Ad creative that works for trades, with examples described

The one rule before any format

Homeowners do not buy trades. They buy the removal of a problem or the arrival of a result. Your ad has to show one of those two things in the first frame, before any logo, any name, any 'about us'.

That means your phone's camera roll is worth more than any designer. The before shot of the mouldy bathroom. The after shot of the new one. The video of the boiler firing up. Real, slightly shaky, obviously yours.

Format 1: the slow reveal

Picture this. A ten-second vertical video. It opens on a cracked, stained 1980s driveway, filmed from the pavement. The camera walks forward slowly. At about four seconds, the frame wipes to the same angle with new block paving, still wet from the hose. No voice, just the sound of the street.

Caption on screen: 'Same house. Three days.' Primary text below: 'Driveways in [town] and 10 miles around. Fixed quote, no deposit until we start. Tap for a free visit.'

Why it works: the brain wants to see the transformation finish. It is the only format we would recommend for every outdoor trade without hesitation. Fencing, landscaping, roofing, rendering, resin drives.

Mistake to avoid: cutting to the after shot too fast. Hold the before for at least three seconds so the contrast lands.

Format 2: the boring explainer

Picture a heating engineer standing in front of an open boiler cupboard, phone propped on a shelf, talking for 25 seconds. 'Three things that mean your boiler is about to pack in. One, it is making this noise.' He taps the casing. 'Two, the pressure gauge is here when it should be here. Three, it is over twelve years old and nobody has serviced it.'

Then: 'If that is you, I am [name], I cover [area], and I would rather fix it in October than in January. Link below.'

This is the format that wins trust for the trades where the customer is worried rather than excited. Heating, electrics, roofing repairs, damp. Our Facebook ads for emergency trades guide goes deeper on why the worried customer needs a different approach.

Mistake to avoid: scripting it. Bullet points on a Post-it, then talk.

Format 3: the price anchor

A single static image. A finished room, well lit, shot square on. Big text over the top: 'Full bathroom refit from £4,800. That one cost £5,200.' Small text: 'Includes tiling, plumbing, electrics and waste. [Town] and surrounding.'

Homeowners put off getting quotes because they are scared of the number. Give them a number. You will get fewer enquiries than a vague ad, and far more of them will be from people who can afford you.

Works for: bathrooms, kitchens, decorating, flooring, garden rooms, anything with a knowable ballpark. The firms on our Facebook ads agencies for bathroom fitters list lean heavily on this because it filters at the top of the funnel.

Mistake to avoid: a 'from' price you cannot honour. If the £4,800 bathroom needs a £1,000 of extras every time, you are training people to distrust you.

Format 4: the customer at the door

A 15-second video. The customer, not you, standing at their front door or in the finished room. Your phone, their words. 'We had three quotes. Dave was the only one who turned up when he said. Two weeks later it was done and he swept up.'

No music. Do not add a filter. Put their first name and town on screen. Ask permission and keep the message where they gave it.

Why it works: it says the thing you cannot say about yourself. Turning up, tidying up and finishing on time are the three things homeowners actually worry about with trades, and a stranger saying it beats you saying it ten to one.

Mistake to avoid: filming it before the snagging is done. Wait until they are genuinely happy.

Format 5: the mistake you see every week

Electricians and plumbers, this is yours. A 20-second video of something dangerous or daft you found on a job. A consumer unit with a nail in it. A gas pipe held on with gaffer tape. Hands in frame, pointing.

'Found this in a house in [town] yesterday. If your fuse board looks like this, do not wait.' Then your name and a one-line offer: 'Free safety check with any job booked this month.'

Why it works: it is interesting even to people who do not need you yet, which makes it cheap to run, and those people remember the name when something does go wrong. That is also what makes it such a good first touch for retargeting tradespeople's audiences later.

Mistake to avoid: identifying the house or mocking the homeowner. Blur anything identifying. The tone is 'be careful', not 'look at this idiot'.

Format 6: the diary gap

Plain text on a plain coloured background. 'Two days free next week in [town]. Rooms painted, fences fixed, that job you keep putting off. First come first served.' A photo of your van if you must.

This is the fastest-turnaround ad in trades. Run it for 48 hours at a higher daily budget, then switch it off. It works because urgency is real, not manufactured, and because local people like the idea of catching a tradesperson between jobs.

Works for: decorators, handyman trades, plasterers, fencing, anything with short jobs. Our Facebook ads agencies for painters and decorators list features firms that run this style on repeat.

Mistake to avoid: running it when you are not actually free. People will call and you will have to say no.

What all six have in common

How many ads to run and how often to change them

Run three at a time in one ad set. One reveal, one talking, one static. Let Meta pick the winner over a fortnight. Then replace the loser, not the winner.

A good trades ad lasts six to ten weeks in a local area before people have seen it too often. Watch your frequency in the report. When the same people are seeing it four or five times, cost per lead climbs and it is time for fresh footage. Our guide on reading your Meta ads report like an agency would shows exactly where to look.

Frequently asked questions