Getting Leads at Scale with Meta Ads
I’ve talked to many different contractors who have run Meta ads before, spending hundreds if not thousands on ads, only for them to fall flat. Either they got very few leads, or little to no sales.
Getting a high volume of leads from Meta and making sales from them requires you to be a pro at pattern interruption.
When would-be customers use Facebook and Instagram, they’re typically not going there to search for a contractor. They’re relaxing. This is their time to unwind.
Offering a service these homeowners are looking for isn’t enough. Having a unique selling point that calls their name isn’t even enough. Your ad has to stand out enough to grab their attention in the first place; and then after you have their attention, then maybe they’ll consider you.
In this article, we’ll talk about 7 different ways you can capture attention with your Meta ads.
7 Pattern Interruption-Tactics to Grab Attention on Meta
1. Run Ads with People
At Service Allies, we’ve seen that ads with people in them tend to perform better. These ads could be team members posing for a picture, your crew working on something, or the owner of the company gesturing.
I used to be part of a mastermind for marketing agencies. The owner of that mastermind ran a marketing agency, and one of their highest performing ads was simply him with his hands up towards a TV in the background.
We’ve also seen that one of the best stock photos we’ve ever used to get kitchen remodeling leads is a simple picture of two guys working together on installing cabinets.
These types of ads stand out powerful from run-of-the-mil; “we offer quality and service” ads with professionally done graphics. They don’t look like ads. It’s almost like the brain automatically asks “Hmm, what’s going on here?” and people stop scrolling.
2. Be Oddly Authentic
So many people run ads by telling customers how awesome they are. “We offer the best quality.” “We get it done fast.” “We’re affordable.” People are so used to seeing ads like this that they begin to tune out.
When you run ads that sound like one person talking to another person, it can be extremely effective. For example:
This humble and honest style can work incredibly well for new business owners. You’re not pretending to be some big, perfect business that has everything together - and people respect that.
In a similar vein, another headline we’ve found to be effective is one that starts with
3. Use Emojis to Capture the Eye
This one is simple. Using an emoji at the beginning of your ad, especially one with the color red in it, helps capture the eye. It’s simple neuroscience - your brain is wired to pay attention to red. The eye movement happens on autopilot. This helps get more people to read your headline.
4. Capture Attention by Being Hyper-Relevant
The more relevant your ad is to your target audience, the more likely they are to pay attention. If someone lives in Enola, PA for example, an ad that says “Hey Pennsylvania homeowners” might not feel very relevant - they may not even know if the company serves their area. However, if the ad says “Hey Enola homeowners!” it will feel very relevant, and is more likely to capture their attention.
You can use other relevant details, such as people with old homes, people with old HVAC systems, etc. Your ad could say “For Enola homeowners with old HVAC systems!” to hone in further. This initial phrase should stay as concise as possible while being clear. People scan ads, they don’t read them - it needs to be extremely easy to process what’s being said and draw meaning from it.
When done right, using this tactic will make the bell go off in your ideal customer’s mind and their brain will say “hey, that’s me, I should read this.”
5. Run Strong Financial Promotions
Financial promotions are especially effective for need-based home services like HVAC, electrical, plumbing, roofing, etc. Most people aren’t thrilled that they need to spend money on a new HVAC system. Seeing a promotion that offers to help them spend as little money as possible, or spend that money as slowly as possible (financing), will be very appealing.
For HVAC specifically, we’ve seen promotions like 0% APR, low monthly payments, price-match guarantees, and a low advertised price on an HVAC unit work very well.
Note that if your offer doesn’t stand out, you won’t get many leads. If every HVAC company in your local market is offering 0% APR for 12 months, why is your promotion going to be particularly enticing? On the other hand, if you run 0% APR for 60 months, homeowners will do a double take and be much more likely to reach out.
Tune-ups - offering a discounted service on HVAC units or roofs - can be powerful attention-grabbers as well.
6. Run a Service or Benefit Promotion
A service promotion is where you do something for free. To get kitchen remodeling leads, for example, you can offer free 3D designs.
Benefit promotions are where you highlight your company’s unique selling proposition in a clear and emotionally-impactful way.
We worked with a New Jersey remodeler, for example, who was just starting their business. Other custom remodelers in their market were completely booked out and didn’t have availability to start kitchen projects for months.
Since they were just starting out, they had immediate availability - so we heavily emphasized that in the ad. It worked extremely well.
The unique selling point has to be something that creates an immediate emotional impact, something that people care about. If your unique selling point is that you have a 2-year workmanship warranty compared to other contractors 1-year, that probably won’t grab attention. It may be a good selling point in the sales process, but probably won’t work to get customers in your funnel in the first place.
7. Use Creative or Shocking Graphics
In some cases, having a great offer, and spelling it out clearly, and being relevant, may not be enough. Especially if your local service area is very saturated with competitors. To get an edge, you can get really creative with graphics.
For example, during the spring, we ran ads for a southern company that showed an egg frying on a sidewalk. The ad talked about the incoming heat wave of summer, and how customers should prep ahead of time by replacing their old HVAC unit.
If you’re reasonably imaginative, you could also use AI image generation to create some funny or novel images that would capture attention.
Conclusion
Grabbing attention is just the first step - but it’s a crucial step! Without an attention-grabbing headline, or image, homeowners won’t stop to read your ad.
But once you’re able to get that homeowner in your funnel, you have the sales opportunity. Finding creative ways to get more homeowners in your funnel can help take your ROAS to levels you’ve never seen before.
I hope you’re able to take something away from this article and have some new ideas for your Meta ads. Thanks for reading. If you’d like to generate more leads from Meta, without managing the ads yourself, please reach out to Service Allies.
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