How to Advertise Cleaning Services on Facebook

Facebook ads can be a pipeline for new clients for your cleaning service, but only if you have a clear strategy. Navigating the Ads Manager feels complicated, but the core principles for success are straightforward. This guide demystifies the process, walking you through setting up effective campaigns, from pinpointing your ideal audience to creating ads that bring in local customers.

Choose the Right Campaign Goal for Your Cleaning Business

Before you even think about pictures or ad copy, you have to tell Facebook what you want to achieve. This is called the "Campaign Objective," and it's the most important setting you'll choose. It dictates how Facebook finds people for you and what it optimizes for. For a cleaning service, a few objectives work best.

1. Lead Generation

The Lead Generation objective is often the most effective starting point. Instead of sending people to your website, it opens a pre-filled form right inside Facebook. A user can submit their name, email, and phone number with just a couple of clicks.

• Why it works: It removes friction. Potential customers don't have to leave the app they're already on, making them far more likely to share their information.
• Best for: Quickly building a list of warm leads that you can call or email to provide a custom quote. It’s perfect for residential cleaning, move-out cleaning, and commercial B2B services.

2. Messages

The Messages objective encourages users to start a conversation with your business page via Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, or WhatsApp. The ad's call to action will literally be "Send Message."

• Why it works: It feels casual and immediate. Someone interested in your services can ask for a quick quote or check your availability without the formality of filling out a form or making a call.
• Best for: Residential services where customers often have questions about pricing, scheduling, and specific needs. It's a lower-commitment way for them to initiate contact.

3. Traffic (Use with a Plan)

The Traffic objective is designed to send people to your website or a specific landing page. While this seems straightforward, it can be less effective than Lead Generation or Messages if your website isn't optimized for immediate conversions.

• Why to be cautious: Every extra click is a chance for a potential customer to lose interest. If your website is slow, confusing, or just informational, you may pay for clicks that don't turn into leads.
• When to use it: Use Traffic only if you have a dedicated, high-converting landing page with a dead-simple booking or quote request form that’s mobile-friendly.

Find Your Ideal Customers with Precise Targeting

Once you’ve set your goal, it’s time to tell Facebook who should see your ads. The beauty of Facebook ads is the ability to target very specific groups of people in the exact service areas you cover. Don't waste money showing your ads to people who live too far away.

Master Local Targeting

This is your most powerful tool. You can target people based on where they live down to the zip code or even a radius around a certain point.

• By ZIP Code/Postal Code: The most precise method. Enter the list of all zip codes your company services. This is a foolproof way to ensure you're only reaching relevant households.
• By Radius Targeting: Enter your business address and target everyone within a specific radius, like 10 or 15 miles. You can adjust the radius depending on how far your teams travel.
• Exclude Locations: Just as important is using the "Exclude" function. If there's a neighboring city or area you don't service, add it to your exclusions to avoid wasted spending.

Layer on Demographics and Behaviors

After setting your location, you can refine your audience even more. Think about who your ideal customer is.

• Age: Are your customers typically between 30 and 65? Set an appropriate age range to focus your budget.
• Homeownership: In Detailed Targeting, look for demographics like "Homeowners." This helps filter out renters who may be less likely to hire a recurring cleaning service (unless you specialize in apartment cleaning).
• Behaviors for Specific Services: Are you promoting move-in/move-out cleans? Search for behaviors like "Likely to move." Facebook identifies these users based on their online activity.
• Interests for Niches: If you specialize in high-end homes, you could layer interests related to luxury brands or publications. If you target busy families, consider interests like parenting blogs or family-focused activities. Start broad and only add these highly specific interests if your audience is very large.

Pro-Tip: A great starting audience for a residential cleaning company is often simple: Location + Homeowners + Age 30-55. Don't overcomplicate it from the start.

Create Ad Content That Actually Converts

Your targeting can be perfect, but if your ad itself is boring or unclear, no one will act. For cleaning services, visuals and trust-building copy are everything.

Visuals That Stop the Scroll

People browse Facebook visually. Your image or video needs to be compelling enough to make them pause. Generic stock photos won't cut it.

• The Power of Before-and-After: This is the gold standard for any transformation-based service. Short videos showing a transition from messy to clean are incredibly effective for Reels and Stories placements. Even a split-screen photo can work wonders.
• Satisfying Cleaning Videos: Think short, attention-grabbing clips of pressure washing, carpet cleaning lines, or a squeegee across a window. This type of "oddly satisfying" content performs very well and demonstrates the quality of your work.
• Show Your Team: A photo of your uniformed, smiling team helps build immediate trust. It puts a human face to your brand, making people more comfortable with the idea of having you in their homes.
• Video Testimonials Over Text: A 15-second video of a happy customer raving about your service is ten times more powerful than a text-based review. Ask your most loyal clients if they’d be willing to record a short clip on their phone.

Writing Ad Copy That Sells

Your ad copy should be clear, direct, and focused on the customer. Follow this simple framework:

1. The Hook: Start with a question or statement that addresses a pain point. Examples: "Reclaim your weekends from cleaning." or "Moving out? Let us handle the final clean."
2. The Solution & Offer: Clearly state what you do and what you're offering. Examples: "We provide top-rated deep cleaning services for busy homeowners in [City Name]." combined with "Book this week and get 20% off your first service!"
3. Why They Should Trust You: Add a line that builds confidence. Examples: "Fully licensed, bonded, and insured." or "We use 100% eco-friendly products safe for kids & pets."
4. The Call to Action (CTA): Tell them exactly what to do next. It should match your campaign objective. Examples: "Tap 'Get Quote' to get your free estimate in minutes," or "Click 'Send Message' to ask about our availability."

Smart Budgeting and Scheduling

You don't need a massive budget to see results. What you need is a smart plan to test and learn.

• Start Small: You can start with a daily budget as low as $10 or $20. This is enough to gather data on what's working without too much risk. You can always increase the budget on winning ad campaigns later.
• Run A/B Tests: Never rely on just one ad. Create two or three versions of your ad in the same ad set. Use the same copy but change the visual (e.g., a photo of your team vs. a before-and-after video). Facebook will automatically show the better-performing ad more often, and you'll learn what your audience responds to.
• Use Ad Scheduling: If you're running a "Messages" campaign and you can't respond at 10 PM on a Saturday, consider setting your ads to only run during your business hours. A prompt reply to an inquiry is essential for closing the deal.

Support Your Ads with a Strong Organic Page

When someone sees your ad, what’s their next move? They often click on your company’s name to check out your Facebook page. If they find an empty, inactive page, their trust plummets. Your paid ads become more effective when they're supported by consistent, organic content that proves you’re a legitimate, active business.

Think of your organic posts as trust-builders. Show off your work, introduce a "Technician of the Month," share cleaning tips, and post about your involvement in the local community. This activity reassures potential customers who discover you through an ad that you're a real, professional operation worth hiring.

Final Thoughts

Advertising a cleaning business on Facebook is a learnable skill that comes down to a few core things: choosing the right objective, targeting local homeowners, using trust-building images and video, and crafting a clear offer. Pair that with a consistent organic presence, and you'll create a powerful system for attracting regular, high-quality clients in your service area.

Keeping that organic social media page alive with day-to-day content - like satisfying cleaning videos, team highlights, and customer reviews - can be a huge chore when you’re already busy with ads and running the business. After years of running marketing teams, we created Postbase to solve this exact problem. Our platform makes it simple to plan and schedule all that trust-building content across your social media profiles from one visual calendar, so your organic page is always working to support your paid campaigns, effortlessly.