Social media, November to January

We recommend fewer routine posts and three experiments, for £1,000 and more room to try things.

Lauren Gilbey, Ross Cairns, Hal Sarjant · Friday 6 November 2026
Ross's comic: There's plenty of parking
Ryan Burns's video about moving from Navien to ATAG

Plan B · business as usual

Ross has built a sound plan, ready to run

Ross's content calendar page Ross's strategy, first page

Five posts a week, adapted for each platform

3–4Facebook
2–3Instagram
2LinkedIn
  • Written for installers first, with homeowner posts they can share
  • A process for replies, technical checks on claims, and a monthly report
  • December targets: 75,000 Facebook views, 75 comments, 30 shares
  • Creators and YouTube explored in 2027
If this were business as usual, it's what we'd run.

Why we'd do something different

The posts are good. A brand's own page gets little back, at any size

ATAG's OPERA launch post on Facebook, 5 reactions

OPERA's launch post, 13 October: the right message, a real installer, the link in the post. 5 reactions.

Likes or reactions on one post

ATAG's launch post2,904 Facebook followers
5
Worcester Bosch product posts19,000 followers
4–8
Milwaukee's own postsInstagram
27–47
A gas engineer's post with MilwaukeeInstagram
115
More polish won't change this. What's worth testing is posts installers join in with, pass on, or hear from another installer.

Plan A · do less

Routine posts drop from five a week to two

Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Plan BRoss's plan
OPERA graphic
FB
Install photo
FBIG
Installer Direct graphic
FBLI
How-to post
IG
Product graphic
FBIGLI
Plan ARecommended
Bingo cardevery other week
FBIG
Install photo
FBIG
Installer Life comic
FBIG
Trustpilot review or product shot
FBIGLI
Bingo resultsevery other week
FB
StopsRoutine, staysExperimentFB Facebook · IG Instagram · LI LinkedInStop Illegal Gas Work posts carry on when there's a campaign
OPERA graphicsFrom weekly to one installer's story a month, until January
Installer Direct graphicsStop. Emails and postcards carry this
How-to postsNo new ones for now. Those already made can be reused
Product graphicsReplaced by one simple shot from a template

Plan A · do more

Three experiments, each reaching further out

Installers who follow ATAG2,904 Facebook followers in all
Their mates in the trade
Installers who've never looked at ATAGOut of 150,847 registered gas engineers in the UK
1

Heating Engineer Bingo Lauren's idea

Will installers who follow ATAG join in?

2

Installer Life Ross's series

Will a good joke get passed on to the rest of the trade?

3

An installer with a following visits ATAG

Will installers who've never looked at ATAG listen to another installer?

November to the end of January, then keep what works and stop the rest.

Experiment 1 · getting installers to join in Lauren's ideaMock-up, to show the direction

Heating Engineer Bingo: a card on Monday, results on Friday

Monday · ATAG posts the card

9:41●●●
ATAG Heating TechnologyMonday
♡ ◯ ↗
ATAGRound 1. Screenshot it, mark off your week and post your card under Friday's post. Tell us the one we missed.
→

In the week · they mark it off

GE
example_gas_engineer · 2h

5 by Wednesday!

→

Friday · cards in the comments

9:41●●●
ATAG Heating TechnologyFriday
ATAGHow did you get on? Post your card below by 5pm for the draw: one £25 voucher, picked at random. Free to enter, UK installers only. Terms: atagheating.co.uk
GE
Example Gas EngineerFull house by Thursday. Parking took longer than the boiler
PH
Example Plumbing & HeatingYou missed "can you just look at the tap"
EH
Example Heating Ltd3 out of 9. Quiet week. Honest
Every other weekFive rounds, 16 November to 25 January
£25 prize a roundA small voucher, drawn at random
Enter by commentingFree, with short terms. Meta doesn't allow prizes for sharing or tagging
Their best linesGo on the next card, or into a comic

Experiment 1 · the limits

How far the bingo goes

Inside the limits

"While you're here…"
The part you need is back in the van
The brew arrives as you pack up

Moments from the job. Customers are gentle comedy, never the target.

The furthest we'd go

"I've had three other quotes"
"The previous installer said it was fine"
The merchant's price has gone up since Tuesday

The trade's real frustrations, from the installer's side.

Never

A merchant or brand by name
"It's not to regs, but it'll do"
A real customer or their street

No unsafe work as a joke, no swearing or politics, nothing we'd mind a homeowner seeing.

Experiment 2 · why try being funny

In July, three comics reached far beyond ATAG's followers

People reached on ATAG's Facebook page each month, 2026. Posting paused in September

84%
of July's 528,000 views came from three comics, none paid for, and 85% of August's from three more
380
likes, comments and shares on July's top comic, from 243,852 views

The comics earned the reach. They haven't started a conversation yet, and this experiment tests whether they can.

Experiment 2 · reach through being funny Ross's series

Installer Life: the comics become a weekly series

9:41●●●
atagheatingukOriginal audio
The parking comic, animated
Parked the van.
Mock-up · 10 sec
♡ ◯ ↗
atagheatingukInstaller Life, episode 3. Who's always parked a mile away?
I've cleared some space for youRight then, I'll leave you to it There's plenty of parkingThey've got the lot. Anything else?
WeeklyUp from every other week in Ross's plan
The best ones animatedSimple movement, sound, maybe a voice
Ross's callWhat the series becomes is up to Ross

Ross's ideas for the next episodes

"While you're here…""He's friendly.""The cat won't bother you.""I watched a video about it.""Just popping to the van.""Last job, then home.""It only started making that noise yesterday.""The previous installer said it was fine.""Milk and two sugars?""It should only take five minutes."

Experiment 2 · the limits

How far the jokes go

"There's plenty of parking."
TodayGentle and about the day. Everyone's been there.
"I've had three other quotes. They were all cheaper.""Did any of them turn up?"
SharperPokes at what winds installers up, from their side.
"Good news, mate. It's only gone up a bit since Tuesday."
The furthest we'd goA dig at buying through a merchant, with none named. The joke carries ATAG's message.
NeverA named competitor, merchant or real person · gas safety or bodged work as the joke · homeowners as the enemy

Experiment 3 · a filming day to reach installers who don't follow ATAG

An installer with a following spends a day at Dunfermline

The day, filmed by ATAG

Looks round

Meets the team

Strips down a boiler

Asks the technical team what their followers want to know

Quotes a real job on OPERA

Filmed on the day, posted from January

Sits down with Dean

Twenty minutes: why sell direct? What if something goes wrong?

Gives an honest verdict

To camera, unscripted

What comes out of it

Their followers see

A long YouTube video and short clips

Labelled as ads, because ATAG pays for them

ATAG keeps the film

Short clips to post for weeks, and their words for the installer emails

If it goes well

Their first ATAG install, filmed start to finish

In January
The fee pays for one day, so ATAG films everything and uses it for weeks.

Experiment 3 · who comes

First choice: Ryan Burns, an installer curious about ATAG

Ryan Burns's video: Navien to ATAG, is it time to switch?

"I don't brand-bash, but I also don't start saying something is great before I've properly tried it."

Ryan, to Ross, 31 October. Based near Glasgow, so travel is short

Followers: Ryan and ATAG

RyanATAG
  • Known for Worcester and Navien and hasn't fitted an ATAG yet, so the first look is honest
  • Ryan's audience is small, so most of the value is what ATAG reuses. A bigger name can follow if this works
Inside the limitsRyan's own words, with ATAG's people, on footage ATAG can reuse
The furthest we'd goRyan says what could be better at ATAG. Dean on camera, unrehearsed
NeverScripted praise. A paid post without the ad label

What we're asking for

Agree the limits once, then Lauren and Ross get on with it

Today: everything is played safe, so posts don't come to you

Idea
→
Made
→
Lauren checks new posts
→
Posted

For these three experiments

You agree the experiments and limits, once
→
Made
→
Lauren and technical checks
→
Posted that week
→
Results to you, monthly

Still comes to you

  • Prices and warranty claims
  • Anything outside the limits
  • Anything you don't like: tell Lauren and it comes down the same day

Why we're asking

These go further than today's posts, so we'd like you to agree how far before we start. They only work if they go out while they're fresh, and some will miss. That's how we find out which to keep. It runs until the end of January, then you decide what carries on.

What it costs

£1,000 for the three months, kept separate from the main budget

Up to £800The filming day: Ryan's fee and travel. ATAG films it
£125Bingo prizes
£75Sound for comics

Routine posts take Ross about three days a week, and the time comes from the ones that stop. Anything unspent stays unspent.

You asked on 2 September what the audit's three ideas would cost

Paying trade creators
Up to £800
This test tells us what it's worth, before anyone commits to more.
YouTube teaching library
£0 to start
Lauren is editing the last four technical videos.
Ad kit for installers
£0
Hal can make it. It can wait until these results are in.

What you get back

A one-page result every month, and a decision in February

Bingo
Comics
Filming day
Results to you
What the monthly page coversA target and a stop point for each
What we count
Working looks like, by end of January
We stop if
Bingo
Different installers posting a card
30 or more across the five rounds
Under 5 cards after two rounds
Comics
Facebook shares, comments and views each month
Beats Ross's December targets for the whole page: 30 shares, 75 comments, 75,000 views
No better than routine posts after eight weeks
Filming day
Views, then new Installer Direct accounts and first orders from the link under the video
2,000 views on Ryan's video, 5 new accounts
Below that, we don't repeat it

To decide today

Five decisions

1

Choose Plan A or Plan B

Fewer routine posts and three experiments, or Ross's plan as written.

We recommend Plan A
2

Approve £1,000 for November to January

Separate from the main budget, with a result every month.

Yes, with Ryan's fee to confirm
3

Agree the limits once

Lauren and Ross then post inside them, with Lauren checking new posts as she does now.

Yes, until the end of January
4

Agree how far we go on three things

Merchant jokes. Ryan saying what could be better at ATAG. Dean on camera.

Yes to all three
5

Decide whether September's technical videos go up

Lauren is editing the last four, at no extra cost.

Yes, this month