For your team
Video ads for local business: you, on your phone, answering customers' questions
A local business can make its video ads on a phone, in the shop, without an editor. This page covers what to film, how to show the ad to people nearby, the tools and the costs.
In short
- The simplest video ads for a local business are short phone videos of the owner answering a customer question.
- On Facebook and Instagram, you can show the ad only to people within a set distance of your shop.
- The audience nearby is small, so the same people soon see your ad too often. Then it is time for a new one.
- Canva and CapCut are free to start if you edit yourself. Cutroom edits your phone video for you.
- Your first Cutroom video is free. The $19.99 Lite plan covers about 11 ads of 30 seconds a month, under $2 each.
- To start with Canva or CapCut, if you edit yourself
- Free
- One 30-second Cutroom ad on the $19.99 Lite plan
- Under $2
- Cutroom ads a month on the $39.99 Basic plan
- About 22
What to film for a local video ad
Good ideas come from the questions customers already ask you at the counter.
- Film in the shop, so people recognise the place when they walk in.
- Say your street or area out loud. Cutroom adds no logo or address, but the captions show what you say.
Five ideas for a local business video ad
| Video | What you say |
|---|---|
| Answer a question | Parking, opening hours, walk-ins or prices, answered in plain words |
| This week's offer | The special, the new menu item or a free first visit |
| Meet the owner | Who you are and why you run the place |
| How it works | What happens at a first visit or appointment |
| Customer story | A regular says why they come back, filmed with their permission |
Video: Answer a question
- What you say
- Parking, opening hours, walk-ins or prices, answered in plain words
Video: This week's offer
- What you say
- The special, the new menu item or a free first visit
Video: Meet the owner
- What you say
- Who you are and why you run the place
Video: How it works
- What you say
- What happens at a first visit or appointment
Video: Customer story
- What you say
- A regular says why they come back, filmed with their permission
How to show the ad to people nearby
Facebook and Instagram let you choose who sees the ad by distance from your address.
- In Meta Ads Manager, you set your address, a radius around it and a daily budget.
- A vertical 9:16 video fits Reels and Stories on both Instagram and Facebook.
- Meta Ads Manager shows frequency, the average number of times each person saw your ad. When it keeps rising, it is time for a new ad.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
Tools for local video ads
Canva and CapCut leave the editing to you. Cutroom does it for you.
Tools for local business video ads
Prices as each company publishes them on the day shown. Plans change, so check before you buy.
| Tool | Best for | Editing approach | Platform | Pricing from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Canva | Flyers, posts and simple videos from templates | Drag-and-drop design with templates | Browser, iOS, Android, Windows, Mac | Free plan; Pro US$144/year for one person |
 CapCut | Editing phone videos by hand for free | You edit on a timeline, with templates and effects | iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, web | Free; Pro $19.99/month (varies by region) |
| Cutroom | A finished ad from a phone video of you talking | Upload the video; it adds captions, stock clips and an opening headline | Web | First video free; Lite $19.99/month |
- Canva
- Best for
- Flyers, posts and simple videos from templates
- Approach
- Drag-and-drop design with templates
- Platform
- Browser, iOS, Android, Windows, Mac
- Pricing from
- Free plan; Pro US$144/year for one person
- CapCut
- Best for
- Editing phone videos by hand for free
- Approach
- You edit on a timeline, with templates and effects
- Platform
- iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, web
- Pricing from
- Free; Pro $19.99/month (varies by region)
Cutroom
- Best for
- A finished ad from a phone video of you talking
- Approach
- Upload the video; it adds captions, stock clips and an opening headline
- Platform
- Web
- Pricing from
- First video free; Lite $19.99/month
Prices and plans read from each vendor's own pricing page on 21 September 2026.
How to make a local ad in Cutroom
Film yourself in the shop on your phone, up to 3 minutes. The edit comes back in about a minute.
- Cutroom edits the video, adds captions timed to your voice and places stock clips over parts of it.
- If a customer interrupted, film it again, because Cutroom cannot delete that line from the video.
- Film the room, the counter or a dish once and upload it. Highlight the words that name it to place your clip there.
- Export a vertical 9:16 MP4 and upload it in Meta Ads Manager.
A finished local ad, as one frame
You on screen, a clip of your shop in a small box over the video, and the captions.
What Cutroom costs
Cutroom charges in credits: 100 to edit a video and 20 per minute to export it. A 30-second ad costs about 110 credits.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It has a Cutroom watermark across the middle.
- The Lite plan removes the watermark. One 30-second ad costs under $2 on it.
- The money you spend showing the ads is separate. You set a daily budget in Meta Ads Manager.
Cutroom plans and how many 30-second ads they cover
| Plan | Price | Credits | 30-second ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, no card | Your first video | 1, with a watermark |
| Lite | $19.99 a month | 1,250 | About 11 |
| Basic | $39.99 a month | 2,500 | About 22, plus avatars and music |
Plan: Free
- Price
- $0, no card
- Credits
- Your first video
- 30-second ads
- 1, with a watermark
Plan: Lite
- Price
- $19.99 a month
- Credits
- 1,250
- 30-second ads
- About 11
Plan: Basic
- Price
- $39.99 a month
- Credits
- 2,500
- 30-second ads
- About 22, plus avatars and music
Which tool should you choose?
It depends on what you make most and how much editing you want to do.
Which tool should you choose
Choose Canva if you mostly make posts, flyers and menus, and only need a simple video now and then.
Choose CapCut if you like editing on your phone and want to spend nothing.
Choose Cutroom if you will talk to your phone in the shop and want each video back as a finished ad. Your first video is free.
Questions people ask
- What kind of video ad works for a local business?
- A short phone video of you or your staff answering a question customers ask, filmed in the shop. People recognise you and the place when they walk in.
- How do I show my ad only to people nearby?
- In Meta Ads Manager, set your address as the location and choose a radius around it. The ad then runs on Facebook and Instagram to people in that area.
- How often should a local business change its ads?
- When the same people start seeing an ad too often. Meta Ads Manager shows this as frequency. A new 30-second Cutroom ad costs under $2 on the Lite plan.
- How much should a local business spend on video ads?
- You choose the daily budget yourself in Meta Ads Manager, and a small radius needs less money to reach everyone in it. TikTok is stricter: its minimum is $20 a day per ad group.
- Can I show the shop, the food or the treatment room?
- Yes. Film it on your phone and upload the clip. Then highlight the words where you name it and the clip appears over them.
- Can I get a version for the screen in my window?
- Not from Cutroom. Every export is a vertical 9:16 MP4. Window screens and website headers are usually widescreen, so use Canva or CapCut for those.
- Do I need to be good on camera?
- No. Talk the way you talk to customers. If you stumble badly, film it again, because Cutroom keeps every line you say. A misheard word you can fix in the text.
Answer one customer question on camera before you open and get the finished ad back. Your first video is free.