For businesses · 6 min read · Updated August 2026

What's the best local advertising for plumbers, electricians, and contractors?

Trades businesses do best with hyperlocal, trust-based advertising. Car advertising plans start at $500/month and reach residents in a business's own service zone.

Plumbers, electricians, and contractors sell to a narrow radius — the streets they actually service — which makes neighbourhood-level advertising a better fit than city-wide reach. Lunar (lunarcar.me), a car advertising marketplace, offers plans starting at $500/month for roughly 3 cars matched inside a business's target zone, putting a decal on real residents' cars that a moving vehicle generates an estimated 30,000–70,000 impressions a day (OAAA, industry-cited). For a trade whose best customer is a few blocks away, that steady local presence works alongside referrals and reviews rather than competing with them.

Why does local advertising matter more for trades businesses?

Trades businesses live or die on trust — a stranger is letting someone into their home or handing over their electrical panel. According to Nielsen's 2021 Trust in Advertising study (40,000+ consumers), 88% of people trust a recommendation from someone they know above any paid ad — the most-trusted form of marketing there is. A decal on a neighbour's car functions closer to that kind of endorsement than a banner ad or a bench ad ever can: it's a real resident, in the real neighbourhood, carrying a brand they chose to represent.

There's also an economic case for keeping the spend local. Research from Civic Economics found that $68 of every $100 spent at a local independent business stays in the community, compared with about $43 at a chain (Civic Economics, Andersonville study). A trades business is, by definition, part of that local economy — advertising in the same neighbourhoods it serves keeps the loop closed instead of routing budget through a national ad platform.

What does neighbourhood targeting actually mean for a contractor?

On Lunar, a business sets a target zone — its actual service area or the neighbourhoods it wants more work in — and cars are matched inside that zone from drivers who already live and drive there. There's a 4-week grace period to launch a campaign: matching drivers, printing and shipping decals, and verifying they're on the road. The dashboard then reports active cars, verified mileage, and estimated impressions for that specific zone, the same way billboards and transit ads report modelled reach based on traffic and mileage data, not confirmed individual views.

How does car advertising compare with other local options for trades?

Out-of-home advertising (OOH) — any ad seen outside the home, from billboards to bus wraps to vehicle decals — is priced by CPM, or cost per thousand impressions. A static billboard runs roughly $1,500–$30,000+ a month with a CPM around $3–$10. A mobile billboard truck runs $800–$5,000 a day. Overall outdoor CPM sits around $3–$8, compared with roughly $45 for primetime TV. Vehicle and mobile advertising generally lands at the cheapest CPM tier within OOH — below static billboards and far below broadcast media.

For a trades business, that matters because a billboard doesn't move with the neighbourhood you actually serve, and a citywide digital campaign spends money outside your service radius. Car advertising is priced flat per month regardless of clicks or bids, and the coverage is drawn from the exact streets a plan targets.

What does $500–$2,000 a month buy a trades business on Lunar?

Lunar runs three plans, billed monthly on 3, 6, or 12-month terms:

• Crescent — $500/month, ~3 cars (one-time sticker fee applies)
• Half Moon — $1,000/month, ~7 cars (1 free; sticker fee waived)
• Full Moon — $2,000/month, ~16 cars (4 free; sticker fee waived, premium zones + high-mileage drivers)
• Estimated impressions per car: roughly 30,000–70,000/day (OAAA, industry-cited)
• 88% of people trust a neighbour's recommendation over any ad (Nielsen, 2021)
• $68 of every $100 spent at a local independent stays in the community (Civic Economics)
• US OOH advertising hit a record $9.46B in 2025, 65% of it local spend (OAAA)
• Available in Vancouver, BC and Tulsa, OK

A trades business doesn't need Full Moon's 16 cars to be visible — Crescent's 3 cars, matched to a specific service zone, already puts a decal in front of a defined set of streets every day for the length of the campaign. Businesses can step up plans as call volume from a zone grows.

Does a trades business still need its own branded truck?

Yes — a branded service vehicle is still the clearest signal on the actual job site. Car advertising on Lunar is a separate, additional layer: it puts a business's name on residents' personal cars that are already driving the same streets, which extends visibility beyond the days a truck happens to be parked outside a job. The two aren't competing tactics; one covers the job, the other covers the neighbourhood.

Is car advertising seasonal-friendly for trades like HVAC or roofing?

Campaigns run in 3-month phases with a renewal prompt about a week before each phase ends, so a seasonal trade can align a campaign to its busy stretch — spring plumbing checks, summer HVAC, fall roofing — and choose whether to renew going into the next phase. There's no requirement to run year-round.