Facebook ads for tradies: a simple guide

Why they suit trades

• People see your work before they need you
• You choose the suburbs you want jobs in
• Real videos of real jobs build trust
• Good for steady work. Google ads often suit urgent jobs.

Boosting isn't the same thing

The Boost button is quick, but it gives you fewer choices. A proper campaign in Meta's Ads Manager lets you pick your goal and area, test different videos and see what each lead costs.

What a good tradie ad has

• A real video of you or your crew, not stock
• One job type per ad
• Something interesting in the first second
• The areas you cover, named
• Captions, for people watching on mute
• One next step: call, message or form

Set it up in 6 steps

1. Pick one job you want more of
2. Set your area. Only suburbs you'd actually drive to.
3. Choose a leads or messages goal, not clicks or likes
4. Make 2 or 3 ads with different videos
5. Ask 1 or 2 questions on the form, like suburb and job type
6. Reply fast. Slow replies waste leads.

Common mistakes

• Boosting a random post
• Targeting the whole state
• Using stock photos
• Changing everything after two days
• Not counting how many leads became jobs

How to tell if it's working

• What each lead costs
• How many leads became quotes
• How many quotes became jobs
• What you earned compared with what you spent

Likes don't pay the bills. Give it about 4 weeks before you judge it, because small budgets swing a lot from week to week.

Need videos for your ads? Try our 30 video ideas for tradies. Want it done for you? See Facebook and Instagram ads and tradie marketing.

General advice for trade businesses, November 2026. Results vary by trade, area and budget.