I have to point out a massive red flag before you decide on a bidding strategy. Between December and January, this account brought in over 65,000 clicks for about $588. That puts the average cost per click at less than a single penny. Unless this client is in an unimaginably cheap, low competition market, those numbers scream junk traffic. It looks exactly like what happens when Search campaigns are mistakenly opted into the Google Display Network or mobile app placements without any supervision. People accidentally tap ads in mobile games, which perfectly explains the massive click volume, the high impression rate, and the fact that you only got 29 very loose conversions out of 65,000 clicks. The traffic they were paying for was almost entirely garbage. Because of this, I highly recommend you do not roll with Maximize Conversions right off the bat. Maximize Conversions relies heavily on historical data to know what a "converting" user looks like. Even though the campaigns were deleted, the account level history is currently telling Google that a penny click mobile gamer or a bot is your ideal audience. If you hand the algorithm the wheel right now, it's going to struggle, stall out, or just optimize for more spam. You are much better off starting fresh to train the algorithm properly. I would start with Maximize Clicks, but you must set a Maximum CPC bid limit so Google doesn't blow your whole daily budget on three clicks. Alternatively, Manual CPC (if you have the time to manage it) is fantastic here to keep total control while you figure out what search terms actually work. When you build these new campaigns, make sure they are Search Network only. Keep the Display Network and Search Partners turned completely off. Double check your location settings (set to "Presence" rather than "Presence or Interest"), set up a strict negative keyword list, and focus on buying high intent traffic. Once you filter out the junk and get around 15 to 30 legitimate conversions within a 30 day window, the algorithm will finally have good data. That is when you flip the switch over to Maximize Conversions.

@Uncle Jimmy Mitchell thanks Jimmy 🫡

This is a good strategy, but be careful about lead quality. In app lead forms on Instagram are notorious for generating lower intent leads because the platforms autofill the users contact information. Because these people have not sat through a warming VSL or read a long landing page, your client will likely have to sift through more unqualified people, and their sales team will have to work harder to close them. To make this method work, you must add at least one or two custom, mandatory short answer questions to the Instagram form. This creates necessary friction and prevents accidental or lazy opt ins. You also need to manage your clients expectations upfront by letting them know these initial leads are for testing the waters and will require a more aggressive sales followup until the heavy lifting funnel is finished.

@Taj Dawood yeah man same thing

When deciding what to guarantee, you need to protect yourself from variables you cannot control. You should absolutely not guarantee booked jobs or paying clients. Catering deals depend heavily on the client's food quality, menu pricing, availability, and personal sales skills. If their menu is overpriced or they are terrible on the phone, you will fail to hit your guarantee through no fault of your marketing. As a beginner, the safest and most scalable route is to guarantee a specific number of qualified leads. Once you have a few months of data and know the exact conversion rates, you can safely upgrade your offer to guarantee qualified consultation appointments. For the catering niche specifically, capturing data is crucial because not all leads are equal. Sending traffic straight to WhatsApp can create a chaotic inbox full of people asking broad questions. Instead, use Facebook lead forms. You can ask qualifying questions like the event date, estimated guest count, and type of event. This filters out tire kickers and gives your client the context they need to close. Once the form is submitted, that is where your automation steps in. You absolutely need to set up basic CRM and use Zapier to connect the pieces. When a lead fills out the Facebook form, Zapier should automatically drop them into a pipeline, while simultaneously sending an automated SMS or WhatsApp message to the lead thanking them and providing a link to book a consultation call. Zapier should also instantly notify your client via email or text that a new lead has arrived. As for who calls the leads and schedules the appointments, you want to remove yourself from that bottleneck. You are building a marketing agency, not an outbound call center. Your system should automatically prompt the lead to book a call using a calendar link. If they do not book automatically, your client should be the one calling them. Catering is a consultative sale that requires specific knowledge about menus, dietary restrictions, and venue logistics that you simply do not possess.

@Joshua C no problem

Try the home exterior ecosystem. Since your current niche is roofers, the easiest pivot is to look at the other trades that work on the same houses but aren't targeted by most lead gen agencies. You want niches with a high average order value so your ads make sense, but with lower agency competition. Some highly profitable adjacent niches include siding installers who have a similar average order value to roofing but way less competition. Gutter installation and guards are lower ticket but have massive volume. Masonry and hardscaping, like retaining walls and patios, have huge ticket sizes and almost always need better lead tracking. Deck builders are high margin and rely heavily on visual portfolios. Tree removal services have high urgency and usually need your automation backend. Foundation repair is extremely high ticket, and garage epoxy flooring is exploding in popularity and great for visual ads. Next, you need a quick validation test. Before you start scraping leads for a new niche, ensure your offer will actually crush it. Make sure the average order value is high enough, ideally 3k dollars or more per job, so they can afford your fees. Ensure they have an obvious pain point, like being terrible at following up with leads. Also, look for a fragmented market with lots of local, independent business owners rather than corporate monopolies. Third, change your outreach angle using your SaaS advantage. Since these adjacent niches still get some spam, you need to instantly separate yourself from the standard ad agency crowd. Drop the word agency and position yourself as a growth consultant or a systems integrator. Sell the automated system, not the ads. Tell them that you install an automated ecosystem that captures demand and books prequalified appointments directly onto their calendar, rather than just handing them a list of leads they have to chase down. Finally, to test the waters, pick two adjacent niches from the examples above. Scrape 100-200 leads for each and run a highly personalized, low friction test. Keep the script short and offer to show them exactly how your automation handles their followup problem.