The lifeline of any home improvement business is to always be getting new clients. You probably already know this, because income generated by return business is nothing new. But many contractors don't put enough effort into getting new customers, which also goes by the name of lead generation. A lot of marketing people will tell you “why” lead generation is important, but you probably have little to no idea as to “how.” So the goal of this article is to help you with understanding the “how.” Specifically, the trends and ideas about lead generation plus how they can benefit you and bring in more income.
Start a Website
If you don't have a website yet, then it's important that you get one. Most home improvement professionals don't know how important a website is until the moment a homeowner asks for one. At that point, most contractors will search for someone to build it. Keep in mind that you don't have to spend a fortune on a website. A simple and functional website that is able to collect emails and contact information is enough for a home improvement businesses.
The primary reason why having a website is crucial is because it is the central point of your lead generation campaign. It is where most of your other tactics will come in or lead into.
So, once you get a website, make sure you turn it into the ultimate in lead generation. Keep design in mind for a way that it’s easier for your visitors to contact you. Also, ensure that your graphics, texts, and website architecture are all designed to lure potential visitors in so they contact your business personally.
Facebook and Other Social Media
Once you have built a website and turned it into a lead generating machine, it's time to move to other tactics to feed your marketing campaign. These days, you simply can’t skip social media.
You also don't need to go crazy and start signing up for every social media network available. You can start with the major ones like Facebook and Twitter.
It's best that you start slowly as updating your social media pages can easily become a full-time job. Hence, if you are starting out, stick to the essentials like posting regular content, connecting to other people, and responding to questions and comments.
As part of the overall strategy, make sure that everything on your social media page will encourage the visitors to check out your site, and vice versa.
Make Videos
Online demand for videos is always growing. You can take advantage of this trend by producing your own videos. Don't be intimidated by this idea as you don't need an entire production set. All you need is a camera phone and very useful content.
The biggest reason why people check out videos is because they want to amuse themselves. But, they also watch videos when they want a solution to a problem. You would want to focus on the educational material as it demonstrates your knowledge of your profession.
For example, you can start creating videos like "Cleaning Grout - How the Professionals Do It." Of course, you need to create something similar that will fit your home improvement business.
Once you’ve created a couple of videos, you can then upload them to YouTube and other major video-sharing sites. Also, don't forget to place the videos in a section of your website.
When creating a video, ALWAYS encourage the viewers to check out your website. A simple "for more information, check out our website at www.YourWebsite.com" at the very end of the video is enough.
Articles
The entire process of creating, publishing, and distributing articles is another cost-effective way of generating leads. This is also known as Content Marketing.
The biggest advantage of Content Marketing is that it improves your internet authority. In the online world, authority leads to trust. This is very important as people would always prefer to do business with someone they trust.
One of the major reasons why most businesses are not a fan of content marketing is because they don't know how to properly do it, which can lead to poor results.
The biggest mistake in Content Marketing is not making enough effort when it comes to the distribution. While you should not cut corners when producing good content, that's just one part of an effective Content Marketing strategy. After producing your articles, distribute them online as much as possible.
This means that you should submit them to article sites. There are many free sites that are looking for content. Also, post the articles on your website and then leverage them by distributing the article links to your social media pages.
Whenever you post your articles outside of your website, make sure that you include links back to your site. Not only will this drive additional traffic to your site, but it will also increase your site's Search Engine Optimization score.
Also, when posting your articles in other websites, make sure you put a lot of effort developing the "Author Profile" section. Again, this will help increase your authority.
Get Your Name Out
Giving stuff away for free is another great way of generating leads. It's important that your "free giveaway" is something of value. This could be a discount coupon, T-shirt, or an insider's eBook guide. The more practical, the better.
The best way of making use of the free giveaway is to have your clients exchange it for something that you can use to contact them. Exchanging your free prize for an email is usually enough. Once they send you their email, you can then start building a relationship.
To get the most out of this, let everyone know about your giveaway. One way of doing this is by announcing it on your social media pages. Also, make sure you design your website in a way that it would be difficult for the visitors to miss your free giveaway.
These days, the home improvement industry is getting more and more crowded. It's not enough that you provide good quality service. You need to up your game, and that means you need to learn how to execute a lead generation strategy properly. If not, your competitors might get your business. The strategy and tactics mentioned above will be of benefit to you, so use them.
Bonus: Purchasing Leads
One of the easiest ways to generate business for your company is to simply purchase leads! If you’re looking to get quality jobs from interested homeowners, this is certainly the way to go. For very reasonable prices you can get high-paying jobs.
Lead generation companies look for homeowners who are actively on the market for contacting services. By simply connecting contractors with homeowners, everybody wins. Just visit our website to get the process going and start receiving leads.
If business has been slow, or advertising hasn’t brought in much, lead generations services are a safe bet. They can go right to your cell phone, informing you of potential jobs in your area. From then on, you can build a report with the homeowners which will, in turn, lead to more jobs in the future. It’s a great stepping stone for both old and new businesses who are looking to work.
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