Guides
Operator playbooks for service businesses.
Tactical breakdowns of the systems that turn ad spend into booked work. No fluff, no generic SaaS posts, written by the team running :Impact for plumbers, hair salons, garages, and resin contractors.
channels
Missed-call text-back: the highest-ROI automation tradespeople ignore
Plumbers, electricians, and joiners miss 30% of inbound calls. A missed-call text-back response that lands inside 5 seconds recovers most of them. Here is what to send, how to set it up, and what it costs.
ad strategy
Meta lead ads vs Google Ads for service businesses: when each one wins
Service businesses spending £100/week on ads should not pick channels by instinct. Meta lead ads, Google Search, and Google Local Service Ads target different buyer states. Here is how to choose.
ops
What 5-minute lead response actually costs in builders' time (and how to skip the cost)
The 5-minute lead-response rule converts. But manually hitting it costs 60-90 minutes of phone time per day for an active tradesperson. Here is how to automate the speed without losing the personal touch.
ad strategy
Google Local Service Ads: the application playbook for UK trades
Google Local Service Ads sit above search with a Guaranteed badge and bill per lead, not per click. The application is verification-heavy. Here is the document checklist, the wait times, and the gotchas.
channels
WhatsApp Business setup for trades, end to end
There are three ways UK trades end up on WhatsApp: the personal app, WhatsApp Business app, and WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API). Each one trades cost for control. Here is which fits which stage.
channels
AI receptionist vs answering service: which actually keeps the call
Trades miss 30% of calls. The two real solutions are an answering service (£200-£400 a month, human) or an AI receptionist (£200-£500 a month, software). They handle the same call very differently. Here is the numbers-side breakdown.
ad strategy
Meta Lead Ads pre-fill cleanup: why 30% of your leads have wrong emails
Meta Lead Ads pre-fill the user contact info from their Facebook profile. Convenient for the user, corrupt for your inbox. A predictable 20 to 35% of pre-filled leads have stale emails, old phone numbers, or the partner's details. Here is the cleanup pattern.
ops
Attribution for cash-paid jobs: how trades actually track which ads worked
Most ROAS tools assume every job runs through Stripe. Trades do half their work in cash or BACS. Here is how to track which Meta ad set funded which job, without a fancy stack.
ops
Trustpilot vs Google reviews for trades: which one actually moves bookings
Asking a happy customer for a review is a one-time ask. Pick the wrong platform and the review sits where nobody who matters will read it. For UK trades, the answer is not what most agencies tell you.
ops
The weekly client report template that keeps retainers from churning
Most agency weekly reports are 20-slide decks that get glanced at. The 5-section honest report below gets read top-to-bottom and saves retainers. Steal it.