Marketing for Contractors in the Digital Age

Marketing for contractors is no easy feat. It takes time, research, and planning to get it right. With such steep competition out there, you need your remodeling business to stand out from the crowd.

But what steps do you need to take to promote your business? How do you build a winning marketing strategy? How do you transform your marketing efforts into leads?

We’ve come up with a list that will make marketing for contractors easy and straightforward. This blog post will cover:

• Preliminary research and analysis
• Website revamp
• Social media
• Digital advertising
• Online reviews
• Referrals

Keep reading if you want to learn how to build a strong marketing strategy to promote your remodeling services and close more sales.

Even before you put a marketing plan in place, you need to conduct some research to make sure you’re targeting the right people. First, you need to find out who your demographic is (gender, age, location, etc.)

You’ll have to collect data on your existing customers as well as on future prospects so you can understand exactly who you should be targeting. For existing clients, collecting data is fairly straightforward. In terms of collecting data on prospects, you’ll have to do some market research by consulting business directories and other sources. You might have to invest some money to acquire this kind of information.

You’ll also want to track your competitors to see how they’re marketing their services and what types of clients they’re getting. You can browse through their website for customer feedback, check their portfolios, find their social media channels, and check out their profiles on Houzz.

Once you gather all this information, you need to analyze it so you can devise a proper marketing strategy. Simply gathering all the data is not enough.

Assuming you already have a remodeling business website (if you don’t, what are you waiting for?), it’s time to revamp it a little bit. The first thing you want to do is make sure all your services are listed. Not only should you list them, you also want to add some detail as to what your business actually offers and what your sales process is (i.e., consultation fees, payment options, pricing, etc.). If you’re a kitchen and bath remodeling company, you’ll want to make that very clear on your website.

Next, you’re going to want to have a portfolio section on your website with lots of before & after photos. These are crowd pleasers, and potential clients who land on your website are going to want proof that your remodeling business does impeccable work. Use beautiful images – if you need to contact past clients to get them, so be it.

You should also remember that you’re in the business of turning outdated and damaged homes into beautiful and functional spaces. Your website should reflect this. If you have the tools and knowledge to revamp your website yourself, go for it. Otherwise, spend some money on a website designer to do it for you. Your website is an image of your company, and it needs to be appealing and informational.

We’re sure you’ve heard this before, but social media plays an important role in marketing for contractors, specifically for branding. Most of your competitors are probably on social media, and so should you be. If you don’t already have social media accounts for your remodeling business, these are the three channels you should absolutely be on.

Houzz: There is no argument here – Houzz is a clear winner when it comes to marketing for contractors. You should have a business account where you can host your portfolio, your company contact information, your services, and more. If you’re not on Houzz, chances are you’re missing out on a lot of business.

Facebook: Yes, people still use Facebook to check out reviews and find local businesses. It’s never a good sign when a potential client searches your company on Facebook and can’t find it. If you sign up for an account, make sure you post regularly. You can post pictures of your remodels (before & after pics), you can post about promotions, you can post relevant articles about the remodeling industry, you can post about trends – the possibilities are endless.

Instagram: Instagram is a platform meant to share beautiful pictures, so posting images of your remodels is a no-brainer. Again, before & after pictures do really well on Instagram, so the more you post, the more engagement you’ll get. Remember to use proper hashtags relevant to your industry so people can find you.

Organic advertisement is great, but sometimes you need a little extra help to put your remodeling business on the map. That’s where paid ads come in. They’re your best chance at reaching the most amount of people, and if you target properly and your services and pricing are right, you’ll get an influx of leads.

Gone are the days when newspaper ads did the trick – it’s all about digital advertising now. There are several types of advertising that will get you leads:

Social ads: This is the cheapest digital advertising you will get. You can create amazing ads on social channels such as Facebook and Instagram, and these platforms allow you to target the heck out of your ads so they reach the right audience. Facebook and Instagram have built-in ad platforms and they are very easy to follow.

Search engine ads: Here’s where it gets a little more complicated and pricier. Search engine ads will help your remodeling business show up as sponsored search results on Google, Bing and Yahoo. It’s great for businesses looking to attract local clients, which is exactly what your remodeling business needs. You can look into Google Adwords to get started.

Never underestimate the power of online reviews. They’re extremely important for any type of business that offers services and goods because it’s an easy way for potential clients to judge the quality of your work without ever having met you.

If you’re confident that your remodeling business offers quality services and you generally have satisfied customers, you should create a business account on review websites such as Yelp, Google, Yahoo, Bing and, as mentioned earlier, Facebook.

You can also list your business on websites such as Home Advisor so that local clients can easily find you by entering their postal code. If your company specializes in kitchen remodels, you will be prompted to enter that information so prospects looking for kitchen remodelers can find your business with a quick search.

Referrals are a great tool for marketing for contractors. There are many ways to go about getting referrals, and it won’t take much effort on your part. All you need is a steady referral system and you’ll be meeting with prospects in no time.

The easiest way to get referrals is to ask your past (and happy) clients to pass the word along. If they have friends or family who are looking into remodeling their home, all they need to do is mention how happy they were with your work and the rest is history. It’s easier to get referrals from satisfied customers than any other way.

You can also look into building new relationships by attending local events and joining charities. If there’s an industry event in your area, make sure you’re there with business cards. If there’s charity work to be done, you might want to invest some pro bono time – it’ll be great for your company image and you’ll be giving back to your community.