In my last post, I shared how Sears has natural advantages over local home improvement companies when it comes to online lead generation. Sears has national buying power—online advertisers just love that because they work with a single client that can buy out their entire inventory of online leads and advertising.
Smaller home improvement companies can’t make national buys. That puts them at a significant disadvantage over the big national players.
So, how do the local guys fight back? The answer is for them to look to the brands and manufacturers of the products they sell.
If you’re in home improvement, you’ve no doubt noticed that Sears is everywhere online. And they’re especially strong in some key categories: replacement windows, siding and cabinet refacing. You’ll see their ads in the paid search listings, some organic listings, e-mails and a host of other online advertising channels.
The folks at Sears are undoubtedly smart, so you can assume that if they’re advertising, they must be doing so because it’s profitable for them. Here’s the question you should be asking yourself: “Why them and not me?” Said another way, how can Sears find it cost-effective to advertise across so many channels, while local home improvement companies seem to have so few profitable online advertising options?
With the 2010 Census still fresh in your mind, consider how customer surveys can help you run a more profitable home improvement business.
Surveying your customers used to be a huge hassle. Writing up your survey questions. Finding the right addresses to which to send them. Stuffing envelopes with stamped return envelopes. And then hoping that you get enough surveys back to make your results statistically significant.
Fortunately, you can now take advantage of a number of simple and inexpensive online services that ease the process of surveying your customers.
YouTube as part of your marketing mix? Maybe yes…and maybe no.
I’m often asked whether or not home improvement companies should post videos on YouTube, Google’s wildly popular video-sharing Web site. If you haven’t seen YouTube yet, “enormous” doesn’t begin to describe how big a phenomenon it’s become, particularly with the younger demographic. To provide some perspective, YouTube has more viewers every day than the three major TV networks…combined.
So should you use YouTube to generate leads? On this point, I sit squarely on the fence—there is a good case to be made for YouTube, and a good case against it. Allow me lay out the pros and cons:
If early signs are any predictor, many home improvement companies are going to have a strong spring selling season. Have I got your attention now?
Let me share what some of you may already sense. The home improvement market is, well, improving. And, if early signs are any predictor, many home improvement companies are going to have a strong spring selling season.
The Internet offers numerous opportunities for homeowners to post complaints about your home improvement company. Many companies ignore these Web sites, and the comments posted there about them. They do so at their peril.
It used to be that consumers who weren’t happy with a home improvement company had limited options. They could call the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint. Or they could simply tell their friends and neighbors about how badly their project went or the unresponsiveness of their contractor.
For over four years, our company has connected dealers to homeowners searching the Internet for solutions to their home improvement challenges. We’ve loved every minute of it, as we have enjoyed the opportunity to work with many of you.
As both the Internet and the home improvement market evolve, so will our company. After a three-year debate inside our company, we’re changing our name to Keyword Connects.
When it comes to hiring Internet marketing help, you’ve got a lot of folks to choose from. Here are thoughts for separating the contenders from the pretenders.
In the new world of the Internet, it seems everyone does search engine optimization. Everyone is a Web designer. And everyone knows paid search marketing. And they do print advertising and direct mail, and can handle your e-mail marketing.
As a home improvement company, you’ve heard this in pitch after pitch. “We do that!” “We can handle that for you…” and “We’re experts at that.”
Want to get your 2010 off to a great start? A little preparation now will go a long way come January 2.
It’s December, and homeowners across the continent are looking forward to a joyous holiday season. As they do, you need to set your sights out just a little further: the upcoming home show season.
What should you be doing? Get prepared to follow up on your home show leads. How? One step is to plan how you best stay connected to those homeowners who inevitably tell you during your follow up, “I’m just not ready to meet with you yet.”
I’ve written a lot about how home improvement dealers can produce more value from their Internet leads. Now I’m turning the tables, to suggest how the online lead companies can serve them better.
Here goes:
Limit the number of times they sell each lead. Home improvement companies really don’t want their leads shared with anyone, let alone their competitors. Yet most lead generation companies sell their leads as many times as they can (2X? 3X? 5X? I’ve even heard as many as 12X).But every time they sell a lead more than once, that lead loses value. A lead sold 6X has a significantly smaller chance of closing than a lead sold only twice. To make their customers happiest, they should deliver leads that have the best possible chance of closing. And that means limiting the number of times they sell their leads.
Every week, Todd Bairstow—our online expert—shares his wisdom on an aspect of Internet marketing for home improvement companies. You can read his thoughts here on his blog or you can subscribe, and we'll send you his latest posts each week.
