you are winning, the acquisition cost is acceptable and you have room to deliver more. A cheap enquiry is not enough evidence on its own.

Keep a simple record of enquiry source, requested service, location, quote value, result and booked revenue. Allow for your sales cycle: an extension quote can take longer to turn into a decision than an urgent repair.

If costs rise or job quality drops, investigate before adding money. Check the search terms, the offer, the page and your follow-up. More spend cannot fix every problem.

Common questions about trade marketing budgets

Is £500 a month enough? It may fund a focused test in some situations, but it is not a universal starting point. Clarify whether that £500 includes management, setup and advertising, then check demand and likely costs for your service and area.

Should I spend a percentage of turnover? A percentage can be a planning reference, but it does not tell you whether your next job will be profitable. Use job margins, capacity and acquisition costs to make the final decision.

What is the most useful number to track? Cost per booked job, alongside the margin those jobs leave. Also track suitable enquiries so you can spot whether a problem sits in marketing or in the quoting process.

Build a budget that earns its place

You do not need a bigger marketing bill for the sake of it. You need a plan that connects spending to worthwhile work. Read our guide to paid advertising budgets for the advertising side, or talk to Adrageous about your trade marketing to work through your services, margins and goals.