The Tree Company Attention Plan
How we get more tree company owners to know us, trust us and book a call, across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and email. Built on what runs today, the always-on content and retargeting system from Mike's video, and our own organic content.
Most tree owners are not ready to buy the day they see an ad. When they are, they call the company they already know. Our job is to be that company: teach them every week, show them proof, and keep the offer one tap away.
The whole ecosystem on one screen
Every way a tree owner finds us drops him into a pool we own. Every pool sees proof. Proof leads to the offer.
Attention
Warm audiences
Proof, then offer
The three paid layers
Teach
Tree Mistakes and our best Shorts as video-view ads. The goal is a watch, not a click.
Prove
Testimonials, case studies, more teaching and a soft offer, about twice a week to everyone who watched.
Offer
The offer ads already running, to the landing page and a booked call.
Every ad we run is an offer
Pulled from Meta, YouTube and our own logs on October 8 and 9. Strong offers and a growing organic library. Until now, nothing collected the people who watch.
What organic is telling us
Same videos, different results: YouTube and Instagram beat Facebook. Top YouTube Shorts by views:
Public YouTube view counts, October 9. The long video "Tree Service Leads | Exclusive Lead Generation" has 41K views and still pulls.
Outreach is already working
9 pools, filling every day
Built October 9 in the HSD ad account. Engagement and video pools reach back a year; website pools reach back 180 days. They are lists, not campaigns. The campaigns will use them.
| Audience | Who is in it | Window | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video viewers 50%+ | Watched half of any of our 69 videos (Page videos, Reels, every HSD ad video). Client homeowner ads left out on purpose. | 365 days | Layer 2 |
| Instagram engagers | Liked, commented, saved or messaged @homeservicedirect | 365 days | Layer 2 |
| Facebook page engagers | Engaged with the Home Service Direct page | 365 days | Layer 2 |
| Landing page visitors, NOT booked | Hit meta.homeservicedirect.net, never booked | 180 days | Layer 2, the main pool |
| Landing page visitors | Everyone who hit the landing page | 180 days | Lookalikes later |
| Tree pages on homeservicedirect.net | Tree marketing page, tree leads page, tree blog posts | 180 days | Layer 2 (filling from Oct 9) |
| All HSD sites | Every HSD page, every trade | 180 days | Later, other trades |
| Lead (form done) | Finished the form | 180 days | Follow-up, lookalikes |
| Booked call | Booked a call | 180 days | Always excluded |
How the pools feed each other
Ads, organic, outreach, website
Every view, like, comment and page visit lands in a pool automatically.
One warm audience
Viewers + engagers + not-booked visitors + tree-page readers, minus booked calls and the funnel exclusion list.
Campaign 2
Proof and soft offers, about twice a week, until they book.
Still to build
- YouTube viewers and subscribers in Google Ads, once the channel is linked to the HSD Google Ads account.
- Email list as a Meta customer list, refreshed monthly, so subscribers also see us in the feed.
Later
- Lookalikes of video viewers and of Lead, once each pool passes about 1,000 people.
- Other trades from "All HSD sites" when we market beyond tree service.
Teach: our best videos in front of tree owners, for cents
We promote content that already proved itself organically. No new ads to make. Instagram first, because the same videos do better there.
How it shows in the Instagram feed (replica).
- Objective: Engagement, video views (ThruPlay)
- Who: our ~7,000 tree company list + the two 1% lookalikes
- Where: Instagram Reels and Feed first, Facebook Feed second
- Budget: $5 to $10 a day per video, 3 videos to start
- Runs: no end date, reviewed every 2 weeks
The first three videos to promote
What to expect
- Views cost cents, not dollars. real benchmark in week 1
- The pool of 50%+ viewers grows every day. That pool is the whole point.
- Followers and comments rise as a side effect. Few direct leads from this layer, and that is fine.
- Judge it on cost per 50% view and pool size, never on leads in the first 30 days.
Prove: stay in front of everyone who watched, for months
Owners buy on trust and timing. Something happens in their business, they need help, and they call the name they already know. This campaign makes sure that name is ours.
- Objective: Awareness, maximize reach
- Frequency: about 2 times every 7 days
- Who: video viewers 50%+, page and Instagram engagers, landing page not booked, tree-page readers
- Never: booked calls, clients, the funnel exclusion list
- Budget: $10 a day; raise only when Meta says budget is the limit
What it rotates
- Proof: client testimonial videos
- Case studies: Arizona B, On-Track, $895K, 179 leads
- More teaching: the next Tree Mistakes
- Soft offers: "see if your market is open", a 10-minute call
The proof videos: real owners, their own words
The case-study ads that move here
What one warm owner sees in a month
About two touches a week. Never the same ad twice in a row, never only a pitch.
What to expect
- Small at first. Meta will not spend the full $10 a day until the pools grow. That is normal.
- Calls from people who already watched us start as conversations, not cold pitches.
- Measure cost per booked call from this audience against the cold offer ads, monthly.
The offer ads stay on. Now they get warmer traffic.
| Ad (live ad set "Video Ads Testing - Angles") | Status | Lifetime spend | Website leads | Cost per lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| V-On-Track-1.5M | On | $1,030 | 10 | $103 |
| V-On-Track-2.5M (old footage) | On, new cut | $850 | 5 | $170 |
| V-AZ-Wrong-Leads / V-AZ-Big-Equipment | On since Oct 8 | new | - | - |
| Best past: KC-Fleet / Booked Calendar | Paused | $526 / $240 | 8 / 3 | $66 / $80 |
Website leads = form completions Meta reports. Booked-call quality comes from GHL.
Two pages, matched to the ad
"80+ Leads A Month". Right for the volume angle (On-Track ads).
"$2K To $15K Removals Your Equipment Was Built For". For the Arizona ads.
The same two campaigns, on the channel that already works best
YouTube runs through Google Ads, not Meta. Same idea: promote the videos that work, then retarget everyone who watched. Our long video already has 41K views.
What the ad looks like in YouTube search
Watch
Replica of an in-feed video ad. It shows in search results and next to related videos, and we pay only when someone clicks to watch.
Promote the winners
In-feed ads for the top Shorts and the 41K video. Aimed at people searching tree business topics (tree service marketing, tree removal leads, how to get tree jobs) and watching tree-work channels. $5 to $10 a day.
Retarget channel viewers
Everyone who watched a video or subscribed becomes an audience. They see testimonials and case studies before other videos. $5 to $10 a day.
Every Short has a next step
Pinned comment + description link, related-video link to the long video, and a "Tree Business Mistakes" playlist so one view turns into five.
Facebook vs Instagram vs YouTube
Same videos, different jobs. Where each one fits for us.
| YouTube | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic today | Weakest for our videos | Strong | Strongest. Long video 41K, Shorts up to 1.3K |
| Best job | Offers + proof. The owners are here and the forms convert | Teaching. Reels get watched | Teaching + search. People look for answers |
| Cold campaign | Video views, Feed | Video views, Reels + Feed (lead placement) | In-feed video ads on tree business searches |
| Warm pool | Page engagers, video viewers | Account engagers, video viewers | Channel viewers + subscribers (Google Ads) |
| Offer ads | Yes, the main home | Yes, same ads as @homeservicedirect | Later, once the channel audience is big |
| Outreach | 20 comments a day as the page | 10 comments a day | Replies on our own videos |
| Watch this | Cost per booked call | Cost per 50% view, follows | Cost per view, subscribers |
From a comment, to our YouTube video, to the retargeting pool
Every tree agency pitches direct. We lead with help. We already comment on 30 tree companies a day; this turns those comments into email conversations that end with them watching us on YouTube, where we can follow them for months.
We comment on their post
Facebook and Instagram, as Home Service Direct, on companies that post good content. 135 companies so far.
They go on the outreach list
Every company we comment on is saved with its website and email. 108 of the first 135 already have an email on file.
Value email, no pitch
"I see you're doing organic but not ads. You're missing an opportunity. I made a short video on how to run a simple campaign. Want it?" One question, nothing to buy.
They reply "yes", we send the YouTube link
The video lives on our channel, public, in a playlist. Asking first means they expect it and actually watch.
They watch, and they are in the ecosystem
The YouTube viewer audience (Google Ads), the weekly email, and through Meta matching on their email, our Facebook and Instagram retargeting too.
Soft offer when they are ready
A week later: "Want us to check if your market is open?" Plus the offer ads they now see in the feed.
The YouTube video
"How a Tree Company That Already Posts Should Run Its First Facebook Ad"
- The hook: you're posting great work, and almost nobody sees it
- Why: organic reaches a small slice of your followers
- Step 1: pick the post that already does well
- Step 2: show it to homeowners within 20 miles
- Step 3: what to set and what to leave alone (the 3 settings)
- What to expect in the first 30 days, and the mistakes that waste money
- The close: "Or have us do it. One tree company per market." Link below.
Why YouTube, not a landing page
- It's teaching, so it belongs on the teaching channel, and it keeps earning search views after the email.
- Every watcher joins the YouTube retargeting pool. A private video on a landing page can't do that.
- It makes the channel stronger: a long video with real watch time.
- The same video works as the cold YouTube ad and inside the weekly email.
Rules for every outreach email
- Reference their actual post. Never a template that could go to anyone.
- One question, nothing to buy, no price.
- Never say we answer their leads or book their estimates.
- Send the link only after a yes.
- From David, signed David. Owner to owner.
The list we own
Feeds and algorithms change. An email list doesn't. Two kinds of email: the outreach sequence (one owner at a time) and the weekly email (everyone on the list).
Where the list comes from
The outreach sequence, in their inbox
to Mike
Hey Mike,
Saw the crane removal you posted on Facebook last week. Clean work, and that's the kind of post homeowners stop scrolling for.
Quick thought: you're putting out good stuff, but I don't see any ads running behind it. Most of your followers never see a post like that, and the homeowners within 20 miles who need that job never see it at all.
I made a short video showing exactly how a tree company that already posts should run a simple ad off a post like yours. Step by step, nothing to buy.
Want me to send it over?
David
Home Service Direct
to Mike
Here it is, about 9 minutes:
youtube.com · Home Service Direct
Start with the post that already does best. The 3 settings at minute 4 are where most guys waste money.
If you'd rather we just handle it, we take one tree company per market. Happy to check if yours is open.
David
No reply after 4 days
"Mike, didn't want this to get buried. The video's about 9 minutes and shows the exact setup. Want it?" Then stop. Two emails max without a reply.
After they watch
They move to the weekly email. Seven days later: "Any questions on the video? If you want, we'll check whether your market is open." Then the offer ads take over.
The weekly email
One email a week, same day, same shape: the newest Tree Mistake, three lines, one tap to watch. It's the newsletter half of the system.
to me
Most estimates that go quiet aren't a no. They're a "not yet".
The tree companies that close the most send one simple text a few days later. Here's the exact one:
Why No Reply Doesn't Mean No
David
P.S. We take one tree company per market. Reply "MARKET" and we'll check if yours is open.
The rhythm
How we send it
- GoHighLevel, from david@homeservicedirect.net, plain-text style. It reads like an owner, not a newsletter.
- The list also goes into Meta monthly, so subscribers see us in the feed.
- Watch replies, video clicks and "MARKET" replies. Replies go to the sales team.
Two Short series, two YouTube videos, one link in bio
The Mistakes series brings reach and followers. The Growth series brings the bigger owners. Both point to the same two YouTube videos, and everyone who watches one joins our retargeting pool.
Tree Business Mistakes
Tree Service Growth
The two long videos
Mistakes vs Growth
| Tree Business Mistakes | Tree Service Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| Talking to | The owner still on the truck | The owner running 2+ crews who wants the next level |
| Tone | "Here's the mistake I see most" | "Here's what the big companies do" |
| Look | Tree b-roll, your voice, one line of text | You on camera (cut from the Playbook recording) plus b-roll |
| Length | 20 to 40 seconds | 30 to 60 seconds |
| Comment word | LEADS (the follow-up checklist) | GROW (the Playbook video) |
| How often | Daily now, then 2 a week after #30 | 3 to 4 a week after #30 |
| Judge it by | Shares, follows | Comments, Playbook views, calls from viewers |
Where every link goes
@homeservicedirect, tapping the link in bio (replica, counts are examples).
Tree Business MistakesShorts playlist
Tree Service GrowthShorts playlistStart here2 videosThe YouTube channel home (replica). New visitors see the Playbook first; the playlists keep them watching.
Ideas worth adding
Record once, post for a month
One Playbook recording gives us the long video, its chapters, and 15 Growth Shorts cut straight from it. Your camera time is one session.
"Comment GROW" on every Growth Short
The automatic DM sends the Playbook link. That works because they commented on our post first (see "Comment LEADS").
Client sit-downs
A 10-minute talk with a client, like the Owner.com video in your playlist. Troy, Jeremy, Brandin and Joe are already on camera for us.
Invite the companies that reply
Tree companies that answer our comments or emails get asked on as a guest ("how I run my crews"). Their followers watch, and we get a warm conversation.
A Tree Service Growth scorecard
The 8 playbook pieces as a 2-minute quiz ("score yourself 1 to 5"). Their email gets them their score. It fits the weekly email and the sales call.
The Playbook is also the ad
The same video runs as the cold YouTube ad (YT 1) and its best minute runs in Campaign 1 on Meta. One recording feeds every layer.
How to Grow Your Tree Service: the full playbook
The video you give on every sales call, recorded once. About 20 minutes, in chapters, for any tree owner who wants to grow. It's link 1 in bio, the featured video on the channel, and where every Growth Short points.
Title options (search phrases first)
- How to Grow Your Tree Service (The Full Playbook)
- How to Grow a Tree Service Business Fast in 2026
- Tree Service Marketing: The Complete Playbook
Our long-form videos titled with a real search phrase keep getting found for years: "Tree Service Leads" is at 41K views.
The chapters, in your words
Each chapter is something you already say on sales calls. The quotes are your own lines from the call recordings.
The open: results first
Show the proof in the first 40 seconds: the Kansas City client from $1.2M to $3.5M, the Arizona jobs board. Then who you are, in 15 seconds.
Know your numbers
"It's not necessarily just about the lead cost. It is more about your average job."
Cost per job, close rate, and why a $65 shared lead can cost $2,700 a job. Shows the lead cost calculator.
Google reviews
"As quick as you can, get some Google business reviews."
Ask every customer right after the job, by text with the review link. Note: never send unhappy customers somewhere else instead of Google. Google calls that review gating and it breaks their rules.
Local Service Ads
"He's got 320 reviews. You're at eight."
Why reviews come before Local Service Ads, and what to set once you have them.
Google Ads
Removal searches, your towns only, calls tracked. The steady source when people are searching.
Meta ads
"Facebook is usually about half of what you would pay on Google, but you're usually a worse close ratio."
Filter with questions and zip codes. Show equipment so you look like a real company. It also carries you through winter.
CRM and follow-up
"Close ratio is everything."
Every lead tracked from call to closed job, and the follow-up on every price you send.
The office manager
"I tell all my clients this: get out of your own way."
Someone answers the phone while you're in the tree.
Hiring ads
"They ultimately get employees on a regular basis. It's employees on tap."
The same ads that bring jobs bring climbers and groundmen.
What to turn on at your size
One crew, two to three crews, four or more: what comes first at each stage. Then one step: "Want us to check if your market is open?"
The stage order in chapter 9 is a draft for you to set. Any number said on screen gets checked before it's published.
The long-form series after it
One long video every week or two, each modeled on a style from your "Long Form Video Style" playlist or the 85 long-form videos saved in the sniper.
Run Your First Facebook Ad (Tree Companies)
The video we email after a yes. Step-by-step screen share.
Modeled on Daniel Dimsey, "How to Run Facebook Ads for Tree Service Businesses"
I Read 101 Tree Company Ads. Here's What Works.
Our real research: 4 companies running the same "founder story" ad word for word, one ad running since 2018, likes instead of calls.
Shared Leads: Why a $65 Lead Cost $2,700
Our best Short, made long. Angi, HomeAdvisor and Thumbtack math, with the calculator on screen.
If I Owned a Tree Company, Here's My First 90 Days
The playbook as a plan: week by week, what you'd turn on and in what order.
How a Kansas City Tree Company Went From $1.2M to $3.5M
A sit-down with the client plus their real screens. Same claim as the approved ad; name only with their OK.
Modeled on Owner.com, "I Got 60,000 5-Star Google Reviews" (the owner interview inside)Tree Service Google Ads, Start to Finish (2026) · Local Service Ads for Tree Companies: Full Setup
Plain how-to screen shares titled with what owners type into YouTube. In the sniper, Brandon Ewing's Local Service Ads masterclass is at 10.8K views.
Thumbnail drafts: the photos of you were made with Gemini from your real photos, the text added after. Real footage can replace any of them.
What the best ones in your playlist do
The shape every long video follows
- 0:00 the result (proof on screen)
- 0:40 who you are, 15 seconds
- Before and after: how the owner was doing it, and what changed
- The system, step by step, on screen
- Proof again, then one next step (a free tool, a comment word, or the link)
Tree Service Growth: the Short series for bigger owners
Starts after Mistake #30. Same idea as the Mistakes series (one point, numbered, every day you can), but it talks to the owner who already runs crews. Each one is a single piece of the Playbook, and each one ends with "Comment GROW and I'll send you the full playbook."
Cover drafts. The line under each is yours, from a sales call.
The first 15, each from your sales calls
| # | The point | Your line (from the call recordings) | Playbook chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Close rate is everything | "That changes the business from going to a hundred thousand a month to a hundred and fifty thousand by just following up the leads." | CRM |
| 2 | Get out of your own way | "I'm telling you, you need somebody." | Office |
| 3 | Your ads hire for you too | "It's employees on tap." | Hiring |
| 4 | Word of mouth has a ceiling | "You're never going to get to any million-dollar company off of word of mouth." | Numbers |
| 5 | A lead company can drop you any day | "The minute a lead company decides they don't want to work with you any longer, you're dead in the water." | Numbers |
| 6 | Reviews before Local Service Ads | "He's got 320 reviews. You're at eight." | LSA |
| 7 | What reviews do to your phone | "The majority of our clients that have 300-400 get 20 calls a day." check before posting | Reviews |
| 8 | Facebook vs Google leads | "Half of what you would pay on Google, but you're usually a worse close ratio." | Meta |
| 9 | Filter Facebook leads before they reach you | "Negative out certain zip codes, filter out during the questions." | Meta |
| 10 | Look like a real company | "Show equipment, show you're a branded company." | Meta |
| 11 | Pruning is cheaper to advertise | "It's way cheaper to advertise for pruning than it is for removals." | Google Ads |
| 12 | The winter plan | "During the winter months, the two big ones that you really hit hard are Direct Mail and Facebook." | Meta |
| 13 | You think you close 70% | "Let's say you think it's 70, but it might be 60, right? Maybe it's 55." | CRM |
| 14 | Can you handle 25 leads a week? | "We look for companies that can handle at least 20-25 leads a week." | Stages |
| 15 | It's not the lead cost | "It is more about your average job and what you're willing to pay." | Numbers |
How it gets made
1 · Record the Playbook
One session, about 20 minutes on camera. The long video comes from this.
2 · Cut 15 Shorts
Each chapter gives one or two 30 to 60 second cuts, plus b-roll and big text. Same editing process as the Mistakes series.
3 · Post + "Comment GROW"
Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Shorts. Comments get the Playbook link by DM. Viewers join the pools.
"Comment LEADS" on our best videos
The strongest Tree Mistake episodes end with one line: "Comment LEADS and I'll send you the checklist." Every comment is an engager in our pool, a DM conversation, and a signal to Instagram that the post is worth showing.
The post (replica, example comments).
The automatic DM (GoHighLevel keyword trigger), then a person takes over.
Why we can DM them here when we can't cold-message
Instagram and Facebook let a business send one private message to anyone who comments on the business's own post, within 7 days of the comment. They started it by commenting, so it isn't a cold message. Once they reply, the chat stays open like any other conversation.
- Works on our posts only. We can't DM people for comments they leave on other companies' posts.
- Runs automatically through GoHighLevel's Instagram and Facebook comment trigger (ManyChat does the same).
- To set up: connect @homeservicedirect in GoHighLevel. Possible now that the account is linked to the Facebook page.
1 · The trigger
A GoHighLevel comment automation on Instagram and Facebook: the keyword LEADS sends the first DM in seconds.
2 · The trade
The checklist for their email. The email goes on the list and into the weekly email.
3 · The bridge
One question ("ads or organic?") leads straight into the outreach video.
The Tree Company Lead Cost Calculator
Built from our best Short ("Why a $65 lead cost $2,700 per job"). An owner puts in what he pays per lead and how many turn into jobs, and sees what a job really costs him. To get the full breakdown, he leaves his email. Try it, it works:
Example inputs. The math: what you spend a month divided by the jobs you get = cost per job.
Where it lives
A page on homeservicedirect.net (it fills the tree-pages audience), linked from Short descriptions and the weekly email.
How it spreads
"Run your numbers" as a Layer 2 ad. A useful tool is an easier yes than a call.
What it gives us
An email on the list, his real numbers for the sales call, and a reason to follow up.
Make organic and paid work as one machine
Promote the winners, weekly
Organic finds the winners for free. Any post that beats our average in its first 48 hours goes into Campaign 1 at $5 a day.
A monthly "client numbers" post
One real screen a month
- Leads, booked jobs, average job. A real client screen, names blurred.
- Posted organically, then added to Layer 2.
- Fresh proof every month beats the same old proof forever.
Same video, every channel, same week
The owner who sees it on one channel sees it again on another. Repetition is the point.
The first 90 days
Set up
- Audiences done
- Campaign 1 with 3 videos
- Campaign 2 with proof
- Link YouTube to Google Ads
Fill the pools
- Real cost per 50% view
- Record the YouTube video
- First outreach emails
- Weekly email starts
Warm leads
- Calls from people who watched first
- Compare to cold offer cost
- YouTube retargeting live
- "Comment LEADS" live
Scale
- More budget on winners
- Calculator page live
- Lookalikes of viewers
- Retire weak proof ads
Budget, and what to judge each layer by
| Layer | Daily budget | Watch this number | Not this |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Teach (Meta) | $15 to $30 | Cost per 50% view, pool size | Leads in month 1 |
| 2 · Prove (Meta) | $10 | Reach, ~2 a week, booked calls from the pool | Cost per click |
| YT 1 + YT 2 | $10 to $20 | Cost per view, subscribers, channel audience | Same-day leads |
| $0 | Replies, video clicks, "MARKET" replies | Open rate alone | |
| 3 · Offer (running) | unchanged | Cost per booked call, close rate | Website leads alone |
New spend for layers 1, 2 and YouTube: about $35 to $60 a day. Starting numbers, adjusted after two weeks of real data.
Decisions for David
- Go on Campaign 1 + 2 (built paused for review)
- Which videos lead Campaign 1 (default: the three in Teach)
- Budget for the new layers (suggested $35 to $60 a day)
- Record the YouTube outreach video
- Record the Playbook (one session, gives the long video + 15 Growth Shorts)
- Guarantee: 30 or 60 qualified leads in 30 days
- YouTube: link the channel to the HSD Google Ads account
- Email: OK to start the outreach sequence to the 108
- Instagram connected to the page done
- GoHighLevel: connect @homeservicedirect for "Comment LEADS" / "Comment GROW"
Numbers pulled from Meta Ads (account act_905897089608545), the HSD Facebook page, Instagram, public YouTube view counts and our outreach logs, October 8 to 9, 2026. Phone and email screens are replicas built for this plan; names, emails and comments in them are examples.