Marketing is a crucial component of bringing in new leads for your roofing business. Whether your company has been around for a while or you’re just getting started, a solid marketing plan can help you connect with potential customers, show homeowners how they can benefit from your services, build your brand, and increase sales.
There are two main methods of advertising that can assist roofing contractor marketing: traditional and digital. Both types can help you get your name out there, generate more leads, and set your business apart from the rest of the competition. Here are a few marketing strategies to get you started.
Traditional Roofing Contractor Marketing Strategies
Customer Service
Your customers are the backbone of your business, and how you treat them can affect your brand. By making excellent customer service a part of your marketing strategy, you can increase your chances of keeping customers around for repeat jobs or improve your chance of referrals. Promptly answering phone calls, sharing key project updates, and remembering important details about your customer’s projects are just a few ways to keep your customers satisfied throughout the process.
To help keep your customer service top-notch, investing in a CRM system can help make sure that nothing slips through the cracks. With AccuLynx, you can set up automated emails to help remind customers of appointments and keep all correspondence and details about a specific job in one place.
Referral Based Marketing
Referral marketing generates a 3-5x higher conversion rate than other marketing programs because people are more likely to trust a recommendation for a service from someone they know. Providing excellent customer service increases the chances of a previous customer referring you. Offering an incentive for a referral, such as a gift card or discounted service, can increase those odds even more.
Another way to use referral-based marketing is by partnering with another vendor. To do this, reach out to a few potential businesses that would be a good source of leads and present the benefits of a partnership.
It is also essential to track how your referral programs are going to know what is working and what strategy might need an adjustment. With AccuLynx, you can track each referral program’s performance with custom reporting dashboards.
Door Knocking & Word of Mouth Marketing
Most roofing contractors are already knocking on doors, but there are many ways to make your canvassing more effective.Having a solid canvassing strategy in place before sending team members to knock on doors will have a higher chance of gaining more qualified leads. To do this, make sure you create a unique pitch and leave-behind materials, such as business cards, pamphlets, or other materials that illustrate your services and past work.
AccuLynx integrates with HailWatch, HomeAdvisor, and SalesRabbit, allowing you to keep better track of the leads you gather while canvassing.
Event-Based Marketing
Attending local and national events can help you reach a wider pool of potential customers and connect you with resources to grow your business. Before going to an event, you want to make sure you set yourself up for success. Create a plan for what you want to get out of the event, such as more education, networking, or leads. Bring professional, relevant materials about your business, and don’t forget to collect information on people you meet to continue the relationship afterward.
Digital Roofing Contractor Marketing Strategies
Social Media
While there are many different social media platforms, and it isn’t necessary to have a presence on all of them, most of your customers are likely on at least one. Before signing up, think about what platform your demographic is more likely to use. For example, if you live in an area highly populated by retirees, Facebook would be a good choice since it is the most popular platform for those 65 and above.
Create either a weekly or monthly content calendar with dates and topics for posts to help keep a consistent schedule that you can easily stick to. Some relevant content ideas to share include photos of past projects, reviews, or even customer testimonials.
Google My Business
When looking for a service, many, if not all, customers consult Google. On average, there are 1.2 million Google searches for roofing services each month. To make your business more searchable, try having a business profile on Google My Business. Google My Business is an easy and free way to make your business accessible to all those homeowners right from their computer. Be sure to include relevant information about your company in the profile, such as hours, services, contact information, and reviews.
Website
Having a professional website is probably the most important of the different digital marketing strategies. For many homeowners, a visit to your website may be their first encounter with your brand—and first impressions are important! Your website is an easy way to put all relevant information about your business in one place, including the services you offer, the area you serve, and how customers can get in touch with you.
Your website is also a great place to host additional information about your company that some customers might find relevant. For instance, a blog educating potential customers on your services or case studies highlighting successful projects can help make your business stand out from the competition.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a great way to stay in consistent communication with your customers and leads about services, offers, discounts, and more. To make your email marketing successful, it is vital to have an email marketing plan like you would have a social media marketing plan. This will help you avoid sending too many emails and ensure you are sending relevant information to the correct people.
Depending on how many email contacts you have, it could be a good idea to invest in an email marketing platform such as Mailchimp or Hubspot. These systems help you create professional emails, segment your contacts into lists (such as leads and customers), and even allow you to schedule emails ahead of time, so you don’t have to do all the work manually.
Online Reviews
Often, when a potential customer is interested in a service, they will consult reviews from past customers before making a final decision. Creating profiles on online review sites such as Yelp or Angi will help these potential customers find positive reviews of your business. To encourage current customers to post reviews, you can offer a gift card or discounted service similar to how you would incentive referral marketing.
Reminding customers to post reviews is also essential for bringing in new business. AccuLynx users can set up automated emails that remind customers to review their service once it is complete.
Paid Search Opportunities
For businesses with more experience with digital marketing, investing in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising could be a new way to generate even more leads. Many platforms, including Google, Bing, Facebook, and YouTube, offer this type of advertising, where advertisers pay a fee each time a potential customer clicks on the ad. PPC ads also tend to generate more traffic to your website with hot leads.
Grow your business with AccuLynx
By creating a roofing contractor marketing plan, you will have a better chance of reaching more potential customers in less time. While it isn’t necessary to adopt every strategy listed above, by picking a few strategies in both categories, you will grow your business and close more deals.
With an influx of leads, having an efficient sales process in place is also important. AccuLynx is a comprehensive software system that can help manage your business from start to finish, efficiently and successfully. Schedule a custom demo to see how AccuLynx can help you grow and manage your roofing business.
