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Comparison

Why TopKnock,
vs. doing it yourself, an agency, or boosting posts.

There are three ways most contractors do Facebook ads today. None of them are great. Here's the straight head-to-head, including the places where the other options legitimately beat us. We'll tell you either way.

The question

Who writes the ads?

DIY in Meta Ads Manager

You. After your last job of the day.

Local agency / freelancer

A junior account manager who's never been on a roof.

Boosting a Facebook post

Whatever post you already wrote.

TopKnock

Trade-specific AI + a human marketer who reviews every one. You approve before launch.

The question

How many ad angles get tested?

DIY in Meta Ads Manager

Usually one. Whoever has time runs it.

Local agency / freelancer

One or two. Most agencies don't A/B properly.

Boosting a Facebook post

Zero. A boost is just a post with money on it.

TopKnock

Up to 5 in parallel. Winners scale, losers die in 48 hours.

The question

How fast do you hear about a hot lead?

DIY in Meta Ads Manager

Whenever you check your email.

Local agency / freelancer

Whenever they email you the weekly batch.

Boosting a Facebook post

Whenever the homeowner figures out how to call you.

TopKnock

Your phone pings in 60 seconds with the name + what they need.

The question

Do you compete against other contractors using the same vendor?

DIY in Meta Ads Manager

N/A, but you compete against every contractor on Meta.

Local agency / freelancer

Yes. Most agencies run 8-15 contractors in your trade in your metro.

Boosting a Facebook post

N/A, but boosted posts barely reach anyone anyway.

TopKnock

Never. Your trade in your area is locked. First come, first served.

The question

Can you see exactly which ads became booked jobs?

DIY in Meta Ads Manager

Meta tells you leads. Booked jobs is your spreadsheet.

Local agency / freelancer

Sometimes. Usually a quarterly slide deck. Numbers rarely match yours.

Boosting a Facebook post

No. The reach number is the only number.

TopKnock

Yes. Ad → lead → booked job → revenue, once you mark a lead won. Monday-morning email.

The question

What does the ad spend itself cost?

DIY in Meta Ads Manager

What Meta charges. Direct from your card.

Local agency / freelancer

Often: Meta + 15-20% management markup on every dollar. Or held by the agency.

Boosting a Facebook post

What Meta charges. Direct from your card.

TopKnock

Card → Meta direct. Subscription fee separate. No fee on your first $1,500/mo of ad spend; 10% on spend above that, capped at $2,500/mo. Never deducted from Meta, billed on Stripe.

The question

How long are you locked in?

DIY in Meta Ads Manager

Forever-on, off when you say.

Local agency / freelancer

Typical: 6-12 month contract. Often auto-renew.

Boosting a Facebook post

Per-post.

TopKnock

Month-to-month. Cancel any time, no exit fee.

The question

Compliance (Meta's housing SAC + TCPA + state recording laws)?

DIY in Meta Ads Manager

On you. If you don't know what SAC is, you'll learn the hard way.

Local agency / freelancer

Maybe. Most generalist agencies don't even know SAC applies to home services.

Boosting a Facebook post

On you. Same risk as DIY.

TopKnock

Built in. Every ad gets SAC-scanned before launch. Audit log kept.
Good answer
Mixed, depends on the vendor / your own bandwidth
Real problem

The three things contractors actually push back with

"But I already have a local agency."

Then ask them three questions: how many ad angles are you running right now? What's my speed-to-lead, measured? And: which ads became booked jobs last month, not just leads? If they can't answer all three in under a minute, you're paying for ads that never become work. We can run side-by-side for 30 days and let your booking calendar settle the argument.

"But I can boost posts myself for $20."

You can. And a boosted post is great for getting your buddies to like your photo of a finished install. It is terrible at producing jobs, because Meta's boost button doesn't run real audiences, doesn't A/B test, doesn't lead-form, doesn't speed-to-lead, and doesn't measure what booked. It's social engagement with money on it. Different tool, different job.

"But $399/mo is more than I'm spending now."

Most contractors who say this are already burning $800-1,500/mo on Meta ads themselves, they just don't count it as "marketing" because it's running on autopilot from last March. TopKnock is $399/mo on top of your ad spend, and one additional booked job a month covers it several times over. If we can't show you that math in a 15-minute call, don't sign up.

Where the other options legitimately beat us

DIY beats us on raw cost if your time is effectively free. We charge $399/mo on top of ad spend; you don't pay yourself by the hour to write an ad at 9pm Sunday. That's only a real win if you actually have the bandwidth to write, test, and watch performance every week, most contractors don't, but if you do, run your own ads.

A great local agency , meaning a senior strategist with deep contractor experience AND genuine bandwidth for your specific account, is hard to beat. The catch: that combination is rare. Most "senior strategists" at agencies have 30-50 contractor clients and quietly assign your account to a junior who treats every roofer the same. If you've actually got an A-team focused on your business, stay there. We win the contractors who signed up for a strategist and got handed off to a junior, and we keep getting better at it (trade-specific AI, human review, cross-tenant pattern learning, weekly model updates).

Boosting posts is genuinely the right move for one job: announcing something to people who already follow you. For everything else (acquiring new homeowners who don't know you exist), it loses to a properly-built ad campaign every time.

Ad spend goes direct to Meta

Card → Meta. Fair-capped overage. No agency cut.

Exclusive territory

Your trade. Your area. Locked.

Month-to-month

Cancel any time. No exit fee.

See if your area is still open.

Type your zip. We'll tell you in 5 seconds whether your trade is still available in your area, or if another contractor already claimed it.