Smarter Marketing for Remodeling Firms - Continuum Marketing Group LLC

Myth: Word-Of-Mouth Remodeler Marketing Is Cheap

April 18, 2011
by David Alpert

I sometimes talk to remodelers who boast that they spend NO money marketing their remodeling company because they get all their business from word-of-mouth and referrals. That they get all their business through word-of-mouth marketing may be true, but it is not true that they spend no money on remodeling company marketing.

To build a business based on word-of-mouth marketing, you have to be spending a fair amount of time, money and effort running a remodeling business that so satisfies your clients that they feel comfortable using you again and referring you. According to a study conducted a few years ago by Guild Quality, 36% of some 35,000 random homeowners surveyed who recently remodeled would not use their remodeler again nor would they refer them to a friend.

The remodeling companies that do the best job of generating word-of-mouth business are the ones that do an extra special job in keeping their clients not just satisfied, but very satisfied. It costs them in hiring and training the right people, paying higher wages for well trained and dedicated staff and subs, in developing and maintaining the right systems, in using quality materials and processes, in doing those extra special things like warranty services, sometimes even after the warranty expires, that makes word-of-mouth remodeler marketing work.

So, while these companies may be spending no money for what are traditionally considered marketing materials, they are spending a good deal of money on remodeler marketing.

If you have any questions about this post or other remodeler or contractor marketing questions, please contact us.

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: Marketing Strategies and Tactics for Remodelers, Remodeler Marketing
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Publish or Perish – A New Remodeler Marketing Reality

April 3, 2011
by David Alpert

The need to “publish or perish,” once a pressure felt exclusively by college professors and other academics, is now shared, to a real extent, by remodelers. Like it or not, more and more homeowners are inclined to buy services from remodeling contractors who provide them with helpful information about design, remodeling, and the remodeling process. In today’s parlance, information is called “content” and in the world of online marketing, “content is king”.

While a lot of professional remodelers would be happy to share what they know with homeowners, only a small percent of remodelers enjoy and are really good at writing. This in itself should not really be an obstacle for remodelers because you can outsource writing and editing at a reasonable price. The trick is making sure that the content generated has strategic marketing value, is not sales-y, and is interesting and helpful.

But what about the publishing part? This is where technology has really helped. No longer is it expensive to publish your content. Some of the vehicles you can use include your remodeling company website, remodeling company blog, remodeling company e-newsletter, homeowner guidance and white papers, articles you write for local papers and online papers, etc.

If you have any questions about this post or other remodeler or contractor marketing questions, please contact us.

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: E-newsletter Marketing, Marketing Strategies and Tactics for Remodelers, Online Marketing, Remodeler Marketing
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90% Referrals Can Be Fatal Remodeler Marketing Strategy

March 16, 2011
by David Alpert

When it comes to remodeler marketing, a high percentage of referral-based projects is a blessing that can turn fatal. But how, and why?

Having a high referral rate generally means you are doing a good job in making your clients happy, which is great remodeler marketing. However if a high percentage of your remodeling business’ sales are from repeat and referral projects, then you have an unbalanced marketing strategy that will work well in a good market but can be disastrous in a down economy. The reason for this is simple. Generally a remodeling company marketing strategy that gets much of its business from its past clients and other referral sources (together sometimes called your circle of influence or COI) neglects other ways of keeping its name awareness and visibility high in the community and does not keep on hand other effective remodeler marketing strategies for when their circle of influence referrals slow down. Suddenly the 200, 300, 400 people in your circle of influence are remodeling less and are being asked less by their friends for the names of remodelers. Since you cannot quickly or easily increase the size of your COI, the people who know you get tapped out before you have the business you need.

To be sure, having a high referral rate is important. Referrals generally convert to sales in higher numbers than strangers do and referral marketing is less expensive than attracting and landing homeowners who don’t have a connection to your company. However, having a remodeler marketing program based solely on referrals leaves you with nothing you can scale up and often little brand recognition beyond a small and limited number of homeowners.

Therefore, while it may seem counter-intuitive to invest extra money on remodeler marketing when you have enough low-cost referrals to keep you busy, making sure your remodeler marketing strategy has components that will promote your brand during tough times should really be viewed like insurance, or putting away cash in the bank for the rainy day that will eventually come.

Many of the methods that are scalable and therefore useful when the market softens take time to develop and mature. Therefore, the time to implement these remodeler marketing strategies is before you need them and while you have the cash flow to afford them.

If you have any questions about this post or other remodeler or contractor marketing questions, please contact us.

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: Marketing Strategies and Tactics for Remodelers, Referral Marketing, Remodeler Marketing
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Search Engine Optimization vs. Website Optimization

March 2, 2011
by David Alpert

We frequently find that remodelers seeking marketing assistance are unclear about the differences between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Website Optimization. Both of these remodeler marketing practices are important and, though related to each other, they are not the same. It is important to understand that they are not the same and how they are different.

Search engine optimization, commonly called SEO, is a process in which changes are made to your website and “back links” are created to your remodeling company website from other websites that help increase your search engine ranking for certain search terms. Often times this can mean increased traffic to your website from other sites and to “landing pages” on your website specifically designed and written to capture traffic for specific keywords. However, ranking high in Google and increased traffic to your remodeling company’s website does not necessarily mean increased sales. The ranking and traffic increase are only truly valuable if the search terms you are using are ones that will attract the right type of visitors.

Website optimization is a process in which your remodeling company’s website, including its landing pages, is optimized so that visitors to your website take the actions you desire. This might be to sign up for your remodeling company’s e-newsletter, request a white paper, or contact you about a project. If you are getting the right type of traffic, but your website is not doing a good job of “converting” these visitors to leads, then your website needs to be optimized. The overlap between SEO and website optimization are the landing pages created for the purpose of SEO which must also move the visitor to take the next step towards the desired action. Arguably, the landing page can be the responsibility of either the SEO provider or the website optimization provider or both in terms of making sure visitors go beyond that one page.

If you have any questions about this post or other remodeler or contractor marketing questions, please contact us.

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: Marketing Strategies and Tactics for Remodelers, Online Marketing, Remodeler Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Websites
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When It Comes to Remodeler Marketing – Trust in Chemistry

February 25, 2011
by David Alpert

Our remodeler marketing research has shown that while there are many differences between remodeling companies, homeowners often have trouble deciding which remodeling company is the best for them out of the two to four they have decided to call. Often the decision of who to talk to is based on a combination of factors including referrals, references, and online research. We have also found that even after a decision is made by the homeowner about which remodeler to use, they often believe that the choice was a difficult one and that many of the remodelers they considered may have been just as qualified to complete their project.

So what makes a homeowner decide to use one remodeler over the other seemingly similarly qualified and priced remodelers? Many times, we believe, a major component of the decision is the chemistry between the homeowner and the contractor. In particular, does the homeowner trust that this contractor and their company will do a good job at a fair price, and are they comfortable opening their home to this company? The greater the impact you can make on this sense of trust and chemistry with a homeowner, the better. A meaningfully higher level of trust and better chemistry can even allow your price or ballpark estimate to be a bit higher than their number 2 choice.

If you have any questions about this post or other remodeler or contractor marketing questions, please contact us.

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Help Them…Don’t Sell Them – Smarter Remodeler Marketing

February 9, 2011
by David Alpert

More and more homeowners today resist being “sold to,” but are happy to buy from remodelers who help them make informed purchase decisions. This used to be a characteristic of Gen X purchasers, but as Boomers became more careful in the way they shop, research, and spend their money, they have also taken on this purchasing characteristic.

One of the ways this affects remodeler marketing, and especially web related marketing, is that it is more and more important to provide useful and helpful information on your website, by e-mail/ e-newsletter, and via social media rather than by a “hard sell” about how great your company is. Of course, you don’t have to ignore that you are a good company or withhold information of your achievements, but it is better for the homeowner to reach the conclusion you are great on their own by reading about your company, experiencing your helpfulness, and seeing your photos.

There are a number of ways to help homeowners come to an informed decision about selecting a remodeler. Since you also want to establish yourself as an expert so that they can trust your company to do a good job, one remodeler marketing strategy is to share your expertise in solving problems for homeowners. This method can include examples of how you solved difficult remodeling challenges, how they can go about preparing for a remodeling project, how they can select the remodeler, information about new materials that they may want to consider, and a whole host of other approaches.

If you have any questions about this post or other remodeler or contractor marketing questions, please contact us.

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: E-newsletter Marketing, Marketing Strategies and Tactics for Remodelers, Online Marketing, Remodeler Marketing, Social Media
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EPA Wants Your Comments on RRP

February 2, 2011
by Cynthia Alpert

The Environmental Protection Agency is soliciting comments about the costs and burdens to companies in complying with the Renovation, Repair, and Painting rule. This is an opportunity for remodelers to voice their opinions on the EPA’s estimates for certification and record-keeping.

It is particularly interested in getting comments that will enable it to:

  1. Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency’s estimates of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used.
  2. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses. In particular, EPA is requesting comments from very small businesses (those that employ less than 25) on examples of specific additional efforts that EPA could make to reduce the paperwork burden for very small businesses affected by this collection.

Comments must be received on or before March 28. Follow this link to a regulations.gov web page to leave your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Price, National Program Chemicals Division (7404T), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 566-0744; fax number: (202) 566-0470; e-mail address: price.michelle@epa.gov.

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: Continuum Marketing Group, Remodeler Training

Is Remodeling Firm Shopping an Online Activity?

October 19, 2010
by David Alpert

I was asked to comment on a recent Pew Internet study report* about online product research by Americans and its implications for remodeling firm marketing.  My take on the research report is in line with other reports and information I have reviewed on consumer buying trends and our experience with our clients.

The Pew report states that “58% of Americans have researched for a product or service online”.  That, though, does not reflect more interesting data on how those who are likely to be your target customers are using the internet for research of products and services.  For example, according to the report, among “internet users” 78% not 58% say they at least occasionally conduct product research and 32% say they have posted online product comments (think references, word of mouth, your reputation online). 46% of those in the survey reported using sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn, up from 5% just 5 years ago.

Adults over 65, who were part of the survey, researched significantly less on the internet than did those 30-64, which means your primary target for remodeling projects, which is often in the 30-64 age group, uses the internet more than the average for research (80% and higher).  Those in higher income brackets do more research online than those in lower income brackets, 83% of broadband users report doing online research compared to 67% of non-broadband users. Those with some college or college degrees research more online than high school graduates and much more than those with just some high school education.

While the Pew report was not measuring the way people looked for and researched remodeling firms, I don’t see a reason why the research habits of the various groups and subgroups in the study would vary for home remodeling purchases compared to other services and perhaps products.  And…in almost all cases, when there was a group that used the internet for research more than another, it was a group that more often than not fit better into a likely-to-ideal remodeling prospect profile.  My take on the percent of prime prospects for remodeling is that over 80% of them use the internet for research and, I expect, for remodeling services as well.  This indicates to me that remodelers’ must have websites and should seriously consider search engine optimization, social media, and local search marketing as part of their remodeling firms marketing efforts.

*The study was by Pew Internet, Pew Internet and American Life Project, a project of the Pew Research Center and was called “Online Product Research 58% of Americans have researched a product or service online”.  Dated September 29, 2010.

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: Continuum Marketing Group, Local Search Marketing, Marketing Strategies and Tactics for Remodelers, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Websites
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SEO, Social Media, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

October 17, 2010
by David Alpert

Having attended the Remodeling Show in Baltimore a few weeks ago and then the Remodelers Advantage Business Summit 2010 in Kohler Wisconsin last week, one of the clear messages that kept coming up speaker after speaker and also in side discussions was that search engine optimization (SEO) and social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are now part of how remodelers must market themselves. Not mentioned as much is also how local search is part of the mix as well.

There is no question that SEO, Social Media and Local Search are useful tools for marketing.  There is no question that many traditional remodeler marketing tools have become less cost effective in the past few years.  There is no question the way people buy, interact with each other and communicate has changed dramatically.  The challenge for most typical size remodeling firms is being able to find the way to use these new marketing tools cost effectively and maintain the level of effective marketing they need.

SEO and social media can be time intensive and require knowledge and skill sets most remodeling firms don’t have in-house.  But then again, remodeling firms rarely had the in-house staff skills to develop and execute marketing efforts like ad campaigns, direct mail programs, jobsites signs and vehicle graphics, websites and a whole lot more in the past.  With ads and mass mailings generally being less productive, those budgets can be reassigned to the new types of marketing efforts.  Marketing budgets for remodelers of all sizes and types have to readjust to the realities of today’s marketplace and on-line marketing costs.

We believe one of the secrets of making SEO, websites, social media, local search, e-newsletters, blogs and other new marketing tools work is to integrate them and have a broad strategy.  Integrated marketing communications has always proved to be more cost effective than standalone efforts and with SEO, websites, social media, local search, e-newsletters, blogs it is just as true.  In fact integrating all of the new marketing with the traditional marketing efforts that are still effective will further leverage your marketing investment.

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: Local Search Marketing, Marketing Strategies and Tactics for Remodelers, Online Marketing, Remodeler Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Websites
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Tip for Putting Ideas from Seminars into Action

September 30, 2010
by David Alpert

I consider successful a seminar or workshop where I come away with one or two good ideas. At some workshops, like the Remodelers Advantage Power Meeting I attended this past week, I walked away from the meeting with tons of notes and my head spinning with ideas I couldn’t wait to put into action. I always review my notes after meetings and list the ideas and action items I want to pursue. However, I sometimes find that it’s the ideas from the most idea-rich meetings that are the hardest to get from my long list of ideas into action.

Because this Remodelers Advantage Power Meeting was one of those idea-rich meetings, one of the RA presenters made a simple but great suggestion. She said, take all the ideas you want to use from the meeting and make a list. Then make a second list of no more than three action items. Until you finish at least one item, don’t put another on the action list. Her idea became the #1 action item on my action list. The second thing on my list was to share this idea! Now I can add two more ideas to put to good use.

One more tip: Remodelers Advantage puts on Power Meetings on all kinds of topics. If you have never attended one, I recommend you look into them at http://www.remodelersadvantage.com/.

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: Remodeler Marketing, Remodeler Training, Webinars
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