First Meta campaign · ideas to sort through

Ad ideas for UK gas engineers

Seven static and five moving concepts, alongside Roman's three angles (evenings back, under a boiler, front office). Each one shows the ad as it would sit in the feed, the copy, and what it is testing.

Who: UK gas engineers, one to five person firms What: the voice receptionist Lead with: less admin, incoming work handled Claims: answers, takes details, texts you. Nothing more

Drawn in the brand palette rather than stock photos, so each one shows the thing working. Any could take a real photo of an engineer as a second carousel card.

New: the reliability angle

From the Assured Heating video on the Ads to study tab, turned round: homeowners want an engineer they can rely on, and that starts with someone picking up.

S7Reliable starts with the phone

Reliability

RomanLogic

Sponsored

Most people don't want the cheapest heating engineer. They want one who turns up when they say, and keeps them in the loop. That starts with the phone. I set up a receptionist that answers in your firm's name while you're on a job, takes the details and texts them straight to you. Your customers get a firm that picks up. You get the job written down.

Reliable starts before you arrive.

Hale Heating

answered, first ring

Hale Heating, Dan's on a job. I'll take your details and get them straight to him.

Oh brilliant, thank you. That's a relief.

Every caller answered in your firm's name.

Instant formThe dependable firm picks up

Learn more

Why this one

It sells the outcome from the customer's side of the phone. The engineer sees what his customer hears, which is the exact worry the research found ("my customers want a person").

The relief line is the payoff. It shows a caller pleased to be answered, without us claiming anything the agent doesn't do.

Other hooks to try (drafts, yours to rewrite)

Be the engineer who always picks up.
Your customers can't rely on a voicemail.
Turning up on time starts with picking up.

Pairs with: Roman's angle C (front office), which says the same from the engineer's side. Running both tests which side sells it.

S1Voicemail vs job sheet

Less admin

RomanLogic

Sponsored

Half a voicemail, no postcode, and a number you have to ring back just to find out what's wrong. I set up a receptionist for gas engineers that answers in your firm's name, asks what you'd ask (fault, boiler, postcode, best time) and texts you the lot while you're still on the job.

Skip the voicemail. Get the job sheet.

Voicemail, 0:47

"hi, erm, it's about the boiler, it's been making a noise since, well, can you ring me back, it's Sarah, on, erm..."

Texted to you instead

Job: Breakdown, no hot water
Name: Sarah, LS6 2AB
Boiler: Worcester combi, EA
Ring: After 4pm, 07700 900214

Instant formEvery call arrives as a job sheet

Learn more

Tests: the evening admin itself. The voicemail is the thing they hate decoding; the sheet is the outcome in one glance.

S2Four calls, one service

Incoming work

RomanLogic

Sponsored

A boiler service takes the best part of an hour. That's an hour of calls you can't take. Mine answers them, takes the details and texts each one to you, so when you get back to the van you know which call to make first.

Four calls during one service. All written up.

10:07

Thursday 13 November

Hale Heating line09:12

Breakdown, M20 4QT. Vaillant showing F28, no heating. Elderly tenant.

Hale Heating line09:31

Annual service, SK4, any weekday.

Hale Heating line09:48

Letting agent: 3 gas safety certs due in January.

Hale Heating line10:05

Quote for a combi swap, Didsbury. Wants a call this week.

Instant formKnow which call to make first

Learn more

Tests: handling the volume. Four different kinds of job on one lock screen reads as "this is my morning" to an engineer.

S3Engineer, not switchboard

Identity

RomanLogic

Sponsored

You trained to be Gas Safe, not to answer phones halfway up a loft ladder. This picks up when you can't, answers as your business, and sends you a text with the name, postcode and fault. You ring back the ones you want.

You're the engineer. Not the switchboard.

Calls answered in your firm's name. The details texted to you.

Instant formLet the phone run itself

Learn more

Tests: whether pure type stops the scroll in a feed full of photos. Cheapest to make and to vary.

S4Letting agents ring at nine

Incoming work

RomanLogic

Sponsored

Landlord work is steady work, if you're the one who picks up. Agents ring whoever answers first. My receptionist answers in your firm's name, takes the addresses and the deadline, and texts them to you before the agent's moved down their list.

Letting agents ring at nine. You're on a job at nine.

Hollins Lettings

mobile, 09:02

Answered for you

Taken down

6 properties, gas safety certs
All due before 31 January
Keys at the office, ring Jo

Instant formBe the firm that picks up

Learn more

Tests: a gas-only job type (CP12s) none of Roman's three touch. Speaks to engineers who want more landlord work.

S5The questions you'd ask

Less admin

RomanLogic

Sponsored

The first five minutes of every call are the same questions. Let something else ask them. It answers as your business, works through what you'd want to know, and texts you a summary you can act on from the van.

The questions you'd ask. Asked for you.

What's the fault?
Which boiler, any code showing?
Anyone vulnerable in the house?
What's the postcode?
When's best to ring back?

Texted to you before they hang up.

Instant formEvery call comes with the answers

Learn more

Tests: competence. The list is in their language, which shows we know the job before they've heard a word of the demo.

S6Saturday night breakdown

Incoming work

RomanLogic

Sponsored

The phone goes on a Saturday night and you either answer it or lie awake wondering what it was. Mine answers, finds out how bad it is, and texts you the details. Then it's your call whether it's tonight or first thing Monday.

19:42

Saturday

Hale Heating line

No heating, two kids in the house. Worcester combi, EA. SK4 3LP. Happy with first thing Monday if not tonight.

You decide if it's tonight.

Instant formOut of hours, on your terms

Learn more

Tests: control over out of hours work, the winter worry. Careful: it must never read as handling a gas leak.

Each loops on its own, about 12 seconds, built so it could be screen-recorded straight to video. No music; D1 could carry the real agent's voice.

Show where the Reels buttons and caption sit

New: the reliability angle

The same idea in motion: one breakdown, two firms, and the customer remembers the one that picked up.

D5Two firms, one picks up

Reliability

Same breakdown. Two firms. One picks up.

Another firm

Ringing...

Voicemail

Hale Heating

Ringing...

Answered

Hale Heating, Dan's on a job. I'll get your details straight to him.

Brilliant, thank you. That's a relief.

Be the one they can rely on

Caption

When the heating goes, people ring round. The firm that answers is the one they remember, and the one they ring next winter. Mine answers in your firm's name while you're on a job, takes the details and texts them to you.

Why this one

The comparison does the selling in the first three seconds, with no stat to prove. "Another firm" is never named or mocked, so it reads as the customer's experience, not an attack.

Pairs with: D1 (the call, live). D1 shows what the engineer gets; D5 shows what his customer gets.

D1The call, live

Incoming work

Your phone, answered mid-job.

07700 900418

Incoming call

Answered as Hale Heating

Hale Heating, Dan's on a job. Can I take a few details?

Boiler's showing F28 and the heating's off.

Sorry to hear that. What's the postcode?

M20 4QT.

Texted to Dan

Breakdown, M20 4QT. Vaillant, F28, no heating. 07700 900418, ring after 3.

Hear it answer as your business

Caption

The customer gets an answer straight away, in your firm's name. You get the details in a text. Tap Learn more and I'll set up a demo that answers as your business.

Tests: showing the product itself. The strongest proof we have; with the agent's real voice it becomes the demo.

D2Voicemail to job sheet

Less admin

Stop decoding voicemails at nine at night.

Voicemail, 0:47

"hi, erm, it's about the boiler, can you ring me back, it's..."

Job sheet

Job: Breakdown
Name: Sarah, LS6 2AB
Boiler: Worcester, EA
Issue: No hot water
Ring: After 4pm

Texted to you at 10:14, mid-job

Caption

Every call comes to you written up: the job, the boiler, the postcode, when to ring. No more playing voicemails back in the van.

Tests: S1 in motion. The before turning into the after is the one moment a static ad can't show.

D3A full day of calls

Incoming work

A full day of calls. Not one voicemail.

08:14

10:02

12:40

15:31

17:05

Breakdown08:14

Vaillant F28, M20 4QT

Annual service10:02

SK4, any weekday

Landlord certs12:40

3 flats, due January

Quote15:31

Combi swap, Didsbury

4calls answered0missed

Caption

Breakdowns, services, landlord certs, quotes. Every one answered in your firm's name and texted to you, while you get on with the job in front of you.

Tests: S2 as a story. The clock moving says "while you worked" without a word of copy.

D4Every kind of call

Identity

Breakdowns.

Annual services.

Landlord certs.

Quote requests.

Every call that comes in on a job

Answered in your name.

Written up.

Texted to you.

Hear the demo

Caption

Whatever the call, it gets answered as your business and the details land in your texts. Hear it for yourself on the demo line.

Tests: fast kinetic type, the cheapest moving ad to make. Swap the four job types to test which one they recognise.

UK and US ads aimed at trades owners, researched 5 November 2026. Every claim links to its source and carries a grade: Evidence data or a platform statement, Seen an ad or page we looked at, Opinion marketer advice.

The short version

Admin and evenings is the better-evidenced lead. Three UK trade surveys put admin at 5 to 7 hours a week, much of it done at night. Job software already runs it (Powered Now, Tradify, Jobber), but every call answering ad leads on missed calls instead. That gap is ours.
The big objection is the customer, not the engineer. They worry how their customers will take an AI. Most UK adults say they want a human. Answer it by playing the call, not by saying "no, it doesn't sound like a robot".
Show it hands over. The US leaders lead with the AI passing risky calls to a person. Trades owners named "no heat with kids in the house" and "gas smell" as the calls they would not trust it with.
No made-up loss figures. The UK's "62% of calls missed, £24k lost" has no source, and the ASA needs evidence on file for any figure we claim.
Nobody publishes a cost per lead for ads aimed at trades owners. Our first few hundred pounds sets the baseline. Measure per booked demo, not per form.

What it means for the ten ideas

LeadD1 The call, live. Both studies point here: hearing the agent is the strongest answer to "what will my customers think".
LeadS1, D2 Voicemail to job sheet. Admin is the best-evidenced pain, and no call answering ad uses it yet.
KeepS5 The questions you'd ask. "Anyone vulnerable in the house?" quietly answers the safety worry.
ChangeS6 Saturday night. Its "two kids in the house" is exactly the call owners fear. Make the text say it was flagged as urgent and passed straight to him.
ChangeS2, D3 A day of calls. Fine, but it sits in the crowded missed-calls lane. Lean on "written up", not "missed".
TestS3, D4 Type only. No evidence either way on bold type vs real photos for trades. Cheap enough to just test.
TestS4 Letting agents. Landlord certificate work runs all year (renewal every 12 months), so it is not a winter-only angle.

What works

Evidence
Admin at night is the pain they name. 5h20m a week of admin, much of it evenings and weekends (Powered Now, 140 UK trades). "The first thing most owners want is to stop doing admin at 9pm" (HeyBRB, 167 owner-operators). 1 2 3
Evidence
Voicemail really does lose callers. 69% of callers who reach voicemail hang up without leaving one. Old (Moneypenny, 2016), but sourced and still the root figure UK vendors use. source
Seen
Let them hear it. Jobber's ad landing page embeds three sample calls and a "try it yourself" line; Telavox gives you a number for an AI trained on your own website. Nobody publishes whether it lifts results. Jobber Telavox
Seen
Lead with the handoff to a human. Avoca and Sameday both do, and Avoca advises starting on after-hours calls only. Sameday Avoca
Seen
Beat the thing they already use. Rosie: "10x better than voicemail", with an owner saying "I fired my live answering service yesterday". source
Evidence
Optimise for quality leads, not form fills. Meta reports a lower cost per quality lead when CRM outcomes are fed back (about 21% on instant forms, as reported). source
Seen
Sell through peers. Avoca sells through a US trade podcast with a member offer; ServiceTitan has run free templates as lead magnets for 15+ months. Avoca ServiceTitan

What flops, or carries risk

Evidence
Customers say they want a person. 83% of UK adults prefer a human, 4% a virtual agent (8x8, 2,000 adults). 64% would rather companies didn't use AI in service (Gartner). UK Gartner
Seen
Unsourced loss figures. "62% of trade calls unanswered, £24,000 lost" cites no method; "74%" and "$500 per missed call" are US aggregator figures. Under CAP rule 3.7 we'd need the evidence on file. claim ASA
Opinion
"Indistinguishable from a human". Whoza says it; one test call can disprove it. Even a competitor admits "some customers would rather speak to a person". source
Opinion
Cheap form fills. Free trials pushed at cold Facebook audiences flood sales with leads that never buy; a $25 lead often becomes $75 to $150 per qualified lead (US agency data). 1 2
Seen
Fake "anyone else?" forum posts. A seeded-looking Screwfix Community thread on missed calls got no replies at all. source
Evidence
Creative wears out. Meta flags "creative fatigue" once an ad's cost per result is twice your past ads. Have the next set ready. source

Ads and pages we could see

Who	Where	Hook	Angle
Powered Now	UK	"Why gas engineers are losing jobs before they even answer the phone"	Missed calls priced in pounds; "doesn't call in sick"
Checkatrade TradeMore	UK	"Giving tradespeople their evenings back"	Evenings and admin
Whoza.ai	UK	"Indistinguishable from a professional receptionist"	Missed revenue, free trial, 30 minute setup
AllDayPA	UK	"Why AI will never replace EI"	A human answering service, positioned against AI
ServiceTitan	US	"Cut callbacks 50%. Get your week back"	Time back and cash; 1,750 live ads, mostly static
Jobber Receptionist	US	"No phone tag, no missed leads"	Sample calls to listen to on the page
Rosie	US	"No one leaves a voicemail anymore"	Beats voicemail and the answering service
Avoca	US	"The AI front office for HVAC"	Handoff to a person; sold via a trade podcast

Objections to answer

"My customers want a person." Their fear for the customer relationship tops the list. source
"It's still just a message I have to ring back." (US forums) source
"What about a gas smell, or no heat with kids?" They want risky calls handed off.
"AI output is too generic." 16% of one UK sample. source

When to run it

Boiler breakdowns peak in January, then December. source
October brings 44% more work than April (7,000+ heating firms). source
Landlord safety checks renew every 12 months, so that work runs all year. HSE
Our guess, not evidence: winter is when it hurts, summer is when they have time to set it up. Run November to February, then test a June push.

Benchmarks

No published cost per lead for ads aimed at UK trades owners. We set our own.
US Facebook average cost per lead $27.66; business services $16.95 (2025). source
US home services: 27% of calls go unanswered, 41% at weekends (70m calls). US only, so we can't quote it as ours. source
Only 4.8% of UK tradespeople surveyed use AI tools yet. source

What the research could not see

The Meta Ad Library only loads in a real browser, so no live Facebook or Instagram creatives were found for any of these brands. That means nothing here on tone (banter vs plain), real faces vs graphics, or ads with call audio in them. Twenty minutes in the Ad Library, country set to the UK, covers it: Powered Now, Tradify, Checkatrade, Whoza, Moneypenny, then ServiceTitan, Jobber, Rosie and Avoca for the US. Reddit and the UK trade forums were also unreadable, so the engineers' own words are thin.

Links to real ads, gathered 5 November 2026: live Meta ads in the UK and US, case studies with published results, and video ads on YouTube. Advertisers stop paying for ads that don't work, so how long an ad has run is the best public sign it converts. It is a proxy, not proof: none of these brands publish their ads' results.

What the long runners have in common

Real tradespeople, posting as themselves. Tradify's longest UK ads are partnership ads from a builder's or electrician's own account, each with his own discount code. One has run for two years.
The trade's own words. "Less faff. More graft." "Builders doing admin? Nah." First person, short, no corporate gloss.
Admin and evenings is proven, but taken by job software. Powered Now's "Less Admin, More Life" and Tradify's "get back to your evening" have run four to six months. No call answering ad uses it.
The owner speaks first, about one moment. Jobber's biggest spots and Powered Now's best one open with a tradesperson describing their own evenings. Moneypenny plays real calls ("Can you put me through to John?"). The ad that opens with the product talking is the weakest one found.
One master ad, cut down per problem. Moneypenny runs 15, 30 and 35 second versions, one problem each; Jobber reuses one template across customers. The cheapest pattern for us to copy.
Call answering ads lead on missed calls, or on the demo. BT, Rosie and Moneypenny lead on calls; fonio and Alexander lead on "hear it yourself". BT entering means our category is now seen as real, and crowded.

Rachel's pick: the reliability angle

Four frames: the owner talking to camera in a white shirt, an engineer working on a gas meter, an engineer at a boiler in a kitchen, the owner again

Assured Heating Essex, TikTok, 40 seconds, 4 October 2026

In heating, the thing people value most isn't cheap prices or someone that can squeeze you in. It's reliability.

A heating firm's owner talks to homeowners, cut with job footage and bold captions. He sells an engineer "that turns up when they say they will, communicates clearly", and "real updates, real people in the office". It closes on "you don't want a maybe".

Evidence: 387 views and 9 likes, posted organically. It is here for the angle, not as a proven ad.

Watch on TikTok

Turned round for our ads

Homeowners pick the engineer who's reliable, and reliability starts with the phone being answered. A firm like this one has real people in the office. A one-person firm has voicemail. The receptionist lets a one to five person firm be the dependable one: every caller answered in the firm's name, the details taken, and the engineer texted straight away.

It sits close to Roman's angle C (a front office for small firms), but from the customer's side: what homeowners value, rather than how big you look. It also answers the main objection from the Research tab, "my customers want a person", by making the customer's experience the whole point.

UK, to trades: still running

728 days
Tradify, with Errioc Carpentry
Join Alex and thousands of other trade businesses who trust Tradify to take care of their quotes, job scheduling, timesheets and invoicing
A partnership ad: posted from the tradesperson's own account, with his personal discount code. Running two years.
Open in Ad Library
248 days
Checkatrade
We could shout about the app, but we'd rather let trades do the talking
13 second video handing the mic to tradespeople.
Open in Ad Library
246 days
Checkatrade
Less faff. More graft.
Four words in the trade's own vernacular. Static.
Open in Ad Library
178 days
Tradify
Just show the QR code, let them scan, and get back to your evening
The evening as the payoff, not the feature.
Open in Ad Library
178 days
Tradify
In the trades, the first one to quote usually gets the job
Speed as the stake, with "late-night stress" as the cost.
Open in Ad Library
160 days
Tradify, with The Bald Builders
Builders doing admin? Nah, we let Tradify handle that now
Creator voice and banter, first person.
Open in Ad Library
160 days
Tradify, with Madden Builders
All you want to do is get the job done and the phone keeps going with endless conversations
The closest to our angle: the phone interrupting the job.
Open in Ad Library
136 days
Powered Now
How many hours is admin stealing from your week? ... your evenings stay yours. Less Admin, More Life
Our exact outcome, from a UK competitor that also sells an AI receptionist. Still running after four months.
Open in Ad Library
136 days
Fergus
You ever get asked for a quote and forget every price you've ever known? That was me pre-Fergus
27 second first-person confession from a tradesperson.
Open in Ad Library
42 days
Gas Engineer Software, with Jones the Gas
Tired of wrestling with those long, fiddly serial numbers?
A gas engineer demonstrating one tiny job on a Reel. Two versions running.
Open in Ad Library

UK, call answering: our direct competition

30 days
BT Business
AI from BT answers calls while you work so you'll never miss an opportunity for your business
BT is now in our category in the UK, with three short videos. Big-brand trust, and the missed-opportunity angle.
Open in Ad Library
37 days
fonio.ai
Can an AI phone assistant really sound like a real person? Don't take our word for it. ... Enter your website. She calls you in seconds.
Answers the robot worry with a live demo that rings you back. Multiple versions running.
Open in Ad Library
8 days
Alexander AI Receptionist for Plumbers
AI receptionists shouldn't require you to become an AI expert. We configure and test Alexander around your plumbing business.
A plumbing-only AI receptionist, a week old. Leads on "set up for you".
Open in Ad Library
2 days
Moneypenny
Moneypenny answers your calls, chats and messages, with AI and people working together
The UK's biggest answering service now pitching AI plus people.
Open in Ad Library

US, to contractors: still running

441 days
Housecall Pro
Invoicing, tap to pay, auto charge... Get Paid Today
The longest-running US ad we found: plain, one promise.
Open in Ad Library
356 days
ServiceTitan
Supplier costs are due now. Customer payments are 30+ days out. That cash flow gap kills growth.
Problem stated in the owner's own sums, then the fix.
Open in Ad Library
141 days
Jobber
With Jobber handling your admin, you can focus on work that pays. Take back your time
Admin as the lead, in one line.
Open in Ad Library
138 days
Rosie
You shouldn't have to drop what you're doing every time the phone rings
The AI receptionist ad closest to ours: staying on the job, not lost money.
Open in Ad Library
137 days
Rosie
1,800+ small businesses replaced their answering service with Rosie
Goes after the service they already pay for.
Open in Ad Library
65 days
Avoca AI
Scale your business without extra overhead
13 second video, three ads using it.
Open in Ad Library

Ads with published results

Case studies where the agency or platform published the numbers. Mostly UK tradespeople being sold other products; nobody publishes results for software sold to UK trades.

BALI, by Adtrak (UK)
Facebook lead ads to landscaping firms: 326 enquiries at £1.79 a lead over two months. B2B to UK trades, the closest audience match.
Read the case study
AroFlo, by Farsiight (Australia)
Trade job software on Meta: leads up 310%, cost per lead down 66%, with ads built on the customer's pain points.
Read the case study
Toolstation, by Disrupt (UK)
12 working tradesmen as micro-influencers on Reels and TikTok: 13x return on spend, 1,300 purchases.
Read the case study
Scruffs, Attenborough on Site (UK)
Site footage with a wildlife-documentary voiceover: 34M views, double-digit sales growth. Drum award, best use of Facebook.
Read the case study
Bosch Professional (UK)
Spoof site-banter videos for plumbers and HVAC engineers, made with On The Tools: 780K reach on a small budget. Two awards.
Read the case study
Tradiespec, TikTok (Australia)
Lead forms to tradies: retargeting warm viewers converted 31% better than cold prospecting.
Read the case study
GrowwStacks (AI receptionists)
Not paid ads: posts in local Facebook groups with a live number to ring the AI. Self-reported 210 calls booked, 87 sold. Unaudited.
Read the case study

Video ads on YouTube

Brands host their paid video ads on YouTube. Millions of views with a handful of likes means paid reach: proof of spend, not of sales. Counts as of 5 November 2026.

15.3M views
Checkatrade, Jobspotting finale (UK)
My husband Chris suffers with severe job spotting.
Sitcom about trade pride, aimed at tradespeople. A whole paid series, May to December 2025, with 1M to 4M views an episode.
Watch on YouTube
4.4M views
Moneypenny, Say hello (UK, 15s)
Say hello to Moneypenny. We're you whenever you can't be.
Our category, a month old. Plays the calls themselves: "Can you put me through to John?"
Watch on YouTube
2.1M views
Moneypenny, Say hello (UK, 30s)
We're you whenever you can't be.
The longer cut adds "real people and unique AI technology" to settle the robot worry.
Watch on YouTube
13.6K views
Moneypenny, out of hours cutdown (UK)
Even the best receptionist can't be available all the time.
One problem per cutdown: "8:30 on a Monday night, Sunday afternoon, or even Christmas Day."
Watch on YouTube
3.4M views
Jobber, Charlottesville Gutter Pros (US)
I used to spend so much time creating invoices and then going back and collecting payment.
The owner speaks first about admin; the same 30s template reused across several customers.
Watch on YouTube
2.1M views
Jobber, Reliable Kitchen Services (US, HVAC)
We are always driving around. We are a family HVAC business.
The HVAC version of the same template.
Watch on YouTube
307K views
Jobber, Guest Plumbing (US)
This is Dan's truck. This is how Dan used to schedule his team.
Before and after on a plumber's paper system, ending on "take back your time".
Watch on YouTube
1.5M views
ServiceTitan, AI for the Trades (US)
In this business, you're either growing or you're grinding.
Plays an AI voice taking an emergency call inside the ad.
Watch on YouTube
30.6K views
Powered Now, How this plumber cut admin time (UK)
The biggest difference Powered Now's made to my business is the free time it's given me.
A 30-year plumbing and heating engineer from West Yorkshire on evenings back. The closest match to our audience and angle.
Watch on YouTube
71K views
Sameday AI, customer testimonial (US)
Five or six demand calls in one hour.
AI plus one human call handler, and the caller can still reach a person. It opens on a revenue figure we could not copy.
Watch on YouTube
111 views
Powered Now Receptionist (UK)
Hi, I'm Powered Now Receptionist. Whether you're up a ladder or under a sink, I'll answer every call.
Our direct UK competitor, and the weakest ad here: the product talks first, not the problem.
Watch on YouTube

What still could not be read

TikTok's Top Ads library, Google's Ads Transparency Center and LinkedIn's Ad Library all need a signed-in browser. The Meta searches loaded about 30 ads each, ranked by relevance, so a long runner outside that first page could be missed.