Find an expert
Message Emma

Worcester, MA · Painting company · Local campaign

Unit turnover painting before September 1

Emma Sullivan made social posts and ran Meta ads for Alder & Finch Painting Co., a painting company in Worcester, MA (Jun 15 – Aug 28, 2026): 34 landlord requests and 41 units painted before September 1.

Client
Alder & Finch Painting Co.Painting company
Where
Worcester, MAWest Side, Main South, Columbus Park, and Shrewsbury
When
Jun 15 – Aug 28, 2026
Services
Social posts, Meta ads

Results

Jun 15 – Aug 28, 2026

  • 7,400People reached by the ads and posts
  • 286Clicks through to the quote form
  • 34Quote requests from landlords
  • $236Meta ad spend, $6.94 per request
  • 41Units painted before September 1
  • 19Landlords who booked, 7 for whole buildings

The brief

Alder & Finch paints apartment turnovers every August, and every year the work arrives the same way: twenty-odd calls in the last ten days before September 1, when leases turn over across the city and students come back to the colleges. Most of those calls get turned down. The owner wanted turnover jobs booked by August 1 with small landlords, so the crew could spread the work over July and August. The limits: a crew of five, no discount for early booking, and landlords who decide quickly and hate surprises.

Goal
Book August turnover painting with small landlords before the September 1 lease rush.
Who and where
Owners of two- and three-family houses on Worcester’s West Side and in Main South, plus property managers in Shrewsbury.

What the client gave me

Last August’s call log (23 calls in the final ten days, 9 jobs taken), photos from a few finished units, the owner’s turnover scope on one sheet of paper, and a mailing list of 400 local landlords they’d bought two years ago and never used.

A second-floor unit on the West Side last August, the morning after the tenants moved out.
A second-floor unit on the West Side last August, the morning after the tenants moved out.
The crew van outside a three-decker in Main South on August 30 last year, the owner’s photo of the rush.
The crew van outside a three-decker in Main South on August 30 last year, the owner’s photo of the rush.

What I made

Name the deadline every landlord knows, describe a clear three-day turnover, push early booking and offer whole-building scheduling. Landlord Facebook groups and a postcard.

  1. September 1 is coming.
    September 1 is coming.Named the date every landlord in the city knows, over an empty unit reshot in morning light. Nothing else on the post needs to sell it.Caption Every Worcester landlord knows the date. Naming it gets attention in landlord Facebook groups weeks before the scramble.
  2. Turnover painting in three days
    Turnover painting in three daysThe owner’s scope sheet cut to three lines a landlord can check against the lease: walls, ceilings and trim; doors and closets; clean and ready to show.Caption Landlords care about two things: the unit ready on time and no surprises. A clear three-day scope answers both.
  3. Book by August 1. Skip the rush.
    Book by August 1. Skip the rush.Turned last August’s call log into the headline. The last two weeks fill first, so book by August 1.Caption The rush is predictable. Asking landlords to book early spreads the work across July and August, so the crew isn’t turning jobs away.
  4. Triple-decker? One crew, all three units.
    Triple-decker? One crew, all three units.Written for owners of three-deckers, Worcester’s classic rental. One crew, all three units, one visit to the building.Caption Speaks to owners of the city’s classic rental building. Doing a whole building at once is easier for the owner and fills the crew’s week.

How it went out

Where it ran

  • Two Worcester landlord Facebook groups
  • Postcards to 400 local landlords
  • Alder & Finch’s Facebook page
  • Google Business Profile
  • Nextdoor in Shrewsbury
  1. Jun 15“September 1 is coming.” in two landlord groups and on the Facebook page
  2. Jun 22Postcards mailed to 400 landlords, with the three-day scope on the back
  3. Jun 24Meta ad starts with the three-decker post, about $6 a day
  4. Jul 6“Turnover painting in three days” in the groups and on Google
  5. Jul 13“Book by August 1” as a second ad and on Nextdoor in Shrewsbury
  6. Aug 1Ads end; the crew’s calendar is full through August 31
  7. Aug 28Last unit finished; review requests to every landlord
Best ad: Triple-decker? One crew, all three units.

Meta ads

Audience
Adults 30 and over within 5 miles of downtown Worcester and in Shrewsbury
Budget
$250 planned, $236 spent
Dates
Jun 24 – Aug 1

Landlords are hard to find on Meta, so the ad leaned on the picture: a three-decker stops the right people. That ad brought most of the requests that came through ads. “Book by August 1” got clicks from tenants worried about their own move-in, and calls asking whether we’d paint for a renter.

What happened

The landlord groups did the most. The September 1 post got 60 comments in two days, mostly landlords tagging each other. The postcards were slower but brought the bigger jobs: 5 of the 7 whole-building bookings came from them. The August 1 ad is what didn’t work; it reached tenants, not owners. The 34 requests turned into 41 units across 19 landlords by August 1, and the last ten days of August were planned instead of frantic. The crew still turned down 11 late calls, against 14 the year before.

What I’d do next

Mail the postcards in early June, since owners of whole buildings plan first. Put the August 1 ad money into a second postcard instead. And ask the 19 landlords now about next summer, with a reminder in May.

More work by Emma

Tell Emma about your business

Share where you are and what you’d like more of. Emma usually replies within a day.

Availability updated Oct 12, 2026.

Message Emma