Choosing a marketing agency when you run a trade business is hard. Most agencies talk to retailers, e-commerce brands or corporates. They don’t understand seasonal demand, job-based revenue, or the fact that your “conversion” is a phone call from someone with a leaking roof, not an online checkout.
We went looking for the agencies in New Zealand that genuinely specialise in trades, and compared them on what actually matters: do they understand the work, and can they prove results?
Full disclosure: we put ourselves first on this list. We think we’ve earned it, but we’ve laid out the evidence so you can judge for yourself.
1. Hyper Digital
Based in: Hawke’s Bay, working with tradies NZ-wide Best for: Plumbing, roofing, spouting, electrical, building, house relocation, pumps Services: Google Ads, websites, local SEO, AI-powered lead follow-up In business since: 2019
Hyper Digital (that’s us) works exclusively with trade and local service businesses. We don’t do e-commerce. We don’t do retail. Every system we build is designed around one outcome: getting qualified jobs booked into your calendar.
What makes us different is transparency. Every result we publish comes straight from the client’s own ad account or analytics. We don’t hide behind “proprietary dashboards” or vanity metrics. If we say it happened, you can log in and check.
Results from real clients
Here is a snapshot of what our campaigns have delivered across different trades:
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Continuous Spouting (Spouting, Hawke’s Bay): $5.87 cost per lead, 15.5% click-through rate, 2,945 tracked leads over a 4.5-year partnership. Read the full case study →
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No Drips (Plumbing, Hawke’s Bay): $14 cost per lead on the best keywords (target was $45), 9.4% CTR (roughly double the industry average), close to $3,000 in wasted spend from the previous agency found and cut. Read the full case study →
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Houses on the Move (House relocation, nationwide): Cost per lead cut by more than half ($32 down to $16), 10%+ CTR, 43,000+ clicks across 4.5 years. The client has more than doubled their monthly investment because it keeps working. Read the full case study →
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Harris Pumps (Pumps and filtration): Cost per lead nearly halved from $31 to $17, phone enquiries up 35% year-on-year, a client since day one. Read the full case study →
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Hawke’s Bay Roofer (Roofing): $351 in ad spend turned into a $45,000 re-roof job. 18 leads tracked as conversions in a single month at roughly $20 each. Read the full case study →
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Tableau Towbars (Automotive): Roughly 7x return on ad spend, conversion rate climbing from 9% in 2021 to 12% in 2026, profitable since day one across a five-year partnership. Read the full case study →
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Bermuda Lifestyle (Pools and spas): Enquiries up 2,500% and revenue up 500% in year one after a website rebuild plus Google, Facebook and Instagram ads. Read the full case study →
Across all managed accounts, we’ve delivered $4m+ in tracked client revenue on around $1m in ad spend, a blended return of roughly 4x (conservative average; individual campaigns vary).
What you actually get
- A fast, mobile-first website built to convert (not a template)
- Google Ads managed monthly with full search-term transparency
- Local SEO and Google Business Profile optimisation
- AI-powered email follow-up that replies to every website enquiry instantly, 24/7
- A free game plan before you spend a cent
📞 Get a free game plan or call 027 666 1973.
2. TradesUp / Digital Tradie
Based in: Auckland Best for: Tradies wanting a packaged website-plus-SEO solution Services: Websites, SEO, Google Ads, social media
TradesUp (previously Digital Tradie) is one of the more established names in the NZ tradie-marketing space. They offer templated websites paired with SEO and Google Ads management. Their main pitch is an all-in-one monthly package aimed at trades.
Strengths: They understand the trades market and have been around long enough to build a reputation. Their website templates are trade-specific and their onboarding is straightforward.
Watch out for: Template-based websites can limit your ability to stand out, especially if several competitors in your area are using the same provider. Ask to see the actual ad accounts rather than summary reports, so you can verify the numbers.
3. Tradie Digital
Based in: Auckland (also serves Australia) Best for: Tradies wanting a trans-Tasman agency with scale Services: Google Ads, SEO, website builds, social media, content
Tradie Digital runs a sizeable operation across NZ and Australia. They work with a wide range of trades from plumbers to landscapers and have built a recognisable brand in the tradie marketing space.
Strengths: They have scale and a large team, which means dedicated account managers and a broad range of services. Good if you want everything under one roof and you’re growing fast.
Watch out for: Bigger agencies sometimes mean less hands-on attention. Ask about campaign manager workloads and how often they review your search terms. Also clarify contract terms and minimum commitments upfront.
4. Trojan Digital / TopRankd
Based in: Various NZ locations Best for: Tradies looking for SEO-focused growth Services: SEO, Google Ads, web design, content marketing
Several NZ agencies (like Trojan Digital and TopRankd) have carved out a niche working with trade and service businesses. They tend to lean heavier on SEO and content marketing as the primary growth channel.
Strengths: If you’re playing the long game and want to invest in organic search rankings, SEO-first agencies can build a strong foundation. Good content strategies attract customers who are researching before they buy.
Watch out for: SEO takes months to show results. If you need the phone ringing next week, SEO alone won’t do it (we wrote a whole article on the ads-vs-SEO question). Make sure the agency is transparent about timelines and doesn’t promise page-one rankings by a specific date.
5. General digital agencies with trade clients
Agencies like Firefly Digital, Sprocket Digital, and Adhesion are full-service shops that work across many industries, including trades. They bring broad digital marketing experience and often have larger creative teams.
Strengths: Wider range of services (branding, video, PR). Good if your business is growing beyond pure lead generation and you need more sophisticated marketing.
Watch out for: Trades are one of many verticals they serve. Your campaign manager may not know the difference between a hot water cylinder install and a full re-pipe, which affects keyword strategy and ad copy. Ask how many trade clients they manage and whether they have trade-specific case studies with verifiable numbers.
How to choose the right agency
Regardless of who you pick, here’s what to ask before signing anything:
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“Can I see the actual ad account?” Any agency worth hiring will give you full access to your own Google Ads and Analytics accounts. If they build campaigns in their own account and just send you screenshots, you’ll lose everything if you leave.
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“What’s my cost per lead, and how do you track it?” Clicks and impressions don’t pay the bills. You need to know how many actual enquiries your ads are generating and what each one costs.
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“Do you have case studies in my trade?” A plumber’s campaign looks nothing like a builder’s. Ask for results from businesses like yours, not just a logo wall.
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“What happens if I leave?” You should own your website, your domain, your ad accounts and your data. If the agency keeps any of it, that’s a red flag.
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“How long is the contract?” Month-to-month is a sign the agency trusts their own results. Long lock-in contracts protect the agency, not you.
Our take
We built Hyper Digital specifically because tradies were getting a raw deal from generalist agencies. We only work with trades. Every dollar of ad spend we report is verifiable in the client’s own account. And every case study on our results page links to the real numbers.
If you want to see what we could do for your trade, book a free game plan. We’ll show you where your next jobs are coming from, and what they’ll cost. No jargon, no obligation.