Ask ten home service owners about social media and you get two answers. Nobody hires a plumber from Instagram. Or: post every day and the calls will come. Roofing Contractor's 2026 homeowner survey puts the gap in one line: about 70% of roofing contractors advertise on social media, while only about a quarter of homeowners use it to find a roofer.
So is social media a waste of time? Not quite. I went through the latest surveys from BrightLocal, Housecall Pro, Nextdoor, the Home Improvement Research Institute, Pew and Roofing Contractor. They agree on more than you would expect.
The short answer
- Homeowners find a pro through people and Google. 74% follow a recommendation from a neighbor, friend or family member, and 61% of local searches start on Google Search or Google Maps.
- Social media is where many of them check you. 30% of local searches touch social media at some point, and after reading good reviews, 24% of people go look at the business's social profiles.
- What they check is proof. 92% of homeowners say photos and videos of past work influence who they hire.
These are U.S.-wide surveys; none of them is limited to Los Angeles. Every source is linked at the end.
Where homeowners actually start
In July 2026 BrightLocal asked 1,227 U.S. consumers about their most recent search for a local business. 52% started on Google Search and 9% on Google Maps. 71% used Google Search at some point, and three out of four used more than one channel.
The roofing survey shows the same order from the homeowner's side. 74% follow a recommendation from someone they know, 62% call a roofer they have worked with before, and 50% use a search engine. Social media and home services sites like Angi each account for about a quarter of the answers.
Social media is rarely the first stop. It is one of several stops, and most people make more than one. The first stop is still a neighbor or Google, which is why your Google Business Profile does more work than any post.
Where social media comes in: the check
BrightLocal's 2026 review survey (1,002 U.S. consumers) asked what people do after they read positive reviews of a business. 54% go to its website, up from 32% in 2019. 37% read more reviews. 24% visit the business's social media.
Look at what homeowners say they need to see. In Housecall Pro's survey of 1,040 U.S. homeowners (October 2025), 92% said photos and videos of past work influence who they hire, and 68% now expect photo or video proof of completed work. In Nextdoor's 2026 survey, quality of past work ranks second among the things people weigh, right after cost.
In practice the check comes down to three questions: are you real, are you busy, and is your work any good. A profile full of recent jobs answers all three in a few seconds. A profile whose last post is from 2023 answers them too, the wrong way.
Then comes the click to your website, where 54% of people land after the reviews. The median contractor site in LA takes 7.2 seconds to show its main content on a phone, so the check can end right there.
Age changes the picture
The 2025 edition of the roofing survey split the answers by generation, and the gap is large.
The Home Improvement Research Institute found the same split for projects in general (October 2025):
- More than half of Gen Z and millennial DIYers have started a project because of something they saw on social media.
- On average, nearly two projects a year are started or sped up by social media content.
- One in three homeowners report spending 25% or more because of content they saw on social media.
- About 70% of boomers say they are not active in online home improvement communities at all.
- YouTube is the most influential platform, followed by Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
Those platforms are also where the audience is. Pew Research's 2025 survey of 5,022 adults found that 84% of Americans use YouTube, 71% Facebook, 50% Instagram and 37% TikTok.
If most of your customers are over 60, referrals and Google do most of the work. If you sell to first-time buyers and young families, your social profile is part of the sale.
Neighbors are the strongest social network
Nextdoor surveyed 1,500 U.S. adults in May 2026. Nine in ten said recommendations from other neighbors influence how they choose a home service provider, and 36% said they influence the choice "a great deal". 60% would rather hire a locally owned business than a national one.
It is Nextdoor's own study, and it also ranks Nextdoor first among the channels people used, so read that ranking with care. The recommendation number, though, matches everything else here: in the roofing survey, 74% follow a recommendation from someone they know.
The same study lists what people weigh when they choose:
| What homeowners weigh | Share |
|---|---|
| Cost of service | 64% |
| Quality of past work | 62% |
| Guarantees or warranties | 60% |
| Reviews and ratings | 51% |
Three of the four can be shown on social media: past work, warranties, reviews. Cost is the exception, and it belongs on your website. In the 2026 roofing survey, 65% of homeowners said they are more likely to call a roofer who shows pricing on the site. More on that, and on asking for a Nextdoor recommendation after every job, in my 12 field-tested lead tactics.
A broken AC is not a kitchen remodel
The surveys mix every kind of job, but social media plays a different role in each.
Repairs are fast. In the Nextdoor survey, 41% contacted a provider immediately after noticing a problem. Nobody scrolls a portfolio while water is on the floor. The check takes seconds: real trucks, real people, recent jobs, reviews. For a repair company, the job of social media is to prove you are a real local business that is busy right now.
Remodels are slow. The homeowner has months, and social media is often where the project begins: saved reels, a before-and-after that looked like their own kitchen. For a remodeler, social media is the portfolio: finished projects, the process, the crew, the cleanup.
What to post so the check works
- One real job a week, with the neighborhood in the caption. "Water heater swap in Culver City" tells a local homeowner more than any slogan.
- Before and after of the same job, shot from the same spot. Never stock photos, never someone else's project.
- Pin three posts: a video review from a customer, your best before-and-after, and the team with the truck.
- Keep the name, phone number and website identical to your Google Business Profile, so the homeowner knows it is the same company.
- Link to a page with prices or a price range. That is where the next click goes.
- Publish reels with collaborators: suppliers, partners, happy commercial customers. The reel shows up in their feeds too.
- Answer comments and messages the same day. A question left unanswered for a week is a review nobody asked for.
- After every job, ask for a Nextdoor recommendation. It costs nothing and reaches exactly the street you just worked on.
And two things to skip: bought followers, which fool nobody, and paid reviews, which the FTC treats as fake.
What social media won't do
It won't replace the basics. The homeowner's first stops are still a neighbor and Google, so the Business Profile, a website that loads on a phone and, for repair companies, Local Services Ads come first. Social media works best as the showroom homeowners walk through after they find you, not as the billboard that makes them find you.
If you are not sure how your business looks at each of those stops, the audit below covers your website, your Google presence and your social profiles.
FAQ
Do homeowners hire contractors from Instagram or Facebook?
Some do. About a quarter of homeowners use social media to find a roofer, and 40% of millennials. For most, social media is the check that comes after a referral or a Google search.
Which social network matters most for home services?
For reach, YouTube and Facebook: 84% and 71% of U.S. adults use them. For home improvement ideas, HIRI ranks YouTube first, then Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. For neighbor-to-neighbor recommendations, Nextdoor.
How often should a home service business post?
No survey gives a magic number. What the data rewards is recent proof: photos and videos of real jobs. One real job a week does more than three generic posts.
Is social media worth it for a small home service company?
Yes, as long as you treat it as proof and not as your main lead source. Keep it current, keep it real, and make sure every profile points to a fast website with prices on it.
Sources
- BrightLocal, Where are your customers really searching?, July 2026, 1,227 U.S. consumers.
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, 1,002 U.S. consumers.
- Roofing Contractor, The Homeowner's Roofing Journey in 2026, with Owens Corning and myClearInsights Hub Research.
- Roofing Contractor, 2025 Homeowner Roofing Survey: Tracking the Journey, fielded fall 2024, respondents' mean age 56.
- Housecall Pro, Home Service Customer Service Report, 1,040 U.S. homeowners, October 2025.
- Nextdoor, Home Maintenance Report, 1,500 U.S. adults, May 2026, with Groundworks and LeafFilter.
- Home Improvement Research Institute, How Social Media Influences Home Improvement Purchases, October 2025, sponsored by Miller Brooks.
- Pew Research Center, Americans' Social Media Use 2025, 5,022 U.S. adults.
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