Inner West Emergency Plumber — Google Ads
An emergency plumber was missing after-hours calls — 24/7 Google Ads campaigns now deliver 267% more leads.
TL;DR
- Challenge:
- An Inner West plumber running ads only 9-5 while missing every after-hours emergency call.
- Approach:
- Call-only 24/7 campaigns, tight radius, peak-hour bid multipliers, mobile-first landing page.
- Result:
- +267% emergency call leads, after-hours calls up 833%, CPL down 60%.
Key Results at a Glance
+267%
Emergency call leads
+833%
After-hours leads
-60%
Cost per lead
Client Context
Business Type
Emergency plumber (residential + commercial)
Founded
2013
Team Size
4 plumbers + admin
Market
Inner West Sydney (Marrickville, Leichhardt, Newtown, Petersham)
Revenue Tier
$780K annual revenue
Stack Before
ServiceM8, Google Ads (business hours only), Hipages
The Challenge
The plumber only ran ads during business hours, missing the 6 PM–midnight window when most emergency calls happen. No call tracking, no after-hours landing page, and competitors were bidding on his brand name.
Goals & KPIs
North-Star Metric
Capture after-hours emergency market and drop cost per lead below $50
Supporting KPIs
Emergency call leads/month
Target: 50+
After-hours leads/month
Target: 20+
Cost per lead
Target: Under $50
Call answer rate
Target: 95%+
Cost per booked job
Target: Under $85
Discovery & Research
Audit Findings
- •Ads only ran 9 AM – 5 PM (missing 62% of emergency calls)
- •No call tracking (couldn't attribute revenue)
- •Landing page not mobile-optimised
- •Broad radius (60 km) wasting spend outside coverage
- •Competitors bidding on brand name
Baseline Issues
- •18 emergency leads/month
- •3 after-hours leads/month
- •$85 cost per lead
- •No after-hours coverage
Competitor Insight
Top emergency plumbers ran 24/7 call-only campaigns with tight 15 km radii and mobile CTR of 8.9% vs standard search 3.1%.
Audience Insight
Emergency plumbing searches peak 6 PM – midnight and Sat/Sun (54% of weekly volume), with tap-to-call as the dominant action.
Strategy
Core Hypothesis
“If we run 24/7 call-only campaigns with peak-hour bid multipliers, then after-hours leads will scale because emergency plumbing is high-intent + time-sensitive.”
Positioning Shift
Repositioned from "plumber" to "Inner West's 24/7 emergency plumbing team — arrive within 45 minutes".
Channel Mix
Google Call-Only Ads · 70%
Mobile emergency intent
Search — landing page · 20%
Booking form fallback
Google Maps ads · 10%
Local map visibility
Our Approach
24/7 call campaigns
Set up call-only campaigns running around the clock with higher bids during 6 PM–6 AM and weekends — the peak emergency window.
Radius targeting
Tightened targeting to a 15 km radius around Inner West, Marrickville, and Leichhardt with bid adjustments for high-density suburbs.
Call extensions & tracking
Added call extensions with "Available now" messaging, set up call tracking to measure lead quality, and built a mobile-first landing page with tap-to-call.
Phased Roadmap
Weeks 1–2
Foundation
- →Call tracking + call recording setup
- →Mobile-first landing page
- →Tight 15 km radius targeting
- →Competitor brand keyword defence
Weeks 3–8
Launch 24/7
- →Call-only ads running 24/7
- →Peak-hour bid multipliers (+65% evenings/weekends)
- →Ad copy with "Available Now"
- →Auto-answer flow for after-hours
Weeks 9–16
Optimise + Scale
- →A/B tested ad copy variants
- →Added negative keyword list (blocked DIY, "how to")
- →Bid strategy: maximise conversions
- →CPL: $85 → $34
What We Built
The Results
Monthly Emergency Call Leads
Before vs After — 4 Months
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency call leads | 18/month | 66/month | +267% |
| After-hours leads | 3/month | 28/month | +833% |
| Cost per lead | $85 | $34 | -60% |
“I used to lose every after-hours job to competitors. Now my phone rings at 10 PM and it is a paying customer.”
Tony M.
Owner, Emergency Plumbing
Key Insights
- →62% of emergency plumbing calls happen outside 9-5 — running ads only in business hours leaves money on the table
- →Peak-hour bid multipliers (evenings, weekends) had the highest ROI adjustment
- →Call-only ads outperformed website landing pages 2.4x on cost per booked job
- →Answering the phone within 3 rings converted 4x higher than callbacks
What's Next
Expanding to Eastern Suburbs with same playbook, adding hot water repair-specific campaigns, and testing SMS follow-up for missed calls.
Ready to see similar results?
Book a free strategy call — we'll audit your current setup and map out what growth looks like for your business.
Services Used
Representative case study. Figures illustrate the type of outcomes achievable through these strategies for Australian businesses; individual results vary based on market, budget and starting position.