Tradies have better social media material than almost any other small business. A rotted deck turned into a new one. A switchboard from 1975 replaced with something safe. A blocked drain, a camera, and the tree root that caused it. People love that stuff, and they remember who did it.
The problem is never content. It’s that you’re on the tools from 7am, quoting at night, and doing the books on Sunday. So this isn’t a guide to “building your brand”. It’s a routine that takes a few minutes per job and turns work you’re already doing into posts.
The two-minute job routine
Most of your social media can come from three moments on every decent job. Make them a habit, like grabbing your gear from the ute.
When you arrive (30 seconds). Take a “before” photo or two from where the client normally stands. Wide enough to show the space, close enough to show the problem. This is the shot everyone forgets, and you can’t go back for it.
During the job (30 seconds). One photo or a 10 to 15 second clip of something interesting: the problem you found, a clever fix, the old part next to the new one. This is the material that shows you know what you’re doing.
When you finish (60 seconds). The “after” from the same spot as the before. Clean up first, move the drop sheets, wipe the bench. Then a quick clip panning across the finished work.
Shoot it all on your phone. Landscape for before-and-after pairs, vertical for video. We go into angles, light and consistency properly in before-and-after photos for tradies.
Posts that work for trades
You don’t need many formats. These five cover most tradies for a year.
Before and after. The classic, for good reason. Two photos side by side, or a carousel. Caption: what the problem was, what you did, roughly where (suburb, not street).
The “what we found” post. A photo of the problem with a plain explanation. Melted wiring behind a light fitting. Termite damage in a door frame. A hot water unit leaking into the subfloor. These get shared because people go and check their own house.
Short job videos. 10 to 30 seconds is plenty. A water test on a new shower. A switchboard before and after. A concrete pour. No talking needed, just add a line of text on screen saying what it is.
The crew. Your apprentice finishing their trade. A new van. Smoko at a good job. People hire people, and locals like knowing who’s turning up.
Answers to common questions. “How long does a bathroom reno take?” “Do I need a permit for that?” “Why does my safety switch keep tripping?” Answer one per post in plain language. These posts tend to keep getting found, and they’re good practice for your website and Google profile too.
Getting client permission
Get permission before you post photos taken at someone’s home. It’s courtesy, it’s good business, and some clients have real reasons for not wanting their home online.
Make it part of the job, not an awkward afterthought. Put a line in your quote or terms, then confirm when you finish. A simple text works:
Hi Sarah, thanks again for today. Mind if we share a couple of before and after photos of the bathroom on our Facebook and Instagram? No address or anything personal, just the work. Totally fine if you’d rather not.
Most people say yes, and some will share it themselves. Whatever they say, keep the reply.
When you do post:
- Never show the house number, street sign, number plates or anything with the client’s name on it. Check mail on benches and family photos on walls.
- Use the suburb, not the address. “New kitchen in Wollongbar” is plenty.
- Leave out people unless they’ve said yes, especially kids.
- Be careful with security details. Don’t post alarm panels, safe locations or “the owners are away for a month, so we’re getting it done”.
Local Facebook groups
Community groups (the “Ballina Community Noticeboard” type) are where a lot of regional work gets recommended. Someone asks “can anyone recommend a sparky?” and dozens of people tag their favourite.
You want to be one of those tags. A few rules that keep you welcome:
- Read the group rules. Many only allow business posts on certain days, or not at all.
- Don’t spam every recommendation thread with your own business. It looks desperate and gets you removed. Let happy clients do the tagging.
- Do help when it’s genuine. If someone asks “is it normal for my hot water to make this noise?”, a helpful answer from you, without a sales pitch, builds more trust than an ad.
- Post from your business Page where the group allows it, so people can click through and see your work.
- Reply fast when you’re tagged. “Thanks Jodie! Happy to help, send us a message” within the hour beats a reply three days later.
The licence number rule
If you’re a licensed contractor in NSW, your advertising generally needs to show your name (or registered business name) and your licence number, and the rules cover online advertising. NSW Government guidance on building trade advertisements sets out what has to be included.
The page doesn’t single out social media, so the safest approach is to put your licence number in your Facebook and Instagram bio, and on any paid ads. This is general information, not legal advice. If you’re unsure about your situation, check with NSW Fair Trading.
Fitting it around the day
In a real week, it looks like this:
- On site: the two-minute routine on any job worth showing.
- End of the day, in the ute: pick the best two photos, delete the rest. Two minutes.
- One evening a week: write and schedule two or three posts from the week’s photos. Twenty minutes, tops.
- Daily: check messages and comments when you check your texts.
That’s under an hour a week for a feed that shows real, local work all year. A tidy logo, consistent colours and good vehicle signage help the posts feel like one business. If yours is looking tired, our branding and graphic design team can help.
We build trade websites too, such as the one for Tallowood Carpentry, a Lennox Head and Ballina builder, and the same job photos end up working across the website, Google profile and social. Our websites for tradies also come as fixed-price packages through our trade brand, tradie.agency.
If you still won’t get to it
Plenty of tradies capture the photos but never post them. If that’s you, the simplest fix is to keep doing the on-site routine and hand the rest over. Send your photos through, and someone else writes, schedules and replies. We weigh up whether that’s worth it in should you outsource your social media?, and our social media management service works exactly that way for trade clients.