How much should I spend on marketing as a small service business?

Cap monthly marketing at £500 or less. Limit any single experiment to under 20% of monthly profit so a failed campaign doesn't hurt cash flow.

What's the most cost-effective marketing channel for local trades?

Google Business Profile is free and drives high-intent local leads. Pair it with micro-radius leaflet drops and referral tracking for best ROI under £500/month.

How do I track which marketing channels actually work?

Add a required Lead Source dropdown in Toolfy Customers (referral, GBP, leaflet, Facebook, etc.) and run the Revenue by Lead Source report monthly.

Bootstrapped marketing plan for 2026

Owner-operators don’t have £3,000/month to burn on agencies. This plan shows how to fill a small service team’s calendar using Toolfy, hyperlocal tactics, and a marketing budget capped at £500 per month.

1. Set guardrails before you spend

Lead target: define the number of booked jobs you need each week (e.g., 15 jobs × £220 avg ticket = £3,300 revenue). Everything else ladders to this.
Channel caps: limit any experiment to under 20% of monthly profit so a flop doesn’t kill cash flow.
Tracking hygiene: create a “Lead Source” dropdown inside Toolfy Customers (referral, GBP, leaflet, Facebook, etc.). Make it required on every intake so ROI reports stay clean.

2. Lock your free foundations (Week 1)

Google Business Profile refresh
- Add 10 geotagged photos, list hours, and enable messaging.
- Sync Toolfy review requests so every completed job triggers a GBP link.
One-page microsite
- Publish a Notion/Super site or Toolfy-hosted landing that mirrors your GBP info, embeds the Toolfy booking form, and lists fixed-price services.
Neighborhood proof pack
- Assemble before/after photos, two testimonials, and a “starting from” price list inside Toolfy Documents. You’ll reuse these assets everywhere.

3. Always-on lead capture for tiny teams

Workflow	Toolfy feature	Result
Missed call text-back	Reminders → “Unanswered call” SMS	Promises reply inside 10 minutes, captures name + postcode.
Quote follow-up	Reminders → “Pending quote” sequence	Sends day-2 SMS + day-4 email with booking link.
Referral tracker	Jobs board tags	Tag “Referral” + source customer so you can pay rewards and see who advocates.
Review velocity	Post-job reminder workflow	Request reviews 2 hours after job completion; auto-stops once a review lands.

4. Campaign menu under £500

Tactic	Cost	Execution steps
Micro-radius leaflets	£120 for 500 prints + £40 fuel/time	Drop in three streets around each profitable job; include QR to Toolfy booking form.
Booster ads for GBP	£150	Run Local Services Ads / GBP boosts 5 days a month; cap at £10/day; pause once slots fill.
Partner swaps	£0	Trade shoutouts with complementary trades (e.g., electricians ↔ decorators); log shared leads as “Partner” in Toolfy.
WhatsApp broadcast list	£0	Upload opted-in customers; send seasonal offers. Use Toolfy export to keep numbers current.
Neighborhood Facebook group posts	£0–£50	Share before/after stories with CTA; promote the best post for £5/day for 10 days targeting a 5km radius.
Yard signs / van magnets	£90	Leave sign for 48 hours post-job. Track lead source as “Yard sign” to measure ROI.

Only run two paid tactics per month. Evaluate after 14 days inside Toolfy “Revenue by Lead Source” report and cut the losers.

5. Content cadence you can actually maintain

Weekly: post one short project recap (3 photos + 120 words) to GBP, Instagram, and Facebook. Repurpose the same copy via Toolfy Reminders → Social drafts.
Monthly: publish a “Seasonal Checklist” PDF (e.g., “January boiler reset list”) using Toolfy Documents. Collect emails via your microsite in exchange for the download.
Quarterly: host a neighbourhood workshop (live or IG Live) showing maintenance basics; capture emails and add them to Toolfy drip sequences.

6. Metrics & reporting inside Toolfy

Metric	Toolfy view	Threshold
Cost per booked job	Revenue dashboard → filter by lead source	Keep under £40/job when avg ticket is £200+.
Referral rate	Customers list filtered by “Referral” source	Aim for 25%+ of new jobs via referrals.
Review velocity	Reviews report	Maintain 5+ new GBP reviews/month.
Lead response time	Reminder analytics	Stay under 10 minutes during open hours.
Repeat customers	Jobs report grouped by customer	Target 35% repeat mix by Q3.

Export the dashboard each month (PDF or CSV) and store it in Documents so you can spot seasonality year over year.

7. 30-day rollout plan

Week 1: Refresh GBP, launch microsite, configure Toolfy lead-source dropdowns, and set missed-call SMS.
Week 2: Print leaflets + yard signs, line up partner swaps, script your first referral ask.
Week 3: Run GBP boost for 5 days, push first WhatsApp seasonal reminder, start review reminder sequence.
Week 4: Audit results in Toolfy dashboard, double down on the cheapest channel, and schedule next month’s content in one 90-minute block.

When every lead source is tagged and wired into Toolfy reminders and workflows, you can spend under 2 hours/week on marketing yet keep the job board full. Need help wiring the workflows or tracking ROI? Email support@toolfy.io and we’ll drop the templates into your workspace.