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Ran a split test on two ad copy styles for a local plumbing client | Digital Marketing Agencies - Opinions Matter

Ran a split test on two ad copy styles for a local plumbing client

We had a plumbing company in Cincinnati spending about $2,000 a month on Facebook ads. For three months, we ran two different ad sets side by side. One used the standard 'emergency plumber, call now' urgent style. The other just showed a simple video of a clean, polite-looking tech fixing a leak under a sink, with text about upfront pricing. The 'urgent' ads got clicks, but the 'trust' video ad got 40% more actual booked calls. The difference was the landing page bounce rate. People clicking the urgent ad were just shopping and left fast. The video ad brought people who were already sold on the vibe and ready to book. Has anyone else seen a bigger win from selling calm trust over emergency fear for local service ads?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_daniel4mo ago

Not every problem is an emergency though.

jesse2906mo ago

Totally makes sense. We saw the same thing with a garage door company. Their old ads were all "SPRING BROKEN? PANIC!" and they got garbage leads, just tire-kickers wanting a price. We switched to a photo of a super tidy truck and a guy in a clean uniform, with a line about same-day service. The calls dropped a bit at first, but the quality was night and day. People calling were basically ready to book, not just asking twenty questions. Selling the calm fix works way better than selling the scary problem.

iris_jones896mo ago

Okay but "selling the calm fix" only works if people already know they have a problem. That panic ad gets the attention of someone whose door just broke at 8pm, they're searching right then. Your tidy truck ad might get scrolled past because it looks like any other service. Sometimes you need to shout about the scary problem to find the people in real trouble, even if you get some junk calls. Filtering calls is easier than trying to make a calm ad stand out to someone stressed.