How to Run Facebook Ads for a Service Business

Quick Answer

To run Facebook ads for a service business, use the Leads objective with an instant form (not a landing page) for low-ticket local services, and the Conversions objective with a calendar booking landing page for high-ticket services. Target by location radius, age, and one or two interests max. Budget $30-50/day to start, expect $15-40 per qualified lead.

Service business ads are different

Service businesses don't sell impulsively. People research, compare, hesitate, and need trust signals before they fill out a form or book a call. Your ads need to do three jobs: get noticed, build credibility in 5 seconds, and lower the friction of contact.

Two campaign structures, pick by ticket size

Service ticket size	Funnel	Objective	Form type
Under $500 (cleaning, lawn, repairs)	Direct	Leads (instant form)	Native Meta lead form
$500-$5,000 (consulting, coaching, dental)	2-step	Conversions	Booking page (Calendly, etc.)
$5,000+ (legal, agencies, B2B services)	3-step	Traffic to lead magnet, then retarget	Long-form landing page + nurture

Targeting that actually works

Stop targeting by interest only. Stack three filters:

Location radius (5-25 miles for local, country-wide for remote services)
Age band (most service businesses convert best at 35-65)
One job title or behaviour for B2B, one interest for B2C

Avoid detailed targeting that's narrower than 100k people. Facebook needs room to learn.

Lead form template

Headline: Get a Free [Service] Quote in 30 Seconds
Description: We'll text you a price within 1 business hour. No call required.

Questions:
1. What's your postcode? (auto-fill)
2. What service do you need? (multiple choice)
3. When do you need it? (this week / this month / just looking)
4. Mobile number (auto-fill)
5. Email (auto-fill)

Custom disclaimer: By submitting, you agree to receive a text from [Business] about your quote.
Privacy policy URL: [yours]

Thank you screen:
"Got it. Expect a text within the hour. Save our number: [phone]."
CTA: Save number to contacts

Creative angles for services

Three angles to test:

Result-led ("Booked solid for the next 3 weeks. Here's why.")
Trust-led ("17 years, 2,400 customers, zero complaints")
Offer-led ("£99 first visit, no obligation")

Use a face on camera or a finished-job photo. Stock photos kill performance. A 15-second phone video of you talking to camera outperforms a paid videographer most of the time.

Budget guide

Service type	Daily budget	Expected CPL	Time to results
Local trades	$20-50	$8-25	5-7 days
Health and wellness	$30-75	$15-40	7-10 days
Coaching and consulting	$50-100	$25-75	10-14 days
B2B services	$75-200	$40-150	14-30 days

Lead quality matters more than volume

The biggest mistake service businesses make is celebrating cheap leads that never close. Track lead-to-booking, not just cost per lead. If your CPL is $10 but only 1 in 20 books, your real CAC is $200. A $40 CPL that books 1 in 4 gives you a $160 CAC and is the better number.

Follow-up wins more than the ad

Speed-to-contact is the highest-leverage thing you control. Leads contacted within 5 minutes book at 7x the rate of leads contacted in 30 minutes. Use Zapier or a CRM to auto-text every lead the second the form submits, before you do anything else.

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