Two Ad Creatives + Competitor
Intelligence from Meta Ad Library
Meta ads for a high-ticket B2B service like Level Up should do one thing above all else: create instant recognition in the reader's gut. The best-performing ads in this space don't explain the service — they describe the prospect's pain so accurately that they stop scrolling and say "wait, is this about me?"
Competitor Intelligence — Meta Ads Library
Based on research of active Meta ads from Australian business coaching and consulting competitors, here is how they're currently advertising — and where Level Up can differentiate:
| Competitor | Ad Approach Observed | Hook Style | CTA | Gap Level Up Can Own |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Entourage | Polished video testimonials, "X to Y revenue" results, event invites | Aspirational — scale to 7–8 figures | Apply / Book Session | Broad Generic "scale your business" positioning — no specificity |
| ActionCOACH AU | Static image carousels with tips, motivational quotes, franchise-feel branding | Motivational — mindset & tactics | Free workshop / webinar | Broad Low trust, feels like a franchise template |
| Business Blueprint | Webinar ads, founder-face video, "grow without the chaos" messaging | Problem-aware — addresses overwhelm | Free webinar registration | Closer Good concept, but not specific to professional services |
| Shirlaws AU | Thought leadership blog articles, mostly LinkedIn-focused, minimal Meta | Educational / consultative | Download / read more | Niche Low-volume — underinvested in paid social |
Ad Creative Examples — Pain Recognition (Static / Carousel)
the moment you
take a week off…
that's not a holiday problem."
and you're somehow
busier than ever."
Overall Meta Ad Strategy
Two-Phase Approach
Phase 1 (Weeks 1–4): Retargeting only. Serve ads to people who already visited the website, watched a Reel, or engaged with a LinkedIn post. Budget: $30–40/day.
Phase 2 (Month 2+): Add cold prospecting campaigns using a lookalike audience built from converted diagnostic clients. Budget: scale based on cost-per-diagnostic-booked.
What Makes These Ads Work
Specificity beats inspiration: "professional services founder" converts better than "business owner."
The founder face: Ads featuring the founder's face and voice outperform brand-only creatives by 30–50% in this category.
No fluff: Short, punchy copy. The headline does the work. If someone reads 5 words and doesn't feel something, redo it.
Building the Founder's Brand as
the Business's Biggest Asset
For a business built on the message "the founders are the value" — the founder's personal brand is not a nice-to-have. It is the primary trust mechanism. Nobody hires a consulting firm they've never heard of to fix the structural fundamentals of their business. They hire a person they trust.
"Level Up is the platform. The founders are the value."
— letslevelup.com.au
This line from the website is the strategy. The personal branding effort should make it true in the market — not just on the homepage.
The Personal Brand Positioning
Platform Strategy
4–5 Posts Per Week
LinkedIn is where Australian professional services founders spend professional time online. The goal is to become the person they follow to understand how to scale their firm. Post types: short observations (2–4 lines), frameworks in carousel format, case studies (anonymised), and counter-intuitive takes on business growth. Avoid: listicles, inspirational quotes, generic tips. Engage in comments on every post for the first hour — this is what drives reach in the algorithm.
2–3 Reels Per Week
Instagram Reels are the best way to reach founders outside the LinkedIn ecosystem and build a remarketing audience for Meta ads. The founder's face on camera builds parasocial trust — by the time someone books a diagnostic call, they already feel like they know the founder. Short (30–60 sec), punchy, talking-head format with open captions. Topics: real situations, honest takes, client wins (permission-based). Repurpose top-performing Reels as Meta ad creative.
Reel Content Ideas — What to Film
"The Week I Nearly Destroyed My Business"
Founder tells a real (not polished) story of when they realised they were the bottleneck. Vulnerability + lived experience = maximum trust.
"3 Signs Your Business Has a Founder Dependency Problem"
Fast-paced list format. Each sign is immediately recognisable to the target audience. Hook: "Stop me when you recognise yourself."
"The Hiring Mistake Most Service Founders Make"
Counter-intuitive take: hiring more people before fixing structure makes things worse, not better. This creates a strong pattern interrupt for founders who are thinking about their next hire.
"What I Found in the First 15 Minutes of a Client's Business"
Walk through (anonymised) a real diagnostic finding. Shows competence, builds curiosity. Ends with: "Every business I've looked at has had this same structural gap."
"Why I Never Take On a Client Without Doing This First"
Explain the diagnostic process and why it matters. Positions Level Up as rigorous and selective — not just anyone who calls gets accepted. Scarcity + credibility.
A client success story told as a mini-narrative. Specific detail ("she checked her phone once, on day 11") makes it feel real. Shows the transformation, not just the service.
"Stop Calling It a Workflow Problem" (Hot Take)
Confident, direct take challenging a popular belief. "Most consulting firms diagnose workflows when the real issue is sales structure. Here's how to tell the difference." Hot takes drive saves and shares.
"The $2M Ceiling Most Professional Services Firms Hit (and Why)"
Explains a market-wide pattern specific to the ICP. Naming a revenue figure creates strong self-selection — exactly the right people watch it to the end.
Trust-Building Principles
Show the Work, Not Just the Result
Case studies should include the specific problem, the structural change made, and the outcome — with as much detail as the client permits. "We helped a law firm grow 40%" is forgettable. "We identified that their intake process was creating a 3-week bottleneck that was losing 30% of qualified leads before first contact — and we fixed it in 6 weeks" is a reel people screenshot and send to their business partner.
Be Selectively Vulnerable
The founder sharing what broke in their own businesses — before they figured it out — is more trust-building than any credential. Professional services buyers are highly cynical about "experts." Acknowledging struggle and failure (with a clear resolution) disarms that cynicism.
Consistency Beats Virality
The goal isn't one viral video. It's to be the person that a specific type of founder sees every week, thinks "this person gets it," and eventually books a call. Show up at the same cadence, on the same platforms, with the same core message. Repetition is the strategy.
Proof Over Claims
Every time a client achieves a result, document it. A 60-second client testimonial video shot on a phone is worth more than any written case study. Ask for these at the moment of maximum client delight — usually at the first visible breakthrough, around week 4–6 of an engagement. These testimonials then become the most powerful cold-audience Meta ad creative available.
90-Day Personal Brand Launch Plan
Optimise Profiles & Batch First Content
Rewrite LinkedIn headline to: "I help professional services founders remove themselves as the bottleneck | Founder Scale Diagnostic | letslevelup.com.au." Update Instagram bio. Film 6 Reels in one day (batch production). Write 15 LinkedIn posts. Schedule out 3 weeks of content so consistency doesn't depend on motivation in the moment.
Post, Engage, Iterate
Post daily on LinkedIn, 3x/week on Instagram. Spend 20 minutes per day engaging with comments — especially on LinkedIn. Track which posts drive profile visits and DMs. Note which Reel topics generate saves and shares. After 30 days, double down on the top 3 performing content types.
Turn Best Content Into Ads & Collaborations
Boost the top 2–3 Reels as Meta paid ads. Reach out to 3 complementary founders (accountants, lawyers, fractional CFOs) to do a collab Reel or LinkedIn Live — cross-pollinating audiences. Launch a simple email newsletter ("The Founder Dependency Fix") going to all diagnostic leads and past clients.