Facebook ads for home services are a little like a pressure washer. Powerful tool, but if you aim it wrong you just make a mess. I've seen contractors spend $1,500 a month on Facebook ads and generate nothing, and I've seen others get calls every week from $400 a month. The difference is almost entirely in the setup.
The Right Campaign Objective
Don't run brand awareness campaigns. Don't run engagement campaigns chasing likes. Run lead generation campaigns or traffic campaigns pointed at a page with a clear call to action. You want phone calls and form submissions, not impressions and reactions. Set your objective accordingly from the start.
Facebook's Lead Ad format is worth testing. It lets people submit their contact info without leaving Facebook, which reduces friction. The leads sometimes need more follow-up because the bar to submit is lower, but the volume can be higher. Test it against a traffic campaign to a landing page and see which produces better calls for your market.
Targeting That Actually Works Locally
Geographic targeting is your most important lever. Set a radius around your service area. For residential HVAC, 15-20 miles from your base is usually right. Don't go wider unless you're genuinely willing to serve those areas.
Layer on homeowner targeting. Facebook lets you target by homeownership status. Renters don't call HVAC companies. Age targeting of 35-65 also tends to perform better for home services. People in that range are more likely to own their home and make the call themselves.
What Creative Actually Converts
Seasonal offers work. "Summer AC tune-up, $89, limited spots available." Urgency and a clear price point. Before and after photos work. Video of a tech explaining a common problem works. Generic stock photo of a smiling family next to a thermostat? Doesn't work. It looks like every other ad and nobody notices it.
Your creative should look local. Use photos from your actual jobs in your actual area. Mention the city by name. "Serving Dallas homeowners since 2015" beats any generic tagline.
Budget and Expectations
Facebook ads for local home services don't work on $100 a month. Plan for at least $400-$600 per month to generate meaningful data and enough impressions to see results. It takes 2-4 weeks to optimize a campaign. Don't judge it after day five and pull the plug. Give it a full month, review the data, and adjust.
Track your leads in a system so you know which ones came from Facebook and whether they actually booked. Revenue per lead source is the only metric that matters at the end of the day.
Put this into practice with WerkOps
Run accurate load calculations, build estimates, and send invoices - all in one tool.
Start Free Trial
Written by
Dina Good
Founder, WerkOps
Dina grew up in the trades. Her father was a contractor, then a building inspector, and the job site was her classroom long before any formal one was. She went on to own her own contracting company, which is where she first felt the pain of running a skilled trade business on bad software and worse spreadsheets. A love of data pulled her into programming, and the two worlds eventually collided into WerkOps - software built by someone who has actually been on the truck.