Facebook ads for tradies in Frankston: do them first, or start with Google Ads?
By Seam Media · Updated
Tradies around Frankston hear conflicting advice about advertising. Some swear by Google Ads, others say Facebook is cheaper and brings plenty of leads. Both can work, because they do different jobs. Google Ads reaches people searching for your service right now. Facebook and Instagram ads, run through Meta, put your business in front of local people who were not searching at all.
This guide gives you a practical way to decide which comes first for your trade, how to set each one up for Frankston and nearby suburbs, and how to compare them on enquiries rather than opinions.
Start with how customers buy your work
If people need you urgently or know exactly what they want, they usually search. A burst pipe in Seaford, a power fault in Carrum Downs or a blocked drain in Frankston South starts with a phone and a search. For that kind of work, Google Ads is generally the first place to spend.
If people have not yet decided, or a good photo can spark the idea, Meta ads can suit you better. Landscaping, decks, fencing, painting, renovations and solar are often planned over weeks, and a clear before and after can get someone thinking about their own place.
- Urgent or specific jobs: Google Ads first.
- Planned and visual jobs: consider Meta alongside Google.
- Mixed trade: start with your highest-value urgent or quoted job.
What each platform needs from you
Google Ads needs a sensible keyword list, negatives, a page for each job and someone to answer the phone. It can bring enquiries quickly, but clicks in a competitive trade can be expensive, so wasted searches matter.
Meta ads need creative: real photos or short videos of your work, a clear offer of what you do and where, and a simple way to enquire. The enquiry is often less urgent, so expect to follow up quickly and to get some people who are only curious. A fast call back makes a real difference on these leads.
Budget and time count too. Running either platform badly costs more than running one of them well, so if you have one person and limited hours, pick one, set it up properly and check it every week. Read the search terms in Google Ads and the comments and messages on your Meta ads, since people often ask questions there that turn into jobs if someone replies.
Set them up for Frankston, not Melbourne
On Google Ads, target the suburbs or radius you really service, and choose the presence option, which targets people in or regularly in your locations. Google's ad schedule then lets you run ads only when someone can answer.
On Meta, choose locations at the ad set level by city, region or radius. Meta says it may reach people who live in, recently visited or often visit a place, and that location accuracy is not guaranteed, so name your suburbs in the ad itself so people outside your area can rule themselves out.
- Suburbs or radius you actually work in.
- Ad schedule matching when you can answer.
- Suburbs named in the ad text.
Compare them fairly
Comparing cost per lead on its own can mislead. Count calls of a reasonable length and completed forms as conversions on each platform, then record which enquiries became quotes and jobs and what those jobs were worth. A dearer enquiry that turns into a paid job often beats three cheap ones that never answer the phone.
Give any test long enough to produce real numbers, and change one thing at a time. Also ask every caller how they found you, because someone may see your Facebook ad, then search your name on Google a week later.
- Same definition of an enquiry on both platforms.
- Quotes and jobs recorded by source.
- Callers asked how they found you.
A sensible order for most trades
For most Frankston trades, a reasonable order is: fix your Google Business Profile and website first, start Google Ads on your best job, then add Meta once you can answer the extra enquiries. That order is a starting point, not a rule. A landscaper or renovator with strong photos may do well trying Meta sooner.
On our packages, Growth at $235 a week plus GST includes management of one ad platform, Google Ads or Meta Ads, and Complete Growth at $350 a week plus GST includes both. Ad spend is separate and paid directly to the platform.
Seam Media runs both for local businesses. Our page on digital marketing in Frankston covers how we work in the area, and our tradie marketing page explains our approach for trades, including our enquiry guarantee for new Google Ads clients, with the full terms on that page.
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Sources and further reading
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