What a Melbourne trade business should look for in a marketing agency

Every trade business owner has been burned at least once. The pattern is usually the same: impressive pitch, monthly report full of numbers nobody can spend, and no way to leave without losing everything that was built.

Ask these five questions

• Who owns the website, the domain and the hosting account when this ends?
• Are the Google Ads and Google Business Profile accounts in my name?
• Are my leads exclusive, or sold to other businesses as well?
• Can I see call recordings and attribution myself, without asking you?
• What am I locked into, and what happens if I want out in month three?

The answers matter more than the pitch. An agency that owns your accounts has leverage over you for as long as the relationship lasts, and the leverage is the point.

Watch what gets reported

If the monthly report leads with impressions, reach and rankings for terms nobody searches, ask for calls and booked jobs instead. A partner confident in the work will show you the numbers that decide whether it was worth it.

Judge the questions they ask you

Anyone who can talk about your seasonality, your job margins, your service radius and your capacity constraints before they talk about their packages has actually worked with trades. That conversation is the best signal you will get.