How do Facebook ads for contractors work?
Facebook ads for contractors are service-area ads. Start from your shop address or a pin, set a radius that matches how far your crews drive, and keep it tight enough that each lead is a job you would take. Meta does not publish one fixed minimum radius: it says the minimum and maximum vary by location type, a radius cannot be drawn around a ZIP code, and location targeting is never fully exact, so some leads will come from outside your area. Then choose how people reach you: an instant form, which can ask the project type but never insurance or income details, or a click-to-call ad for urgent repairs. Show real jobs with before-and-after photos, since Meta’s before-and-after limits sit in its health and appearance policy. And if the ad promotes financing, such as 0% installments, Meta treats it as a financial product in the US, with restricted targeting.
This page describes public rules. It is not legal advice: check your own situation with a lawyer or your compliance officer.
How big should your service radius be?
In Ads Manager, when you enter a location or drop a pin, Meta picks a radius by default and lets you adjust it with a slider. Meta’s help center sets out the limits:
- the minimum and maximum radius vary by location type, and a radius never extends into another country;
- a radius is not possible around ZIP or postal codes, states, regions or countries: the whole area is included;
- for a city, you can choose Current city only to stay inside its limits;
- complete accuracy is not guaranteed, so you may get impressions, messages or leads from outside your settings.
Draw the radius from where your crews start the day, not from the downtown of the nearest big city, and add each town you serve as its own location rather than one wide circle.
Should you ask for a form or a call?
It depends on the job. Planned projects, such as a kitchen or a deck, leave time for a form and a quote visit. Urgent repairs, such as a roof leak, want a phone call now. The table compares the contact paths you can set up on Meta.
| Contact path | Suits | What you get | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instant form, more volume | Planned projects | Name, email and phone prefilled by Meta, plus your questions | Call back fast, while the lead remembers you |
| Instant form, higher intent | Larger jobs worth a site visit | The same fields, in the form type Meta offers for intent | Compare both types on cost per booked visit |
| Instant form with an appointment request | Estimates on site | A preferred date and time, Monday to Sunday, 7am to 10pm | Runs in the Facebook app on mobile only |
| Click-to-call ad | Urgent repairs | A live phone call | Someone must pick up while the ad runs |
What can a contractor’s lead form ask?
Ask what helps you quote: the project type, the timeline, the size of the job. Meta bans a few questions that home service businesses are tempted to ask:
- insurance information, including the insurer’s name and policy numbers, which rules out asking a roofing lead for their homeowners insurance company;
- financial information, including income and credit score, which rules out screening for financing on the form;
- custom questions that repeat a prefill question: use Meta’s prefill fields for contact details instead.
Every instant form also needs a link to your privacy policy, and you can add a custom disclaimer, for example on estimates.
How do you plan ads around your busy season?
Many trades follow the weather, and you know your own calendar better than any benchmark. Mark your busy months below: they turn into a rule, written the way you would say it.
In March, April, May and June, allow a higher daily budget cap. Alert me if cost per lead goes over my limit 3 days in a row.
Adwize applies rules you set, and on the Growth and Elite plans it watches them 24/7, then waits for your approval before changing anything. Start by launching one campaign from a sentence, let Adwize flag the ads that drift, and size each season with the Facebook ads cost calculator and the CPM calculator.
Can contractors use before-and-after photos and financing offers?
Before-and-after photos, yes. Meta’s before-and-after limits sit in its Health and Wellness policy, which covers weight loss, cosmetic products and cosmetic procedures, not home projects. A kitchen before and after the remodel is proof of your work: show your own jobs, from the same angle, without retouching the result.
Financing changes the rules. In the US, Meta counts loans, long-term financing and 0% APR installment payments, including in-house installments, as financial products and services. Since January 21, 2025, those ads must use the Financial products and services category, with the same limits as housing ads: no age or gender choice, no ZIP codes, no lookalike audiences.