Paid Ads Case Study

Capturing Early Market Share with a 10x ROAS: Modern Buildings

Modern Buildings · Residential Construction · Seattle, WAVisit website

+115
Leads in a single month: 10x
Return on Ad Spend: Multiple
6-Figure Projects closed: 90 Days
To a Predictable Pipeline

Client overview

About Modern Buildings

Seattle Modern Buildings ADU Builder is a Seattle-based design-build firm specializing in detached ADUs, duplexes, and modern homes.

When Seattle lifted restrictions on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), homeowner demand skyrocketed. This general contractor partnered with us to act early and establish themselves as the premier ADU builder in the area before the market saturated. By aggressively niching down their services and launching highly targeted Google and Meta Ads, we generated 115 leads in January alone and delivered a 10x return on ad spend.

Industry: Residential Construction
Location: Seattle, WA
Timeline: 1 Month
Company size: 10-100 employees

The problem

The Challenge

The client had a very short window to establish market leadership before competitors pivoted to ADUs. Their existing advertising was diluted across a broad range of general construction services, making it difficult to capture the specific, rapidly forming demand for ADUs.

Short timeframe to establish market leadership
Broad construction service offerings were watering down their ad budget
A rapid influx of local contractors shifting into the ADU space
The need to capture top-of-funnel interest as public awareness formed
A lack of separated ad campaigns tailored to high-value buyers
A strong library of project videos missing from social feeds

The strategy

Our Strategic Approach

We developed a focused paid ads program built on three core pillars: aggressive niching, creative-led social, and rapid lead capture.

Aggressive Service Niching

Stripped away general construction campaigns to focus exclusively on capturing the booming ADU market.

Paused diluted, broad-service campaigns
Restructured budgets solely for ADU acquisition
Identified core ADU buyer personas
Aligned messaging with new local zoning laws

Creative-Led Social

Leveraged Meta’s Andromeda update to dominate social feeds with high-performing creatives.

Scaled video output to align with Meta algorithms
Showcased real ADU builds to build trust
Interrupted feeds with high-engagement content
Shifted budget to maximize top-of-funnel reach

Rapid Lead Capture

Designed a frictionless Meta lead generation funnel to convert engaged social traffic into qualified project inquiries.

Deployed native Meta lead forms for higher conversion
Filtered audiences based on video engagement
Captured 115 qualified leads in a single month
Achieved a 10x return on ad spend

Execution

How We Execute

Here’s how we executed the strategy over 3 months:

1Weeks 1-2
Strategy & Creative Prep
- Audited existing broad construction campaigns
- Gathered existing project videos and images
- Defined ADU-specific Meta target audiences
- Mapped out frictionless social lead funnels
2Weeks 3-4
Launch & Deployment
- Deployed video-led Meta campaigns
- Launched engagement retargeting audiences
- Set up baseline Google Ads for brand capture
- Standardized cross-platform conversion tracking
3Months 2-3
Scale & Refinement
- Shifted heavy budget toward winning Meta creatives
- Scaled daily spend based on 10x ROAS feedback
- Generated 115 leads in a single 30-day period
- Solidified predictable social inbound pipeline

Key takeaways

What Makes This Work

01
Aggressive Niching
By cutting broad, diluted construction campaigns and focusing entirely on the surging ADU market, we captured a highly specific, motivated audience before local competitors could pivot.
02
Video-Led Storytelling
We didn’t just run static image ads. We leveraged recorded footage to interrupt social feeds, building immediate trust and engagement through real behind-the-scenes builds.
03
Embracing Meta’s Algorithm
While competitors fought over expensive search clicks, we leaned heavily into Meta’s Andromeda update. We let the algorithm find high-intent homeowners at scale for a fraction of the cost.
04
Intentional Lead Capture
We used both native Meta lead forms and a landing page on their website. Testing results with both allowed us to see what performed better for this specific campaign and optimize based on our findings.
05
Data-Driven Scaling
Once the 10x ROAS became clear, we didn’t hesitate. We aggressively shifted budget away from underperforming assets directly into the winning video creatives to generate 115 leads in a single month.