XPATIC/Home services
Lead generation for trades and home services
Finding a trade you can communicate with, who turns up and who you can hold to a quote, is one of the most common complaints among expat homeowners. If that is you, the advertising almost writes itself.
Demand that already exists
Ask any expat homeowner what the hardest part of owning property abroad is and you will hear the same answer. Finding someone reliable to do the work, being able to explain what you want, and understanding what you are being quoted.
For a trade that operates in English and communicates clearly, that is not a marketing message. It is the product. The demand exists whether or not anybody advertises into it, which is unusual and worth taking seriously.
It is also a sector where almost nobody advertises properly. Most of this market still runs on Facebook groups and word of mouth, which means paid acquisition faces very little organised competition.
A complaint you hear in every expat market
Most of this sector does not advertise at all
Demand moves hard with the calendar
What works in this sector
Anything where a homeowner needs a job done, needs it explained, and does not want to manage it in a second language.
Installation and battery
High value, considered over weeks, and heavily driven by energy costs and local incentive schemes.
Build, renovation and service
Seasonal, high value, and a defining feature of the property stock in most of these markets.
Air conditioning and heating
Sharply seasonal, and demand spikes hard with the first heatwave or cold snap.
Building and refurbishment
The largest jobs, the longest sales cycle, and the place where trust matters most.
Property management
Recurring revenue, especially strong where owners are only present part of the year.
Gardens and landscaping
Steady, lower value per job, and reliably repeat business.
The seasonal opportunity
Air conditioning enquiries do not arrive evenly across the year. Neither do pool builds, and neither does anything involving a second-home owner who is only in the country for part of it.
A campaign that spends the same amount every month is spending into a market that does not exist for a good portion of them. In markets like Florida or the Costa del Sol, where part-year residents make up a large share of demand, that is a way to lose a substantial share of budget without noticing.
The more useful position is usually just before the season rather than during it. The quotes go out while the competition is still waiting for the phone to ring, and the job is booked before the rush makes everybody unavailable.
How we run these campaigns
- Targeted at homeowners, not everyoneProperty ownership and residency status separated from renters and tourists, because a quote for somebody else's house is worth nothing.
- Seasonally weightedBudget moves ahead of demand rather than chasing it, which usually means spending before the season rather than during it.
- Job type qualified upfrontWhat the work is, roughly what scale, and when they want it, asked before the phone number.
- Checked on arrivalNumbers and emails checked as the lead comes in, repeat enquiries flagged and never charged twice, delivered in seconds so you can quote while they are still looking.
- Measured on jobs wonYou mark which enquiries turned into work, and the campaign learns what a real job looks like rather than what a form looks like.
Questions trades ask
I get all my work from Facebook groups and word of mouth. Why pay for ads?
Word of mouth is excellent and it is not controllable. It gives you what it gives you, usually least when you need it most. Paid acquisition is the part you can turn up when the diary looks thin, and it seeds more word of mouth as a side effect.
How do you stop me getting quotes for jobs I do not do?
The funnel asks what the job is and roughly what scale before it asks for a phone number. If you do not do small repairs, those enquiries drop out before they reach you rather than after you have driven out to look at one.
Are the leads exclusive to me?
Yes. Shared trade leads turn into a race to quote lowest, which is bad for you and usually bad for the customer too.
Can you handle the seasonal swing?
It gets built into the plan. Budget is weighted ahead of the season rather than run flat, because the best time to be advertising air conditioning is generally just before everybody starts looking for it.
I am a one-man operation. Is this too much for me?
Sometimes, and it is worth saying so plainly. Lead flow is only useful if you can answer the phone and quote promptly. We would rather size the campaign to what you can actually service than sell you volume you cannot handle.
See what this looks like for your business
A few questions about the work you do and where you cover, then a call to work through demand and what an enquiry is likely to cost.
hello@xpatic.com