Failure to Market Effectively
To many business owners, marketing is a conundrum. You can only spread awareness of your services by marketing, but how and where to start? Is it really worth the money you spend?
Our industry research is clear: marketing is essential. Our 2022 Homeowner’s Survey showed that while 38% of homeowners rely on word-of-mouth or referrals to evaluate businesses, the rest of the cohort requires some kind of marketing to introduce them to your business.
We know that marketing is confusing, with many platforms and channels, paid ads, keeping up with social media, dealing with agencies, and deciding your strategy.
Define Your Audience
This is always the first step in effective marketing - know your customer. This is where you, as an expert, have an upper hand. Whether you specialize in residential or commercial, you’ve been in the field long enough to understand what marketers call “pain points.” What questions do you hear? What are their concerns?
“Owners need to educate themselves to a minimum in the language of business and marketing, so they fully understand what agencies are selling them. They also need to know when their audience is different from what an agency tells them it should be.” - Joe Everest
Once you’ve identified those answers, ask yourself what specific value your company brings to the table. Is there something you do better than anyone else? Do you have deep experience in one type of installation? Are you a talented generalist? Make sure your audience knows.
Build Your Marketing Toolbox
“The right tool for the right job at the right time” is a piece of wisdom you’ve heard most of your life. A marketing toolbox also needs to be fully stocked and used wisely and consistently. Only this time, your toolbox is entirely metaphorical.
SWOT Analysis
Perhaps the most basic tool is called a SWOT evaluation. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT shouldn’t take more than an hour of your time, but having one lays the foundation for all your marketing efforts.
A SWOT analysis gives you the ammunition you need to decide how to focus your marketing efforts. While every marketing activity should take into account strengths, weaknesses, or opportunities, threats are worth extra attention.
By definition, threats are out of your control. That’s why you have to keep your marketing practices nimble.
For example, if the cost of materials skyrockets, you may want to stop talking about value and start talking about quality as a differentiator.
Ownership of Your Marketing Channels
Channels are the digital communication methods you use to reach your audience and influence them. Phone calls, text messages, emails, video, radio, and social media are all types of communication channels.
It’s important to make sure you have secured your marketing channels. Claim your listing on review sites, establish your social media channels if you haven’t yet, and make sure that you evaluate them regularly to make sure they’re performing well and generating leads for your business.
Hiring Outside Agencies
Finding an agency to handle your marketing needs (including graphic design, website design, social media posts, marketing collateral, and more) can satisfy your business’ endless need for fresh content. Be careful, though - just like your customers, get multiple estimates, research ratings and reviews, and interview your short list thoroughly.
Just beware - hiring outside your company to market it doesn’t absolve you of learning about marketing. If anything, it becomes even more important.
“These owners need to educate themselves to a minimum in the language of business and marketing, so they fully understand what agencies are selling them.” - Sam Natello
You may find what seems like the perfect fit, but what about pricing? Paying too little is as bad as paying too much in many cases. But when you understand your fundamental marketing needs, you have the ammunition to evaluate more effectively.
People make whole careers out of marketing, so it helps to understand what the bare minimum is for your business when it comes to using marketing effectively.
- Claim your business on Google, Yelp, Angi, and so on, to monitor reviews. Address negative reviews professionally, and be sure to use your high star rating in your marketing materials.
- Content is king. Whatever channels you use, make sure to provide fresh content on a regular basis. Post on your social channels frequently and, most importantly, consistently. Never be afraid to boast about your excellent work - before and after pictures can be powerful in social media.
- Consider a blog. It helps your website rank higher in search engines, and it gives you something to talk about on social media. If starting a blog on your website is intimidating, you can use a simple blogging platform and link to it. Consider the “they ask, you answer” framework by Marcus Sheridan to help you find content ideas.
- Trust your gut. You know your audiences, which are often your own neighbors. What kinds of marketing channels do you think will reach them? For example, if you live in a town or area with a lot of older adults, do they still prefer direct mail postcards and radio ads? If you’re wrong and your marketing campaign doesn’t work, you’ll still have valuable data for the next try.
- Don’t give up!
“I believe that underpaying for resources goes right back to a lack of comfort with marketing. When you don’t know what you need to hit which business goals, cheaping out can be a mistake.” - Sam Natello
Finally, Hubspot Academy provides a plethora of free marketing classes to upskill yourself.
