Facebook and Instagram ads for a locksmith business
Nobody locked out of a car is scrolling Instagram, so Meta does not bring lockouts and shops that try it conclude it does not work. It works for the planned jobs that fill weekdays: the rekey after a move, the keypad deadbolt a homeowner keeps meaning to install, the landlord with 14 units who changes locks every turnover, the safe before the holidays. Leads for those run $8 to $30 in most markets. They are warm, not urgent, so the follow-up text has to go out the same hour.
Creative is the whole game, and the right creative is phone video from a real job: a cylinder coming out and being re-pinned, a keypad lock opening by code, a safe bolted into a closet floor. The tech's face and the name on the shirt matter more here than in any other trade, because the category has a trust problem. The mistake is boosting posts; boosting buys likes, and a like does not book a rekey.
At two weeks, working means one or two offers live with a qualifying form, retargeting running against site visitors and video viewers, and a cost per lead next to your Google number.