Home services companies are using digital marketing strategies to connect with their customers and find new leads. But what if we told you many are going about home services marketing the wrong way?

Not all approaches are created equal, and there is a multitude of just plain bad, outdated marketing and sales approaches out there. The first step in correcting course is realization. 

To assist our home services owners and managers, Rizen has seven common marketing mistakes we commonly see and how you can start taking steps to fix them.

Learn More About Growing Your Home Services Company: 👍

• 3 Tips for Home Improvement Services to Stay Relevant in 2021
• Save BIG by joining our Rev Grow Program

Mistake #1: Your Brand is Missing in Search Results

Few online marketing strategies act as a blanket solution for every type of business. Without a doubt, search engine optimization (SEO) is one of them.

81% of people begin their search online for a product or service (Smart Insights). If consumers cannot find your organization on the first few pages of Google’s search results, you’re miss a huge chunk of business and revenue.

Here are a few simple actions to boost your search engine visibility:

• Keyword research. Identify terms and phrases that your target customers use to find companies like your on Google. If you install garage doors, what terms are people using to find businesses like you?
• Create SEO-driven content. With your list of keywords, publish content on your website that features these key phrases. Content types can include blog posts, downloadable checklists, or content offers. 
• Focus on off-page SEO. Boost traffic back to your site by getting your company’s name on other reputable websites. Guest blogging and social media mentioned are the easiest ways to increase exposure. Make sure you aren’t the only one talking about your brand!
  

   

Actionable Tip: 💡

In addition to owning a brick-and-mortar location, it is essential to set aside marketing budget dollars to establish an online presence. Start by utilizing keyword research and SEO-driven content to generate more website visits.

Mistake #2: There’s No Consistent Email Marketing

As a member of the home services industry, you understand the importance of getting your brand name in front of potential customers. Although, when someone first hears about your services, they may not be ready to buy.

Herein lies the greatness that is email marketing. 🙌 🙌

Email marketing campaigns are an excellent strategy for nurturing potential customers online. Home service companies can communicate with qualified prospects regularly with minimal effort. Then, when they are ready to buy, your brand will be more prevalent in their minds.

As a bonus, email marketing continually offers the most significant return-on-investment for marketers. On average, emails generate 50% more leads for 33% less investment (LeadsBridge). For context, that means for every $1 spent, your business can earn about $44.25 in return.

Actionable Tip: 💡 

Encourage potential customers to sign up for an email newsletter when visiting your website, social media profiles, physical storefront, or any networking events. You need to push your own newsletter if you want people to add it to their email inbox!

Mistake #3: You Have Boring (or no) Blog Posts

Gone are the days where blog posts are exclusively for influencers and news columnists. Today, blogging is one of the most critical marketing components for any organization - and for a good reason.

According to a recent survey, nearly 80% of companies acquired customers through their content marketing efforts (HubSpot).

Key benefits and advantages of blogging for home services companies include:

• Boosting website rankings on search engine result pages.
• Growing brand awareness with prospective customers.
• Strengthening relationships with existing customers.
• Establishing your home services company as an industry thought leader.
• Collecting contact information with downloadable content offers.

Actionable Tip: 💡 

It's not enough to publish blogs consistently. The content needs to be both engaging and high-quality. Ask yourself before publishing - is this of any value to my readers? Make sure you have all your bases covered with our Free Blogging Optimization Checklist. 

Mistake #4: Your Website Looks Outdated 

Start thinking of your website as your top 24/7 salesperson. It has the influence to be your most significant home services marketing asset. Your digital storefront must adapt to the evolving needs and wants of your target audience. 

It’s also a good idea to plan your website around generational preferences, depending on your current buyers. An unattractive, feature-less website could be sending valuable site users away. If it looks like something out of the Clinton Administration, you need to update!

To support our claims, here are a few statistics that show the importance of an updated website:

• 94% of users no longer trust outdated websites. (MyTechnology)
• 75% of people base a company's credibility on how their website looks and responds to the user journey. (Revive Digital)
• It takes users 0.05 seconds to form an opinion about your website. This opinion determines whether they'll stay or leave. (SWEOR)
• Slow-loading websites lead to a $2.6 billion revenue loss each year. (TechJury)

Actionable Tip: 💡 

Need to update your website design but don't know where to begin? Start by optimizing your page speed, incorporating bold calls to action, and include eyeball-catching headlines.

Mistake #5: You’re Not Defining Target Audiences

Before making any new adjustments to your marketing efforts, start by defining your target buyer. Who are they? What are their common goals and challenges?

Even if you think you know their general demographics, it helps to take a step back and make sure you really know who you’re targeting. This process will define every piece of content, every marketing message, advertising channel, and sales strategy more valuable.

To get started, meet with company stakeholders for a brainstorming session. Ask your team simple questions such as:

• Are our target customers mostly male, female, or an even mix?
• How old are they?
• Where do our target customers live?
• What are their preferred communication channels?

The answers to these questions should act as a guide to follow for creating successful marketing campaigns.

Actionable Tip: 💡 

Creating defined target audiences from scratch can be intimidating. Our free template has the tools you need to start creating buyer personas today. 

Mistake #6: Useful Sales Resources Don’t Exist

One of the most significant revenue-driving forces for home services companies is its salespeople. Sales teams help your organization grow by interacting with customers, building trust, and generating repeat business.

There is A LOT of responsibility resting on their shoulders. For this reason, sales teams must have useful resources at their fingertips to optimize relationships with potential and existing customers. 

Types of sales resources include:

• Product specifications
• Pricing sheets
• Brochures outlining your unique benefits
• Sales scripts
• Case studies or testimonials
• Sales presentations

Without helpful sales resources, your team members will lack the support needed to consistently win new customers.

Actionable Tip: 💡 

Although it is useful in moving customers through the sales funnel, sales teams rarely use 80% of created marketing content (ITSMA). Management must make sure the blog posts, ads, and other content made by marketing teams is accessible AND useful for sales teams too. 

Mistake #7: You’re Not Tracking Marketing & Sales Efforts

Performance measurement and tracking is crucial to any home services marketing campaign. Between content, email, social media, and paid marketing, it is hard to determine what channel offers the greatest return on investment.

Tracking campaign efforts can solve this issue exponentially. It relies on campaign data to tell your organization which marketing efforts are working and which are not. You no longer must depend on best guesses and assumptions to identify where your time and resources are best spent.

With this insight, home services companies can reevaluate their spending to focus on areas showing the greatest traction with target audiences. 

Actionable Tip: 💡 

In today’s business landscape, if you're not tracking efforts, you're not succeeding. Learn what data is worth monitoring for each type of audience:

• Data Worth Tracking for Bottom-of-Funnel Audiences
• Data Worth Tracking for Middle-of-Funnel Audiences
• Data Worth Tracking for Top-of-Funnel Audiences

Mistake #8 You Make No Time for Marketing

We get it, as a home services business owner, you're busy and strapped for time. As a result, other business responsibilities often take priority over critical marketing efforts.

However, in today's highly competitive market, if you don't take the time to market your home improvement services, your competition will take advantage of the gap you've left.

To help keep marketing efforts at the forefront, prioritize time management strategies such as blocking off time on your calendar for specific tasks. Be diligent about keeping to this allotted time without getting distracted by other responsibilities.

If you still find yourself struggling to find the time, it could be a good idea to outsource these tasks to a home services marketing company like Rizen.

Mistake #9: Your Leads Aren’t Consistent

Another mistake you're making with your home services marketing is you're not gaining consistent leads. Or maybe you're earning many leads, but they're not quality prospects that lead to real business.

You're not alone. 61% of marketers say generating website traffic and leads is their top challenge (HubSpot). Plus, for home services companies, this can be even more so difficult during off-season months.

For this reason, many businesses in this industry expand their product and service offerings to winter-related activities. It allows businesses to segment their marketing and content strategies for different audiences. Doing so helps encourage quality leads all year long.

Mistake #10: Your (Many) Digital Softwares Don’t Work Together

Today's organizations are simultaneously tasked to support sales, marketing, and business objectives all at once. If this wasn't challenging enough, these three counterparts must work collaboratively under one umbrella.

Luckily, the many digital platforms you're already using can (usually) integrate with one another into one seamless bundle of productivity!  

A great example of this is HubSpot. It is a full-service platform for all things marketing, sales, and customer service -- putting all the tools you need in one place.

You won't have to juggle between various digital software platforms to optimize your content, nurture leads, and improve customer satisfaction. Imagine the time you’ll save!

Mistake #11: You're Not Getting Enough Customer Reviews

Lastly, customer reviews are imperative for the success of home services companies. For context, 93% of customers read reviews of local businesses to determine the brand's quality (BrightLocal). And, 72% of customers won’t take any buying actions until they’ve read online reviews (Testimonial Engine). 

To encourage numerous, positive, and quality reviews, add proactive reputation management to your marketing strategy. This process includes surveying recent customers through follow-up emails after your services are complete.

Sending a simple message with a link to collect feedback on sites such as Google or Yelp is imperative. Doing so encourages customers to leave a review the public sees and trusts.

Moving Beyond the Mistakes

Home service businesses MUST establish effective marketing strategies. The process can be challenging and demands sacrifices of time, money, and company-wide priorities.

Recognizing your current mistakes is important to fixing your future approach. It's nothing to be ashamed of! Take an honest assessment of your current operations and begin planning how to address each of these issues.

Sometimes, you need a little extra help to grow your revenue predictably and safely.

If you find yourself in this position, consider outsourcing your marketing and sales efforts to a partner like Rizen. We’re a revenue growth agency focused on home services companies like yours. 

Rev Grow, our lean, mean, revenue machine, is a program that provides training and implementation-ready resources to start scaling your business quickly. Our additional guidance and support comes from actual marketing and sales experts. You won’t find this combination from other services!

We’re the proven partner for businesses offering: 

• Impact products
• Garage doors
• HVAC
• mold remediation

...and other home services. We’ve helped owners like you how to grow your company year-over-year predictably and safely.  

Learn how we have helped other home service companies with our marketing services.

• Case study for Alco Windows & Doors
• Case Study for Biosweep Southeast
• Case Study for Garage Door Medics

Sign up for our Rev Grow Program beta and enjoy our early adopter pricing. Don’t wait! Start boosting your leads and increasing your revenue today!