The internet offers an efficient channel to market your home improvement services company. With widespread access to the internet, potential customers can easily research companies that offer the services they need, and choose from a few or a dozen companies based on certain criteria such as price, package of services available and reputation. The point is that the customers you would like to find to grow your business are out there. Finding them and connecting with them requires strategy.
The Science Behind Generating Home Improvement Leads
Growing your home improvement business in today’s competitive environment means making sure that your company stands out in a crowded database of companies with similar offerings. Home improvement marketing on the internet can be hit-or-miss because not all leads are productive leads.. Potential customers use the internet to look up possible vendors and service providers. Your company and many others like it are on the internet trying to be noticed by these customers.
Third party providers, such as Home Advisor, Angie’s List, Thumbtack and other gig hubs are on the internet to try and drive the connection between customers and home improvement providers. These sites build and maintain comprehensive databases of businesses that are searchable by subscribers. To make customers’ search efforts more productive, the database content is search engine optimized. SEO is a marketing strategy that emphasizes the use of keywords to organize and anchor content. Natural keywords consist of phrases or words that customers use to define their search for home improvement searches. In this case, keywords may also be geo-tagged, which means when a customer searches for home improvement service providers, they would enter a city name along with the service to ensure relevant results. Contractor services being what they are, it makes sense that potential customers would be interested in local or regional companies.
Essentially, Home Advisor, Angie’s List and Thumbtack are lead generation services. They facilitate the meeting between customers and vendors or suppliers by advertising that they have a database of suppliers for customers looking for a specific service at a certain price level and service quality. Service quality or reputation would be based on user reviews, among other factors. This shows that lead generation service companies are actually competing with every company on their database because the lead generators have to make sure that their brand ranks higher in the search engine results page, or SERPs so that customers will contact them first.
Disadvantages of Pay-per-Lead Services
As the phrase suggests, pay-per-lead means your fees for being part of the lead generator’s database is based on the number of leads that can be generated for your company. Typically, being contacted by a customer through the lead generator’s portal counts as a lead regardless of whether the queries led to a sales conversion or not. In many cases, volume rather lead quality is more important.
Your company may be caught up in a whirlwind of roofing leads that take up the time and resources of your team with no jobs or contracts generated from these efforts. This may be due to the fact that lead-generating companies do very little to prequalify customers, which is different from their system of vetting and reviewing the services and reliability of small companies like yours.
Another practice that undermines the process of listing with lead-generating websites is that of giving preferred status to members in exchange for a fee. Companies that agree to pay premium rates will rank higher on the results page. Those companies that avoid paying a premium for top billing will be pushed lower on the list, which could mean lost opportunities for your brand.
New Approaches to Home Improvement Marketing
The pay-per-click business model may generate some qualified leads once in a while, but you need to be doing more to generate home improvement leads.
Harness the power of the internet to build your brand and claim your piece of the market.
Establish your presence online in various ways.
Design and Maintain your Company Website
Having your own company website is one of the most effective ways to build your brand, grow your business and keep the leads coming. Make sure that your website is optimized for the most likely customer searches and that your content is fresh and relevant. make it easier for your potential customers to stay in touch by collecting basic information such as email addresses and type of service required. Include a portal where potential customers can contact you for queries and clarifications.
Building Social Media Presence
There are various social media platforms to choose from to highlight your company’s expertise in home improvement or roofing services. Take advantage of these channels to bring in home repair and roofing leads. Google My Business, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are some of the most popular social media platforms that you can use to showcase your qualifications and experience as a home improvement contractor.
Social media is an easy way to attract attention to your services. Find a way to engage with potential customers by starting a thread on topics or issues that may be relevant to them. Be aware of standard practices and possible pitfalls of home improvement marketing via social media.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is considered old-style in the age of social media, but this strategy continues to be an effective generator of home improvement leads. Choose your database of recipients cautiously to target the groups that would be most likely to need your services. You can either buy these lists from reliable database aggregators, or you can generate your own database by collecting the email addresses of former, present and future customers. Email is a low-cost option especially if you already have the database. Email marketing can be done frequently or at regular intervals to stay engaged with customers or potential customers.
Blogging
You can either create your own blog or contribute content as a guest blogger on industry-relevant sites. Blogging will put your name or your company’s name in front of people who may have a need for your services. These readers find blogs by searching for content on topics that are of interest to them. Blogging will also help to affirm your expertise in your field.
For instance, writing about topics on roof maintenance and roof repairs will put your name in front of people needing these services or who may issues related to these topics. Always include a contact number for you or your company in every post so that the information is available to potential customers.
Generating More Quality Home Improvement Leads
The key to generating more quality home improvement leads through the above-mentioned strategies is to make sure that you are posting content that is timely, relevant and accessible. Make it easy for potential customers to find you through optimized content, and provide a fuss-free way to reach you through an interactive portal or a static query page. Respond to all queries and comments in a timely manner because people who take the time to engage with your content or your website are potential leads.
Contact the experienced team at Create The Movement today for help in any of these areas. You can call us at 918-770-0211 contact us through the website here or set up an appointment here.
