Marketing for Roofing Contractors: Build and Sell Like a Pro
There are a lot of moving parts when running a roofing company, especially if you’re a one-man show or a small team. The competition can be stiff and new tools and technology mean roofing professionals need to constantly be on their toes. Adding marketing into the mix may seem like a daunting task, but in this article, we’ll outline the top marketing strategies you should know to gain new customers, boost sales, and grow your business.
Marketing Your Roofer Contractor Business: Before You Dive In
Put On Your Marketing Cap
The new owner of a garage renovating company once said, “we’re a sales and marketing company in the garage space because that’s really what it takes to win.” That was one mindset of many that allowed this savvy owner to scale his garage business from roughly $100k per year in revenue to $5 million in the span of 18 months.
It goes without saying that your ability to attract new customers is what will determine the growth of your business. By marketing smart, not hard, you can easily grow your brand and juggle the responsibilities that go with it.
High ROI
Similar to investing in a new set of tools to get the job done, you’ll need to invest time and often money to effectively market yourself and get new customers. When examining a marketing strategy, weigh the potential reach and impact on conversion rates. Whether it’s paid ads or ranking for local searches, more often than not you’ll find that marketing (when done right) will pay off with a high ROI.
More To Marketing Than Just Marketing
An often overlooked aspect of marketing yourself or your business is the number of valuable insights you gather along the way. There are all kinds of digital tools and platforms that help you measure engagement, open rates, conversion rates, and so much more.
If you’re tracking analytics you’ll quickly learn what works and what can be fine-tuned to yield the right results. As you scale your business, you’ll have an invaluable knowledge base of the marketing practices that worked best and will know how to better apply them elsewhere in the future.
Top 5 Marketing Tips for Roofing Contractors
Maximize Customer Reviews and Testimonials
A large number of service businesses underestimate how powerful displaying customer reviews and testimonials can be. In fact, when it comes to hiring tradesmen, over 80% of consumers reported that reviews are ‘important’ or ‘very important’ for making a decision.
In this modern age, gathering social proof for your business has never been easier, which is why some businesses simply fake reviews and post them everywhere. That’s not only a bad approach for obvious reasons, but it will also negatively impact business. These days, most prospects are savvy enough to spot fake reviews.
So how do you leverage the power of social proof?
Here are some best practices to consider:
- Simply ask for referrals and reviews from customers
- Interact with customers that leave reviews on your Google Business Profile and Facebook page (seriously, it’s not often you see contractors doing that.)
- Similarly, track and engage with reviews on sites like Yelp, Home Advisor, and others
- Make sure your contact information is clear and readily available
- Create video testimonials of customers showcasing before and after footage
A handful of authentic video testimonials on your site will do wonders for your conversion rates. Likewise, engaging with reviews on your Google Business Profile will instantly make you stand out from the competition.
Create a Roofing Website That Shines
Your website is your digital storefront and the cornerstone of your business. Many roofing contractors have websites, but how often do you see one that hits the ball out the park with its modern design, ease of navigation, and high-converting copy?
Not very often, which is why you can easily take your business to the next level and out-maneuver your competition with a few simple steps.
Your site doesn’t have to be flashy or over the top, but it should definitely include the following:
- A call-to-action (CTA) on every page: this can be anything from a “call for a free consultation” or “get a free quotation” button.
- Fast loading and optimized for mobile devices: if your site is slow or doesn’t look good on mobile devices, your visitors will bounce in droves.
- Engaging content: this can be stunning before and after photos, customer testimonials, or homeowner how-to guides. Great engaging content is an incredibly powerful way to generate warm leads and build trust before even contacting your prospect.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): this one sounds technical but is a lot easier to implement than it seems. If SEO isn’t something you’re familiar with, contact us today for a free consultation.
- Analytics tracking: you should be able to know where your visitors are coming from, how many they are, how long they stay on your site, and what percent take action.
Invest in Paid Ads for Quick Results
Using PPC (pay-per-click) Google ads or launching Facebook ad campaigns can yield great and fast results, but with one catch. Simply spending money on ads won’t work because there is a rather steep learning curve to doing paid advertising the right way.
On the upside, when paid ads are done professionally, the results and ROI can be a game-changer for your business. Google currently reserves the top 4 spots in search results for paid ads. That’s a level of exposure that can turn into a lead-generating machine.
Before investing in paid ads, here are some points to consider:
- Find out the competition and average ticket price for your target keywords
- Calculate the average cost per lead
- Calculate your average profit margin per sale
- Decide on a realistic monthly budget
Traditional Routes
The modern digital age has allowed the marketing industry to reach levels previously unknown to man, and it has definitely cast a long shadow on traditional marketing methods. But that’s not to say traditional methods are outdated in effectiveness.
In fact, as more aspects of the buyer’s journey become digitized, “customer facing time” is still valued and a great way to build trust and generate new roofing leads.
Here are some common ways you can get out there, build your network, gain leads, and increase customer facing time:
- Attend homeowner meetups and associations
- Participate in local trade shows
- Leverage direct mail (currently a booming marketing tactic)
- Exhibit your services in target audience locations
- Collaborate with influencers in the remodeling and real estate space
- Join local Facebook and LinkedIn groups
Tracking Metrics and Putting Systems in Place
The beauty of digital marketing is the valuable analytics and scalability of your operations.
As you explore different digital marketing strategies, there’s almost always going to be a way to track important metrics like:
- Clickthrough and impressions rate
- Bounce rate
- Average time spent on your site
- Conversion rates
And many more metrics that point you in the right direction. Possibly the most important step you can make in marketing your business is tracking these metrics, making the right adjustments, and having autopilot systems in place.
Once you have a great website design ready, conversion-oriented landing pages, and PPC ad campaigns running, you can set everything up to gather leads automatically. This allows you to focus on converting prospects into customers.
Examples of these automation types are:
- Tracking email sign-ups with services like Mailchimp
- Having on-page popups that offer free consultations or quotations in return for emails
- Setting ad campaigns to run automatically and monitoring click rates
- Investing in services that allow you to schedule social media posts across multiple platforms
- Following up with prospects with email auto-responders and email sequences
Key Takeaways
The market size of the roofing contractors industry in the US, measured by revenue, reached a whopping $56.7 billion in 2022. There’s plenty of room for your business to grow, but it depends on the steps you’re willing to take to stand out to outdo the competition.
To take your roofing business to the next level, consider:
- Upgrading your company website and making sure it loads fast and is optimized for mobile
- Investing in paid ads to quickly generate leads
- Leverage customer reviews and testimonials
- Track metrics and find the right tools that can save you time, money, and boost productivity
Aaron R. - CEO
Entrepreneur with 20 years experience launching and managing successful web design and marketing companies. As seen in New York Times, Inc.com, Smashing Magazine, Home Advisor and other various mainstream media.
Passionate about #seo #marketing #webdesign #socialmedia #blogging #family #texasbbq