Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out! I had a look at the details you sent over about the Meta Ads campaign for your friend's garage door business. It's great that you're jumping in to help them out, and it's clear you've put a lot of thought into it. Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance based on what I've seen running these sorts of campaigns for years. The main thing we'll need to sort out is actually the platform you're using, as I think you might be fishing in the wrong pond, so to speak.
TLDR;
- For an 'emergency' local service like garage door repair, Meta Ads are generally the wrong tool for the job. You're trying to find people who need help *now*, and they're not scrolling Facebook for it.
- Your primary focus should be on Google Search Ads and Google Local Service Ads. This is where people actively search for "garage door repair near me" when they have a problem.
- Your current Meta targeting is far too broad. Interests like "Home Improvement" will burn through your budget showing ads to DIY enthusiasts, not people with a broken garage door.
- The most important metric isn't your cost per click, it's your Cost Per Lead (CPL). You need to understand your friend's business numbers to know what a 'good' CPL even is. We'll explore this with the interactive calculator below.
- Your ad copy needs to be more direct and focused on the immediate problem and solution, not just general brand awareness.
We'll need to look at your choice of advertising platform...
Alright, let's get straight to the biggest issue. You're using Meta Ads to find customers for an urgent, need-it-now local service. Tbh, this is like setting up a fishing net in the middle of a forest and hoping for a salmon. It's just not where your target customer is when they have this specific problem.
Think about the customer journey. When someone's garage door is stuck, and their car is trapped inside, are they casually scrolling through their Instagram feed hoping an ad pops up? Of course not. They're grabbing their phone and typing "emergency garage door repair [city]" into Google. They have a high-intent, urgent problem, and they're actively searching for a solution *right now*.
This is the fundamental difference between 'Search' advertising (Google) and 'Discovery' advertising (Meta). On Google, you capture existing demand. On Meta, you have to try and *create* demand, or at least stumble upon someone who might need you eventually. For a service like this, capturing existing demand is infinitely more effective and profitable. You're paying to get in front of people who have already raised their hand and said, "I need help!".
I've seen this play out time and time again. We're running a campaign for an HVAC company currently, they are in a fairly competitive area, and they're seeing costs of around $60 per qualified lead from Google Ads. That sounds like a lot, but one boiler installation job is worth thousands, so the return is massive. On the other end, we’ve run ads for childcare services where the CPL was around $10 per signup. The channel has to match the customer's intent. Your friend's service is much closer to the HVAC example than it is to finding parents for a nursery.
To put it visually, think about where your friend's business fits in the customer's mindset.
Customer Mindset: "I have an urgent, specific problem!"
e.g., "My garage door is broken," "My pipe burst," "I'm locked out of my house."
Action: Actively Searching for a Solution
They go to a search engine to find a local service provider immediately.
Customer Mindset: "I'm bored, curious, or passively browsing."
e.g., "I wonder what's new in home decor," "Let's see what my friends are up to."
Action: Discovering Products/Services
An ad might catch their eye if it's visually appealing or solves a problem they didn't know they had.
I'd say you need to rethink your numbers...
Before we even get into fixing the ads, we need to address a more fundamental question: how much is a lead actually worth to your friend's business? You've set a budget of $75 a day, but without knowing your numbers, that's just a shot in the dark. You could spend that and get one lead, and if that lead turns into a $5,000 job, it was an incredible day. Or you could get 10 leads that all want a $50 quick fix and barely break even. You can't optimise what you don't measure.
The question isn't "How low can my Cost Per Lead (CPL) go?" but rather "How high a CPL can I *afford* to acquire a new customer?" Answering this frees you from the trap of chasing cheap, low-quality leads and allows you to confidently invest in acquiring profitable customers.
Let's break it down with some simple business maths. We need to figure out the Lifetime Value (LTV) of a customer, or in this case, the average value of a new customer job. Let's make some assumptions:
- Average Revenue Per Job (ARPJ): How much does your friend make from a typical job? This could be a simple repair or a full door replacement. Let's estimate an average.
- Gross Margin %: What's the profit after parts and direct labour? This is crucial. Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity.
- Lead-to-Customer Rate: How many leads does your friend need to talk to to close one job? If they close 1 out of every 4 qualified leads, that's a 25% conversion rate.
Once you know these numbers, you can work backwards to determine your maximum affordable CPL. For instance, if a customer is worth $500 in profit and you close 1 in 4 leads, you can afford to spend up to $125 per lead just to break even on that one job. A healthy business model would aim to spend a third of that, so maybe around $40-$45 per lead. Suddenly, that $60 CPL from the HVAC example doesn't seem so crazy if the job value is high enough, does it?
I've built a little calculator for you below. Play around with the sliders using your friend's real numbers. This will give you your North Star metric. This is the number you should be optimising for, not likes or clicks or reach.
You probably should switch to Google Ads...
So, assuming you're with me so far, the clear path forward is to pause what you're doing on Meta and redirect that energy and budget towards Google Search Ads. This is where you'll get the highest quality leads for this type of business.
Setting up a Google Ads campaign is a whole topic in itself, but the core idea is simple: you bid on keywords that potential customers are searching for. The key is to focus on keywords that show strong commercial intent. You want to avoid paying for clicks from people who are just looking for information or trying to fix it themselves.
Here's a breakdown of the types of keywords you should be thinking about:
- High Intent / "Money" Keywords: These are the ones you want to bid highest on. They signal an urgent need.
- -> "emergency garage door repair [city name]"
- -> "garage door company near me"
- -> "fix broken garage door spring [neighborhood]"
- -> "24/7 garage door service"
- Medium Intent Keywords: These are still good, but might be slightly less urgent.
- -> "garage door tune up [city name]"
- -> "new garage door installation cost"
- -> "garage door opener repair"
- Low Intent / Informational Keywords (to avoid): These are what people search for when they want to do it themselves. You should add these as 'negative keywords' so your ads don't show up for them.
- -> "how to fix garage door"
- -> "garage door parts"
- -> "DIY garage door maintenance"
The goal is to create tightly themed ad groups. For example, you'd have one ad group for 'Emergency Repair' keywords with ad copy that speaks directly to that urgency ("Garage Door Stuck? We'll Be There in 60 Mins!"), and another ad group for 'New Installation' keywords with copy that talks about free quotes and quality brands. This ensures your ad is always super relevant to the search query, which increases your click-through rate and lowers your costs.
Here's a visual way to think about the keyword intent spectrum.
Keyword Commercial Intent Spectrum
You'll need to fix your Meta Ads approach if you keep it...
Now, even though I strongly reccomend shifting to Google, let's quickly talk about your current Meta setup. If you were to insist on running these ads, or perhaps use them for a very small retargeting budget, there are major changes needed.
Your targeting is the main problem. "Home Repair," "Home Improvement," and "Engaged Shoppers" are incredibly broad. You're telling Facebook's algorithm to find people who have maybe liked a post from a hardware store or watched a DIY video. The overlap between that group and people who need a garage door fixed *today* is almost zero. You are paying Facebook to find you non-customers.
When you use a broad 'Awareness' or 'Reach' objective (or even a Traffic objective with broad audiences), the algorithm does exactly what you ask: it finds the cheapest eyeballs. And who are the cheapest people to show ads to? The ones who never click, never engage, and certainly never buy anything. They're not in demand, so their attention is cheap. You are actively paying to reach the worst possible audience for your friend's business.
A better approach on Meta, if you must use it, would be to switch to a 'Leads' campaign objective and get much, much more specific with targeting. But even then, there aren't great interest categories for "people with broken garage doors". You could try targeting by home ownership status, age of home (if available), or maybe even behaviours like 'likely to move'. But it's all guesswork. You're still just hoping to get lucky.
Your ad copy, "Is your garage door giving you trouble?", is a good start because it calls out the problem. But it could be much stronger. For this kind of service, you want to use a Problem-Agitate-Solve framework.
- Problem: Is your garage door stuck, noisy, or refusing to open?
- Agitate: Don't let a faulty door trap your car and disrupt your day. An unsafe door is a risk to your family.
- Solve: Get fast, reliable repairs from licensed technicians. We offer same-day service and upfront pricing. Call now for a free quote!
Finally, your website needs to be a conversion machine. This should be your number one priority before you spend another penny on ads, regardless of the platform. When someone clicks your ad, they need to land on a page that instantly tells them:
- -> You solve their specific problem (e.g., "Emergency Garage Door Repair in [City]").
- -> You are trustworthy (e.g., show reviews, licenses, "family-owned" messaging).
- -> It's incredibly easy to contact you (e.g., a massive phone number, a simple contact form).
This is the main advice I have for you:
I know this is a lot to take in, especially when you're just trying to help a friend. To make it easier, I've broken down my main recommendations into a step-by-step plan for you. This is the exact process I'd follow if I were taking on this project myself.
| Step | Actionable Recommendation | Why This Is Important |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pause the Meta Ads Campaign Immediately. | You are using the wrong tool for the job. Continuing to spend here will likely result in a low number of poor-quality leads and wasted budget. |
| 2 | Calculate Your Target CPL. Use the calculator above with your friend's actual business numbers (average job value, profit margin, close rate). | This gives you a clear, data-driven goal. You'll know exactly how much you can afford to pay for a lead and still be profitable. |
| 3 | Set Up a Google Search Ads Campaign. Redirect the $75/day budget here. Start with a single campaign focused on your main service area. | This puts your ads in front of people who are actively searching for your service, resulting in much higher quality and higher-intent leads. |
| 4 | Focus on High-Intent Keywords. Create ad groups for terms like "emergency repair," "garage door company near me," etc. Add informational terms ("how to") as negative keywords. | This ensures you're spending money only on clicks from people likely to hire a professional, not DIYers. It maximises the efficiency of your ad spend. |
| 5 | Write Direct, Problem-Solving Ad Copy. Your ads should mirror the searcher's urgent problem and offer a clear, fast solution (e.g., "Same-Day Repairs," "Call for a Free Quote"). | Relevant ad copy increases click-through rates, improves your Quality Score in Google, and pre-qualifies the person clicking the ad. |
| 6 | Review and Optimise the Website/Landing Page. Ensure the phone number is highly visible, the page loads fast, and there's a simple form. Add trust signals like reviews. | The best ads in the world won't work if the landing page doesn't convert. A 1% increase in conversion rate can drastically lower your effective CPL. |
I understand this is a significant shift from your current plan, and it can feel daunting. Paid advertising, especially on Google, has a lot of moving parts. It's not just about setting up an ad and hoping for the best; it's about deep research, constant testing, and understanding the data to make intelligent decisions. It's a full-time job for a reason.
That's where professional help can make a huge difference. An experienced eye can spot opportunities and pitfalls you might not see, set up the campaigns correctly from day one to avoid costly mistakes, and manage the ongoing optimisation process to ensure every dollar you spend is working as hard as it possibly can to grow your friend's business.
If you'd like to go over this in more detail, we offer a completely free, no-obligation initial consultation. We could hop on a quick call, review your friend's business goals, and map out a proper strategy for them. It's a great way to get a taste of the expertise that goes into a truly effective campaign.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh
