How to Reach a Local Audience with Facebook and Instagram Ads

Advertising on Facebook and Instagram is a powerful tool for equipment rental businesses looking to attract local customers. If you’re an equipment rental business, reaching local audiences on Facebook and Instagram can be incredibly effective. These platforms offer highly targeted advertising options to get the right audience near your location and maximize your marketing spend.

In this blog, we’ll walk through the essential steps to crafting local-targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram, with tips specific to the equipment rental industry. By following these strategies, you can create compelling ads that resonate with your local audience and drive more bookings for your business.

Why Facebook and Instagram?

Facebook and Instagram have massive reach, with Facebook used by about 71% of American adults and Instagram popular with younger audiences. Since Facebook owns Instagram, you can manage both platforms from the same advertising dashboard, and their ad features make it easy to narrow in on people who live near your rental business.

Here are some key stats to consider:

• 3.05 billion monthly active users on Facebook
• 81.8% access Facebook on mobile
• 1.98 billion people potential ad reach
• 50% of Facebook time is spent watching videos

Using Facebook and Instagram ads effectively takes a balance of strategic targeting, compelling local content, and ongoing optimization. With the right approach, your equipment rental business can gain valuable local visibility, attract the right customers, and ultimately grow bookings and revenue.

Here’s how to get started:

Step 1: Set up local targeting in Facebook Ads Manager

When you create a new campaign in Facebook Ads Manager, you’ll have options to target audiences based on location. This feature is essential for an equipment rental business because it ensures your ad spend focuses on those who live, work, or frequently travel in your service area.

Here’s how to set it up:

Define your service area: Use the location settings to pinpoint your business location and set a radius around it. If your equipment rental serves a 30-mile area, set this radius to include potential customers within this range.

Use location-specific targeting options: Facebook’s targeting options allow you to focus on people who currently live in your area, recently visited, or are traveling there. For example, if your equipment rental business focuses on lawn care or snow removal, targeting local homeowners during seasonal peaks can yield excellent results.

Seasonal targeting: Adjust your ad campaigns based on seasonal demand. For example, promote snow removal equipment to local residents in winter or lawn care tools in spring to align with their needs.

Step 2: Target the right audience segments

Reaching the right people is crucial for successful ad campaigns, especially in the equipment rental industry, where different customer segments have unique needs. Facebook and Instagram provide sophisticated tools that let you narrow your audience based on various factors like demographics, behaviors, and interests.

Businesses and contractors: Many equipment rentals serve contractors, landscapers, and small business owners who need reliable equipment. In the “Detailed Targeting” section, you can use keywords related to construction, landscaping, or small business ownership to reach these audiences.

Interest-based targeting: For interest-based targeting, go beyond general interests by focusing on local specifics. For a bike rental business, consider targeting users interested in local trails, cycling events, or outdoor recreation groups. An event rental business might target people who have recently got engaged in their area (and might be looking to organize a wedding event).

Combine targeting options: These targeting segments are not exclusive, and you can combine them to create a more refined audience that aligns with your business goals. For example, you might target local homeowners interested in home improvement and DIY projects for equipment rentals.

💡 Pro tip: Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences feature can be highly effective in local markets. You can upload a list of existing customers, and Facebook will create a similar audience within your targeted area. This helps to reach people with profiles like those who have already rented from you.

Step 3: Use localized creative content

Compelling content is the heart of any ad campaign, but for equipment rental businesses, local relevance is essential. Localized creative content is about connecting with your audience’s surroundings and interests. When people see familiar landmarks, local events, or regional references, they’re more likely to engage because the ad feels relevant to their lives.

Emphasize local services and offers: Use your ad copy to highlight special offers for nearby residents, like free delivery within your service radius or discounts for local businesses.

Highlight local landmarks or events: If possible, show your equipment in action at local sites or mention popular events. For example, an ad showing your generators and sound equipment set up at a nearby music festival or highlighting local trails for bike rentals can resonate with your audience.

Step 4: Track metrics that matter to your business

Tracking the right metrics is key to understanding the effectiveness of your ad campaigns and making informed adjustments. For equipment rental businesses, it’s essential to focus on metrics that reflect true engagement and conversion within your service area, such as reach, impressions, and click-through rate (CTR).

Reach and impressions: These metrics show how many people in your targeted area saw your ad. High reach and impressions mean good exposure within your service area.

Store visits and calls: Facebook’s local ads allow you to track store visits and phone calls, which is valuable for equipment rental businesses where bookings often happen over the phone.

Click-through rate (CTR) and conversions: Track how often people click through to your site or book directly from the ad. A high CTR usually means your ad resonates with the audience.

Use these insights to adjust your campaign’s targeting, content, and budget to optimize your return on ad spend.

Practical tips for setting up local ads

Maximizing your ad effectiveness on Facebook and Instagram requires fine-tuning some practical details. There are a few settings that you may want to adjust prior to launching your advertising campaigns. Here’s how to changes some of them improve your targeting and placements for local ads:

• Disable audience expansion: Turning off audience expansion keeps your ads focused on the specific audience you’ve carefully defined. This is particularly valuable for local campaigns where a targeted reach is critical.
• Combine multiple interests for specific audiences: Narrow your reach by combining interests, such as “home improvement” and “landscaping” for equipment rentals, to build an audience that aligns closely with your services.
• Select placements carefully: While Facebook and Instagram automatically enable all placements (like Stories, Marketplace, etc.), not all may be effective for local goals. Review and disable any placements that don’t support your objectives to avoid wasting ad spend.
• Leverage behavioral targeting: Target users based on behaviors relevant to your business, like recent movers or frequent DIYers. Behavioral targeting helps you connect with those actively searching for equipment rentals, improving ad relevance and conversion.

These practical steps allow you to refine your reach and boost the effectiveness of your ad spend.

Common mistakes to avoid

When running Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns, avoiding common pitfalls is essential to maximizing reach and return on investment. Even well-intentioned campaigns can underperform due to small yet impactful mistakes that affect audience targeting, engagement, and cost-effectiveness. Below are some frequent errors to watch out for:

❌ Setting too broad a service area: A large radius might sound like a good idea, but it often wastes ad spend on people outside your viable service range. Keep it focused on areas where you can realistically serve customers.

❌ Ignoring mobile optimization: Many people view Facebook and Instagram ads on mobile, so make sure your ad creative and landing pages are optimized for mobile users. Mobile-optimized ads load faster and keep people engaged longer.

❌ Using generic stock photos: Ads with authentic, relevant images perform better. Use photos of your equipment or team to build trust and make your ads stand out from generic stock photos.

❌ Neglecting to test ad variations: Running multiple versions of your ad helps you see what resonates most. Test different images, copy, and CTAs to identify your highest-performing ads.

❌ Overlooking seasonal trends: Equipment rental demand often fluctuates seasonally. Adjust your ads to reflect seasonal needs—promote landscaping tools in spring or snow removal equipment in winter to keep your offerings relevant.

Regularly testing ad variations can reveal seasonal preferences, helping your ads stay relevant throughout the year. Monitor for shifting interests—like increased demand for power tools in spring—to make data-driven adjustments that capture your audience’s changing needs.