Contractors Marketing, Part 1: 3 Tips for Creating a Successful Internet Marketing Strategy

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Contractors Marketing, Part 1: 3 Tips for Creating a Successful Internet Marketing Strategy

With Web 2.0’s “new wave” of two-way communication flows between providers and consumers, contractors marketing their specialty niches can now create cost-effective Internet marketing strategies in-house. 

Expensive offline marketing for print, TV and radio ads start at minimum 0 per lead for contractors—with many contractors spending upwards into the four digits to secure just one customer.

However, with social media marketing, costs for securing leads are drastically reduced—to low-cost. How’s this, you ask?

Well, people primarily buy from people they trust. And, the mechanics of developing trust online are phenomenal with social media. Add to the mix that people enjoy hanging out, as in birds of a feather flocking together, and you have a surefire way of attracting and developing ongoing home improvement lead generation for lifetime leads.

However, for social media marketing to be effective, your strategy has to all encompassing—by envisioning an Internet marketing strategy that fits your particular needs. It’s similar to devising an offline marketing strategy. 

Here are 3 tips for creating a responsive Internet marketing strategy:

#1. Identify Goals. Ask:

1.1 What would I like to achieve—increasing visibility for my electrical services; launching a new green remodeling specialty?

1.2 Who to target—more narrowly and locally to develop ongoing relationships that deepen over time; or more broadly so more people know of my services far and wide? Or, both?

#2. Research SEO Keywords.

As you’ve heard, SEO (Search Engine Optimized) keywords are the hottest consumer innovations of the new millennium that are being fostered and promoted by social media marketing.

You’d want to research keywords for your contractor specialty niche. Enter “free keyword tools” in any search engine. When I entered this phrase in the middle of October 2009, Google brought up 96,500,000 results in 0.29 seconds.

You can go to any of these free websites, enter your contractor specialty services and see which catchwords and phrases are in the limelight. 

Of course, the catch is, when everyone’s using the top-ranked keyword, you might end up lower-ranked. The trick is to go down the list and experiment with keywords relevant to your niche that are less competitive, and see how they play out for you.

#3. Target Demographics & Channels.

It sounds ironic that the quality work you perform for homeowners could also put you at a certain disadvantage. For example, a roofer would be out of luck if they depended on one same customer, waiting for about 20 years before they replaced the roof. 

However, a roofer could also develop a related skill set with gutter, vent and chimney repairs and replacements—and keep updating current customers with ongoing repairs as needed over the years.

Starting with the first child of social media, email, you could keep sending customers seasonal email newsletters, one-on-one.

However, with Web 2.0’s multi-media dispersion channels, you get to broadcast your expertise far and wide by using blogging, social-site networking and article writing (as I’m doing here). 

The key is, when people get to know you from getting useful advice off your emails, Web articles or socialize with your networking groups from LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, you gain their trust. And, as I mentioned earlier, people buy from people they know and trust. 

Simple. Free marketing…almost. There are lots more to this, of course.

For detailed info on developing a total social media strategy that’s specially written for contractors—the first of it’s kind that fills a much-needed void—reference SUREFIRE SOCIAL for CONTRACTORS. 

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