How much should a landscaper spend on Facebook ads?

Step 1: what a lead is worth to you

Three numbers decide it: what a job is worth, the share of that you keep after costs, and how many of your leads become paying work. Multiply them and you get the most you can pay for a lead and still break even.

Pay less than that per lead and your ads make money; pay more and they lose it, however busy the phone is. There’s more on this in what a lead is worth.

Step 2: what leads cost

In the US, the median Facebook cost per lead for home and home improvement businesses is about US$41, against about US$28 across all industries¹. Leads are getting dearer too: the average cost per lead rose about 21% in a year².

Your own cost depends on your area, your offer and your ads. This example uses $45 a lead. Once your ads have run for a few weeks, use your real figure from Ads Manager.

Step 3: budget for the jobs you want

Start from the work you want, not from a number that feels safe. Divide the jobs you want each month by your close rate to get the leads you need, then multiply by what a lead costs.

If the last line comes out small or negative with your own numbers, more ad spend won’t fix it. Lift the value of each job, your close rate or your margin first, or aim the ads at the jobs worth more.

Step 4: how much to start with

A brand-new campaign needs enough results to tell a good ad from a bad one. Meta has long described about 50 results in 7 days as the point an ad set leaves its learning phase, though some accounts have been shown lower bars³. Most small businesses can’t afford 50 leads a week, so aim for 10–20 leads across the first two weeks instead.

At $45 a lead, that’s about $32–$64 a day. Run two or three ads, judge them on the jobs they bring, then move budget to the winners a step at a time.

The jobs worth advertising

Landscaping mixes small maintenance jobs with big design-and-build projects. They need different ads, different budgets and different patience. Regular maintenance clients are also worth far more than their first visit.

• Garden makeovers and full landscaping: big projects that need photos and trust.
• Regular mowing and maintenance: smaller jobs that turn into steady income.
• Retaining walls, paving and turf: mid-sized jobs people often search for by name.
• Tree and hedge work: seasonal, often urgent.

Ad ideas for landscapers and gardeners

• A drone or time-lapse video of a backyard transformation.
• A regular maintenance offer for a set suburb or route, so travel stays efficient.
• A spring makeover campaign that starts before the rush, when people begin planning.

When to spend more, and less

Spring and early summer bring the biggest rush, and planning starts weeks before. Run ads ahead of the season and pull back when the diary is full.

Mistakes that waste budget

Same ad for makeovers and mowing

A makeover lead and a mowing lead are worth very different amounts. Separate them so each is judged against its own value.

Starting ads when the rush has already begun

By the time everyone wants a garden fixed, every landscaper is advertising. Start before the season to catch people while they’re planning.

Changing everything every day

Big edits to budgets, audiences or ads send an ad set back into learning, and results wobble while it relearns. Make fewer, bigger changes and give them a few days.

Spreading a small budget over too many ads

Ten ads on $45 a day means none of them gets enough leads to judge. Fewer ads, each with a fair share of the budget, tell you more, faster.

Agency or do it yourself?

Agencies commonly charge $500–5,000 a month, or 10–20% of ad spend, on top of the ads themselves⁴⁵. On a $2,250 budget, that fee can be a big share of what you spend reaching customers. A good agency can earn it; if you mainly need someone watching the numbers and telling you what to change, you may not need one. See the signs your agency isn’t worth it.

Questions