Facebook Ads for Contractors: When They Work, When They Don't
Facebook ads can get contractors jobs with a strong offer and real photos. Here is what a lead costs, the napkin math, and when Google should come first.
The short answer
Facebook ads can get contractors jobs when you have a strong offer and real photos or video of your work. But they reach people scrolling, not searching. Google reaches people who already need you. For most home service businesses, we'd put the first ad dollar on Google, then test Facebook with creative you already have.
The rest of this guide shows you how.
On this page
Facebook ads can get a contractor jobs, but they do a different job from Google. A Google search ad shows up when someone types what you do. A Facebook ad shows up while they're doing something else, so it has to make them want you first. That's why a Facebook lead usually costs less, and why it can still cost you more per booked job.
Every benchmark figure comes from a published report or the platforms' own pages, read on 30 September 2026. None of it is a result from one of our clients.
Facebook ads and Google ads do two different jobs
Google says its search ads "Reach people searching for the products or services you offer." Meta describes its apps as where customers "discover, purchase and stay connected."
Someone with water coming through the ceiling doesn't wait for an ad to scroll past. They type "roof leak repair" into Google and call one of the first names they see. A Google search ad puts you in that list. A Facebook ad reaches the neighbor who doesn't have a leak yet, and has to make them think about their roof. Google finds people who already want you. Facebook has to make them want you.
What a Facebook lead costs a contractor
A lead, in these benchmarks, is whatever each advertiser counted as one: usually a form filled or a call. Cost per lead is the ad spend divided by those leads.
In WordStream by LocaliQ's 2026 Facebook benchmarks, for leads campaigns in home and home improvement, a lead cost a typical $42.95. A click cost $2.18, and 5.32% of clicks became leads. Across all industries, a lead cost $27.39. The figures come from a sample of 452 US leads campaigns, and each industry row rests on as few as 4 campaigns, so treat the home improvement number as a rough guide. The page's own note says its "averages" are medians, the middle campaign.
For comparison, LocaliQ's search ad benchmarks, from 3,211 US Google and Microsoft campaigns, put a typical home services lead at $90.92. What each trade pays is in Google Ads for contractors. On paper, a Facebook lead costs less than half as much. The Facebook numbers have no trade breakdown, so there's no roofing or plumbing figure to set beside Google's.
Why the cheaper lead isn't the cheaper job
A Facebook lead form fills itself in. Meta says the form "uses information people already shared with Facebook," and its default form type is built "to generate a larger number of leads." Someone can send you their name and number in seconds, between videos, without really meaning to hire anyone this month. That makes the lead cheap. It doesn't make it a job.
One contractor-marketing writer, at Tradespeopleonline, found Facebook lead ads "produced inferior quality leads" because "it was too easy for people to become a lead." That's one account, not data, and the same writer later called Messenger ads, which open a chat instead of a form, "a game-changer for home improvement Facebook ads." Nobody we read has published how often Facebook leads book compared with search leads, so the only number that settles it is yours.
The napkin math: cost per booked job
Your close rate is the share of leads you actually book. Cost per booked job is your cost per lead divided by your close rate. Here it is at both medians, with example close rates:
| If You Book | Facebook, $42.95 a Lead | Search Ads, $90.92 a Lead |
|---|---|---|
| 1 in 3 leads | $128.85 per booked job | $272.76 per booked job |
| 1 in 5 leads | $214.75 per booked job | $454.60 per booked job |
| 1 in 8 leads | $343.60 per booked job | $727.36 per booked job |
| 1 in 10 leads | $429.50 per booked job | $909.20 per booked job |
The comparison that matters runs across rows. If you book 1 in 3 of your search leads but only 1 in 8 from Facebook, the search job costs $272.76 and the Facebook job costs $343.60. The cheaper lead just became the more expensive job.
The break-even is simple: $42.95 is about half of $90.92. If your Facebook leads book at least half as often as your search leads, Facebook is holding its own. At 1 in 3 on search, Facebook matches when about 16% of its leads book, roughly 1 in 6.
The two medians come from different samples, different years and different lead definitions. What makes the math real is a list of every lead, call or form, with where it came from and whether it booked. For calls, here's how to track phone calls from your website.
When Facebook ads can work for a contractor
You have an offer worth stopping for
On Facebook, nobody asked for you. The ad has to earn the stop with an offer that makes sense this week: a fall furnace tune-up, a spring cleanup, a free roof check after a storm. Webrunner Media's guide puts it strongest: "Nothing is more important to the success of your Facebook Ads than your offer." "Quality work since 1998" won't stop anyone's thumb.
You already have good photos or video of your work
Creative is the photos, video and words an ad is made from, and on Facebook it does most of the work. A clear before and after of a job you finished last month beats any stock picture. If you already have those on your phone, you have what a Facebook ad needs. If you don't, that's a reason to start on Google, where the searcher brings the interest and the ad can be words.
You have a seasonal push to make
Some work people don't search for until it breaks. The Tradespeopleonline writer turned to Facebook when seasonal search dropped off, when "the searchers go away." A reminder before the season, with a clear offer and a photo of your crew on a real job, is the kind of ad Facebook is built for.
You want to reach people who already visited your website
Retargeting means showing ads to people who have already been on your website. Meta lets you build that audience from "users who visited or took specific actions on your website using Meta Pixel," and says "The longest duration can be set for 365 days." Someone who read your roof replacement page in March and didn't call is a far warmer audience than a stranger.
Some ads come with targeting limits. Meta defines a housing ad as one that "promotes or directly links to a housing opportunity or related service," and its list includes financing options but doesn't mention home repair either way. Meta says its list isn't complete, so if your ad promotes financing, check whether Meta requires a Special Ad Category for it. If your ad falls in a Special Ad Category like housing, Meta limits the targeting: ages generally fixed at 18 to 65+, no choice of gender, no ZIP code targeting and a minimum 15-mile radius in the US.
When Google should get the first dollar
- The work is urgent. Leaks, no heat, no AC, a dead garage door: people search, they don't wait for an ad.
- You have no photos or video. Search ads can be words. Facebook ads mostly can't.
- Your website doesn't turn clicks into calls. Both channels send people to it, so fix it first. Start with calls to action that get contractors calls.
- You can't tell which calls came from where. Without that list, cost per booked job is a guess.
- Your job is small. A $150 job needs about 29% of Facebook leads to book just to cover their ad spend ($42.95 divided by $150), and about 61% of search leads ($90.92 divided by $150).
And none of it helps if the schedule is already full. More leads only help if you can handle more work.
How we handle Facebook ads
Our ads work is built on Google, because it reaches people who are already searching for what you do. We run Facebook and Instagram ads on Acquisition only when you bring usable creative: the photos or video the ads are built from. We don't shoot, edit or design ads, and we don't post on your Facebook page. Whatever you spend goes straight to the platform, never through us.
Where to start
If people can't find you on Google without paying, start there: that's what Foundation is for. If the phone rings from search and your crews have room, Acquisition puts Google Ads on top, and Facebook too when you have the photos to run. Either way, judge every dollar by the jobs it books.
SEO vs Google Ads weighs the two if your budget is smaller, and Nextdoor for contractors splits Nextdoor's free page from its ads.
People also ask
How much should a contractor spend on Facebook ads?
Start from what a lead costs, not from a daily number someone quotes. At WordStream by LocaliQ's 2026 median of $42.95 for a home and home improvement lead, $500 a month buys about 11 or 12 leads. Then track how many of those book: that tells you whether to spend more, less, or nothing.
Should contractors use Facebook ads to send people to a website or collect leads directly?
Both work, and they trade volume for intent. Meta's default lead form is built "to generate a larger number of leads", and its Higher intent option adds a review screen to screen out people who are "only marginally interested". A visit to your website takes more effort but shows your work and your reviews first. Whichever you pick, mark each lead booked or not, and let the booked jobs decide.
What's the most common reason contractor Facebook ads fail?
In our view, no reason to stop scrolling. Webrunner Media's guide says "Nothing is more important to the success of your Facebook Ads than your offer." Close behind: pictures that don't show real work, leads nobody calls back quickly, and judging the ads by leads instead of booked jobs.
Are Facebook ads worth it for roofers?
They can be worth testing, with strong photos and a clear offer, and roofers have more reason to test than most. LocaliQ's 2025 search ad benchmarks, from Google and Microsoft campaigns, put a roofing and gutters lead at a typical $228.15, the highest of any trade in the report. The Facebook benchmarks we read have no roofing figure, so the only way to know is to run a small test and count the jobs it books.
What should contractors do after getting Facebook ad leads?
Call them back fast, while they still remember filling the form. Then log each one: where it came from, whether it booked, and what the job was worth. That list is how you work out cost per booked job and whether the ads are paying for themselves.
Sources
- WordStream by LocaliQ, Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2026 (updated 14 September 2026), read 30 September 2026.
- LocaliQ, Facebook Advertising Benchmarks for 2026, read 30 September 2026.
- LocaliQ, 2025 Search Ad Benchmarks for Home Services, read 30 September 2026.
- Google Ads, How To Set Up Your First Google Ads Campaign, read 30 September 2026.
- Meta for Business, read 30 September 2026.
- Meta for Developers, Lead Ads, read 30 September 2026.
- Meta Business Help Center, About instant form types, read 30 September 2026.
- Meta for Developers, Website Custom Audiences, read 30 September 2026.
- Meta Business Help Center, How to choose a Special Ad Category, read 30 September 2026.
- Meta Business Help Center, About ads for housing, read 30 September 2026.
- Meta for Developers, Special Ad Categories, read 30 September 2026.
- Tradespeopleonline, Facebook Ads for Contractors, read 30 September 2026.
- Webrunner Media, Facebook Advertising for Contractors, read 30 September 2026.
Keep Reading
Stage 2: Acquisition Google Ads for Contractors: What It Costs, and Is It Worth It? What a search lead costs in your trade, and how to judge ads by booked jobs. 12 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation How to Track Phone Calls From Your Website Know which of your calls came from which ad. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Website CTAs That Get Contractors More Calls Every ad lands on a page that has to turn the click into a call. 7 min read · Read the Guide →