Let's be honest up front: Facebook ads for locksmiths are a tricky fit. Someone locked out of their car at 11pm isn't scrolling Facebook looking for you — they're typing "locksmith near me" into Google with one hand. So if you only do emergency lockouts, spend your money on Google Local Services and Search first. But if you do rekeys, lock upgrades, smart locks, and commercial work, Facebook can fill your calendar with the jobs that actually pay.
Why Google beats Facebook for emergencies
Emergency work is demand you capture, not demand you create. Nobody wakes up wanting a locksmith. Facebook is an interruption channel — you're catching people mid-scroll — so it's poor at reaching someone in an active lockout at the exact right minute.
Where Facebook wins is the planned, higher-margin stuff: a homeowner who just moved in and wants every lock rekeyed, a landlord with six units, a small business owning a smart-lock upgrade. Those people aren't searching yet. You put the idea in front of them.
The jobs worth advertising
- Rekey after a move — new homeowners are a goldmine. Average ticket $80–$150, and they often add deadbolts.
- Smart lock installs — $200–$400 with the hardware, and people love showing off keypad entry.
- Commercial rekeys and master key systems — the big tickets, $500+.
- Car key replacement / fobs — dealers charge triple; you undercut them and still make good margin.
Targeting that doesn't waste money
Keep it simple. Set a radius around your shop — 10 to 15 miles is plenty for most metros. Don't bother with fancy interest targeting; a broad local audience with a strong offer beats over-slicing every time.
The one audience worth building: new movers. Facebook lets you target "recently moved" as a life event. That's your rekey pitch delivered to the exact person who needs it.
The offer and the creative
A plain photo of your van and a phone number won't do it. Show the work. A short clip of you rekeying a lock or installing a keypad deadbolt outperforms stock photos every time — film it on your phone.
Give people a concrete reason to act now: "Rekey up to 6 locks for $99 — new to the neighborhood? We come to you." Number, price, benefit. Vague ads get vague results.
What to spend and what to expect
Start at $15–$25 a day. That's enough to gather data without lighting money on fire. Give it two weeks before you judge anything — Facebook needs volume to find your buyers.
On rekey and lock-upgrade campaigns, a cost per lead in the $15–$40 range is realistic in most markets. If your average job is $120 and you close half your leads, that math works fine. Track it — a lead form on Facebook is worthless if nobody follows up within an hour.
The follow-up is where money leaks
This is the part most locksmiths blow. A Facebook lead is not a Google call — they didn't just dial you, they filled out a form. If you wait until tomorrow to text back, they've booked someone else. Reply within 15 minutes, by text, every time. Speed closes these.
Run Facebook as your planned-work channel and Google as your emergency channel, and you stop competing with yourself. The two do different jobs. Use Facebook to sell the work people don't know they need yet, keep your response time under an hour, and you'll book steady rekeys and installs between the 2am lockout calls.