The short answer: start with Facebook
For most UK tradespeople, Facebook is the best first social media platform. It has the strongest mix of local homeowners, community groups, recommendations and business pages. If you only have time to keep one account active, start there.
Instagram comes second. It is especially useful when the finish is a large part of what the customer is buying: kitchens, bathrooms, landscaping, tiling, decorating, fitted furniture and similar visual work.
That does not mean every builder should abandon Instagram or every landscaper should ignore Facebook. It means you should put most of your effort where local customers are most likely to see, remember and recommend you.
Why Facebook still works well for trades
Facebook is not the newest platform, but that is part of its value. Homeowners use it to ask neighbours for recommendations, search local business pages and browse community groups.
A useful Facebook presence has three parts:
- A complete business Page with your service area and contact details.
- A steady record of genuine jobs, not a page that was last updated two years ago.
- Helpful participation in relevant local groups where the rules allow it.
Facebook also makes recommendations visible. When a previous customer tags your Page under a request for a roofer or electrician, the person asking can immediately see your work and business details.
Do not rely on your Page alone to reach everyone who follows it. Organic reach changes, and not every post will travel far. The point is to create a trustworthy record that supports recommendations and gives people something useful to inspect before they contact you.
If local groups are part of your plan, read the practical guide to using Facebook local groups for trade leads.
When Instagram is worth serious attention
Instagram is strongest for trades where the result is easy to understand in a picture. Kitchen fitters, landscapers, tilers, decorators, bathroom fitters and joiners can show a transformation before a customer reads a single word.
It works best when you can regularly share:
- Clear before-and-after comparisons.
- Wide finished-job photos.
- Close-up details that show the quality of the finish.
- Short process clips when they help explain the work.
- Carousels showing several stages or angles from one job.
Instagram is less useful if keeping it active means posting filler. Three convincing finished jobs are better than three weeks of generic quotes, supplier logos and stock photos.
Set up a Business account and connect it to your Facebook Page so both are ready for publishing. The Facebook and Instagram setup guide explains the steps without assuming you already understand Meta’s account structure.
What about LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is lower priority for most domestic trades. Homeowners rarely open it to find someone for a new bathroom or consumer unit.
It can be useful if your work is mainly commercial, subcontracted or connected to property professionals. Contractors, facilities managers, architects, developers and letting agents may notice useful project updates there. In that case, treat LinkedIn as a professional proof-of-work channel rather than your main source of local domestic enquiries.
What about Nextdoor?
Nextdoor can produce local recommendations, but it is harder to control and less dependable as a main channel. Use it if the neighbourhoods you serve are active there, but do not make it the only place where your work lives.
Keep your business details accurate, respond helpfully and avoid dropping the same sales message into every discussion. Recognition comes from being useful and visible over time.
A sensible order for a busy tradesperson
Use this order unless your customers give you a clear reason to change it:
- Build a proper Facebook Page. Add your service area, contact details and several strong jobs.
- Use relevant local Facebook groups carefully. Follow each group’s rules.
- Add Instagram if your work is visual. Reuse the same real jobs, but choose the best crop and format for Instagram.
- Test LinkedIn for commercial work.
- Treat Nextdoor as an extra local channel, not the foundation.
Do not create five empty profiles. One active Facebook Page and a useful Instagram account will do more for you than being nominally present everywhere.
How Grafter fits without changing the advice
Grafter prepares Facebook and Instagram posts from the job photos and short descriptions you send through WhatsApp. That can remove the fiddly part once you have chosen those platforms, but the basic recommendation stands whether you use Grafter or post manually: start with Facebook, add Instagram when your finished work is visually strong, and keep the routine realistic.
If you are unsure what to share first, use these social media post ideas for tradesmen.