Social Media for Tradesmen: Complete Guide [2025]

Why Should Tradespeople Use Social Media?

Here are some of the main reasons to use social media to your advantage:

• Generate more exposure. According to the 2023 Global Overview Report, over 50% of social media users use Facebook and Instagram to follow or research brands and products. A strong social media presence helps increase your trade business’s visibility and build credibility.

• Connect with potential customers. Engaging posts, project photos, and customer interactions make your business more relatable. Customer shares and recommendations act as modern word-of-mouth referrals, helping you reach potential clients effortlessly.

• Gain a competitive advantage. Many trade businesses already use social media to attract leads, but if you invest in strong branding and consistently engage your audience, you’ll stand out even more. A well-crafted social media strategy can turn online interactions into real jobs and long-term customers.

Next, let’s look into the top-performing social media platforms.

What Are the Best Social Media Platforms for Tradesmen?

Choosing the right social media platform for your home services marketing can significantly impact lead generation and business growth.

Here’s a breakdown of the most effective social media channels for tradespeople.

Facebook

Facebook remains a top choice for tradesmen looking to engage with local communities and attract new customers.

This platform lets you create a professional Business Page, join industry-related groups, and even list services on Facebook Marketplace. Paid Facebook ads are also a powerful way to target local businesses and homeowners. 

The 2024 HubSpot State of Marketing Report concluded that  Facebook ranked as the most popular platform among marketers in 2023, offering a better return on investment than any other social network.

Instagram

Instagram is a must for plumbers, electricians, and other tradespeople who want to showcase their work using visual content. 

Posting high-quality images or short videos of completed projects and behind-the-scenes work attracts potential customers. Features like Stories and Reels help your business stay visible, while Instagram Shopping enables you to sell services or products inside the app. 

Even though Instagram has fewer users than Facebook, Instagram posts generate 23% more engagement, according to the same 2024 HubSpot report.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is well-suited for commercial contractors looking to build trust and professional credibility. 

This business-focused social media platform offers extensive networking and knowledge sharing opportunities, helping your trades business grow. 

With over a billion members in 200+ countries, LinkedIn enables you to connect with industry leaders, peers, suppliers, and business clients worldwide.

TikTok

TikTok is becoming a go-to platform for tradesmen wanting to reach younger audiences. 

The 2023 Global Overview Report shows the average age of TikTok users is between 25 and 34 years old.

Short videos featuring quick DIY tips, tool reviews, or time-lapse project progress can engage potential customers and build a following. TikTok’s viral potential can help your trades business gain visibility.

Nevertheless, TikTok is currently the subject of increased government scrutiny in the U.S., making it a less safe marketing option.

YouTube

YouTube is unbeatable when it comes to using long-form video content in your trades business’s digital marketing.

You can post tutorial videos, step-by-step guides, and project walkthroughs to simplify your complex services and make them more relatable to your target audience.

Since YouTube had the highest number of active users worldwide in 2023, it offers an incredible opportunity to expand your reach and establish authority.

Pinterest

Pinterest is beneficial for construction, residential remodeling, and painting contractors who share project inspiration and design ideas.

Users often browse Pinterest for home improvement ideas, making it an ideal social media channel to showcase your expertise and attract new clients.

What Are the Benefits of Using Social Media for Tradies?

Incorporating social media into your marketing strategy can yield impressive results for your trades business.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these benefits.

1. Increased brand awareness and reach

A strong social media presence allows more potential customers to discover and remember your business.

In fact, according to a 2024 Statista survey, 83% of marketers worldwide consider increased exposure to be the leading benefit of social media marketing.

Regularly posting project updates, engaging with followers, and sharing helpful content keeps your business top of mind.

This increased visibility leads to more inquiries, referrals, and booked jobs.

2. More leads and conversions

Social media offers tradies a direct path to more customers.

You can turn followers into paying clients by sharing valuable and engaging content and actively responding to user comments.

ServiceTitan Scheduling Pro helps you generate even more leads and conversions by allowing users to book services directly from your social media account. (More on this later.)

This feature gives you a major advantage, since 70% of consumers expect to book services online and 94% prefer contractors offering online scheduling, according to a ServiceTitan survey.

3. Showcasing expertise and building credibility

You can build trust with potential clients by posting before-and-after images of job sites, customer testimonials, and business insights.

In other words, social media acts as a portfolio, demonstrating your skills and reliability.

Over time, consistent posting can help you establish yourself as a trustworthy industry expert.

4. Cost-efficiency

Social media offers organic reach and affordable advertising options, especially for small businesses with a limited budget. 

Whether you invest in paid ads to target specific audiences or post regularly without spending a dime, you can still generate leads. 

However, overall costs vary widely depending on the chosen platform, the campaign type, size, and goals, and whether you hire a social media management professional or agency.

While the benefits are clear, tradesmen also face some obstacles when using social media, as you’ll see next.

What Are the Challenges of Using Social Media for Tradesmen?

Social media offers amazing marketing opportunities for tradespeople, but it also comes with some challenges.

You can efficiently overcome these obstacles with the right strategies and tools.

Time commitment and consistency

Building a strong social media presence requires regular posting and engagement. Between managing jobs and running a business, many tradesmen struggle to find time for social media.

Here are some practical tips for staying active without losing hours online:

• Schedule Facebook and Instagram posts in advance using the Meta Business Suite.

• Repurpose content across different social media channels.

• Set aside 10–15 minutes per day to engage with followers.

You can also use the ServiceTitan Field Service Management Software to streamline every aspect of your trades business, including scheduling, dispatching, CRM, job costing, technician tracking, and inventory management.

Using ServiceTitan’s all-in-one business management solution helps to free up more time for social media management. 

Technical knowledge barrier

Understanding how social media algorithms work, using hashtags effectively, and increasing engagement can feel overwhelming. Many tradespeople avoid social media because of this learning curve. 

Fortunately, specialized tools and automation options help simplify the process.

For instance, you can look for tools that allow you to schedule posts across multiple platforms, create professional visuals using pre-existing templates, and analyze performance metrics.

In addition, ServiceTitan Marketing Pro provides automated marketing solutions tailored for the trades, facilitating tasks like email campaigns and customer outreach.

Managing negative feedback

Online reviews and customer comments shape your business’s reputation. While positive feedback builds trust, negative reviews can harm your business if you don’t handle them correctly.

According to a 2025 Brightlocal survey, 89% of consumers expect business owners to respond to all types of reviews.

Build a strong reputation by responding professionally, addressing concerns promptly, and encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews.

ServiceTitan Marketing Pro Reputation simplifies this process by centralizing customer reviews from different online platforms into a single dashboard. (We explore more about this feature later on.)

For more strategies on how to respond to positive and negative online reviews, check out our comprehensive guide.

Now, let’s discover some of the most effective types of social media content you can use.

What Type of Content Should Tradespeople Post on Social Media?

Here are some examples of engaging content on social media:

• Project showcases and transformations. Before-and-after photos and time-lapse videos highlight the impact of quality workmanship. 

For example, if you’re doing social media marketing for an HVAC business, you could post a time-lapse of an old, inefficient HVAC system that your technicians are replacing with a modern, energy-saving unit.

• Customer testimonials and reviews. Sharing real customer feedback builds credibility and reassures potential clients. 

For instance, you could create a short video of one of your customers who had a major leak fixed quickly by your team, reinforcing the reliability and service quality provided by your plumbing business.

• Behind-the-scenes and work-in-progress updates. Giving customers a glimpse into your daily operations makes your trades business more relatable. 

For an electrician business, you might post a behind-the-scenes clip of a field worker rewiring a home while explaining the process in simple terms to educate and engage viewers.

• DIY tips and educational content. Providing helpful advice positions you as an expert in your field. 

If you’re doing social media for a septic service company, you could share a post on “3 Signs Your Septic Tank Needs Pumping,” helping homeowners recognize problems before they become costly repairs.

• Promotions and special offers. Limited-time discounts encourage potential customers to take action. 

For instance, you could promote an HVAC seasonal deal, such as a discounted AC tune-up before summer, to drive bookings and revenue.

Keep reading to uncover the best marketing strategies you can apply for maximum results.

What Are Some Effective Social Media Marketing Strategies for Tradesmen?

Here are some of the most powerful strategies you can use to enhance your commercial or home service company’s social media presence.

Let’s explore them one by one.

Maintain consistency

Posting regularly keeps your business top of mind and signals reliability. 

Aim for at least three weekly posts, mixing project showcases, tips, and customer testimonials. 

For instance, you can post a weekly “Maintenance Monday” tip to educate homeowners on keeping their HVAC systems efficient.

Use hashtags strategically

Hashtags increase visibility by helping potential customers find your content. 

Combine trade-specific and location-based hashtags for the best results.

If you own a plumbing business in Dallas, you can use hashtags such as #DallasPlumber, #LeakRepairDallas, and #DallasEmergencyPlumbing to reach local clients searching for your services. 

Engage with followers

Besides posting, you should also engage in conversations with your social media followers.

Respond to comments and messages to build trust and encourage potential customers to reach out. 

For example, if you’re an electrician, you could reply to a question about surge protectors, offering quick advice and inviting the user to book a consultation.

Run paid ads

Paid ads help you target local customers in need of your services. 

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram provide highly specific ad targeting based on your target audience’s location, interests, and behavior.

In addition, you can take advantage of Google Local Services Ads to help potential clients find your trades business in local search engine results.

Then, using the ServiceTitan Google Local Services Ads integration paired with Marketing Pro Ads, you’ll gain data-driven insights into your ad performance to optimize for better ROI.

Take advantage of user-generated content

According to the 2023 State of Social & User-Generated Content report, consumers trust authentic user-generated content more than any other type of content.

Encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences with your company on social media to build trust and credibility. 

For instance, you can run a giveaway for your septic service business, where customers who post video content about your services with a branded hashtag can win a free inspection.

While these strategies can maximize your marketing efforts, beware of the common mistakes we’ll describe next.

What Are the Common Mistakes Tradesmen Make on Social Media?

The following mistakes can limit the effectiveness of your social media marketing, so make sure to avoid them.

• No clear strategy. Posting without a plan leads to inconsistent results. Instead, set clear goals, such as attracting local homeowners or promoting emergency services, to keep your content focused and effective.

• Ignoring engagement. If you ignore customer questions in comments or don’t respond to service inquiries in direct messages, you risk losing business to more responsive competitors. Engaging with followers builds trust and encourages potential clients to book your services.

• Overly promotional content. Constantly pushing sales can drive people away. Instead of only posting discounts, you can balance promotions with educational content, such as safety tips or DIY troubleshooting guides, to keep your followers engaged.

• Inconsistent branding. Using different logos, colors, or messaging across various social media platforms makes you look unprofessional. Maintain a consistent brand image on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to reinforce brand credibility and recognition. 

Now, let us show you how ServiceTitan can help simplify and optimize your social media efforts.

How ServiceTitan Can Support Your Social Media Strategy

ServiceTitan offers comprehensive Field Service Management Software designed to simplify trade business operations. 

Beyond its basic functionalities, this software provides additional features to enhance digital marketing efforts.

Here’s how Matt Swanson, owner at Guardian Roofing, describes ServiceTitan:

"If I was going to use one word to describe ServiceTitan, I would say dynamic. And that's simply because there are so many things that we can do with it from start to finish. From making the phone ring with Marketing Pro, all the way to the project being done and making sure that our customer is happy."

Marketing Pro: Automate social media marketing

ServiceTitan Marketing Pro provides an advanced set of tools that automate various aspects of digital marketing.

Here are some of the key components.

• Marketing Pro Reputation automates the process of soliciting customer reviews, which are vital for increasing visibility and building trust on social media platforms.

ServiceTitan centralizes all customer reviews from different platforms in one dashboard, notifies you of new feedback, and allows you to respond inside the app.

• Marketing Pro Ads provides insights into the ROI of your Google Ads campaigns. This feature identifies which campaigns drive actual revenue, allowing you to optimize your ad spend and potentially distribute more resources to social media ads.

• Marketing Pro Email facilitates the creation of targeted email campaigns using customer data. While this feature focuses on email, you can use the insights gained to optimize your social media content strategies, providing consistent messaging across channels.

Scheduling Pro: Convert social media followers into customers

ServiceTitan Scheduling Pro boosts conversions by elevating the booking process in two ways:

• Direct to scheduler links. Instead of directing social media traffic to your business website, you can provide a direct booking link. For instance, on Instagram, you can include the scheduler link in the bio and prompt followers with "head to the link in our bio" to encourage immediate service booking.

• 24/7 online booking allows customers to book your services at their convenience, even outside your business hours, increasing the number of bookings.

Mike Bears, Sales and Marketing Manager at Paul the Plumber, highlights the importance of online booking:

"I think you’re crazy not to offer (online booking) at this point. You’re going to see a return on it. People want to book online, and the more you can make that convenient for the customer, the more the process becomes nice and easy."

Over to You!

Social media can help you attract more customers, showcase your expertise, and grow your trades businesses.

Make sure you choose the right platforms, post valuable content, and apply effective marketing strategies, and you’ll turn online engagement into real-world service bookings.

Also use ServiceTitan to simplify and enhance your digital marketing efforts for more efficient and impactful campaigns.

ServiceTitan offers an all-in-one business management software for the trades. This platform simplifies daily operations, increases performance, drives revenue, and supports online marketing efforts through automated ads, reputation management, and 24/7 online booking. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about social media for tradesmen.

How can tradesmen use social media to get more customers?

Tradesmen can attract more customers by posting photos or videos of completed projects, customer testimonials, and educational content. Running location-based paid ads and engaging with local communities can also increase visibility. Moreover, adding direct booking links to profiles makes scheduling services easier for potential clients.

How often should tradesmen post on social media?

Posting three to five times per week keeps trades businesses visible without overwhelming followers. A mix of project showcases, industry tips, and customer interactions typically generates consistent engagement. Using the Meta Business Suite or specialized scheduling tools helps maintain regular posting without requiring daily effort.

How can tradesmen get more engagement on social media?

Tradesmen can increase engagement by responding to comments, posting interactive content, like polls and Q&A sessions, and sharing behind-the-scenes visual content of their work. Encouraging satisfied customers to tag their business in posts also enhances visibility and credibility.

How can tradesmen optimize their social media profiles for business?

A professional profile picture, a clear business description, and contact details make social media business pages more effective. Furthermore, adding service areas, customer reviews, and a direct booking link builds credibility and enhances convenience. Ultimately, using relevant keywords in bios improves searchability.