Van livery, boards and the local basics that still work
It is easy to get the idea from marketing agencies that nothing counts unless it happens on a screen. Yet ask any tradesman who has been going 20 years where the work comes from and the van, the site board and the neighbours get a mention every time. This guide is about doing the old stuff properly, so it feeds the new stuff instead of fighting it.
The van is the advert you already pay for
You drive it every day. It sits outside customers' houses for hours. It parks at the supermarket. A plain white van tells the street nothing. A sign-written one tells every neighbour, every passer-by and every person stuck behind you at the lights who you are and what you do.
Livery is one of the few marketing costs that is a one-off. A set of cut vinyl lettering on a van can be had for a few hundred pounds from a local sign-writer; a full wrap runs into the low thousands. For most one-van trades the lettering does the job.
What goes on the van
Less than you think. The test is whether someone can read it in the three seconds they are behind you at a junction.
Your trade, your name or business name, your area, your phone number, and one line that says what you are known for. That is it. Big phone number on the back doors, where the driver behind can see it. Trade and area on the sides. Logo if you have one, but a clear trade name in a readable typeface beats a clever logo nobody can decipher.
- Trade, in plain words: 'Plumber and heating engineer', not 'Property solutions'
- Business name
- Phone number, big, on the back
- Area you cover: 'Teesside and North Yorkshire'
- Accreditation logos that mean something to customers: Gas Safe, NICEIC, TrustMark
- Website address only if the site exists and works on a phone
What to leave off
Your full postal address, your email, a list of 14 services, a QR code the size of a stamp, and anything in a script font. If the van looks busy it reads as nothing. Social media handles rarely earn their space either; nobody is going to look up your Instagram at a roundabout.
One more: make sure the number on the van is the number that gets answered. We have seen vans with an old mobile number that rings out to a dead voicemail. If your phone handling is not sorted, fix that first; our guide to answering the phone when you're on the tools covers it.
Site boards: the quiet earner
A correx board on the fence or in the front garden while you work, with your trade, name and number, is probably the best value marketing a domestic tradesman can do. Neighbours are watching the job. Some of them have been meaning to get the same thing done. Your board is there at exactly the moment they are thinking about it.
Boards cost a few pounds each from any print shop. Order ten. Ask the customer's permission, put it up on day one, take it down when you leave, and leave a couple of business cards with the customer for anyone who asks who did the work.
The five-door drop
When you finish a job, walk to the five nearest houses and put a card or a small flyer through the door: 'We've just finished a new roof at number 14. If you'd like a look or a quote, I'm Dave, here's my number.' It takes ten minutes. It works because it is specific and local. The person at number 16 has looked at number 14's roof every day for a month.
This beats a blanket leaflet drop of 5,000 houses by a mile, because every door you knock has a reason to care.
Leaflets, done sparingly
A big leaflet drop through a distributor is cheap per door and poor per response. If you do one, keep it to streets where you have worked, make the leaflet about one service, show one good photo of a local job, and put a simple offer on it so you can tell if it worked: 'Mention this leaflet for a free gutter check with any roof repair.' If nobody mentions it, you have your answer.
Photos are what make a leaflet work, and they need to be yours. Stock images of smiling models in hard hats convince nobody. Our guide to taking job photos that sell your work shows how to build the library.
The merchants, the school gate and the local Facebook group
The counter staff at your builders' merchant or plumbers' merchant get asked for recommendations constantly. Be known there, be polite, and leave some cards. The same goes for the letting agents and the small estate agents in your town, who always need someone reliable.
Local Facebook groups are the modern version of the school gate. Someone posts 'anyone know a good electrician?' several times a week in most towns. You do not need to advertise. You need to be the name three different people reply with, and that comes from doing good work and asking happy customers to recommend you when they see those posts.
| Tactic | Rough one-off cost | Who sees it | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Van lettering | A few hundred pounds | Everyone you drive past or park near | Once |
| Site boards (ten) | Under £100 | Neighbours of every job | Thirty seconds a job |
| Five-door drop | Pence per card | The people most likely to want the same work | Ten minutes a job |
| Targeted leaflet | £50 to £200 per run | Streets where you have already worked | A weekend to design and deliver |
| Merchant and agent cards | A box of cards | People asked for recommendations daily | A chat now and then |
Make the old stuff feed the new stuff
Every one of these produces people who then look you up. The neighbour who saw the board searches your name. The person behind you at the lights types the business name into Google. If they find a listing with two reviews and no photos, the board has done its job and your Google profile has wasted it.
So the van, the boards and the cards are not an alternative to the online basics. They are the top of the funnel for them. Make sure the name on the van matches the name on Google exactly, that the number on the board is the one on the listing, and that when someone searches you they find 20 reviews and a photo of the job they just walked past. Our walkthrough on getting your first 20 Google reviews is the companion to this piece.
Where an agency fits, if at all
None of this needs an agency. A local sign-writer, a print shop and ten minutes at the end of each job cover it. Where agencies earn their fee is in the online layer the old stuff points people to: the listing, the site, the reviews, the follow-up. If you do go looking for one, our UK tradesmen marketing agency rankings is the starting point. Just do not let anyone tell you the van does not matter.
Frequently asked questions
Is a full van wrap worth it over lettering?
For most one-van trades, no. Clear cut-vinyl lettering with a big phone number on the back does the job for a fraction of the cost. A wrap makes sense once you have several vans and a brand to match.
Do site boards actually bring in work?
Yes, consistently, because they are seen by the exact people most likely to want the same work: the neighbours watching the job. They are also the cheapest thing in this guide.
Are leaflet drops a waste of money?
Blanket drops usually are. Small, targeted drops around jobs you have just done, with a real photo and a way to track response, can work.
Should my website be on the van?
Only if the site exists, loads quickly on a phone and has the same name and number as the van. Otherwise leave it off and let the phone number do the work.