City-by-city advertising gives each Alberta market its own budget, its own list of jobs worth advertising and its own target cost per booked job. Done this way, Calgary or Edmonton can't quietly spend the money meant for Red Deer, and a distant city only sees ads for jobs that justify the drive.
Who this is for
This service suits Alberta trades that already advertise, or plan to, across more than one city. The usual warning sign is an ad account with one campaign targeting "Alberta" or a big radius around the shop, and an owner who can't say which city the booked jobs came from.
It's not the right first step if your phone already rings more than you can answer, or if you have no tracking. In the first case, look at out-of-area referrals. In the second, start with call and job tracking by city.
What's included
- A market map. Each city or cluster you serve becomes its own campaign or budget line, with location targeting set to people in that area, not people "interested in" it.
- A job list per market. Close to home you might advertise everything. Two hours away, perhaps only installs, replacements or commercial work.
- Search ads first, social second. Google search ads catch people who need a trade now. Meta ads suit planned work such as renovations, roofs and landscaping, and we use them mostly for remarketing and seasonal offers.
- Weather-ready ad groups. Prepared ads for a deep freeze, a sudden thaw or a summer hailstorm, switched on when the conditions arrive.
- Weekly checks, monthly report. Search terms cleaned, wasted spend cut and a per-city summary every month.
Worked example: two markets, one budget
Suppose you spend $3,000 a month on ads. In a single campaign, the metro takes $2,400 at $9 a click and your second city gets $600 at $4 a click. If 10% of clicks become calls and you book half of those, the metro gives about 13 jobs ($2,400 ÷ $9 × 10% × 50%) at roughly $180 each. The second city gives about 7 jobs at roughly $80 each.
Split the budget on purpose, say $1,800 and $1,200, and the second city now produces about 15 jobs at $80, while the metro gives 10 at $180. That's 25 jobs instead of 20 for the same $3,000, provided your crews can handle the second city's volume. The figures are illustrative; your own numbers drive the real split, and the second-city maths guide adds travel cost to the calculation.
Timeline
- Week 1: account audit, tracking checked, market map agreed
- Weeks 2–3: campaigns live per city, with conservative budgets
- Weeks 4–8: search-term clean-up, bids adjusted, first per-city cost per job
- Month 3: budget moved toward the markets with the lowest cost per booked job
How results are measured
We report cost per call, booked-job rate and cost per booked job for each city. Clicks and impressions appear in the report, but they don't drive decisions. If a city's cost per booked job stays above the limit you set for three months, we recommend cutting it or changing its job list, in writing.
Mistakes to avoid
- Radius targeting from the shop. A big circle around Edmonton can reach places your crews never go and miss the suburbs that matter.
- One ad text everywhere. People in Lethbridge respond to an ad that names Lethbridge and shows when you can be there.
- Advertising prepayment offers without checking the rules. Alberta's prepaid contracting guidance explains that a business asking for payment before renovation work is done needs a licence with Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction. If your ads push deposits, confirm your licensing first; we won't advise on compliance.
- Weekend budgets left on autopilot. An emergency trade that can't answer on Sunday shouldn't pay for Sunday clicks.
Plan prices are on the pricing page; how ad spend is billed is set out in writing in your proposal. To talk through your markets, contact us.
Frequently asked questions
Why not run one campaign for all of Alberta?
Because the costliest cities soak up the budget. A single campaign tends to spend most of its money where clicks are dearest, which is rarely where your best margin is.
What's a sensible starting budget per city?
Enough to buy roughly 20 to 40 clicks a week for your main service in that city, so you get readable data in a month. We set the figure with you once we know your job values.
Do you change ads when the weather turns?
Yes. A cold snap, a chinook thaw or a hailstorm changes what people search for. We keep ready-to-run ad groups so budgets can shift within a day, with your approval.
Who owns the ad accounts?
You do. Accounts are set up in your business name, and we're given access. If you leave, you keep the accounts and their history.