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Yes, E-newsletters and Newsletters Can
Help Generate Work
A strategically written e-newsletter or print newsletter
will keep your company top of mind among those who know you
and your business, thus generating more repeat and referral
leads. It is also a useful tool for keeping your readers
aware of new services you offer, or for highlighting awards
and certifications you may receive. Plus, it lets people
see the great work you are doing and gets them thinking about
the many things they can do to improve their homes.
Experience has shown that e-newsletters and print newsletters
usually result in more leads than you might think. Because
leads coming in from e-newsletters/newsletters are often
lumped into repeat/referral as a source, it sometimes causes
us to lose sight of where these leads actually originate.
Here is a case in point. A few years back, we analyzed the
repeat/referral contracts of one of our clients for whom
we were producing a print newsletter. Like many other remodelers,
this client did not specifically record newsletter-generated
leads, but instead recorded them as repeat/referral leads.
Interestingly, we found the number of repeat/referral construction
contracts doubled in the two years following the introduction
of the newsletter. At that point, our client realized the
newsletter was the cause of the increased repeat/referral
contracts. Why? It was the only new marketing tool added
to the mix targeting past clients.
Before you say, "well everything worked a few years
ago,” I'll let this excerpt from a recent client e-mail
show what an e-newsletter can do even in today's market:
"The copy is great! One of my friends that receives
the [e-]newsletter is an editor/copywriter and she has commented
on how great the articles are... she also referred a prospective
project for a Senior Center remodel. As I mentioned to you
on the phone, I received four referrals last month and two
calls from past clients for small projects/home repairs and
two referrals in the month of December. If it wasn't for
the [e-]newsletter, I don't think my phone would ring...”
Of course there is more to generating business than just
well-prepared newsletters, but it is good to know they can
still be counted on to work your base.
To learn more about how newsletters and e-newsletters work,
and to find out if one or both of these marketing tools would
make sense for your company, please contact us.
And the Winners Are:
We'd like to recognize five of our clients for recent awards
they have won:
Gridley Company won four Silver Awards in the 2009 META
Competition (NARI Silicon Valley Chapter): Residential Bath
$30,000-$60,000; Residential Bath over $60,000; Residential
Addition over $250,000; and Residential Interior under $100,000.
River Crest Design Build won two awards at the 18th Annual
HBAM Remodeling Award of Excellence Competition. They earned
a Silver Merit Award in the $25,000-$50,000 Bathroom
Renovation category, and an Award of Excellence
in the $100,000-$150,000 Outdoor Living category. Their
bathroom renovation project
even appeared on the cover of the January/February issue
of HBAM’s Mid-Atlantic Builder’s Magazine.
Chris Donatelli Builders won a Silver Award in
the 2009 META Competition (NARI Silicon Valley Chapter) for
a
project
in the Residential Kitchens over $100,000 category. Chris
Donatelli was also honored with NARI’s Harold Hammerman
Spirit of Education Award for excellence in training and
education in the construction industry.
Greg Smith has won the NARI Metro DC Chapter Community Service
Award which is presented to a NARI member who donates time,
energy and materials to help area individuals or groups in
need. Greg is a
long- time NARI member who has an extraordinary 11 year history
of giving of himself to his community, to kids and the needy.
QMA Design+Build has been
named a NARI 2009 CotY Regional Winner for Residential Exterior
$100,000 and Over.
A Remodeler Asked:
Q: Is Google AdWords a good way to generate leads?
A: In some cases, Yes.
The bottom line is the cost of the Google Adwords program
per dollar of revenue generated and whether that cost is
acceptable to you.
Other metrics including cost per click, number of clicks
per month, and position in the listings are useful data to
have and use, but don't let yourself lose sight of what your
bottom line is and your program cost per dollar of revenue
generated.
For you to get the most benefit from a Google Adwords program,
you not only need to have a good website and good landing
pages, you need the ability to accurately track leads, sales,
and close rates resulting from the program. Changing a close
ratio from 1:5 to 1:4 could make all the difference, as could
changing the click-to-call ratio by a fraction of a percent.
Give us a call if you would like to learn more about how
our Google AdWords program might work for your company.
Comments & Questions
If you have questions or topics you would like us to address in future issues of Marketing Matters, please let us know. Send them to editor@continuum-mg.com.
Sincerely,
David Alpert
President, Continuum Marketing Group, LLC
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