How we run Facebook and Instagram for the Zee Solo launch: what competitors run, who we target, how the campaigns are built and measured, what the ads say, and what happens each week of month 1.
Meta takes the biggest share of month-1 media at every budget level. Its job is volume: installs first, then registrations once the campaigns have enough data.
Reach figures from Meta's reach estimate on 28 September 2026. Ad counts from the UK Ad Library on the same day.
Next · 02What are competitors running? →We read every live UK ad from 17 tax, banking and invoicing advertisers, plus keyword searches for CIS, subcontractor and Making Tax Digital. 1,516 ads in total, each logged with its library ID.
An ad still running after months is usually making money.
| Advertiser | Ad | Days running |
|---|---|---|
| Tradify | A carpenter customer to camera with his own discount code: "Get 30% off 3 months with code 'ERRIOC30'" | ~690 |
| Taxd | Founder video: "If you asked me 4 years ago where we'd be today, I probably would've said...broke." | 319 |
| Pie | "HMRC wants to hear from you 5x a year now." Free app, no accountant fees | 184 |
| Powered Now | "Get Your Evenings Back" / "You didn't start working in the trade to do paperwork…" (26 variants) | 98 |
Formats across the 1,110 advertiser ads: 677 Meta auto-mixed (images and video chosen per placement), 341 single video. Spend, reach and targeting aren't shown for UK ads.
Next · 03Who do we target? →Meta has no interest for CIS, subcontractor, electrician, HMRC, invoice or sole trader. The trade interests it does have are 2 to 30 times bigger than the ~880,000 registered subcontractors, and full of homeowners and DIYers. So the creative does the targeting: a subbie has to recognise their own job in the first second.
| Audience (GB, 18–65) | Monthly users |
|---|---|
| Broad, no interests | 50.0M – 58.8M |
| Construction (industry) interest | 13.9M – 16.3M |
| Trade and construction interests AND self-employment | 5.0M – 5.9M |
| Construction interest AND accounting software or bookkeeping | 1.4M – 1.6M |
| Industry: construction and extraction, or installation and repair | 424K – 499K |
| Trade job titles (plumber, electrician, builder…) | 7.3K – 8.6K |
On iPhone, Meta allows only its Advantage+ app setup: one ad set per campaign, with the goal fixed at the start. Moving from installs to registrations means launching a new campaign. Editing a live one restarts its learning. We plan for that from day one.
| Campaign | Goal | When |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone · installs | Installs | Launch day |
| Android · installs | Installs | Launch day |
| Android · registrations | Account created | When Android installs bring 50+ registrations a week. Android moves first: it gives Meta user-level data, so the signal is faster and cleaner |
| iPhone · registrations | Account created | When iPhone installs bring 50+ registrations a week |
| Later: first invoice, then paying users | First invoice sent; purchase value | Months 2–3, once each event reaches the same weekly volume. Value bidding needs 15 paid subscriptions with revenue in 7 days |
Meta needs about 50 results a week per ad set to finish learning. The table shows the most we can pay per result and still hit 50 a week, with the budget split 60% iPhone, 40% Android (roughly the audience split).
| Month-1 Meta budget | iPhone a week | Max cost per result | Android a week | Max cost per result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £4,000 | £554 | £11.09 | £370 | £7.39 |
| £5,500 | £762 | £15.24 | £508 | £10.16 |
| £7,000 | £970 | £19.40 | £647 | £12.93 |
Published install costs for similar apps run £3 to £10, so install campaigns leave learning at every level. A registration costs more than an install. At £4,000, registration campaigns are only possible if a registration costs under about £7 on Android and £11 on iPhone. Expect install goals for most of month 1 at that level.
A landing page before the store needs a separate website campaign, loses Android view-through measurement, and in August Instagram's in-app browser was blocking App Store links. Landing-page traffic is a later test, not the launch route.
Meta's help centre lists a measurement partner like Singular as an alternative to its own SDK for optimising on in-app events. Singular sends installs and events to Meta server to server, covers iPhone users who decline tracking, and reads Meta's Android install referrer. The plan's "no Meta SDK at launch" stands.
| Our event | Sent to Meta as | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Install | Install (automatic) | Launch goal |
| account_created | CompleteRegistration | Second goal |
| onboarding_completed | CompleteTutorial | Reporting |
| first_invoice_sent | An unused standard event, picked in Ads Manager | iPhone campaigns can't optimise on custom events through Singular, so this needs a standard name |
| subscription_started | Subscribe, plus revenue as Purchase | Revenue builds the history value bidding needs |
| trial_started | Not sent | Fires at the same moment as account_created, so it would count twice |
The checklist says to add Meta's SKAdNetwork IDs to the app. Those belong in apps that show ads, not apps that advertise. Remove that item. The postback copy URLs in step 6 are what Zee Solo needs.
| Format | What it is | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Subbies to camera | 5–10 real subcontractors (bricklayer, sparky, plasterer, groundworker) filmed on a phone on site, each with their own referral link | The longest-running format in the category. Nobody runs it for CIS |
| Screen capture, 6–10 seconds | Type the job, split labour and materials, and the take-home after the 20% appears before you hit send | Shows the one thing no live UK ad shows |
| Trade-voice statics | One line in the subbie's words on a plain background, in 4:5 and 9:16 | Cheap to make and test. Powered Now's paperwork statics have run 98 days |
Month 0 builds 12–20 ads across the five messages. Each campaign gets new ads at least every 14 days, and we retire ads on rising cost, not on how often they've been seen.
| Message | Status | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Every payslip in one place | Use | Only once Valla confirms statements from contractors not on Zee Hub |
| Built for subbies, not office workers | Use | |
| Whoever does the books can set it up | Use | |
| Free. No card. | Condition | True only while install and core use are free with no card. Store listing must say the same |
| See what you'll be paid before you send it | Condition | Never pair with "early", "instant", "advance" or "get paid faster". Meta bans salary-advance ads |
Meta bars ads that imply they know the viewer's finances. Talk about the product, not the person's tax position.
| Don't | Do |
|---|---|
| "Are you a subcontractor on 30%?" | "Zee Solo shows the 20%, 30% or 0% CIS deduction on every invoice." |
| "Still losing 30% of every invoice?" | "CIS deductions at 20% or 30%? See the amount on the invoice before you send it." |
| "Your CIS deductions don't add up." | "Every CIS deduction, tracked in one place." |
| "Behind on your tax?" | "Keep MTD-ready records as you go." |
| "HMRC owes you money." / any refund amount | Don't use. Also banned by the Claims Register |
Other languages: a translated static set in Polish, Romanian and Portuguese is a cheap test, but only if the app works in those languages. That's a question for the product team.
Voice and messaging: the full line library and its Claims Register status. Video and social: the video formats and production costs.
| Week | What we do | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Before launch | Ad account, page, Instagram, business verification, app linked, Singular connected, 12–20 ads made and approved against the Claims Register | A small live test proves install and registration reach Singular and Meta |
| Week 1 | iPhone and Android install campaigns go live, all messages running | Ad approvals in the first 48 hours. Cost per install by phone type |
| Week 2 | Cut ads costing more than twice the best. Add new ads to replace them | Registration rate by message. Where cold users stop in onboarding |
| Week 3 | Launch the Android registration campaign if Android brings 50+ registrations a week | Cost per registration against the table in section 04 |
| Week 4 | iPhone registration campaign if it's ready. Brief the next batch of ads. Check the Ad Library for new competitors | First invoices sent by message. Month-2 plan |
We already run this setup for other Meta accounts. It needs Valla's ad account shared with our business as a partner.
| Job | How often | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| Pull spend and results from Meta and Singular into one place | Nightly | Automatic |
| Flag ads to cut, ads to scale, campaigns ready to switch goal, tracking gaps | Daily | Agent recommends, Greg approves |
| Change a budget, pause an ad, launch a campaign | As approved | Greg |
| Draft new ads when a campaign goes 14 days without one | Every 14 days per campaign | Agent drafts, Claims Register sign-off before anything runs |
| Check the Ad Library for new competitors and long-running ads | Weekly | Agent reports |
| Weekly summary for Lena: spend, results, changes, next steps | Weekly | Agent drafts, Greg sends |
The same setup extends to the other channels in turn: Google, TikTok, YouTube and the rest.
Next · 10What could go wrong? →| Risk | What we do |
|---|---|
| Singular misses the launch build | No Meta measurement at all. Spend only where we can measure, and hold the rest |
| The consent screen cuts iPhone data | Design it with the solicitor before launch. Android carries optimisation until iPhone data recovers |
| A reviewer files the ads as financial | Appeal with Meta's own tax-and-accounting exclusion. Watch the first 48 hours |
| Registrations too expensive to leave learning at £4k | Stay on install goals and push the in-app fixes that lift registration |
| Store listing doesn't match the ads | Store screenshots and text signed off with the ads, not after |
| Bolst or MTDflow claims the CIS invoice message first | Launch with it. Re-check the Ad Library at launch and every week after |
Sources: three research files dated 28 September 2026 on Meta's app campaign rules, policy and UK reach estimates, and the UK Ad Library (1,516 ads). Every claim links to its source in those files. Available on request.
Approve it and we start the setup. Want changes? List them below.
Goes straight to Greg. No email app needed.