Facebook & Instagram Ads for Local Service Businesses: What Works Best?

I asked a Jobber performance marketing ad expert on this topic and they said that their biggest tip is to make sure your ads use the same language your customers use. Check out Reddit Answers or even the comments on your competitors' ads. People will literallyy tell you their pain points in their own words. Pull those phrases directly into the first 3 seconds of your ad to hook people in. Hope this helps!

I had this thought a while ago and my cousin made a joke about my younger sister being "a Instagram star, you should ask her". I am 40 and don't care much for social media but have been thinking about doing some marketing on there and asking my younger, phone addicted sister what the ads look like out there. That brings me to my point, is to ask users what they see. What they like, what they don't, what format looks best on a phone screen, what content is relevant...all that stuff. Ask your kids, friends, family colleagues. I guess you could call it like a market research. When I had social media I thought I was posting some earth shattering content then people would say to me, why would you post that? What you think is good isn't always what people want to see!

From an exterior cleaning business owner’s perspective, what’s worked best for paid social is simple,  video's showing the transformation before and after, short clips of crews in action, or one clear problem like dirty siding, roof stains, or overflowing gutters with a quick solution. We keep the same ad running for weeks and let the algorithm do the work. We measure it primarily on cost per lead, but we also expect a branding lift, especially when people mention they’ve seen us “everywhere” before they ever fill out a form.

Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads should be trackable. You should be tracking your ad spend and where your leads come from. Track lead conversion rates, average tickets, demographics, etc. When you run these ads you should be running multiple at the same time that are completely different. This is simple called A B testing. Check your analytics on your ads and reallocate your ad spend to the ads that are best performing. This is a never ending cycle because what works now won't always work a month from now. 

I've worked with so many politicians as a campaign manager. The question is, whats your target audience? On Facebook? For example, there are a lot more normies, old folks and conservatives. They statistically will keep watching your add longer. Facebook does have a shady ad pay system that charges you for "views", meaning they scrolled by it.

Instagram tends to have gen z and alpha active. Those adds I'd keep short and funny, but the service stays serious. 

Lastly, always use a 15-30 second video over a poster/image.  Research shows that our attention span is horrendous and you need to hook you viewers in with some suspense or a $10 gift card for your store.