
Industries
Advertising for trade businesses
Most trade firms have too much work and too few staff. That inverts the entire advertising brief, and almost nobody adjusts for it.
Industries
Roofing demand is weather-driven, seasonal, and half of it is an emergency. Three different campaigns, not one.

Roofing splits into two businesses that share a van: emergency repair and planned renovation. They need different advertising, and running one campaign for both serves neither.
After a storm, people search within hours. Whoever is visible and answers the phone gets the work, largely regardless of price.
What that requires: search advertising on damage and emergency terms, budget-capped but active; a phone answered outside office hours during storm periods; a map listing with correct opening hours; and a page that loads in under two seconds on a phone with poor signal.
A practical tactic: raise search bids when a storm warning is issued for your area. It takes five minutes and captures the peak.
Roof renovation is planned months ahead, often triggered by a survey, a grant scheme or a sale. The decision is made in winter and spring for work in summer.
Advertise accordingly: from January for the summer season, not in June. The content that works is different too, focused on lifespan, insulation, grants and cost.
| Asset | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Aerial photographs, before and after | shows work customers cannot see themselves |
| Named materials and guarantee length | signals competence to informed buyers |
| Reference addresses in the district | local proof beats general claims |
| A survey offer with a fixed price | lowers the barrier to first contact |
| Grant knowledge, current and specific | positions you as adviser, not contractor |
Aerial photography is the differentiator. Most homeowners have never seen their own roof properly, and a drone image of the finished work is a powerful and reusable asset.
Roof work increasingly sits inside an energy conversation. A firm that can explain the current grant landscape accurately gets the enquiry ahead of one that only quotes for tiles.
Publish a page listing the schemes applicable in your region, updated quarterly, with the amounts and the conditions. It attracts search traffic year-round and generates enquiries from people at the beginning of the decision.
Roofing has an acute labour shortage. Every advertising asset you build, the photographs, the reviews, the site, works for hiring as well.
Add a careers page with actual pay ranges. In the trades, published pay is unusual enough to be a differentiator on its own.
For emergency and storm damage terms, yes, decisively. For planned renovation, map results and reviews usually deliver more per pound.
Advertise for the next season during the current one, and use winter for planning work and contracts.
More from Industries

Industries
Most trade firms have too much work and too few staff. That inverts the entire advertising brief, and almost nobody adjusts for it.

Industries
Small callouts pay poorly and fill the diary. Advertising should be aimed at the three job types that actually carry the business.

Industries
The emergency call and the heating replacement are two different customers. One is found in seconds, the other over months.