4:30
How do you know an ad idea will actually perform?
How shoot briefs are built to perform and differentiate.
Video transcript
So we don't farm out concepts. I'm not saying that it's a copy and paste across every single one of our clients, but if we see that an ad concept is working really well all the way up here in Scotland for one of our local installers, there's no reason why we can't optimize that for a installer right down in the south near Devon.
And it's actually this approach that means that everyone collectively gets the best ad concepts from around the country. So when we write the shoot briefs, we have a bit of a 7030 rule. So 70% of the ad concepts that we put in a sheet brief, we are so 70% of the ad concepts we put in a sheet brief, we know are tried and tested.
We know that they'll perform really well and they have results backed up with them. Now the other 30% are often are more creative concepts. We find that these either being completely honest can flop or fly, but I think that's the main thing. If we don't introduce creative ideation and testing into the shoot briefs, we never have the opportunity to scale the campaigns because we're always just staying as we are.
A key thing that we look for when we're coming up with those ad concepts that make up that 30% are actually how do we look at other industries who are doing really well? So my background is in e-commerce. So actually, how do we look at companies who are doing really well in the e-commerce industry, and how do we bring formats that are performing really well in that industry into then the solar industry, because people in the solar industry have never seen those formats.
And whilst you might be used to seeing them from the likes of Amazon, Apple, etc., when we introduce that to a local installer, they think, wow, that's really cool. Loads of those e-commerce companies are spending millions of pounds a year on ad spend. So think about how much trialing and testing new concepts that they're having to come up with, and new ideas pretty much every day.
The benefit of this is actually they already know what works in their industry. So why don't we take that into our industry, where it would have taken us maybe a year to get to the same testing frequency just due to spends, and we can bring those ad concepts in without having to spend millions of pounds of your ad spend budget and be able to find those winning ad concepts.
I think something that we really focus on with looking at new ad concepts is how do we make the ad look as natural in the meta feed as possible. A customer is scrolling through their Facebook feed, their Instagram feed every day. They have such a short attention span, and if they see anything that physically resembles an ad, they're going to scroll right past.
Something that we are quite keen on at the minute is how do we use platforms such as Pinterest, Reddit, even to think of those ideas that look very UGC and very natural to the feed. So whether that's an image ad that actually looks like someone could have just posted it on their story and taken two seconds, or whether that's a low prod handheld install walk through all of these different formats essentially contribute to that wider creative diversity, and then allow your account to perform better.
So how do we ensure that everyone's ads are different? This begins with your onboarding process. So we look at your individual USPS, your positioning and also your strengths. We highlight the equipment that you focus on because that will be very different to Uninstaller down the road, who focuses on installing a different battery storage brand.
Why you like installing them is a massive part, whether you operate in residential or commercial, and even if you aren't a competitor, for instance, operate in residential. How do you operate differently and even down to where you operate in? If you operate in a very local area, we can highlight that in those ads, and no doubt you're going to get a load of leads that are living in that area.
Also, this allows us to highlight neighbors or different customers that have gone solar in that area. So if you're talking about John down the road who's actually gone solar two weeks ago, and then Kathy, who's then been referred by John, for instance, that is a much more valuable USP than you saying, oh, we can just knock you a grand off your solar system price.
We often find that with our installers, when we mention a street name or a specific estate, we see leads come from that very specific area. Then a key part of that is how do we use those ups to build those creative concepts that differentiate you from your competitors, even down to the way that you come across on camera?
How you say something will be very different to how your competitor might say something on camera. And that's what resonates with the customers, as they're the ones going to be having the conversation with you down the line, and that's how you build the trust with them.
Other FAQs
1:26
Can I pay via commission?
2:22
What kind of installer is the right fit?
0:16
What is the minimum installation volume required to work with you?
1:27
What growth can I expect from you?
1:46
Why run ads if we have referrals?
1:43
How much does it cost to work together?
1:31
Why is your minimum ad spend £2,500 per month?
2:30
What ROI should I expect from our campaigns?
1:24
How quickly should I expect results?
0:42
What is your contract structure / notice period?
3:12
Why do you cost more than other agencies?
1:31
Do you offer locational exclusivity?
1:15
What do I do if I'm not ready to work with you yet?
0:17
How long does a discovery call take?
1:09
What do we cover on a discovery call?
1:07
Do I need to make a decision on the discovery call?
1:08
How do I prepare for our call?
1:47
Why does every decision maker need to be on the call?
1:11
Do you really have limited capacity?
3:15
Why can't I just do this in-house?
2:08
Who actually works on my account?
0:44
How deep is your experience in renewables marketing?
0:41
What makes you different from my local, generalist agency?
0:31
Why does each one of your team members have a dedicated role?
0:29
How do you deliver consistent results?
0:50
How is your team structured and how will it grow?
0:21
Why do you limit how many clients you take on each month?
0:53
What standards do you hold yourselves to?
0:46
Why should I trust you with my growth?
0:31
Why do you not track hours / bill by the hour?
1:00
What do you actually film on a shoot day?
0:53
How should I prepare for my shoot?
0:15
How often do you need to film new ads?
0:23
Why do higher spenders need more ads?
0:41
How many sites do you film in one day, and why so many?
0:19
What does a shoot day look like?
0:25
How far in advance should I plan my shoot?
0:31
What should I expect if I've never been on camera before?
0:32
Why do you put more emphasis on authenticity than scripting?
0:26
How fast can you turnaround the content from the shoot?
25:21
Who works in your creative team?
3:09
How do you combat creative fatigue?
1:19
Why do you push video ads over image ads?
1:21
What do I actually need to say on camera?
1:25
How do you decide on the messaging for my ads?
2:11
Why do you not script the shoots?
0:56
How do I make sure I get good leads from my ads?
0:47
How do you come up with ad ideas?
0:26
Why won't you run a campaign without video ads?
1:18
How fast do solar ads actually work?
1:10
Why do Facebook Ads work so well with Solar?
1:13
How do you decide which ads to scale?
1:21
What cost per lead will I get?
0:51
How scalable are Facebook Ads?
0:45
Do Meta Ads still work in competitive areas?
2:40
Are the leads exclusive to us?
4:56
Why your Meta ads are failing in 2026

