Solved: Trouble Narrowing Audience in Demand Gen Campaign

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! I've had a look through the situation you described. It's a classic problem, especially for local service businesses. You know there are high-value customers out there, but reaching them effectively without wasting a load of money can feel like a real puzzle. The fact you're already thinking about the difference between maintenance and repair jobs, and targeting competitor traffic, shows you're on the right track. But the platforms don't always make it easy, do they?

You're right to be second-guessing Demand Gen for this. It's a common trap to fall into. Let me give you some of my thoughts based on what we've seen work for other service businesses. It might give you a clearer path forward.

We'll need to look at your core campaign strategy...

Okay, the first and most significant point to address is your choice of a Demand Gen campaign. I understand the appeal; the targeting options seem powerful and flexible on the surface. However, for your specific goal – capturing homeowners who need urgent, high-ticket repairs – I'd say it's probably the wrong tool for the job. You're trying to use a screwdriver to hammer a nail.

Here's why. Demand Gen, much like awareness campaigns on Meta or standard Display ads, is designed to create demand or capture very top-of-funnel interest. It shows your ads to people based on their general interests, past behaviours, and audience profiles. You're essentially interrupting them while they're watching YouTube videos, checking Gmail, or browsing websites. They are not, in that moment, actively looking for a repair service. You're trying to pay the platform to find people who might need you soon, which is an incredibly inefficient way to find the person whose pipe has just burst.

The fundamental truth for most service businesses, especially for repair work, is that customers only search when they have an immediate and often painful problem. They don't browse for an emergency plumber on a Tuesday afternoon just in case they need one on Friday. They search when the ceiling is dripping. This is 'active demand', and the absolute best place to capture that is Google Search.

With Search ads, you're not interrupting anyone. You are placing your business directly in the path of someone who has literally just typed "emergency [your service] repair near me" into Google. The intent couldn't be higher. They have a problem, and they are actively looking for a solution right now. This is where your high-ticket jobs are. You should be optimising every penny of your budget to be the first and best answer they see at that exact moment.

We see this consistently with our clients. For instance, we're currently running a campaign for an HVAC company in a pretty competitive area. They are focused almost entirely on Search for their repair work. Their cost per lead is around $60, which sounds high, but a single repair job can be worth thousands, so the return is massive. On the other hand, we've run campaigns for services with less urgent demand, like a home cleaning company where we got leads for about £5 each, but those were smaller, recurring jobs. Your high-ticket repair work fits squarely in the first camp. You can afford a higher cost per lead because the value of that lead is so much higher. Trying to get cheap leads from a Demand Gen campaign will likely just bring you people who are 'just looking' or not ready to buy, wasting both your ad spend and your time.

Your video is a fantastic asset, but using it in a Demand Gen campaign to find new customers is a bit like showing a home renovation show to someone who isn't even a homeowner yet. It's interesting, but not actionable for them. We'll get to how you can use that video much more effectively later on.

I'd say you need to rethink your targeting approach...

This brings us to your specific targeting problem. The reason you can't combine 'competitor website visitors' and 'Google searchers' in Demand Gen is because they are fundamentally different types of audiences that Google doesn't allow to be layered in that way. But even if you could, it probably wouldn't work as well as you hope for a local service.

Let's break down these audiences:

Competitor Website Visitors: This sounds like a brilliant idea in theory. Target people who have already been on your competitors' sites. The problem is scale and freshness, especially at a local level. For Google to build an audience, it needs a significant number of users (usually thousands) who have visited those specific URLs. For a local service business, your competitors' websites simply might not get enough traffic for Google to create a reliable, targetable audience. This is likely why your estimated impressions seem so high – the system might be defaulting to a much broader, less defined audience because your specific request is too small to fulfill accurately. You end up targeting people who look like competitor visitors, which is not the same thing.

Then there's the data freshness issue you asked about. The lookback window for these audiences can be 30, 60, 90 days or even longer. Someone who looked for a repair service 45 days ago has almost certainly solved their problem by now. For urgent repairs, you need to reach them within hours or days, not weeks. The data just isn't fresh enough for what you're trying to do.

Google Searchers (in Demand Gen): This is a custom segment where you tell Google to target people who have searched for certain keywords. Again, the freshness is a problem. You're targeting them based on past searches. While it's better than nothing, it's nowhere near as powerful as catching them in the act with a live Search campaign.

So, what's the alternative? A tightly-focused Google Search campaign built around keywords that signal urgent commercial intent. This is your bread and butter. You need to become an expert on the exact phrases a panicked homeowner in your town would type into their phone. Forget the fancy audience layering for now and get the basics perfect.

Here’s how you should think about your keywords. I'd structure them into ad groups based on intent:

• -> Emergency & Urgent Keywords: This is your top priority. These are people who need help NOW and are less price-sensitive.
  Examples: "emergency [service] repair", "24/7 [service] company", "[your town] [service] emergency", "fix leaking [item] now"
• -> Problem/Symptom Keywords: These are people who know they have a problem but might not know the solution.
  Examples: "[symptom e.g., strange noise from boiler]", "[symptom e.g., flickering lights]", "why is my [item] not working"
• -> "Near Me" & Local Keywords: Captures the huge volume of mobile searchers looking for local providers.
  Examples: "[service] repair near me", "[service] company in [your town]", "local [service] experts"
• -> Quote & Cost Keywords: People further down the line, comparing options. Your 'free inspection' offer is perfect for them.
  Examples: "[service] repair cost", "get a quote for [service]", "how much to fix [item]"

By focusing your budget here, you are guaranteeing that every person who sees your ad has already pre-qualified themselves by expressing a direct need. This is infinitely more powerful and cost-effective than trying to find them with a broad net like Demand Gen. You also need a strong list of negative keywords to stop your ads showing for irrelevant searches like "diy [service] repair", "[service] jobs", or "free [service] training". This is just as importent as the keywords you do target.

You probably should focus on a high-value, low-friction offer...

Now, let's talk about your offer. Your idea to target someone who has just had a quote and offer a free inspection is absolutely brilliant. It shows you understand the customer's mindset. In an industry you say is full of scammers, trust is the most valuable currency. Your biggest hurdle isn't convincing them they have a problem; it's convincing them you are the trustworthy solution. The "Request a Demo" or "Get a Quote" button on many websites is a high-friction ask. It implies a sales process and a commitment.

Your "free inspection" or "free second opinion" is the perfect low-friction offer. It provides immediate value and positions you as a helpful expert, not a pushy salesperson. This is exactly what we advise our clients to do: don't just ask for the sale, solve a small, real problem for free to earn the right to solve the whole thing. Your offer does exactly that. It directly addresses the customer's biggest fear: "Am I being ripped off?"

You need to build your entire Search ad campaign around this offer. The ad copy should speak directly to that pain point. I often use a simple copywriting formula called Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) for this kind of ad.

Let's imagine how that would look in a Google Search ad:

Headline 1: Shocked by a Repair Quote?
Headline 2: Get a Free Second Opinion
Headline 3: Trusted Local [Service] Experts
Description: Don't get overcharged. Our experts provide a free, honest inspection & quote. No obligation. Fully insured & certified. Call now for peace of mind.

This copy doesn't just say "we fix things." It enters the conversation already happening in the customer's head. It validates their suspicion ("Shocked by a Repair Quote?"), agitates their fear of being scammed ("Don't get overcharged"), and presents your low-friction offer as the clear, easy solution ("Get a Free Second Opinion").

This needs to be carried through to your landing page. The moment they click that ad, the landing page should have a huge headline that says something like, "Don't Risk It. Get Your Free, No-Obligation Second Opinion Today." Make the phone number massive and clickable. Have a simple form that only asks for the essentials: name, phone number, and a brief description of the problem. Litter the page with trust signals: photos of your team, reviews from real local customers (with photos if possible), logos of any certifications you have. Make them feel they've landed in a safe pair of hands.

You'll need a simple, effective way to use your video asset...

So what about that great video you made? You were right that it's a powerful asset, you were just planning to use it in the wrong place. Instead of using it to find cold traffic, you should use it to warm up the traffic you're already getting. The perfect place for your video is in a YouTube retargeting campaign.

Here's how the funnel works:

1. Step 1 (Acquisition): A homeowner in your area has a problem. They go to Google and search "emergency [service] repair". They see your compelling ad about getting a free second opinion and click it.
2. Step 2 (Consideration): They land on your website. They read about your service, but maybe they get distracted, their kid starts crying, or they decide to "think about it". They leave without calling or filling out the form.
3. Step 3 (Retargeting): Later that day, or the next day, they go on YouTube to watch a video. Before their video starts, your helpful, educational video ad plays. The one you've already made!

The message of this video ad isn't "CALL NOW!". It's much softer. It's the video you described: "How to Choose the Right Repair Company and Avoid Scams." You're not selling them anymore; you're educating them and building immense trust. You're proving you're the good guy in an industry of scammers. At the end of the video, you can have a simple call-to-action that says "Still need help? Visit our site for a free, honest inspection."

This is an incredibly powerful one-two punch. You capture their initial high intent with Search, and then you use the power of video on YouTube to follow up, build trust, and stay top-of-mind. You're using each platform for what it's best at. Search for capturing intent, YouTube for building a connection and demonstrating expertise. This strategy is far more sophisticated and effective than a simple Demand Gen campaign and gives your expensive video asset a clear and valuable role to play.

This is how you turn a simple advertising campaign into a customer generation system. It requires more thought upfront, but the results are far more predictable and profitable. You stop spraying your message everywhere and start focusing it on the people who are most likely to become your best customers.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

I know this is a lot to take in, and shifting from one strategy to another can feel daunting. It's easy to burn through a budget on Google Ads without the right structure, especially in a competative local market. Getting the keyword research, ad copy, landing page, and retargeting setup just right is where the real work lies. It's the difference between an ad campaign that costs you money and an ad campaign that becomes a reliable engine for your most profitable jobs.

If you'd like to go through this in more detail, we offer a free, no-obligation strategy session where we can have a proper look at your specific situation and map out what a successful campaign would look like for your business. It might be helpful to have an expert pair of eyes on it.

Hope this helps give you a clearer direction!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh