Why they get skipped
Not because they do not work. Because each requires a different build, different creative, and a learning curve — and a vendor billing a fixed fee has no reason to add work for the same money.
The result is that most local advertisers run two channels while their competitors run the same two, bidding the price up.
Reddit is where people ask for recommendations in plain language: which plumber, which dentist, which contractor. Targeting by subreddit and by metro puts you next to that conversation at a fraction of search costs.
It rewards ads that read like a person wrote them and punishes anything that looks like a banner.
TikTok for unglamorous businesses
The channel is no longer young-audience-only, and its best-performing local ads are startlingly plain: a technician explaining what a repair actually costs, a before and after, a walkthrough of a job. Production value is not the differentiator; clarity is.
Cost per thousand impressions is still well below social norms in most local markets.
Digital out-of-home
DOOH is the surprise. Programmatic screens — gas pumps, gyms, transit, retail — can now be bought in small budgets by ZIP code and daypart, with the same targeting logic as display.
For a local business it does something no feed can: it makes you look established. Pair it with search and the search brand terms move.
How to test without gambling
Take 15 percent of your budget. Run one new channel for six weeks with a single clear offer and the same landing destination as your best current channel. Judge it on cost per outcome, not on impressions or comments.
Keep the winner, kill the rest, then test the next one.