While you are busy working on the ground with clients to give them their dream homes or backyards, you may always have a nagging question in the back of your mind – How do I grow my contracting business? While contracting businesses can be of many different kinds – electrical, construction, plumbing and more – contractor marketing encompasses a few common marketing strategies to help you grow your business.
In this blog, we will cover essential contractor marketing concepts that can be used by new and established companies alike. In today’s digital world, it’s all about spreading the word online. The online world can be a confusing one and you may be left wondering about where to start. That’s why we have broken this down into the following strategies that can be followed easily to build a robust online reputation.
1. Build A Professional Website
Building a website for your contracting business is an essential part of contractor marketing. From buying a home appliance to hiring a service professional – there’s hardly anything homeowners do without searching for the company on the Internet. That’s why it’s important to claim your business online. When we say professional website – it need not mean that you have to hire a designer, developer and a full team to deploy the same. Today, many websites offer free domains with preloaded themes that can be customized to suit your business needs. Your website is the perfect place to showcase your best work, talk about your experience and customer history and much more.
2. Register Your Business On Google
As far as search engines go, Google can be considered the top one for good reason. Luckily, Google doesn’t just provide answers for every query, it also shows the most relevant results. This is a great tool for digital marketing for contractors as it can provide your business with the visibility it needs. By registering your business with Google My Business, you can make sure that local homeowners in your area can find your business with contact details, website and more information. They can even use the listing to place a call. Moreover, customers can also leave a review for your business here.
3. Spread The Word With Social Media Marketing
Another place where you can find homeowners is social media – if you step outside and take a look, almost everyone is peering into their phones, scrolling through various social media apps. Marketing for contractors can be made easy with these powerful digital tools. You need not hire a full-fledged social media team for your business. Simply assure that you take good pictures of your work and post them on a regular basis. There are many free online tools which can help you schedule these posts and also suggest hashtags so people can discover your profile with ease. These are great platforms for especially those contractors who are able to capture great before and after images of their work or even a time-lapse of an aesthetic project.
4. Have A Robust Referral System For Contractor Marketing
Whether you are just starting out or have an established business – you will appreciate the power of a good referral system. From guests visiting a client’s home after you have built a backyard deck or a neighbour appreciating your neighbour’s renovation – there are many opportunities when your clients can refer your business. If you are able to impress your clients and are courteous toward them, it’s more likely that they will happily refer you. You can also add motivation in the form of discounts or referral codes for promos.
5. Invest In PPC Advertisements
Launching campaigns for Pay Per Click Ads (PPC) can get you high-quality leads that actually convert into jobs. If you have an established business and the resources, you can either do it yourself or hire an agency or a part-time digital marketer to run your ads. Choose the keywords that are most relevant to your business and set up ad campaigns targeted to homeowners in your area.
If you hire an agency or marketer, you can also ask them about running social media ads and digitals ads on other relevant websites and platforms. Apart from targeting popular search engines, they can also help you identify relevant platforms, the corresponding keywords and your target audience to narrow down your ad visibility. This ensures that you only get the leads that are most likely to convert. PPC ads are also a great idea to plug in when you have seasonal promos or discounts running.
6. Monitor Your Reviews And Testimonials
Managing your online reputation is a crucial step in contractor marketing services. As explained above, homeowners will likely check out your business profile on one platform or the other. Thus monitoring your reviews and testimonials is of utmost importance as a part of strengthening your online reputation. Also, make sure to monitor the comments on your posts on social media. Whether it’s a negative response or a positive one – it’s important to address both, and bonus points if you can turn unhappy situations into happy ones. To do this, it’s important to empathize with the homeowner and understand why they are unhappy – from there, it’s not an uphill task to come up with a mutually agreeable resolution. You can also use our tips on responding to negative reviews, to come up with the best responses.
7. Invest In Videos For Contractor Marketing
When we say, “Invest in video marketing”, we don’t mean you have to go out and rent a studio or buy expensive equipment like cameras and lights. Videos are an integral part of social media and the online world – they are becoming increasingly popular thanks to reels, TikTok and other such channels. It’s an easy and convenient way to put across your message and also showcase your best work. You can simply start by buying a tripod for your phone, which can ensure that the video is not shaky or unstable. Good phones these days can capture movie-like videos and require minimal or no editing.
One great starting place for videos can be a time-lapse video of you and your crew at work. People love watching transformation videos – whether it’s a landscape or a renovation or simply an overgrown lawn being mowed. You can also do tours of homes you have renovated or a bathroom remodel and walk your audience through the process and how you made the decisions. This gives your audience an insight into how you work and homeowners appreciate the honesty and transparency, thus giving you the chance to build homeowner connections.
8. Share Your Expertise in Contracting With Content Marketing
Contractor advertising or marketing isn’t just limited to ads and clicks – content marketing is a powerful marketing tool that can help you grow your business. Whether it’s your own website or a guest blog on a popular website – there are many ways to leverage your expertise in contracting through content marketing. You need not be a writer to do the same – there many online free tools available that can help you check or improve your pieces before publishing. Content marketing can also boost up the SEO of your website or company name and make the business more credible. You can also check out some of our ideas on content marketing, if you are looking for a good place to start.
9. Contractor Marketing Through Emails
Email marketing is yet another strong marketing tool for contractors. It can not only be used as a referral tool but also used for staying in touch with past clients for more work. You can customize your emails to address season-specific jobs or promos. When you go on jobs, you also notice the other things in a home or garden that can be improved, so you can use emails to send customer-specific promos to book more jobs.
It’s important to note that not all email marketing should be sales-oriented. It’s also a great tool to keep in touch with homeowners and convey your wishes during birthdays or the holiday season. This helps your business stay on top of their minds, so the next time they need a contractor, they will have someone they already trust and value. There are a few online tools that can help you automate these and thus you need not master email marketing to grow your business.
10. Showcase Your Best Work And Become Credible On Online Platforms
Contractor online directories are a great place to start if you are feeling overwhelmed with all the marketing efforts. Directories can help you register your business online and gain homeowner visibility. Even if you aren’t listed, homeowners who have availed your services can list your business and leave a review for your business. So it’s a good idea to look up your business online and see what pops up – this way you can discover all the websites where your business is listed. This will help you reply to reviews and tackle negative reputation as well.
While there are many options for online directories for contractors, it’s also a good idea to do your own research before signing up on a platform. When looking into online directories, apart from their reputation, also look into their popularity, number of active users, ease-of-use, things you can customize and manage, and the customer support from the team.
11. Grow Your Business With HomeStars
While many directories offer a basic profile, at HomeStars, we go a step further and give you all the tools you need to succeed. When you join HomeStars, you get access to a comprehensive profile, which has a profile description, custom galleries, licenses, tasks and much more. You can customize your profile, services offered and areas you work in to make the right kind of homeowner connections. Moreover, we have HomeStars’ exclusive trust metrics which can help you build a credible presence online. We use our Star Score, a rating system, to let homeowners know what customers think of your business and how likely they are to recommend your business.
Moreover, our Verification Badge is a trusted tool that lets homeowners know that your business has been vetted by our team. HomeStars’ customer reviews are the only reviews that are manually vetted by a dedicated team to make sure that you get legitimate reviews from actual clients – this protects your profile against unsolicited negative reviews and also helps build homeowner trust.
Moreover, HomeStars also gives away the annual Best of Awards which only the top 2% of the service professionals win, making it a much-coveted title. This award is also showcased on your profile, along with your Star Score and Verified Badge, and further increases your chances of getting hired by homeowners. In fact, in a homeowner survey, we found that 75% of homeowners were more likely to hire a Best of Award winner for their project.
12. Download The HomeStars For Pros App
As a business owner, you are busy taking on and executing projects from homeowners – that’s why you need a tool that can help you manage your business on the go. This is where the HomeStars for Pros app steps in – the app is easy to use and can be utilized to create and mange your profile, along with responding to leads, accepting jobs, requesting more information and sending automated replies when you are too busy to have a conversation. With the HomeStars for Pros app, you can be at a job and still not miss out on homeowner connections, making it a convenient marketing tool for your business.
13. Explore Traditional Contractor Advertising
While we have talked in depth about the online world and digital marketing for contractors, it doesn’t harm to explore some traditional advertising as well. When you sign up with HomeStars, you can get Verified Badge stickers, lawn signs and more such merchandise which you can use to market your business. Also consider flyers in your neighbourhood or areas of work, to spread the word. If you have hired subcontractors or worked in tandem with other service providers, it can create a network of trusted professionals who can refer your business when they work on similar projects.
14. Use Your Work Vehicle For Marketing
Another great way to market your business is your own work vehicle! Your vehicle can be a tool for advertising your business while you’re parked for work or on the go. At HomeStars, we offer you vehicle decals for your Verified Badge, ‘Read Reviews’, Best of Award winner stickers and more that can be put on your vehicle to spread the word. There are many creative ways to advertise your business through your vehicle as well. From quirky paint patterns to a mini landscaped garden – the sky’s the limit when it comes to customizing your vehicle for marketing your business.
15. Put Your Best Foot Forward
While there are plenty of ways to market your business online, a lot of the growth and success of your business depends on your work. As we talked about earlier, online reputation is extremely important for any business and when you do your best work, it shows in your online reputation. Homeowners are more likely to leave positive reviews if they are happy and satisfied with your work – and there are some measures you can take to impress customers for the best reviews. And when you have glowing reviews online, it can do wonders for your business growth.
Whether you are just starting out or have an established business, HomeStars can help you connect with more homeowners with various tools and business marketing strategies, customized to suit your needs. Get in touch with us today and connect with one of our business development experts to learn more about how HomeStars can help you grow your business!
