… AND GRAB THEM
It’s not news that the way in which remodelers market to clients has changed — read: use the Internet for marketing. What is news is that it seems to finally be paying off.
Print advertising appears to be dead for many of the remodelers interviewed for this article. The sentiment is, as Cholfin says, “We used it for a number of years, [but it was] high cost and the return was small.”
Direct mail, personalized letters, and postcards are still being sent by post. But using social media — Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogging, e-newsletters, e-mail blasts — with links back to a bang-up website, has become the marketing route of choice.
Emily Smith, Cholfin’s director of marketing and communications, maintains the online presence at AK Complete Home Renovations by posting YouTube videos, writing articles in e-zines, and blogging. Cholfin says that 70% of his leads now derive from social media activities. He knows this because he tracks website captures through an online software service called HubSpot.
Nancy Hugo, a kitchen designer in Phoenix, found an online niche with a newsletter connecting people in the design industry. She gets 1,300 hits per month. “I encourage everyone in Phoenix to go on social media,” Hugo says. “This has been the best marketing tool for me and everyone else. I get known to the end user and other people in the business so we can all work together.”
And Gockeler, too, has hooked into virtual networking via Patch , a popular e-magazine that covers suburbs and small towns in various states.
Of course, old-fashioned face-to-face networking is still one of the best ways to increase business. Several remodelers report getting improved leads this year at home shows, and many remodelers spend more time at networking events and speaking engagements.
St. Onge, who has the National Association of Home Builders’ CAPS (Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist) certification, speaks about home modifications at support group meetings for those with Parkinson’s disease. He also gets his staff to go out to local small-business meetings. “Once a week they should attend an event and hand out a business card,” he says.
Regardless of where you put your marketing dollars, it’s important to keep up the pressure. Robin Burrill, owner of Curb Appeal Renovations, in Keller, Texas, believes that the reason why her company has continued to have work during the down economy is because she has never stopped spending 4% to 6% a year on marketing and has continued to market aggressively.
One activity she has seen success with is a series of classes held at a Ferguson building products showroom. She and co-owner husband Bob Burrill have gotten good leads from the weekly classes they present — Remodeling 101, Bathroom 101, Kitchen 101 — which focus on consumer needs.
In economically hard-hit San Francisco, David Ostrom, partner in Collier Ostrom, says that his company is canvassing and calling former clients and is generally stepping up its marketing. Collier Ostrom also recently became Diamond Certified by an organization that rates and certifies local companies on behalf of consumers. The certification assures consumers that the company offers high quality, and it gives Northern California businesses a cache among consumers as well as advertising opportunities in print, on TV, and on the Diamond Certified website.
As Hugo succinctly puts it: “If I’m getting fewer phone calls, I’m [going to] market a lot more.”