In short
Video works for trades because people want to see who they are letting into their home, or onto their site, before they ring. Most firms need five films: an about-us film, finished-job walkthroughs, a customer story, a common questions video and a short what-happens-next clip. Phone footage costs you time and nerve. A professional filming day from us starts at £1,895 + VAT. Put the films on your website, Google Business Profile, quotes and social, and sort reviews and your website first.
On this page
- Why video works for trades (trust before the call)
- 5 videos every trades business should have
- Phone vs professional video: what each costs
- Where to use it: website, Google Business Profile, social, quotes
- Video for construction bids and frameworks
- Trade-by-trade ideas
- When video is the wrong spend
- Where to start
Video works for trades because it lets a customer meet you before they let you in. Five films cover most businesses: an about-us film, finished-job walkthroughs, a customer story, a common questions video and a short clip on what happens after someone gets in touch. Phone footage costs your time. Our professional filming day starts at £1,895 + VAT.
We sell video production, so read the rest with that in mind. A good share of what follows you can do yourself on a phone, and for some firms video is the wrong thing to spend on this year. This guide covers what to film, what each route costs, where to put the films so they earn their keep, how construction firms should use video differently, and ideas for seven trades.
Why video works for trades (trust before the call)
Hiring a tradesperson is a trust decision before it is a price decision. The customer is about to let a stranger into their house, near their wiring or onto their roof, and most of that deciding happens online, before anyone picks up the phone. A photo gallery and a list of accreditations look the same as everyone else’s. A minute of you, your van and a job you are proud of does not.
How much it matters depends on the job. I read customers in two ways. Someone with water coming through the ceiling makes a fast, gut-feel call and rings whoever looks safe and answers first. Someone weighing up solar panels, a new bathroom or a garage conversion researches for weeks: testimonials, case studies, reviews, accreditations, help content. Video helps with both, but it does its heaviest lifting on the considered job, where the customer has time to watch and three quotes to choose between.
In my experience, video is the fastest way for a trades business to stand out, show some personality and get a nervous customer past the “who is this?” question. It is also an asset you film once and use for years, across your website, your Google profile, your social and your quotes.
5 videos every trades business should have
You do not need a library. Start with these five and add to the second one every month.
- An about-us film, 60 to 90 seconds. You and your team, on camera, saying plainly who you are, where you work and how you work. This is the one that answers “who am I letting in?”, and it is the one worth paying to get right.
- Finished-job walkthroughs, 1 to 2 minutes each. A quick tour of a bathroom, a rewire, a new roof or a garden, in your own words, filmed on your phone at the end of the job. Build a habit of one a month and you have a body of proof no competitor can copy.
- A customer story, under a minute. A real customer, in their own home, saying what the problem was and what it was like having you there. A nervous homeowner believes another homeowner far more than they believe you.
- A common questions video. The things every customer asks: what it costs and why, how long it takes, what mess to expect, what happens on the day. Answer them once on camera and customers turn up to the survey with half of them already answered.
- A what-happens-next clip, under a minute. Who will ring back, when, what you will ask and when they will get a quote. Put it next to your enquiry form and in your quote emails. It takes the worry out of getting in touch.
If you only make one this year, make the about-us film. If you make two, add the walkthroughs, because each one costs you a few minutes at the end of a job.
Phone vs professional video: what each costs
Both have a place. The phone is for volume and honesty. Professional filming is for the few pieces a customer will judge you on.
| Phone video | Professional video | |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | Your time, plus a cheap clip-on microphone and a small tripod if you want them | Our media day starts at £1,895 + VAT. Other suppliers price by day, crew and number of edits |
| Best for | Finished-job walkthroughs, quick answers, social clips, Google Business Profile | The about-us film, customer stories, construction project films |
| What you get | Raw, honest footage that you edit yourself or post as it is | Planned, scripted and edited films with clean sound, in versions for each place you use them |
| Watch out for | Bad sound, wind, shaky footage, filming the work but never your face | Paying for gloss that hides the people the customer wanted to see |
What our media day includes. Scriptwriting, direction, a filming day on site or at your premises, and editing. You get a batch of short videos for your website and social, with optional team headshots. The published price is on our video production page. A professionally produced brand film is also built into the Booked Solid System, and our pricing page values that film at £5k + VAT.
What drives the cost of professional video, from anyone. Expect the price to move with:
- the number of filming days and locations, and travel between them
- crew size: one shooter, or a director, camera operator and sound
- how much planning and scripting is done before the day
- how many finished edits you get, and in which shapes (landscape for the website, upright for social, 30 seconds for Google)
- extras such as drone footage, which needs an operator registered with the Civil Aviation Authority, licensed music, subtitles and rounds of changes
When you get quotes, ask how many finished videos you will have at the end, who owns the footage, and whether you get the raw files. Be wary of anyone who quotes for a big production with drones and a voiceover before asking who your customers are and what worries them.
On the phone side, the cost that stops most people is not money, it is being on camera. I tell every client the same thing: enjoy your business and have some fun with it, and that includes the video. The first clip always feels awkward. It gets easier each time, and a slightly rough clip of the real you does more than a polished one of nobody in particular.
Where to use it: website, Google Business Profile, social, quotes
A film nobody sees does nothing. Put each one where a customer is making up their mind.
Your website. The about-us film goes on your homepage and about page. Walkthroughs go on the matching service pages, so the bathroom page shows a bathroom. The what-happens-next clip sits next to your enquiry form. Upload to YouTube and embed from there, so the same film can also be found on YouTube and in Google’s video results.
Your Google Business Profile. Google accepts videos of up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB, at 720p or higher, and shows the newest media first (Google’s photo and video guidelines). That makes it a good home for short walkthrough clips and a quick team introduction. Add a new one every few weeks rather than ten at once.
Social. Cut 15 to 30 second clips from the longer films and post them upright. Pick the platform your customers already use; our guide to social media marketing for trades covers which ones earn their place and what to post.
Quotes and follow-up. This is the one most people forget, and it costs nothing. Put a link to your about-us film and a relevant walkthrough in every quote email. The customer comparing three prices at the kitchen table has now seen your face and your work. The other two are a PDF.
Video for construction bids and frameworks
Construction and civils work the other way round. There is no homeowner searching at 11pm. A procurement team or a main contractor is deciding which firms are credible enough to shortlist, often long before a tender lands, and video’s job is to make your firm a name they already recognise.
Three kinds of film do that:
- Project case-study films. A completed scheme, walked and explained, ideally with the client or main contractor saying how it went. One per notable job, so the library grows.
- Site capability and safety. Your teams working properly: sequencing, plant, tidy sites and visible safety culture. A buyer whose prequalification checks health and safety first wants to see how you run a site.
- Leadership on camera. Your managing director or contracts lead talking plainly about how the firm handles risk and delivery. Buyers back people over long contracts.
Most of this lives on LinkedIn, on your website’s case-study pages and in the capability pack you send out. Be realistic about bids themselves: scored answers are usually written to a word limit, and the instructions often restrict what you can attach, so check before you add a file or a link. Where links are allowed in a case study or capability statement, a short project film can back up what the written answer claims. The wider bid picture is in our guide to construction tender marketing.
For a client speaking on camera, our PKB Civils case study includes a film of their marketing manager talking about working with us. The same format, pointed at a finished scheme, is the project film a procurement lead wants to see.
Trade-by-trade ideas
Plumbers and heating engineers. The worry is the stranger in the house, so the face matters more than the pipework. Film a short about-us piece, a boiler swap or bathroom walkthrough, and a customer saying you left the place tidy. More ideas on video for plumbers.
Electricians. Choosing an electrician is a safety call. Show the registered person doing the work, explain a consumer unit upgrade or an EICR in plain words, and film a landlord or homeowner explaining why they called you back. See video for electricians.
Roofers. Customers rarely see a finished roof up close, and they know anyone can call themselves a roofer. Film the crew, the harnesses and scaffold, a before and after, and a customer glad they chose you. Drone footage helps here if the operator is properly registered. See video for roofing contractors.
Landscape gardeners. Few trades are as visual as yours. A time-lapse from clearance to finished patio, and a slow walk round a finished garden with the client talking about how they use it, sell design jobs better than any photo. See video for landscape gardeners.
Solar installers. Your buyer has sat through pushy sales calls and does not know who to believe. A named installer explaining panels, batteries and payback in plain numbers, on a real install, cuts through that, and the same film can go in every follow-up email. See video for solar installers.
Air conditioning installers. Many buyers have never seen a split system fitted. Show the size of the indoor unit, where the pipework runs, the outdoor unit on the wall, and let them hear how quiet it is. Put your F-Gas certified engineers on screen by name. See video for air conditioning installers.
Construction and civils. Project films, site capability and leadership on camera, made for LinkedIn and your capability pack rather than for homeowners. See video for construction.
When video is the wrong spend
Video makes a good business look like a good business. It does not make up for missing basics. If you have a handful of reviews, no proper website to host the film, or calls that go to voicemail, a good video sends a keen customer somewhere that then lets them down. Sort those first.
It is also the wrong move if you need leads you can count this quarter. Video’s payoff shows up as more of your visitors and quote recipients choosing you, and as people recognising your name. That is real, but it is harder to put on a report than a Google Ads lead. If the phone is quiet because nobody can find you, fix that first and add video on top.
And skip the glossy advert. Stock music, sweeping drone shots and a voiceover that could be selling anything cost the most and build the least trust, because they hide the people the customer wanted to see.
Where to start
Pick one job you are proud of this month and film a two-minute walkthrough on your phone. Get someone to film you saying who you are and how you work. That rough footage will teach you what customers respond to faster than any plan.
If you want to know whether video should be next, or whether your website and Google profile need attention first, our free Website & AI Readiness Audit checks your website, your Google presence and how AI tools see your business, then gives you a 90-day plan. When you are ready for the anchor films, video production covers the media day, and video is built into both the Booked Solid System for trades and the Preferred Contractor Programme for construction and civils firms.
Frequently asked questions
Is video marketing worth it for a small trades business?
Usually, yes, and it suits a one-van firm better than a big one, because you are the brand. A customer letting a stranger into their home wants to see who is turning up. Video will not create demand on its own, though. If reviews are thin, the website is weak or calls go unanswered, fix those first, then add video on top.
How much does video cost for a tradesman?
Phone footage costs your time, plus a cheap clip-on microphone if you want clearer sound. Professional video depends on filming days, locations, crew, how many edits you need and extras such as drone work. Our media day starts at £1,895 + VAT and covers scriptwriting, direction, filming and editing, with a batch of short videos for your website and social.
Can I film trades videos on my phone?
Yes. Finished-job walkthroughs and quick answers to customer questions work well on a phone and often feel more honest than a polished film. Shoot in landscape for your website and YouTube, upright for social, get close to the person speaking and find a quiet spot. Pay for the anchor piece, your about-us film, where sound and editing matter most.
Can I add video to my Google Business Profile?
Yes. Google accepts Business Profile videos of up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB, at 720p or higher, and they appear once your profile is verified and the video passes review. Short finished-job clips and a quick team introduction suit it best. Keep adding new ones, because the newest media shows first.
Does video help construction firms win tenders?
Not directly. Scored tender answers are usually written, and the instructions often restrict attachments, so check the rules before you add a file or link. Video does its work around the bid: project films, site footage and leadership on camera make your firm a name a procurement team already recognises, and a link in a capability statement or case study can back up what you claim.
