AI-First Paid Media + Creative for Local Lead-Gen (Google + Meta) | Trial to Retainer

About us We are Coastal Elements AI, an AI-first growth studio for local service businesses and real estate teams. We build the strategy, the audience intelligence, and the copy in-house through our own AI pipeline, and we use AI across nearly every part of how we work. What we need is a delivery team to run it: people who live in the ad platforms, own the numbers, and make the creative actually convert. Right now our paid media is fully outsourced to a couple of agencies and freelancers. They are competent. The problem is we are one account in a long stack to them, and we want a partner who treats our book like their own. We are bringing delivery in-house, under our roof and our quality bar. Who we want Ideally a small team that already works together and covers all three areas below. If that is not you, we are just as happy to bring on strong individuals and build the team ourselves. Apply for the whole thing, or for the one piece you own. 1. Paid search (Google). Campaign architecture, geo and local targeting, conversion tracking, budget and budget and bid strategy, with AI worked into your build and optimization, not just our briefs. Low-to-mid budgets done right. 2. Paid social (Meta). A real media buyer who knows the Meta ecosystem cold: account structure, audiences, lead forms, testing, optimization toward booked appointments and not vanity metrics. You use AI to analyze, iterate, and scale creative testing, not just to push buttons. 3. Creative (video + static). Short-form vertical video editing for Meta (hook-first, tight, built for retention) and clean static design. This is an AI-first creative seat: you generate your own AI b-roll, use image-to-video, and handle AI background replacement, compositing, and upscaling, then assemble it into a clean, platform-ready ad. Familiarity with tools like Seedance, Veo, Runway, Kling, and Nano Banana is what we want. How we work, and why the rate is fair for the scope This is not a "figure out our whole strategy from scratch" gig. We hand you the audience intelligence, the messaging, the copy direction, and the creative briefs from our AI system. Your job is to take that and run: own the channel strategy, the media buying, the build, the creative production, and the reporting. That lifts a lot off your plate compared to a normal client engagement. We expect you to layer your own AI workflows on top, to move faster and sharper than a traditional operator. The kind of person who fits We need an operator, not an order-taker, and not a lone wolf who disappears for a week. You are the expert here because we are not, so we need you to advise us, bring a point of view, and tell us what the data actually says. At the same time, you respect a high quality bar and you are happy to take direction on where to focus. You report in plain language a client understands (leads and cost per booked job, not impressions), and you build things to be repeatable. You reach for AI by default to work faster and better, and you can point to where it has actually improved your output. The work Mostly local service businesses: home services like garage doors, kitchen and bath remodeling, HVAC, and a water-delivery subscription business. We also run a few real estate teams in life-event niches (divorce and probate sellers), so some real estate lead-gen experience helps, especially early. Home services is the center of gravity. Real estate is the edge. Must-haves - Hands-on Google Ads and/or Meta Ads experience with local lead generation. Real campaigns, real budgets, real outcomes. - Real experience using AI in your actual workflow (campaign build, creative generation, analysis, or reporting). We are AI-first and you need to be too. - Conversion tracking you can set up and trust: GA4, GTM, pixel and CAPI, lead and call events. - Reporting tied to leads and booked jobs, not vanity metrics. - Excellent written English and a communication rhythm we can count on. Nice-to-haves - Both Google and Meta in one operator (a real plus for us). - Home-services lead gen and/or real estate (agents, life-event niches). - Working knowledge of Meta's Housing Special Ad Category. If you have run real estate on Meta, you know why this matters. - GoHighLevel, Zapier or Make, Looker Studio or AgencyAnalytics. - Your own AI toolkit for media, creative, or analysis, and an opinion on which tools are actually worth it. You are comfortable taking our AI-generated audience and copy briefs as your starting point. Engagement We start with a small paid trial project so we both get a real look. Strong work moves to a monthly retainer, and the door is open to a dedicated long-term seat as we add accounts. The end state we want is a delivery partner who runs all of our digital marketing, either as our full-time team or as a consultancy where we are the priority client. Fully remote, open globally. Tell us your preferred structure (per client, retainer, or hybrid) and your rate. The trial A paid test project sized to your area: Paid media: we give you read-only access to one of our live accounts (or an anonymized export from it), and you send back a short audit. What is working, what you would kill, the first three moves you would make and why, and what you would test first. Show us where AI sharpens how you would run it. Paid, and it is real work on a real account, not a hypothetical. Creative: we hand you raw talking-head footage and direction, and you build a finished 9:16 ad. To apply 1. A quick note on which piece(s) you cover, and whether you come as a team or solo. 2. Portfolio or case examples. For media, accounts you have run with budget range and outcomes. For creative, actual ads you built (links, not decks). 3. Your typical monthly ad spend managed per client, and your best cost-per-lead or lead-to-appointment result and at what budget. 4. Your preferred engagement structure and your rate. 5. Your AI workflow: which AI tools you use today and what you use each one for Screening questions 1. Which area(s) do you own (Google, Meta, creative), and are you applying as a team or an individual? 2. Walk us through how you would stand up a local lead-gen campaign for a home-services business in one metro on a modest budget, from structure to tracking to your first optimization. 3. How do you set up conversion tracking you actually trust, and how do you handle attribution when leads come through both forms and phone calls? 4. We supply the audience intelligence and the copy direction. How do you like to work with inputs like that, and where do you push back? 5. Share one campaign you are proud of: the budget, what you did, and the result in leads or booked jobs. 6. (Creative applicants) Link a short-form vertical ad you edited and tell us what you did on it. 7. What AI tools are in your day-to-day stack right now, and what do you use each one for? Be specific.