Facebook Ads for Flooring: Cost per Lead, per Estimate and per Job

Cost per job, not cost per lead

A lot of contractors judge their ads by cost per lead. The better number is cost per job, also called your cost of acquisition. It is what you spend to win one paying customer.

A cheap lead that never books is one of the most expensive leads you can buy. If lots of leads come in and few book, the ads may be reaching the wrong people, or the message and the offer may not match. Fix that first, before you try to make leads cheaper.

So read your ads from the bottom up. Start with what each job cost you, then work back to see which step is leaking: the leads, the booking or the close.

Why start with Meta, then add Google

There are two ways to market a service. You can wait for people to search for it, or you can put it in front of them while they scroll. Alex calls the second one pattern interrupt marketing.

Most homeowners are not searching for a recoat. They do not know it exists. So at the start, waiting for them to search on Google does not get you far. Meta ads put the floor in front of them. Someone scrolling sees a beautiful floor, then looks down at their own worn one. A good video with before and after shots and a clear offer does the teaching.

Google still has a job. It catches people already searching for hardwood floor refinishing. Those people know what they want and may close at a higher rate, but each one costs more to reach. Meta creates the demand. Google catches it.

The two need different messages. A Meta viewer is cold. They have not thought about their floor yet, so the ad has to show them the problem and the fix. A Google searcher already knows what they want, so the ad just has to show you are the right company to call.

• How FloorIt writes the homeowner ads

What a lead costs

A lead is a homeowner who gives you their name, phone number and email so you can contact them. With good ads, the video puts the cost at about $30 to $50 a lead for this kind of service.

Weak ads can push that to $80, $100 or even $150 a lead. If you are well above $50, the ads need work: the video, the hook, the offer or who the ads are shown to.

From lead to booked estimate

The goal is to book at least half of your leads into an estimate, also called a booked inspection. That depends on speed. Call new leads right away, while they still remember filling out the form, follow the call scripts and handle the common objections.

Not every lead will book, and that is normal. FloorIt runs a buff and recoat model, and not every wood floor can be recoated. Some have gouges that are too deep, pet stains or other damage, so some leads drop out on the call. Asking for photos early saves you a wasted drive.

If you book about half your leads, each booked estimate costs about $60 to $100. If that number climbs, look at the calling first: how fast you reach new leads and how well you qualify them on the phone.

• How to follow up with leads until they book

From estimate to job: your close rate

The video uses a 30% close rate as the example, meaning you win about 3 of every 10 estimates. At that rate, each job costs about $200 to $330 to win. That is your cost of acquisition.

Your close rate moves that number the most. Close 20% of your estimates and the cost per job goes up, because you need more estimates to win each job. Close 30% and it sits around $250 to $300. Close 40% and it goes down.

That is why getting good at qualifying leads and selling at the estimate matters more than shaving a few dollars off each lead. Show up on time, walk the floor with the homeowner, set clear expectations about what a recoat can and cannot fix, and give a simple quote.

An example month

The video's example starts at $100 a day, which is about $3,000 a month. That is where FloorIt usually suggests people start. It brings about 75 leads at about $40 each, and about 37 booked estimates. Some cancel, so call it about 30. At a 30% close rate, that is about 10 jobs, or about $300 in ads for each job. This is an illustration, not a guarantee.

The point of the example is the method, not the result. Once you know your own cost per lead, booking rate and close rate, you can see what each job costs you and decide whether to spend more. If you understand the math, you can scale it.

What a job is worth after ads

Recoats are usually priced at about $1.50 to $3 a square foot. The video uses an average job of about $2,500 that takes about 3 hours. Material runs about $200 to $500 depending on size, with about $375 as the typical figure.

FloorIt's one-job example on this site puts it this way: a $2,499 job, minus $236 of finish, $40 of buffer rental and $250 of marketing to win the job, leaves about $1,973 before your labor and taxes. That is an example, not a promise.

You can also make each job worth more. Offer to move the furniture for an extra $150 to $200, or ask the homeowner to clear the room before you come. Add the hallway, the stairs or the closet while you are already in the home, without overcharging the homeowner. The more of the home you cover, the more even it looks.

• The full one-job math

Referrals and $0 first jobs

If a job costs you $300 to win and that customer sends you one referral, the referral cost you nothing. Your cost per job just dropped by half. So at every job, ask: do you know anyone in your neighborhood, your family or your community with hardwood floors? Ask for their name and whether they would be OK with an introduction.

Your first jobs can cost $0 to win. Post in local Facebook groups. Ask the people you know, from family and friends to your church or community, if they have wood floors.

If you already run a company, send one text to your customer list: do you have wood floors in your home? The ones who say yes send a photo, you check that the floor qualifies, and you book the estimate. They already know you, so it is an easy yes. FloorIt calls this the quick cash play.

The numbers to benchmark against

• Cost per lead: about $30 to $50
• Cost per booked estimate: about $60 to $100
• Cost to win a job: about $200 to $330
• Average job: about $2,500
• Material per job: about $375
• Jobs from people you already know: $0

These are the numbers to bring to every review of your marketing. If cost per lead runs high, the ads need work. If cost per booked estimate runs high, look at how fast you call and how you qualify. If cost per job runs high, look at the estimate. Your market, your pricing and your follow-up move every one of them.

Common questions

How much do Facebook ads cost per lead for a floor business? The ranges in the video are about $30 to $50 per lead with good ads. Weak ads can run $80 to $150 a lead.

How much does it cost to win a floor job with Meta ads? About $200 to $330 per job won in the video, from about $30 to $50 per lead and $60 to $100 per booked estimate, at a 30% close rate. Your market, pricing and follow-up move every number.

Should a floor business start with Meta ads or Google ads? Meta first. Most homeowners do not know a recoat exists, so they are not searching for one. Meta puts it in front of them, and Google catches the people who already search.

How can a floor job cost $0 to win? Ask people you know, post in local Facebook groups or text your existing customers to ask who has wood floors. A referral from a past job works the same way.