If you’re running Facebook or Instagram ads for your roofing business and want to scale your results without wasting money, lookalike audiences are one of the most powerful tools you can use.
Rather than guessing who might need a roofer, you can let Facebook’s algorithm find people who behave just like your best customers. In this article, we’ll break down exactly how to use lookalike audiences for your roofing campaigns, how to build them the right way, and why they’re essential for generating more qualified roofing leads.
What Is a Lookalike Audience?
A lookalike audience is a group of Facebook and Instagram users who closely resemble another group you’ve defined—like past roofing customers or high-quality leads. Meta (Facebook’s parent company) uses data from your source audience to find new users with similar interests, behaviors, and demographics.
Lookalike audiences allow you to scale your ads beyond your existing customer base, while keeping targeting tight and relevant.
Why Lookalike Audiences Work for Roofers
Roofing is a high-ticket service that requires trust and timing. Lookalike audiences help you find homeowners who are likely to:
- Own a home in your service area
- Have the financial ability to afford roofing services
- Behave like your past customers (in terms of online activity and interests)
Instead of guessing who to target based on interests or job titles, lookalike audiences let the data do the work.
Step-by-Step: How to Create Lookalike Audiences for Roofing Ads
Step 1: Create a Custom Audience
You need a source audience to build a lookalike. Start by creating a Custom Audience in Meta Ads Manager using one of the following:
- Customer list: Upload emails or phone numbers of past roofing customers
- Website traffic: Use your Facebook Pixel to create an audience of visitors to key pages like roof repair, roof replacement, or storm damage
- Lead form interactions: People who opened or submitted a Facebook lead form
- Video views: Users who watched 50% or more of your roofing ad or testimonial videos
The best-performing source audiences usually come from actual customer lists. Just make sure your data is clean and current.
Step 2: Build Your Lookalike Audience
Once your custom audience is set up, go to the Audiences section in Ads Manager and create a lookalike audience.
Meta will ask you for:
- Source: Choose your custom audience
- Location: Target the countries or specific service areas (zip codes or cities) you want
- Audience size: Ranges from 1% (most similar) to 10% (broader but less precise)
We recommend starting with a 1% lookalike audience for the highest match quality, especially if you’re running ads in a local service area.
Step 3: Layer in Geographic Targeting
Lookalike audiences are built nationally or even globally by default, but as a roofer, you only serve specific zip codes. Use location targeting to narrow your audience to your service area.
Example: Audience: 1% lookalike of past customers Location: Homeowners in Dallas, TX + surrounding suburbs
Step 4: Create Specific Ad Copy for Lookalike Audiences
These users don’t know your brand yet—but they behave like people who do. Your ad should introduce your company, highlight trust signals, and speak directly to the problems homeowners are facing.
Examples:
- “Trusted by Over 500 Dallas Homeowners for Roof Repairs and Replacements”
- “Storm Damage in [City]? Schedule Your Free Inspection Today”
- “New Roof for $0 Down—Financing Available for Qualified Homeowners”
. If your list came from storm repair customers, focus your ad copy on emergency services and insurance help.
Best Source Audiences for Roofing Lookalikes
Not all source audiences perform the same. Here are some of the highest-performing ones for roofing campaigns:
- Past customers (via uploaded list)
- Website visitors to “roof replacement” pages
- People who submitted quotes or inspections via lead forms
- Video watchers of roofing project testimonials or storm alerts
The stronger and more specific your source, the better your lookalike audience will be.
Pro Tips for Using Lookalike Audiences Effectively
- Start with 1% lookalikes to keep your targeting tight
- Test 2% and 3% lookalikes only when scaling or combining with other filters
- Always exclude your existing customers or leads from lookalike campaigns
- Refresh your source audience every 30–60 days to improve accuracy
- Use separate ad sets for different lookalike types (don’t combine them into one)
Combining Lookalikes with Intent Data
Want to take it further? At HOWL, we combine lookalike audiences with intent data—so we’re not just targeting people who look like past customers, but people who are actively showing behavior that indicates they need a roofer now.
This includes signals like:
- Searching roof repair or storm damage keywords
- Visiting competitor sites
- Engaging with roofing or insurance content
These “super audiences” result in lower cost per lead and faster close rates.
How HOWL Uses Lookalike Audiences for Roofing Companies
At HOWL, we manage high-performance Facebook and Instagram campaigns for roofing companies that go beyond basic targeting. We build advanced audience structures using:
- Customer CRM data
- Website visitor behavior
- Lead form engagement
- Intent-based audience signals
Then we feed that data into Meta’s algorithm to create lookalike audiences that deliver real results: exclusive leads, booked inspections, and high-quality roofing jobs.
Final Thoughts: Scale Smarter with Lookalike Audiences
Lookalike audiences are one of the best ways to scale your roofing lead generation without sacrificing quality. Instead of casting a wide net and hoping for results, you’re leveraging real data to find people who already behave like your best customers.
Apply to work with HOWL and let us build you a Meta Ads system powered by smart audiences, proven messaging, and a strategy that turns data into booked jobs.