Creating a marketing strategy that continually generates leads is one of the hardest things for a business to do.
Mailers, door hangers, and good ole fashioned business cards used to be the lifeblood of home services marketing, but the internet has completely changed the game. Online marketing can be incredibly overwhelming, so we’ve outlined a 5-step process to provide a basic framework for generating leads through your website.
Imagine you’re at home, relaxing after a long day at work. Just as you kick your shoes off and breathe a sweet sigh of relief, you hear a shrill scream from the half bath down stairs. It’s your wife. The toilet has completely overflowed, and it’s not pretty. What do most people do in this situation? They pull out their smartphone and start looking for someone who can fix their problem. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile devices, your potential customer is likely hitting the back button and heading back to the Google drawing board. According to Google's internal data, "...more Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the US and Japan." (Source) If your site isn't mobile-responsive, you may not even show up when customers search on their mobile device. Meaning, you could be losing out on business and not even know it.
People are glued to their mobile devices these days. Why not meet them where they're at by ensuring your site is there when they need it?
Growing your email list should be at the center of your digital marketing strategy. Michael Hyatt said it best when he said that you can’t build your digital platform on a rented lot. Statistics prove that it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to reach your audience organically through Facebook & Twitter. But with an email list, you have the ability to reach your entire audience with the click of a button. But what do I send to my email list? That’s a great question. Here’s a list of 11 different ways you can engage your email list. How do I get started? That’s another great question...MailChimp is our preferred email service provider, but AWeber or Drip are two other popular email service providers.
Once you get your email provider set up, you need to incentivize your target audience to join your email list.The easiest way to do this is through an opt-in incentive. Simply put, an opt-in incentive is a digital offer that you give away for free in exchange for a prospect’s email address.Your business is serving a local audience, so here are 3 incentives you could offer:
Don’t fear sharing your knowledge. Sharing your expertise is a great way to generate leads because it establishes your authority and offers immediate value. People don’t get their oil changed because they can’t do it themselves, they do it because it’s convenient. Once you’ve created your opt-in incentive, make sure it’s visible from anywhere on your website. If you choose Drip as your email provider, this feature is part of their monthly fee. If you choose to use Mailchimp, Aweber, or another email provider, you can display your opt-in incentive anywhere on your site using a free tool like Scroll Box. Still not convinced that email marketing will work for you? Check out these statistics from the Salesforce blog. The numbers don’t lie. :)
Now that your website is optimized to turn visitors into leads, it’s time to start driving traffic to your site. You can do this in a variety of ways, but Google Ads and Facebook Ads are particularly effective for local businesses. With this type of advertising, you can target specific characteristics of the people that are most likely to need your service. With Facebook Ads for example, you can target 35-55 year old married men living in the zip codes that you serve. You can run an ad to this targeted audience and send them to a dedicated landing page that features your opt-in incentive. Google Ads may be even more effective for home service companies. Google is a great place to advertise because people are literally searching for a solution to their problem, especially when they need something fixed right away. This is where you step in: when people Google in desperation (e.g., “my toilet broke,” “need a plumber asap!”), you want your name to be the first solution they see.
Tip: LeadPages is an easy-to-use tool for creating custom landing pages.
As you’re implementing your lead generation strategy, remember to always put yourself in the shoes of your potential customers. When you truly empathize with your target audience, you can understand their pain and serve them in the best way possible. This builds trust and rapport that will inevitably lead its way back to your bottom line.
It's crucial to understand that customers want quality assurance — and in today’s world, rich with online reviews, they can get it. According to one poll, 93% of consumers check reviews before using businesses. In many ways, if you do not have online reviews set up, you do not exist. Take the time to sign up for reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook. Here’s a great article on how to get positive reviews for your business.
Generating leads for your company can be incredibly time-consuming, and let’s be honest...you’re already busy enough running your business. Get a FREE proposal or check out our Home Services SEO strategies!
