Nobody feels ready to stand in front of a camera
Every owner we film says a version of the same thing beforehand. Every one of them finishes the day understanding it was the strongest way to show what their company actually is.
Everything you need to know about the day we spend with you
This Market Has A Trust Problem
Scroll your own feed for two minutes. The same drone shot of the same roof. The same stock family smiling at the same energy bill. Increasingly, the same AI-generated house that does not exist, in a street that does not exist, installed by a company nobody can point to.
The problem is not that those ads look bad. Plenty of them look great. The problem is that not one of them proves a real company stands behind the work.
Your customer knows this. They have been burned, or they know somebody who has, and they are now reading every advert as a claim that needs checking. Here is how one installer described the market he was buying marketing in:
"We cannot trust because there is no reason to trust people. And it's a trust you need to earn and you need to build up."
That cuts both ways. In a market where nobody is trusted by default, the advantage goes to whoever is willing to be seen. Standing in front of a camera, on your own site, with your name on the work, is a signal a competitor cannot fake, cannot buy, and cannot copy. It says you are proud enough of what you do to put your face next to it.
AI And Still Ads Already Stopped Working
This is not a theory we are selling you. One of our clients ran both before they ran video, and watched exactly what it did to the people who came through.
An installer who tried AI ads and still ads first, on what changed when he switched to video.
“"We've tried AI ads before, we've tried still ads. However the quality of the leads were very, very low. They were at the start of their buying process, they didn't really know much about solar, so we were attracting the wrong type of customers. Since we did the video ads, the customers who have inquired have seen what a solar system can do for you, and also what type of savings and revenue you can earn. With the video ads the customer gets to see and meet half the team before they've even called anyone. So I think video ads work really well for solar."
Cheap creative did not just produce fewer leads. It produced the wrong leads, people at the very beginning of their thinking who did not yet know what solar does. Video moved the enquiries further down the line, because the person filling in the form had already watched somebody explain the thing before they ever picked up the phone.
Another installer, two shoot days in, was asked the same question about filming days against stock and AI footage. They had no idea what to expect the first time either:
Two owners, asked about the shoot days on their second one with us.
“"This is our second time now with you working on one of the shoot days, and we didn't really know what was going to unfold on day one… We put our faith in you guys to direct and lead us on the shoot days. And the feedback we've had from the shoot has been very positive. Bottom line, it works. Our client also gave us good feedback from this video. So A, we're getting the business. B, it works."
Note the last part. It is not only that the adverts worked. Their own customer commented on the video, which is the tell that the footage is doing a job long after the click.
Being Nervous Is Not A Problem
Almost nobody we film has done this before, and the ones who have done it still find it strange. It is a long day, you will repeat lines, and you will fluff plenty of them. Every owner we have filmed has, including the ones who look completely natural in the finished advert.
That is completely normal, and it is our job, not yours. We direct it, we coach it, and we shoot enough that your worst take never leaves the card. Nobody is good at this on day one. It has never been the requirement.
What The Day Is Actually Like
It is long, and it is work. We would rather tell you that than sell you a fantasy about it being fun. Anyone promising a slick half-hour has not done one.
The useful material also does not arrive first. The opening hour is warm-up. It usually takes a couple of hours of filming before the specific, particular things that separate you from every other installer in your county start coming out, and those are the parts we actually build the adverts around.
Across a day we are collecting a base you can advertise from for a long time:
- You on camera, saying what you actually say to customers
- Your team, your vans, your showroom, your yard
- Live installs and finished jobs, filmed where they happened
- Customer testimonials, if we can get to a happy one on the day
- Stills throughout, which end up on your website and socials
The Face In The Ad Is The Face At The Door
This is the part most installers underestimate, and it is the reason we insist on filming you rather than an actor or a stock library.
When the person in the advert is the person who turns up to the survey, the whole thing holds together. The homeowner has already spent a minute or two listening to you explain how you work. By the time you are on their doorstep you are not a stranger with a clipboard, you are the man off the video. The advert and the appointment tell the same story, in the same voice, with the same face.
"With the video ads the customer gets to see and meet half the team before they've even called anyone."
Break that link and you feel it immediately. Nobody enjoys being sold by a polished national brand and then handed to a subcontractor they have never seen, who has no stake in the job and will not be back. Homeowners can sense the join, and it is the single fastest way to lose a sale you had already won.
Do it for long enough and the recognition starts working before you have said a word:
An installer a year into running video ads in his area.
“"Where I go in the country, people say, oh, I've seen you on TikTok. I've seen you on Facebook… people do recognise our business as a result of it."
What Matters Most On The Day
You do not need to prepare a performance. You do need to turn up with a few things clear in your head, and the day gets dramatically better:
- Bullet-note your points the night before. Not a script. Five or six things you would be annoyed to have left unsaid.
- Know what actually makes you different. Your own crew rather than subcontractors, your showroom, your years in the trade, the local angle. The specifics are the whole point.
- Talk to us like you talk to a customer. The line that closes people in their kitchen is the line that works in the advert. Jargon is not needed.
- Bring the team, and line up a site if you can. A live install or a recent happy customer is worth hours of talking head.
- Wear what you would wear to a customer's door. Branded gear if you have it. It should look like a normal working day, because it is.
- Do not try to say everything. You will not get it all in one day, and you are not meant to.
That first point is not our advice, it is Elliot's, worked out on his own shoot day:
"What I will do from doing this is probably bullet-note anything like that down, so that next time round… this is what I want to touch on."
An owner on his second shoot with us, on how it is handled.
“"As always, I was probably more awkward than I should have been. But you guys coached me, showed me what I need to do, tell me where I need to look, stop fidgeting."
It Outlives The Campaign
The footage is not only for the adverts. It is a library your business keeps.
An installer on what happened to the photos.
“"The images themselves, some of the stills they took as well, which we've put on our website, those have helped the website. So with the combination of the ads, and the communication we've had with potential customers direct through the ads, and the ads driving people to the website, we've had good…"
Website, socials, quotes, van livery, the wall of your showroom. One day's filming, used everywhere, for years after the campaign it was shot for has changed three times over.
By The End Of The Day
Elliot went into his shoot with no installations we could film yet, and came out with a base to advertise from:
"By not having necessarily installations right now for you to be able to go to and get the testimonials, by having this, this was where I wanted to get to. This is what I imagined, manifested. The whole point of this from my side was to show that you've got somewhere to come."
"More than happy. All day he's been… he's easy to be with, is how I'll describe it. No pressure. Haven't felt rushed. I haven't felt like I'm wasting my time or wasting your time. That's been a nice feeling. And I'm excited to see what comes next."
WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU
- Nobody is trusted by default any more. Being visibly, checkably real is the only advantage in this market that cannot be copied by a competitor.
- AI and still ads bring the wrong buyer. Tried, measured, and abandoned by an installer who now runs video only.
- You do not need to be good on camera. You need to turn up. We direct, we coach, and the bad takes never see daylight.
- The face in the ad has to be the face at the door. Familiar beats polished, and it is why subcontracted national brands lose to local owners who show themselves.
- It is a long day, and we will say so. The best material arrives after the warm-up, not in the first hour.
- The assets outlive the campaign. Stills on your website, footage for socials, material you still use years later.
Satisfied Contracting and Trades Businesses