hipages
hipages is a two-sided trades marketplace. Red Valkyrie turned a loss-making paid search program into a growth engine, then pioneered trade registration marketing from scratch.
The situation
Consumer paid search had reached a ceiling, scaling bids increased clicks and spend without a corresponding increase in jobs. Furthermore, the channel was unprofitable.
Trade (tradie) registration marketing via any performance channel did not exist.
What we did
Fixed paid search structure
Separated high-intent queries from low-intent waste. Turned a loss-making program into a profitable growth channel. Paid search grew 4x in 3.5 years.
Pioneered trade registration marketing
Built tradie acquisition from scratch. Grew from 30 registrations/month to >1,000+/month (a 30x increase in 3.5 years).
Scaled paid social for tradie acquisition
Scaled paid social as a performance channel delivering profitable ROAS for tradie acquisition.
Grew organic visibility 2.5x+
Consultation on directory and SEO buildout for long-tail queries. Organic traffic grew 2.5x+ in 3.5 years.
Worked alongside internal team
Reporting, prioritisation, and strategic input to align all acquisition channels around measurable outcomes.
What changed
- Company revenue grew 4.5x in 5 years ($13M to $60M)
- Company valuation grew from $13M to $214M (ASX listing in 2020)
- Paid search grew 4x in 3.5 years (from a loss-making starting point)
- Trade registrations from direct marketing grew 30x in 3.5 years (30/month to >1,000+/month)
- Scaled paid social as a performance channel delivering profitable ROAS for tradie acquisition
- Organic traffic grew 2.5x+ in 3.5 years
Why it worked
"The biggest lever was not more spend; it was fixing what the spend was pointed at. Once search structure matched intent and trade marketing existed as a real function, the business could scale."
The biggest lever was not more spend; it was fixing what the spend was pointed at. Once search structure matched intent and trade marketing existed as a real function, the business could scale.
Turning a seven-figure loss into a growth engine came from separating high-intent queries, cutting waste, and building proper measurement. Trade registration marketing went from a side project to the company's primary supply-side acquisition channel.
If your search account is losing money, the fix is structure
Book a call. We will tell you what we would clean up first.