On Google people are already searching for you. On Facebook and Instagram they are not, which makes these ads the right tool for a different job: getting in front of local people with work they can actually see.
This is the part most people get wrong, and it is worth understanding before you spend anything.
On Meta, the thing that decides whether an ad works is usually the image or the video, not the audience settings. A good photo of your actual work will beat a clever targeting setup with a dull stock image almost every time. Agencies love talking about audiences because it sounds technical. The honest version is that the picture matters more.
Which is good news for a local business, because you already have the raw material: job photos, finished rooms, the team, the shop, before and afters. We will tell you what to take pictures of and make the best of what you have rather than sending you off for an expensive shoot.
The other difference from Google is patience. You are creating demand rather than catching it, so it takes longer to prove out and needs a testing budget. If you need enquiries this week, Google is the better first move.
Most of the work is in the testing, because on Meta you cannot reason your way to the winning ad.
Done properly at the start, because retargeting and reporting are impossible to retrofit once you have lost the data.
Local radius first, then the more interesting ones once there is enough data to build them from.
Copy and imagery built to stop a thumb, using your real work rather than stock photography.
Several versions against each other, then budget moved to whatever is actually working.
Three ways in. Management and ad spend stay two separate numbers on purpose, so you can always see what is our fee and what is media.
A written review of your site and your Google listing, including a straight answer on whether Meta is the right place to spend.
No call unless you want oneA flat monthly fee set by campaign count and how much creative work is involved, never a percentage of what you spend.
Your account, always in your nameMeta run as part of the whole thing rather than on its own, so the site, the listing and the campaigns all pull in the same direction.
No contract, no notice periodAd spend is paid directly to Meta on an account in your name and sits on top of any management fee. Meta takes longer to prove out than search advertising, so expect a testing period. We won't promise a set number of leads or a fixed cost per enquiry, because nobody can honestly predict that before the campaigns have run.
Nobody searches for you on a Tuesday night.
They scroll. Which is why this works for the things people did not know they wanted, and why a real photo of your actual work beats any amount of clever targeting.
Meta clicks are cheaper than Google's but colder, so fewer of them turn into anything. Here is the sum with our numbers in it, fee included, so the shape of it is clear before you spend.
£500 a month
£99 a month, flat
£0.70 cheaper than search
5 in 100 with a real offer behind it
An illustration, not a forecast, and not a promise of thirty-six enquiries. The biggest lever is not in this sum at all: it is what you are actually offering. A campaign with a real offer behind it will beat one advertising "quality service" by more than any targeting change we could make, and the difference is not small. After that it is the cost per click, which depends on your trade and who else is bidding, and how well your page converts. On Meta the first month or two also goes on testing audiences and creative, so early numbers are usually worse than this before they get better.
Meta suits a narrower set of businesses than people assume, and we would rather say so up front.
The first month is deliberately about learning, and we will say up front what we expect it to cost.
Whether Meta is the right platform for what you sell at all. For a fair number of businesses it is not, and we will say so.
Business account, pixel and conversion tracking, all in your name, plus a look at what creative you already have.
Several audiences and several creatives against each other, with budget moving to whatever performs.
Once something works, spend goes behind it, and we watch frequency so the same people are not shown it to death.
They do opposite jobs. On Google people are already searching for you, so it suits urgent and obvious needs. On Facebook and Instagram they are scrolling, so it suits things people do not know they want yet, or anything visual. If you fix broken boilers at 2am, put your money into Google. If you run a salon, a gym or a restaurant, Meta usually wins.
Photos and video of your actual work, more than anything else. On Meta the creative decides whether an ad works far more than the targeting does, and a real photo of a finished job beats a polished stock image almost every time. We will tell you what to shoot and make the best of what you already have.
Longer than Google, because you are creating demand rather than catching it. Expect to spend a bit on testing audiences and creative before anything is conclusive, usually a month or two. Be sceptical of anyone promising a return in week one.
Yes. They run through the same Meta ad system, so campaigns can appear across both from one place, and we will put budget wherever it performs. Instagram tends to work harder for anything visual, Facebook for a slightly older local audience.
Directly to Meta on your own ad account, never through us. You can log in and see exactly what is being spent at any time, and if you stop working with us the account, the audiences and the data stay yours.
Yes, and it is usually the best performing thing we run. Someone who has already been on your site and not got in touch is a much warmer audience than a cold one. It needs the Meta pixel installed and a little traffic to build up, both of which we set up as part of the work. It is also one of the better reasons to have a website at all when most customers find you on social media, which our guide on websites versus Facebook covers.
More questions answered on the full FAQ page.
Take one, take all of them, or ask which you actually need. We'll tell you straight.
Tell us what you sell and who buys it. We'll give you a straight answer on which to try first, and it is often only one of them.