Marketing Your Metal Roofing Company: Strategies For Success

The appeal of metal roofing is growing rapidly, and its many benefits have created a high demand for businesses like yours. While the benefits of metal products are widely known, you still need effective strategies to connect with potential customers.

When you're considering how to create a marketing plan for your business, it can be overwhelming.

You may find yourself asking: where do I start, how much do I spend, and what do I prioritize while multitasking as a busy business owner?

Fortunately, creating a plan to market your business doesn't have to be intimidating or time-consuming. Evaluate your options and identify one or two strategies as a starting point; this will build a foundation for other efforts.

Marketing 101

Marketing is defined as creating awareness for your business and its services, and it can serve many purposes. From the straightforward desire to attract new customers and promote your services to other goals like creating a community and increasing your business’s visibility - there is a marketing strategy for every goal.

For a metal roofing contractor, the goal of a marketing strategy is often to increase local awareness and interest in your services and build trust and credibility around your brand. In this post, we have outlined several helpful tools to get you started marketing your roofing contractor company.

Step One: Your Website

Many contractors neglect to invest in a professional, helpful website, which is a serious oversight! An attractive, functional website does a lot of legwork for your marketing efforts; a professional, up-to-date website establishes credibility, tells the story and mission of your business, and provides leads from search engine results.

What strategies make a roofing contractor website that will work hard for your business? We made a handy checklist for you!

Website Checklist:

• Updated Contact Information: Phone number, address, and social media links
  • Pro Tip: Make this EASY to find!
• Mission Statement: Who you are and what you do
• FAQs: Answer common questions without a sales pitch!
• Showcase Your Work: Stay up to date with photos & videos of your projects
  • Pro Tip: Share To Social Media At The Same Time!
• Share The Feedback: Testimonials, reviews, and word-of-mouth are your best advertising!

Tips For A Website That Works FOR You:

• Loading... Ensure your website is hosted by a reputable service for fast load times!
  • Pro Tip: BlueHost®, GoDaddy™, and InMotion® are popular hosting platforms!
• Stay Secure: Your website must be HTTPS to prevent security pop-ups and issues!

Hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) is how a web browser communicates with a server. When you visit a website, the browser sends a request to the web server, and the server provides the website content. Beyond additional security, HTTPS offers benefits including rapid loading times, search engine optimization, and credibility. For more information on HTTPS and how to transfer your website to this protocol, check out this website!

• Pro Tip: Visit this website for a free performance and security audit!

• Check It Twice: Proofread For Correct Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammer
  • Pro Tip: Websites like Grammarly.com™ are your new best friend!

For more insight on building a great website for your roofing contractor business, read this!

Step Two: Social Media

For many professionals, social media can feel more like a waste of time than a business boost. But if you use these platforms correctly, they can give your business an incredible edge - and many new customers!

Platforms like Facebook™ and Instagram™ are often the starting point for folks looking for feedback and recommendations from their friends and neighbors, and you want your company's name to be in the conversation. People aren't just killing time on social media - they are finding information and making decisions.

According to Forbes™, 81% of consumers' buying decisions are influenced by their friends' posts on social media, and 78% of consumers state their purchases are influenced by posts on the social media pages of brands.

So… how can you use this to your advantage?

Pick Your Platform: Each Social Media Has Its Benefits

Facebook

• Offers a huge population of potential buyers
• Visitors can see your company information and see what others are saying about you
• Great platform for images and videos and even live events as well as blog content
• Contractors can target an individual's specific interests
• Low-cost ads that can be very narrowly targeted

Instagram

• Younger audience
• Contractors can build out a profile with story highlights
• Great place to post project photos and videos and make daily updates

LinkedIn™

• Great place to build your professional credibility
• Create a company page, and each of your employees can have a page
• Largest network of business professionals
• LinkedIn messages are opened at a much higher rate than regular email
• Can hold live events
• Great place to share stories, photos, and videos
  
  

There are also other platforms to consider as you gain momentum, like Houzz and Pinterest.

Dive In

Just get started! It can seem intimidating, but once you set up your page and do that first welcome post, it will feel easier.

• Create a posting schedule. This encourages a clear strategy and consistency.
• Ask for help. Your team can submit photos and content and share posting responsibilities.
• Talk about industry-specific issues your community can relate to, like pricing, timing, quality, longevity, durability, aesthetics, long-term home/building value, and savings.
• Engage with your followers. Never let a comment go unanswered!
• Monitor your wins, change what doesn't work, and stick with it!

For more information about getting started on social media with your roofing contractor business, read this!

Pay Per Click: Harness The Power Of Search Engines

When it comes to paid advertising for roofing contractors, there are many avenues to pursue. One common option is the pay-per-click model.

Pay-per-click refers to a business where a company places an ad or banner graphic on a website with links back to their website and pays the host when a user clicks on the ad. Buyers only pay when the ad is clicked. Pay-per-click ads are usually effective when they target a specific audience and include a compelling message and call to action.

Curious about where to start? Check out Google's Local Services ads. These placements appear near the top of the webpage when someone completes a search, and roofing contractors have a great opportunity to show up before organic search rankings and capture leads at the exact time when consumers are shopping for their products or services.

Google Local Services™ ads are pay-per-lead ads, meaning that you only pay for the ad when someone contacts you directly through your ad. This gives you complete control of your budget and the opportunity to gauge how this works and turn the ads on and off as needed.

Another option is Google Ads™, where advertisers bid on specific topics or keywords for their ads, including clickable links, to appear in Google's search results.

Google Ads are more involved in setup and messaging than Google Local Services ads. A typical setup includes determining campaign goals like visiting your website or generating phone calls. Once you pick your goals, you narrow the ad reach to your specific locations and specific keywords searched where you want your ads to show up. You then create your message/s or banner ads, set a budget, and turn the ads on.

One more thing…

While considering maximizing what Google™ offers you, consider local optimization for your roofing contractor business. Setting up a Google profile for your business allows your business to be featured on local maps when potential customers search for your services and create a high level of SEO for your website and other information.

In addition to the visibility your Google profile offers, there are other helpful benefits to consider:

• You can respond to customer reviews posted on Google
• You can add photos of your business or your projects
• You can ensure accurate store hours, location, and contact information are listed
• You can share offers and discounts

For more in-depth information on pay-per-click advertising and Google's advertising options, read this!

Email Marketing: From Spam to Sales!

As you establish your marketing strategies and gain some traction, consider adding email marketing to your roofing contractor business. Emails provide the opportunity to communicate directly to your subscribers with in-depth content. Whether you're promoting new services, showcasing recent projects, or sharing reviews from happy customers, email offers an expansive format to share information.

If you sometimes find yourself with unwanted spam in your inbox, you might have concerns about the relevancy of email marketing for your business. However, two factors take marketing emails from spam to sales:

• Attract YOUR Audience: Offer subscription "opt-ins" to people already following your social media pages or visiting your website.
• Create VALUABLE Content: A great starting point would be to address questions commonly asked, providing valuable information to your subscribers.

Using one of the tools previously mentioned, you should follow these steps to create emails your contacts will want to receive:

• Use a nice-looking template for your emails, not too graphic-heavy but clean and easy to read
  • Pro Tip: MailChimp™, Constant Contact™, and SendGrid™ are solid platforms!
• Personalize the email using names and a real name in the "sender" spot
• Add social media share options so your contacts can easily share your email content with their connections
  • Pro Tip: Add social icons to your template so they are on every email!
• Optimize the content and template for mobile usage; 46%+ of email opens are on a mobile device!

For more information about creating valuable content, analyzing your campaigns, and details on getting the best response for your email marketing, read this!

Success Ahead!

Our goal is to equip you for success, and we hope the strategies presented here are helpful and profitable for your business.

Credits:

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