Hometown ADvantage - Local Business Marketing Strategies for Local Businesses

Nicole Eldridge | Facebook & Instagram Ads Strategist for Local Businesses
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  • Marketing
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Tired of posting content that gets likes but not leads? Hometown ADvantage is your go-to space for Facebook and Instagram ad strategies built specifically for local business owners so you can spend less time on social media and more time running the business you actually love. Each week, you'll get real, no-fluff answers to questions like:- How do I run Facebook ads for my local business without wasting money on the wrong audience?- What's actually working right now in Meta ads for local service-based and brick-and-mortar businesses?- How do I attract high-quality leads instead of tire-kickers?- How do I know if my ads are actually working and when to change course? Hosted by Nicole Eldridge, local ads strategist and founder of Hometown ADvantage, each episode brings honest numbers, real client wins, and practical strategy you can put to work in your business today. Hit play and start getting results from your ads, not just views.

  1. 5d ago

    51. Run Your Own Facebook Ads in 2 Hours a Week (Even When Your Calendar Is Packed)

    “I don’t have time to learn Facebook ads.” Sound familiar? In this episode, I’m breaking down a moment where Alex Hormozi told a seven-figure HVAC owner that his biggest growth lever was learning to run his own ads instead of handing them off to an agency. His answer to “how long will that take?” might surprise you. We’re flipping the “I’m too busy” story into the identity shift every local business owner needs to make: stop acting like the best employee in your business and start acting like the boss. I’m sharing why growth and marketing deserve the same priority as taking care of your own health, the “bucket carriers vs. pipe builders” mindset that changed how I see ads, and the exact Sunday reset routine I use to plan my week around business growth first. If you’ve been riding the feast-or-famine rollercoaster and waiting on referrals to keep the lights on, this one’s your permission slip to block the time and actually start. In this episode, we cover: What Alex Hormozi told a $1.3M HVAC owner about learning to run his own adsWhy “I don’t have time” was never really the problemThe “I do, we do, you do” teaching method and why you learn ads by doing themHow to stop being the best employee in your business and start acting like the CEOWhy skipping marketing and sales hurts your business the same way skipping self-care hurts your bodyBucket carriers vs. pipe builders: why ads are the system that keeps leads flowing while you’re at your kid’s baseball gameMy Sunday reset routine (and how I use Claude and Airtable to track weekly goals and habits)Why 2 hours a week on your calendar beats 2 days locked in a roomHow to scale your time investment as your business growsResources mentioned: Join Hometown ADvantage: https://www.nicoleeldridgemedia.com/hometown?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio  Follow Nicole on Instagram: @nicoleeldridge_ads 🎯 FREE LIVE TRAINING: 3 Steps to Run Ads That Convert to Local Clients Want your ads bringing in actual local clients instead of just clicks? Join Nicole live on November 5th at 1:00 PM ET for a free training on the exact 3 steps to run ads that convert. Plus, for one week after the training, Hometown ADVantage opens with the best bonuses Nicole has ever offered.  Join for 12 months and get: Your ad account set up for you by Nicole’s

  2. Oct 19

    50. How Long Do Facebook Ads Take to Work for Local Businesses?

    How long do Facebook ads take to work? It’s the question every local business owner asks before they hit “publish,” and the honest answer is that it depends. In this episode, Nicole breaks down the two factors that actually decide how fast your Facebook and Instagram ads get results: how much you spend, and how well your offer converts people who have never heard of you. She explains CPMs in plain English, the difference between cold and warm audiences, and why ads give you more control over your growth than referrals or organic social ever will. She also shares how her client Tanesha, a permanent makeup artist, broke through a long plateau of $8 to 10K months and grew to $18 to 20K months once she added ads to her referral business. Plus, Nicole makes the case for a simple $150 a month visibility budget that compounds over time and turns you into the go-to business in your neighborhood. If you’ve been waiting until you feel “ready” to run ads, this one’s your sign to start walking. In this episode, you’ll learn: The two biggest factors that decide how quickly your ads start workingWhat CPMs (cost per 1,000 impressions) are and how they affect your reach and resultsWhy a cold audience needs a different offer than your referrals and longtime followersHow ads build a warm audience that keeps converting long after someone first sees your adThe visibility, leads, and sales framework for solving one ad problem at a timeWhy $5 a day on visibility ads is the smartest starting point for local businessesThe mindset shift that separates business owners who win with ads from those who quit too soonMentioned in this episode: Join the Hometown ADvantage membership: https://www.nicoleeldridgemedia.com/hometown?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio Follow Nicole on Instagram: @nicoleeldridge_ads🎯 FREE LIVE TRAINING: 3 Steps to Run Ads That Convert to Local Clients Want your ads bringing in actual local clients instead of just clicks? Join Nicole live on November 5th at 1:00 PM ET for a free training on the exact 3 steps to run ads that convert. Plus, for one week after the training, Hometown ADVantage opens with the best bonuses Nicole has ever offered.  Join for 12 months and get: Your ad account set up for you by Nicole’s

  3. Oct 12

    49. 6 Reasons Your Meta Ads Haven’t Converted to Clients (And How to Fix Them)

    If you’ve ever said “I’ve tried ads, but they just don’t work for me”, this one’s for you. After auditing hundreds of local business ad accounts, I keep seeing the same six mistakes. The problem usually isn’t Meta, your audience, or your budget. It’s the recipe. Running ads without a strategy is like baking a cake with no recipe, guessing the ingredients, the temperature, and the timing, and then blaming the oven when it flops. In this episode, I walk you through the six mistakes that kill local ad campaigns, including the one setting I see agencies get wrong all the time. If you’ve run ads before and felt like you were throwing money into a black hole, you’ll finally see what went wrong and what to do differently next time. What you’ll learn: Why boosting a post isn’t the same as running ads and why it often leaves you with zero usable dataThe campaign objective that racks up clicks and zero conversions (and the ones to use instead)How to create a clear, compelling front-end offer that actually gets new customers in the doorWhy “cute and clever” copy (and unedited AI copy) falls flat and how to talk like you’re explaining it to a friendHow to create ads that don’t look like ads so you attract the right people with the right contextThe “data over drama” mindset: why you might be more profitable than you feel, even if only 10% of leads convertReady to stop guessing? Join Hometown Advantage, my monthly membership with my full local ad strategy course, weekly personalized ad reviews from me and my team, and a community of local business owners: Join Here: https://www.nicoleeldridgemedia.com/hometown?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio  🎯 FREE LIVE TRAINING: 3 Steps to Run Ads That Convert to Local Clients Want your ads bringing in actual local clients instead of just clicks? Join Nicole live on November 5th at 1:00 PM ET for a free training on the exact 3 steps to run ads that convert. Plus, for one week after the training, Hometown ADVantage opens with the best bonuses Nicole has ever offered.  Join for 12 months and get: Your ad account set up for you by Nicole’s

  4. Oct 5

    48. How Much Should a Local Business Spend on Facebook Ads?

    Think you need to spend $1,500 a month to run Facebook ads for your local business? You don't. In this episode, I break down what I actually recommend local business owners spend on Meta ads, what to realistically expect when you start small, and why $5 to $10 a day might be the best marketing move you make this year. Your audience is local so it's smaller. That means a small budget reaches a real chunk of the people you want to reach. Organic posts might reach a couple hundred people. A $5 a day ad can reach a couple thousand people in your target market. In this episode, we cover: Where the "big budget" myth comes from and when hiring an ad agency actually makes senseMy go-to starting budget for local ads (and why $1 a day still beats $0)How to use your goal cost per acquisition to know how long to run ads before deciding whether they're workingWhy ads aren't gambling when you have a strategy: you're either learning or earningReal client stories, including a physical therapist who got a new client the day after launching an $8/day adWhat mailers, vendor booths, and print ads cost you compared to ads you can actually trackWhy staying invisible costs 10 times more than a $300/month ad budgetIf you've been wondering how much to spend on Facebook ads or you've been stuck deciding where to start, this one's for you. Starting small is still starting and the audience you build now makes sales easier down the road. Ready to learn how to run your own ads?  Join Hometown ADvantage, my marketing membership for local small businesses. You get local-specific ad strategies, weekly expert feedback on your ads and fresh ad ideas and prompts every month all for $99/month. Join Hometown ADvantage: https://www.nicoleeldridgemedia.com/hometown?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio  🎯 FREE LIVE TRAINING: 3 Steps to Run Ads That Convert to Local Clients Want your ads bringing in actual local clients instead of just clicks? Join Nicole live on November 5th at 1:00 PM ET for a free training on the exact 3 steps to run ads that convert. Plus, for one week after the training, Hometown ADVantage opens with the best bonuses Nicole has ever offered.  Join for 12 months and get: Your ad account set up for you by Nicole’s

  5. Sep 28

    47. 10 Facebook Ads Myths Keeping Your Local Business Stuck

    Think Facebook and Instagram ads are too expensive, too complicated, or just not working for your business? You might be buying into a myth that's quietly capping your growth. In this episode, Nicole runs down the top 10 paid ads myths she hears from local business owners every day. Some have been passed around for years and a lot of them are just plain wrong. From "I'm not good at marketing" to "I'll just use ChatGPT to teach me," Nicole shares what's actually true, what she sees working inside her agency and membership, and the mindset shifts that help local businesses get more leads, more foot traffic, and more sales from their ads. Here's what you'll learn: Why the best business in town isn't always the one that wins and what does decide itWhy "it's not working right away" is normal and how every flop ad moves you forwardHow to think about Meta Ads Manager (hint: it's the beat-up car you still have to drive to work)Why "expensive" is relative, and how to judge your ad spend by return insteadWhy not every lead has to be ready to buy for your ads to be worth itThe difference between boosting posts and running real ads, and why more traffic doesn't always mean more salesHow just 2 hours a week can make you way more confident with ads in 3 monthsWhy simple, "ugly" ads often beat polished, produced onesWhy ChatGPT is sending you in circles on Ads Manager and what to use insteadReady for more support? Join the Hometown ADvantage membership for Nicole's full ad strategy, weekly eyes on your ad results, 10 monthly ad ideas, and the Hometown Bestie Bot.  Join Hometown ADvantage: https://www.nicoleeldridgemedia.com/hometown?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio  🎯 FREE LIVE TRAINING: 3 Steps to Run Ads That Convert to Local Clients Want your ads bringing in actual local clients instead of just clicks? Join Nicole live on November 5th at 1:00 PM ET for a free training on the exact 3 steps to run ads that convert. Plus, for one week after the training, Hometown ADVantage opens with the best bonuses Nicole has ever offered.  Join for 12 months and get: Your ad account set up for you by Nicole’s

  6. Sep 21

    46: Don't Know Where to Start With Facebook Ads for My Local Business (Your 3-Step Fix)

    🌐 Website: www.nicoleeldridgemedia.com 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/nicoleeldridge_ads 💻 Join Hometown ADvantage: www.nicoleeldridgemedia.com/hometown "I don't know where to start" is the sentence Nicole hears constantly from local business owners about Facebook ads, and in this episode she's calling it out for what it really is. Before you can launch a single ad, you need to get honest about four things: are you over-consuming instead of doing, are you okay with some risk, are you actually an action taker, and do you believe in your own business enough to sell it? Once that's sorted, Nicole breaks down the exact three-step process to launch your first local follower campaign, using a real dry cleaning business as the example: Write your copy (your 30-second networking-event pitch, in writing)Create your reel (3-5 clips, text overlays, and yes, the annoying app-hopping to add music)Set it up in Ads Manager and hit publishNo fluff, no 47-step tutorial. Just what to actually do first if you run a local business and want Facebook ads to work for you. Perfect for: Local business owners who keep telling themselves they'll figure out Facebook ads "eventually." Timestamps  00:00 — Intro: who this episode is for  02:10 — The Tori Dunlap post that inspired this episode  03:00 — Reflection #1: Are you overconsuming instead of doing?  05:15 — Reflection #2: Do you have risk tolerance?  06:40 — Reflection #3: Are you an action taker?  07:20 — Reflection #4: Do you believe in your business?  09:30 — Why "I don't know where to start" happens (the kitchen remodel analogy)  12:15 — Step 1: Write your copy/caption  14:50 — Step 2: Create your reel  18:30 — Step 3: Set up your campaign in Ads Manager  20:40 — What happens after you launch (analyze, scale, repeat)  21:30 — Inside Hometown ADvantage: 117 members and counting 🎯 FREE LIVE TRAINING: 3 Steps to Run Ads That Convert to Local Clients Want your ads bringing in actual local clients instead of just clicks? Join Nicole live on November 5th at 1:00 PM ET for a free training on the exact 3 steps to run ads that convert. Plus, for one week after the training, Hometown ADVantage opens with the best bonuses Nicole has ever offered.  Join for 12 months and get: Your ad account set up for you by Nicole’s

  7. Aug 24

    45: How Much Should You Really Invest in Your Business? My Honest 2026 Numbers

    Links 📸 Instagram: instagram.com/nicoleeldridge_ads 💻 Join Hometown ADvantage: nicoleeldridgemedia.com/hometown Description Ever wonder what it actually costs to grow a business — not the highlight reel version, but the real numbers? In this episode, you'll get a full, no-holds-barred breakdown of every investment Nicole has made in her business this year, from her team and coaching to ad spend and a brand-new website. You'll hear how she thinks about risk, why she's not afraid to put big investments on a credit card, and what her actual revenue, expenses, and profit look like so far in 2026. If you've ever hesitated to invest in yourself or your business, you'll walk away with a totally different perspective on what "worth it" really means. 🎯 FREE LIVE TRAINING: 3 Steps to Run Ads That Convert to Local Clients Want your ads bringing in actual local clients instead of just clicks? Join Nicole live on November 5th at 1:00 PM ET for a free training on the exact 3 steps to run ads that convert. Plus, for one week after the training, Hometown ADVantage opens with the best bonuses Nicole has ever offered.  Join for 12 months and get: Your ad account set up for you by Nicole’s

  8. Aug 6

    44: Top 5 Mistakes Local Business Owners are Making with Ads + Meet My Local Ads Co-Coach, Melissa!

    📸 Melissa's Instagram: instagram.com/yanosocial.ads 📸 Nicole Instagram: instagram.com/nicoleeldridge_ads 💻 Join Hometown ADvantage: nicoleeldridgemedia.com/hometown Description: In this episode, you're getting an inside look at the most common Facebook ad mistakes local business owners make — straight from Melissa, one of our ad managers who reviews ad accounts every single day. You'll learn why mentioning your city or town in your ad can instantly boost relevance, how to avoid Meta's sneaky "AI advantage" settings that quietly mess with your data, and why using the exact same copy across your reel and your ad text is holding you back. You'll also hear why picking just one offer to advertise (instead of everything at once) will actually get you better results faster. By the end, you'll have a clear list of things to check in your own Ads Manager today. 🎯 FREE LIVE TRAINING: 3 Steps to Run Ads That Convert to Local Clients Want your ads bringing in actual local clients instead of just clicks? Join Nicole live on November 5th at 1:00 PM ET for a free training on the exact 3 steps to run ads that convert. Plus, for one week after the training, Hometown ADVantage opens with the best bonuses Nicole has ever offered.  Join for 12 months and get: Your ad account set up for you by Nicole’s

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5
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4 Ratings

About

Tired of posting content that gets likes but not leads? Hometown ADvantage is your go-to space for Facebook and Instagram ad strategies built specifically for local business owners so you can spend less time on social media and more time running the business you actually love. Each week, you'll get real, no-fluff answers to questions like:- How do I run Facebook ads for my local business without wasting money on the wrong audience?- What's actually working right now in Meta ads for local service-based and brick-and-mortar businesses?- How do I attract high-quality leads instead of tire-kickers?- How do I know if my ads are actually working and when to change course? Hosted by Nicole Eldridge, local ads strategist and founder of Hometown ADvantage, each episode brings honest numbers, real client wins, and practical strategy you can put to work in your business today. Hit play and start getting results from your ads, not just views.

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