Social media for tradespeople: win customers and apprentices

Where are trades businesses on social media?

56% of trades businesses are present or advertise on social media, up from 40% in 2022. Bitkom reported this on October 23, 2025, based on a telephone survey of 504 businesses (calendar weeks 23 to 29/2025). 94% of businesses have their own website. The table shows which channels the businesses with a presence use.

The gap in video stands out: TikTok (7%) and YouTube (6%) are barely used in the trades. For local private customers, Facebook and Instagram are the bigger stages: in Germany, 31% (Facebook) and 40% (Instagram) of people aged 14 and over use these networks weekly (ARD/ZDF Media Study 2025).

Which platform for which goal?

Start with one or two platforms and stick with them for three months. How to choose is covered in Which social media platform fits my business?. You manage the Google profile directly with Google; companycore doesn’t publish there.

30 post ideas for your business

A phone photo and two or three sentences are enough for each idea. You’ll find more ideas in Content ideas for businesses.

Showing your work

• Before and after. Same viewpoint, same light, plus a sentence on duration and place.
• Job-site update. One image per work step as a carousel: day 1, day 3, final inspection.
• Detail before closing up. Pipes, waterproofing or insulation before the wall disappears.
• Material explained. Why you recommend this material, in three sentences and with a sample in hand.
• Tool of the week. What it can do and when you need it.
• A workday in time-lapse. From the first coffee to quitting time, as a short video.

Getting inquiries

• Emergency FAQ. What customers do until you arrive: turn off the valve, catch the water, photograph the damage.
• Price example. Roughly what a typical job costs, from … to …, and what determines the price.
• Seasonal reminder. Heating service before the heating season, gutters in fall, patio in spring.
• Free appointments. “From November 3 we have two appointments free per week again.”
• Repair or replace? How you can tell, with an example from last week.
• A question from customer conversations. The question you heard three times this week, with your answer.

Building trust

• Customer voice. A review, unchanged and with the source.
• Master craftsman’s certificate (Meisterbrief) or credential explained. What your title means for the customer.
• How a job works. Site visit, quote, appointment, final inspection in four images.
• Warranty explained. What happens if something turns up after handover.
• Company history. Founding year, first company car, anniversary.
• The team. Who works for you and what the person likes building best, with consent.

Apprentices and skilled workers

• Day 1 at the company. First task, first tool, first question.
• Apprentice takeover. Your apprentice shows their work for a day, with written consent.
• State pay and vacation openly. The figures from your training contract or collective agreement.
• Accompany the master exam. An employee prepares, you show the path there.
• Equipment. What apprentices get from you: tools, work clothes, travel costs, as far as you offer them.
• Job ad as a carousel. Tasks, working hours, pay, how to apply.

Region and community

• Partners in the neighborhood. The architect, supplier or neighboring business you built a project with, with their consent.
• Club or donation. Jersey set, playground, repair for the daycare.
• Day of the Trades (Tag des Handwerks). Every year in September, an occasion to show your own trade.
• Company vacation and availability. When you’re away and who covers for you.
• Thank-you post after a big job. Short, with a picture of the team.
• Year in review. Twelve photos, one per month.

Job-site photos: what to clarify before posting

A customer’s house is not a backdrop that belongs to you. Ask before the job and record the answer in writing, for example in one line in the quote.

• The customer has agreed that you may show photos of the work.
• House number, street sign and license plates are blurred.
• Recognizable people have consented, customers as well as employees. It works without a face too: hands, workpiece, view from behind.
• Before and after show the same spot from the same angle.
• The after photo is real and not embellished by AI.

An after image that AI has embellished shows no real result and can be misleading (our reading under § 5 UWG, the German Unfair Competition Act). For results, use your own photo. What has to be labeled for AI images is explained in AI labeling requirement 2026.

Winning apprentices through social media

Social media makes your business visible, but people search on Google. For the concrete search for a training position, 64% of young people used search engines, according to the apprentice recruiting trends 2025. The 2026 trends give Google at 69% for the generation born from 2010 on (both according to Haufe, secondary source). For general information about apprenticeships in 2025, search engines were used by 41%, YouTube 36%, Instagram 35% and TikTok 27%.

• A careers page or job ad that Google finds. Every post leads there, the link is in the bio.
• Show apprentices. Two thirds of young people want contact with apprentices, according to the 2026 trends. As with all employees, the rule generally is: written or electronic consent, separate from the training contract. If they are still minors, the parents sign too.
• The youngest are more on TikTok. The generation born from 2010 notices apprenticeship advertising on TikTok more often than Gen Z (38% vs. 27%), on Instagram less often (32% vs. 56%) and on YouTube about equally often (23% vs. 22%). Source: 2026 trends, according to Haufe.
• You reach parents on Facebook. That is our assumption, not a study: in Germany, 31% of people aged 14 and over use Facebook weekly (ARD/ZDF Media Study 2025).
• Applications not by direct message. Point to a form or an email address. You shouldn’t ask for sensitive data in Instagram messages.

Imprint (Impressum) with chamber and master craftsman title

Your profile is commercial, so it needs an Impressum under § 5 of the German Digital Services Act (DDG). According to a ruling of the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg (OLG Hamburg) of May 21, 2026, a clearly labeled, easily visible link under the bio to a complete Impressum is enough (individual case). For crafts that require a license, the chamber of crafts (Handwerkskammer) and the professional title generally belong in it too, for example the master craftsman title. All required details and how to implement them on each platform are in Imprint (Impressum) on Instagram, Facebook & co..

Weekly plan: three posts a week

As a guide: accounts with 3 to 5 Instagram posts per week had more than twice the follower growth of accounts with 1 to 2 in a Buffer analysis of over 2 million posts (August 2025). That is a correlation, not a promise. Start with three posts and stick with them. More in How often should a business post?.

Schedule all three posts on Monday. With collected photos and keywords, that takes about a quarter of an hour (our guideline, not a measurement). Studies don’t agree on which weekday and time work best; see Best time to post.

5 example captions to adapt

Replace text in square brackets with your details. The examples show the structure. Places, numbers and technical statements are placeholders that you check against your own knowledge.

• Before and after. “Before: bathroom from the 70s, moisture behind the tub. After: new waterproofing, curbless shower, [number] working days. Older building in [place], 2nd floor. Planning a bathroom? Write to us, we’ll come for a site visit.”
• Emergency FAQ. “Burst pipe over the weekend? Until we arrive: turn off the main shutoff valve, catch or mop up the water, photograph the damage, which helps with an insurance claim. Then call us: [phone number].”
• Apprentice start. “Day 1 for [first name]: getting to know the workshop, trying on safety shoes, first task at the workbench. Apprenticeship as [occupation] with us in [place]. Pay in the first year of training: [amount]. Info and applications: [link].”
• Material explained. “Vinyl or parquet in the hallway? Where a lot of dirt and moisture come in, we recommend vinyl. In the living room, parquet is lovely because it can be sanded down. Send us a photo of your room and we’ll tell you what we’d choose.”
• Customer voice. “[Review text, unchanged]” Google review from [date], [first name], [place]. You only show the person’s name and profile picture with their consent.

On hashtags: since December 2025, Instagram allows 5 at most per post (Instagram Help, retrieved October 13, 2026; introduction according to Social Media Today, December 18, 2025). Pick a few that fit the trade and place. More in Hashtags in 2026.

With companycore

In the Visual Designer, you upload a phone photo via Upload a photo and have core build a post in your brand’s look from it. Under Backstage › Products, you create a completed job with the type Executed work / reference project, and under Backstage › Environments, for example, Workshop / production hall or Construction site (Products and environments). You schedule Facebook and Instagram from one Calendar.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Bitkom: Half of the trades use social media (in German), October 23, 2025 (primary source, telephone survey, n=504)
• Media Perspektiven: ARD/ZDF Media Study 2025, social media between growth and saturation (in German), 2025 (primary source)
• Haufe: Image and future of apprenticeships (apprentice recruiting trends 2025) (in German; secondary source)
• Haufe: Apprentice recruiting, how Generation Alpha looks for training positions (apprentice recruiting trends 2026) (in German; secondary source)
• Buffer: How Often Should You Post on Instagram, August 13, 2025 (vendor study, correlation)
• Instagram Help Center: Use hashtags on Instagram, retrieved October 13, 2026 (primary source)
• Social Media Today: Instagram Implements New Limits on Hashtag Use, December 18, 2025 (trade press)
• LTO: Federal Court of Justice on freedom of panorama and drone photos (in German), BGH, October 23, 2024, I ZR 67/23 (secondary source)
• § 22 KUG (German Art Copyright Act, right to your own image; in German; primary source)
• § 5 DDG (in German; primary source)
• RA Mauritz: Instagram imprint, OLG Hamburg confirms (in German), August 6, 2026, on OLG Hamburg of May 21, 2026, 15 U 99/24 (secondary source)
• TikTok Ads Help: Commercial Music Library, retrieved October 13, 2026 (primary source)