Facebook ads

What Facebook ads are good for in a small business

Facebook ads put your offer in front of people who match your customers before they start searching. For a small business that works best in three situations: a service people buy every few months (cleaning, grooming, lawn care), an offer with a clear hook (first visit price, free estimate, seasonal special), and anything people buy on impulse once they see it. Facebook is also strong at reaching homeowners and parents over 35, which is exactly who many local businesses sell to.

It works less well for emergencies and for very technical B2B services. In those cases I'll point you toward Google Ads or LinkedIn and use Facebook only for remarketing. If you can't decide, my comparison of Google Ads and Facebook ads helps.

Targeting in 2026: broader than you think

Five years ago, Facebook advertising was about picking the perfect interests. Today Meta's algorithm does most of the finding, as long as two things are true: it gets clean signals about who converted, and the audience is big enough to explore. For most of my clients that means a service-area radius, an age floor where it makes sense, and few or no interests. The ad itself does the targeting: a headline that speaks to "homeowners in Tampa with an older roof" attracts that person and quietly repels everyone else.

Narrow targeting still has its place in remarketing, customer lists and the occasional niche. But if your ads deliver unevenly and cost more every week, an over-narrowed audience is one of the first things I check.

Offers that move people

A Facebook ad competes with friends' photos and news, so it needs a reason to stop and a reason to act. Some offers that tend to work for service businesses:

• a fixed starting price ("Gutter cleaning from $X, most homes done in an afternoon"),
• a free estimate with a clear time frame,
• a seasonal check (AC tune-up before summer, furnace check before the first cold snap in the Midwest),
• a limited number of slots ("8 openings for November"), stated only when it's true.

Honest pricing matters in the US too. If you advertise a price, the customer should be able to get it; hidden fees added later frustrate people and can create legal trouble in some states.

Where the lead lands

Instant forms inside Facebook bring the most leads for the lowest cost, and the lowest average quality. A landing page brings fewer, warmer leads. Messenger or a call button works for people who prefer to ask first. I choose based on how quickly you can call back and how qualified the lead must be. For forms I add one or two qualifying questions, and I connect them to your email or CRM so nothing sits unanswered over the weekend. More on that on the lead generation ads page.

Facebook ads in different US cities

Advertising a roofer in Phoenix and a roofer in Chicago looks different: seasons, housing stock, competition and even the time of day people respond. I've written separate city pages, for example Facebook ads in Dallas and Facebook ads in Denver, on how campaigns play out there. I work remotely with businesses anywhere in the US; my North American clients so far are in Canada.

What working together looks like

You get a written agreement, the account stays in your name, and I'm your only contact. I set up the campaign, you approve every ad, and then I manage it weekly with a report every two weeks. Management has no minimum term. The full fee list is on the advertising pricing page.