Google Ads and Facebook Ads generate leads in different ways, and that difference determines whether your ad budget earns a return or disappears into clicks that never call back.
Google captures customers with an immediate problem. Someone searching "emergency plumber Toowong" at 9pm already has a job to give someone. They want availability. Facebook reaches customers who are planning ahead: homeowners scrolling through renovation photos on a Saturday afternoon, three months before they are ready to book.
Pick the wrong platform for your trade type and the leads will be expensive, cold, or both. This guide breaks down which platform suits each type of Brisbane trade work, what each costs to run, and when to use both.
Google Ads capture customers with urgent jobs. They search, click, and call. Facebook Ads reach homeowners planning ahead: renovations, landscaping, decks, outdoor living. Which platform earns a better return depends on your trade type and the urgency of your typical job.
Google Ads for Tradies: When They Pay Off
When someone types "blocked drain Brisbane" or "electrician Chermside," they have already decided they need a tradie. They are not browsing. They have a problem and want it fixed.
That intent drives results for specific trade types:
- Emergency and repair work: blocked drains, hot water failures, electrical faults, roof leaks, locksmiths. The customer wants someone available now, not the cheapest quote.
- Call-first behaviour: most clicks on urgent trade Google Ads result in a phone call. Being first to answer is the most important conversion factor.
- Suburb-level targeting: restrict your ads to the Brisbane suburbs you service so every dollar reaches a potential customer within your patch.
The cost is the trade-off. Keywords like "plumber Brisbane" attract competitive bidding from franchise networks and established businesses. If your website does not convert that click into a call, you have paid for someone to look at your homepage and leave.
Our Google Ads management service includes suburb-level targeting and conversion tracking so your ad spend turns into booked jobs.
Facebook Ads for Tradies: When They Pay Off
Facebook reaches people who are scrolling, not searching. Your ad interrupts their feed on a Saturday afternoon. That works when the job is visual and the customer is planning, not when their hot water system just failed.
Before-and-after shots of a landscaped backyard, a new deck, or a tiled bathroom stop the scroll. Trades with visually compelling finished work convert Facebook spend into enquiries:
- Renovation and remodelling: kitchen and bathroom renovations, extensions, new builds
- Outdoor living: decking, landscaping, concreting, fencing, pools
- Cosmetic and surface work: painting, flooring, tiling
Facebook also gives you audience targeting Google cannot match. You can reach homeowners aged 35 to 55 in specific Brisbane suburbs, the group most likely to be planning a renovation rather than calling their landlord.
Facebook leads cost less per click than Google leads. They also need more follow-up. The person who filled out your lead form was interested at that moment. Call back within the hour or they move on.
Our Facebook Ads management service includes lead follow-up frameworks built for how Facebook leads behave.
Which Platform Suits Your Trade?
Start here when deciding where to put your ad budget:
| Trade type | How customers find you | Best platform |
|---|---|---|
| Plumber (emergency and repairs) | Searches at point of crisis, calls immediately | Google Ads |
| Electrician (fault and repair work) | Searches when power or appliance fails | Google Ads |
| Locksmith, hot water, HVAC repair | Searches during or after problem occurs | Google Ads |
| Landscaper, deck builder | Scrolls, saves ideas, takes weeks to decide | Facebook Ads |
| Kitchen and bathroom renovator | Plans over months, compares multiple quotes | Facebook Ads |
| Painter, tiler, flooring installer | Mix of urgent refresh and planned project | Both |
| Concreter, fencer, pool builder | Planned work with visual result to show | Facebook Ads |
| Builder (extensions and new builds) | Long planning cycle, relies on visual proof | Facebook Ads |
Emergency and repair trades get a stronger return from Google per dollar spent. Visual, planned-project trades reach their customers on Facebook months before those customers start searching. Trades covering both types of work run both platforms.
What It Costs to Run Ads in Brisbane
Too many Brisbane tradies start with a budget too small to generate useful data, then write off the platform when results are thin.
For Google Ads, trade keywords in competitive Brisbane suburbs attract bidding from franchise networks and established agencies. Running out of daily budget before generating enough clicks means you cannot identify what is working. Starting on a budget too small to generate enough daily clicks means you cannot identify patterns or improve what is not working. For competitive Brisbane trade keywords, that minimum varies by trade category and how many other businesses are bidding in your suburbs. The right starting figure comes from checking actual keyword data for your specific trade before committing budget.
For Facebook Ads, the budget killer is creative quality. Before-and-after shots taken in poor light attract the wrong audience. A well-lit photo on a modern phone outperforms a larger budget spent on poor creative.
Cost per lead on Facebook is typically lower than on Google. What you pay per booked job is a different calculation. Lead quality and follow-up speed determine which enquiries turn into revenue.
When Running Both Makes Sense
If your trade covers emergency work and planned projects, a single platform leaves half your market unaddressed.
A plumbing business doing emergency call-outs and bathroom renovations uses Google Ads to capture the burst pipe at 9pm and Facebook Ads to show finished bathroom photos to homeowners planning a renovation. The same budget across two targeted platforms often outperforms all of it on one.
If budget is limited and you can only start with one:
- Emergency-first trades: start with Google Ads
- Visual project trades: start with Facebook Ads
- Long sales cycle businesses: start with Facebook Ads to build a warm audience, then add Google Ads once the pipeline needs filling
Not sure which applies to your business? Our Google Ads and Facebook Ads services both start with a free audit of your current setup before we recommend a budget or platform.
