By Ryan Siebert
Marketing in the home building and remodeling industry can be very fun and exciting. On any given day, at any given job site, a picture or video can be taken and sent out to all of the potential clients and fans. Lately I’ve been asking a few questions about marketing in this industry, “What really works in this industry?” “Where does the business actually come from?”
Social media marketing
Social media is free and easy. We post daily on our Instagram Account. Done right social media can create a following of fans and appointments of clients that allow businesses to pick and choose who they want to work with. Creating your tribe of followers means they know your culture, who you are and what you’re about before they pick up the phone and call you. It is a great way to personalize you and your business and those who make your processes culture or company succeed. The challenge with social media today is that the various platforms have made it more difficult to create an organic following of clients. Social media outlets want you to pay to have your messages seen when you are a business. I completely understand it and I respect it. However, it makes a little less enticing for me to have to force something on to my clients. Even my old followers rarely see my posts today because of filters and algorithms that do not allow my posts to be viewed.
Search engine optimization
This is the Google or Bing mentality. Search Google and you’ll find a homebuilder. Search Google and you’ll find a remodeling contractor in Naperville. At least that’s what I hope for. Search engine optimization is a great way to have your business found without seeming like you’re being too pushy. The negative of searching engine optimization is not every client is looking for a specific services that someone may click on. Just because I offer new construction building for residence in Naperville doesn’t mean that the person looking for gutters to be done on their house wants to find my website. Yet, if my search engine optimization a strong the person looking for gutters may still find my website. Ultimately my thoughts on search engine optimization is that it is another form of a drip campaign. This is specifically for the home building and remodeling industry and less impulse purchases are made. For someone who has a product that is a spur of the moment decision or need search engine optimization is a great tool.
Email marketing
I have to say that my email marketing game has nearly gone away. It was a big part of my business early on when we were flipping homes. It was also a big part of establishing myself in the Naperville area when we first started doing custom projects. My feelings on email marketing today is that it has become too much of a spam message regardless of how great the video or email that I send out is.
Why it is important to change to succeed!
Sure I want to tell clients about the newest home that we built, or the most recent finished basement, or a cool exterior renovation that we were able to complete. However, it doesn’t always make sense today since clients are more prone to filter their messages before they read them. This is why email marketing needs to be focused on giving and sharing valuable information, rather than a showcase of the latest success stories. Today, I elect to not send an email to my database, just because, rather than put out weak content.
Word-of-mouth marketing
Referrals are king! It has been nearly 5 years since we have been focused on custom remodeling and home building. That means we have had a lot of projects and a lot of clients. The referrals we receive from those clients are the lifeblood of our business today. My subcontractors are constantly asking me how we have the number of projects each and every month. It didn’t happen overnight. In fact, we used a lot of the above techniques early on to get the original business. When I analyze our business today it is full of referrals that result in shorter lead times and larger projects. Referrals have been cultivated through networking and past clients. We are able to represent our company and our products and our purpose in every aspect of every day that we are in business. It takes time. The truth is I used to laugh at the “old” builders with websites that were out of date and a lack of an online presence. Now, despite my love for marketing, I understand that remodeling and home building companies that build a strong foundation of referral partners and past clients don’t need to put much effort into the digital marketing world. As I complete this article I realize it may not be read by many, or allow me to obtain the next client to build with. However, I enjoy the writing and remember how important these blog post were early in our business. If you made it this far into the article I thank you for taking the time to read and educate yourself. Feel free to call or email me, 847-602-7641 or Ryan@SGHomeBuilders.com to discuss your interest in home building and remodeling.