Marketing Your Business is Essential

Solid digital marketing is the key to business success regardless of the overarching economic conditions. We all know that in order to sustain and grow your remodeling business, you must consistently generate new leads. But these days, it’s becoming more and more true that effective digital marketing is essential for remodeling lead generation.

When homeowners are looking to start a remodeling project, they begin their search online, often starting with search engines. They plan their remodeling projects with inspiration from social media platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram. They read reviews on Google, Yelp, and Angi. And they seek recommendations from their local communities on platforms like Nextdoor and Facebook.

To make a lasting positive impression and build trust, contractors must maintain a robust online presence. This includes sharing informative and engaging blog posts, photos, and videos, fostering positive reviews, and presenting a polished image that aligns with the expectations of homeowners seeking professional remodeling services. The goal is to help homeowners find you and then choose to work with your company instead of one of your competitors.

With the right digital marketing strategy, your business can achieve this goal and thrive in any economic environment. Continue reading for some tips from the professionals at TIC Digital Marketing that will help your residential remodeling business get the most from your online marketing.

Remember the Importance of Your Marketing Investment

Marketing is the process of making homeowners aware of your business, encouraging them to become your clients, reminding them to use you again for their next project, and prompting them to say good things about you - via online reviews, testimonials, and word-of-mouth. It’s a continuous cycle that requires investments of time and money for a business to be sustainably successful.

Many remodeling companies treat marketing as an expense that they can cut with minimal consequences. They don’t understand that good marketing is an investment that, done right and given time, does return more than you put in. Don’t make that same mistake! Reducing your marketing will only make you less visible to homeowners looking for remodeling services.

Your less-savvy competitors will doubtlessly be slashing their marketing budgets during slower times. While this may save some cash in the short term, this is not the route to long-term success. Economic uncertainty does not mean you should stop investing in your marketing. It means you need to be more strategic about how you invest the marketing budget you have available.

This starts with reviewing your marketing strategy and evaluating your current marketing performance. Once you’ve identified any weaknesses, begin making adjustments, fixing the most apparent problems, and focusing on the essentials that drive traffic and encourage conversions. Even during downturns, there will be homeowners looking for remodeling services. The contractors who continue their marketing efforts will be the first ones they find when searching for remodelers in their area. If you stay the course with your marketing investment, you are bound to capture the leads your competitors are missing.

A full pipeline is the lifeblood of your business, and good marketing is how you will keep it flowing. If you really want your businesses to thrive, treat your marketing like the vital investment it is, and it will generate returns with the new leads and jobs it brings you.

Reevaluate Your Target Audience and Services You’re Offering

As the economy changes, it is a good idea to reevaluate your target audiences and the services you offer them. Shifting economic conditions influence consumer preferences and spending habits. By reassessing your target audience, you can spot emerging trends and focus on providing services for homeowners who remain active in the market. You can then tailor your services, pricing, and marketing strategies to meet the needs and budgets of your new target audience.

Have you considered providing affordable remodeling services for homeowners on a budget? Or working specifically with homeowners who have owned their properties for several years? How about targeting higher-dollar clients who won’t be as affected by economic shifts? How you position yourself matters, as it impacts your marketing strategy and messaging.

It may take some effort to make adjustments like these. But by adapting to the changing landscape, you can optimize your chances of landing new projects and maintaining a steady flow of business even in challenging economic times.

Reconnect with Your Past Clients and Cold Leads

Reconnecting with former clients and cold leads - using email marketing, social media, phone calls, or even direct mail - is an excellent move for remodeling contractors, no matter what state the economy is in. When times are uncertain, homeowners may be nervous about starting large remodeling projects. However, if you’ve got past clients who have already had a positive experience with you, they may be more open to doing additional work. Check with them to see if they need help with essential repairs, maintenance, or smaller-scale projects. Some may be unable to move but have increased equity available to finance a project. By reaching out to these former clients, contractors can tap into a reliable source of business that can help them weather shifts in the economy.

Similarly, leads you generated in the past who didn’t move forward with a project may now be ready to do so. Their needs may have changed, or economic conditions may have improved for them. Reaching out to these leads potentially opens the door to discussing any updated requirements, revised budgets, and any new projects they might be considering. If you nurture these relationships, you can possibly convert these cold leads into clients, capitalizing on changing circumstances and maintaining a steady flow of business even in an economic slowdown.

Ultimately, you want to use your existing connections to find opportunities resulting from evolving market conditions. You’ve already made investments into connecting with them in the first place, so taking steps to maximize your return on that investment makes sense.

So, take a look at everyone you have worked with in the past five years or anyone who submitted your contact form in the past year. When was the last time you contacted them? Reaching out with an email re-engagement campaign is affordable and effective for generating new business.

Be Sure Your Marketing Foundation is Solid 

No matter the economic environment, to be successful, you need to have your marketing foundation set. This means you should spend some time making sure the essentials are in place and optimized to get the results you need:

Marketing Strategy

Having a marketing strategy is essential for success. Your strategy defines your goals, identifies your audiences, and guides the steps you take to reach them. A solid strategy allows you to control your budget, track your results, and ensure a positive return on your investment (ROI).

Your marketing needs change over time, so if you already have a strategy, it’s helpful to review it and evaluate whether what you’re doing now is working. If you don’t have a marketing strategy, now’s the time to develop one so you can stop wasting marketing dollars and start getting actual results.

Website

When was the last time you reviewed your website? Does it look professional and clearly describe your services, values, and personality? How does it look? Is it error-free, and does it load quickly? Is your portfolio up to date with images of recent projects, and do you have other content that attracts, engages, and educates your ideal client?

Review your site thoroughly - be critical, find problems, and make corrections. This will go a long way in generating new leads from the traffic you have visiting your site.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is another essential consideration. Is your Google Business Profile up-to-date? Is your business name, address, and phone number consistent across the web? Does your website effectively use keywords that your ideal clients are searching for? Do you regularly publish new content that incorporates these terms?

While SEO is much more complex than this, ensuring these basics are covered is beneficial for ranking higher on search engine results pages

Paid Ads

If you are already running an ad campaign, review your keywords and ads and make sure they reflect your new strategy. Are the visitors who click your ads submitting the lead capture form or calling you? If not, evaluate your landing page and fix what’s not working.

If you don’t have any ads running, we suggest you consider the benefits of including paid ads in your marketing.

Social Media

About 70% of Americans use social media, and if you’re not taking advantage of these platforms, you are missing out on opportunities to connect with potential clients. Social media apps are free to use, and they offer the potential for you to reach homeowners in your area considering remodeling projects.

Be sure you’ve set up profiles on the major social media platforms - and publish content regularly. Include posts with photos and videos of your projects - before, during, and after shots are great - and DIY home improvement tips that will help homeowners save money.

You can also follow prominent industry pages and join groups related to home remodeling. Be an active member of these communities; react to posts, leave comments, and reach out to others in the group. You may get referrals and job opportunities from others in these social media spaces if you network effectively.

Email Marketing

Even with the rise in popularity of social media and other messaging platforms, email is still the best way to engage and nurture potential clients. Research shows that the number of email users will continue to grow in the coming years.

Starting a regular email newsletter is an affordable and effective way to keep your name fresh in the minds of past clients and cold leads. Your newsletter can Include:

• Local market insights.
• Info about trends you’re seeing.
• Some of your best DIY tips and lifehacks.

You have a lot of helpful knowledge to share, so don’t hold back! This type of content is popular and likely to be appreciated. When you save a reader from having to call a plumber, for example, they will remember that and think of you first the next time they want to upgrade their bathroom or kitchen.

Automation

Marketing automation uses software to do monotonous or repetitive marketing tasks - so you don’t have to. Automation makes your marketing more efficient and effective and allows you to add a personal touch when you engage your leads and clients.

Every lead you get is vital. When you use marketing automation to send emails, texts, and social media posts, you can save time and effort and increase the chances of a lead becoming a client. Additionally, automation can be used with clients to send project updates, scheduling notices, and appointment reminders, and for project follow-up and review requests when the job is done.

Additionally, you can use automation tools to analyze the marketing data and identify which channels are most effective so you can concentrate your future efforts on those areas.

Be Patient and Follow the Data

Digital marketing is a valuable tool for remodeling contractors, but it’s important to remember that it typically takes time to yield noticeable results. While there can be some quick wins, building a solid online presence and generating consistent leads through digital marketing is a gradual process. It’s like planting seeds in a garden – you need to nurture them with care and patience before you start seeing the flowers bloom. So, don’t be discouraged if you don’t see immediate changes; give your marketing efforts time to grow and mature.

Equally important is the need to follow the data when making marketing decisions. Think of it as your compass in the digital landscape. By regularly reviewing key metrics like website traffic, click-through rates, and conversion rates, you can gain valuable insights into what’s working and what needs adjustment. This data-driven approach allows you to refine your strategies over time, ensuring that your marketing efforts get the best results.

In short - create and implement a well-thought-out strategy, be patient and trust the process, and let the data guide your decisions as you navigate the digital marketing journey.

Get Affordable Help with Your Digital Marketing

Of course, not every remodeling contractor can be a marketing expert, and that’s okay. In most cases, it’s a better investment of your time, money, and effort to outsource your marketing to a professional!

By hiring a digital marketing firm, you can develop a consistent and effective strategy that gets results while freeing up your time and getting better returns on your marketing budget. A good marketing firm can help you generate and nurture leads, allowing you to spend more time closing deals and completing jobs. With marketing experts handling things behind the scenes, you can focus on other aspects of your business without worrying about managing SEO, digital ad campaigns, or social media accounts.

As a professional digital marketing agency providing services for clients nationwide, TIC Digital Marketing has the experience and expertise to help your remodeling business thrive. From website design and development to search engine optimization to email marketing and automation, we've got affordable packages with the lead-generation strategies, tools, and skills to help you be successful in any economic climate. Contact us by calling (858) 480-9932, by emailing [email protected], or by filling out the online form on our contact page.