Which Paid Ads Should a Home Service Business Use? Match the Ad to How Your Customer Buys

I spend $3,000 to $4,000 a month on Google Ads for my own door company. And I tell some business owners not to run Google Ads at all.

Not because Google doesn't work. Because the right ad depends on one question.

Which paid ad platform is best for a home service business?

That's the wrong question. The right one is: how does your customer buy?

Not which platform your buddy uses. Not which one an agency is selling. How does your customer actually decide to call someone?

There are basically two ways.

Urgent. Something broke. The door won't close, the AC quit, there's water on the floor. That person isn't scrolling Facebook thinking about it. They grab their phone and search, today.

Considered. Nothing's broken. They're thinking about a new bathroom, a patio, a deck, a remodel. The decision might take weeks or months. And a lot of these people aren't searching at all yet, because nobody has shown them what's possible.

Those two buyers need completely different ads.

Why Google works for urgent home services

When a door breaks, people search. The demand already exists. My job isn't to convince anybody they need a door fixed. My job is to be there when they look.

Google does that better than anything else. You show up at the exact moment someone is looking for you. For my door company, that works out to about $35 to $40 a lead over time.

Inside Google, there are two main options.

Google Search Ads. You pick the searches you want to show up for, write the ad, and pay per click. You get a lot of control. But you can waste a lot of money fast if the account isn't set up right.

Local Services Ads. These are the ads at the very top of the results with the Google Verified badge. You pay per lead instead of per click, and you have to pass Google's screening. You get much less control, but for a lot of home service businesses, they're the cheapest leads on Google.

Most urgent-service businesses should look at both. For a side-by-side breakdown, see Local Services Ads vs. Google Ads.

Where Google is weak

Google can only show your ad to people who are already searching. If nobody is searching for what you sell, Google has nothing to show your ad to.

You can't create demand on Google. You can only catch it.

That's the problem with the considered buyer. Most people with an ugly bathroom aren't searching for a remodel today. A small number do every month. The rest have just been living with it. Somebody has to show them what it could look like, and roughly what it costs, before they start looking.

Facebook and YouTube ads for considered purchases

Facebook ads let you put your work in front of people in your area who fit your customer. Before and after pictures, a quick video, a testimonial, an offer. The leads are often cheaper than Google, but they're colder. These people weren't looking for you, so your follow-up has to be fast and has to happen more than once. More on that in do Facebook ads work for home services.

YouTube ads are the underrated option. Most home service companies aren't running them at all. YouTube ads run through Google, so you can target people in a lot of ways, and you get far more room than Facebook to make your case. A video can show the work, the price range, and why someone should trust you. For bigger jobs where people need to see it before they buy, that's powerful. I've run YouTube ads for a remodeling company that worked very well, and I've seen ad videos four minutes long convert.

Pinterest and other visual platforms can fit here too, depending on the trade.

What is retargeting and when should you use it?

Someone saw your ad, maybe visited your site, and didn't call. Retargeting keeps showing them your ads for a while afterward. Facebook is good at this.

For big-ticket jobs with a long decision, retargeting is how you stay in front of someone until they're ready. Honestly, most businesses should be doing it regardless of trade. My door company runs on Google, but we still use Facebook for retargeting.

The simple version

That's why I spend my door company's money on Google and not on Facebook, except for retargeting. Facebook works. People just don't buy door repair that way.

What matters more than which platform you pick

Every one of these ads costs money per lead. If the call goes to voicemail, or nobody calls back for two days, it doesn't matter which platform you chose. You're paying for leads that leak out the back.

So before you turn on any ads, or turn them up, find out what's happening to the leads you already get. If you're not sure whether your results problem is the marketing or what happens after the lead, start with is it your marketing agency or your sales process. And when you're ready to set a number, see how much to spend on ads.

If you'd rather have someone set this up for you, see how we handle lead generation for home service businesses.

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