Marketing Strategies for Home Professionals: Expert Tips
Written by: Denisse Garcia, Porch
Being a home professional is an incredibly rewarding career. From a professional home builder to a professional home stager to everything in between, they’ve all got something in common, the desire to be successful. The moment to discover what marketing strategies you should concentrate on to receive the best return on your time is now, especially when technological advancements make promoting your business more attainable.
As business owners, you can access a wide range of marketing strategies and options, but not all of them will suit your business. Businesses need to be careful with the time spent on marketing efforts, given the variety of hats that business owners wear. This post has collected advice from our experts that will guide you through the different options and how each will work to find success as a home professional.
Marketing Strategies
What are marketing strategies? Why are they important for home professionals?
A marketing strategy is a roadmap that details your business’ promotional plan, objectives, and goals so you can choose the right tactics to increase brand awareness and interest. Most strategies include ongoing projects like content creation, email marketing, advertising, and social media outreach.
As a home professional, you have a lot of opposition in the market, ranging from competitors or “cost-effective” DIY alternatives. A marketing strategy helps you stay focused on the actionable steps you need to take to grow despite what holds the highest share of your market. By following through with your marketing strategy, you can build a loyal audience of repeat customers — but consistency is key. Where most people go wrong is giving up simply because they don’t gain traction or recognition early on. It can take months for the pieces of your marketing strategy to fall into place, but if you practice the right behaviors and attitudes, you’ll discover the winning tactics.
– Vito Vishnepolsky, Director at Martal Group
How can home professionals combine offline and online marketing to promote their businesses?
There are several methods to combine both words to get more results.
From offline to online:
- QR codes in the building or local business place. Linking to a landing page or to a link three with all the important links of the company
- Sharable Wifi password upon a social media post or social media accounts following.
- Encouraging customers to post pictures of their packages with a custom hashtag or tagging the company @
- Asking for review in Google my Business, Facebook, or other places like TrustPilot
From online to offline:
- Adding a map of the location on the site contact us page
- Adding the local business address to the Google my Business page
- If you are an eCommerce that will deliver a product, Delivering Bonus t-shirts and any other branded materials
What factors affect a Marketing Plan?
The business resources is the biggest factor that will affect a marketing plan. Since a marketing plan is funded by the business, the overall marketing plan will depend on the fund available from the business. Other resources like staff, technology, and facilities will also come into play. So ultimately, a marketing plan should take into account the available resources of the business.
Market trend is another important factor that can affect a marketing plan. There is a need for an understanding of the current market conditions, consumer behaviors, and trending technology. For 
example, during a major pandemic, there are bound to be market changes and changes in consumer behaviors, so a marketing plan must consider the time. Spending more on digital ads will definitely make more sense than spending more on highway billboards during a lockdown.
Competitors are a very big factor when drafting a market plan. When there is significant competition, the goal of a marketing plan must capture elements that will help appeal to consumers more than competitors. There is a big need for competitor analysis to find weaknesses that you can capitalize on. Find their strength that you can neutralize. Also, It’s important to understand the marketing strategies and tactics of competitors in order to differentiate your offering and position your product or service effectively in the market.
– Mfon at MakeMoney.ng
What are some general marketing tips for home service professionals?
One often overlooked tip when marketing your home service business is to focus on a specific niche or target market. By focusing on a specific niche or target market, you can better tailor your marketing efforts and messaging to appeal to a specific group of customers. For example, if you are a plumbing company, you might target homeowners with older homes, or if you are a landscaping company, you might target homeowners in a certain neighborhood or with a certain type of property.
After you’ve found your niche, use online marketing to reach potential customers more efficiently. In today’s digital age, it’s important to have an online presence. This can include creating a website, maintaining social media accounts, and using online directories like Google My Business and Yelp. These platforms can help potential customers find your business and learn more about the services you offer.
Lastly, I would recommend investing in local SEO. Local SEO involves optimizing your online presence so that you rank highly in search results when people search for local home service providers. This can include claiming your Google My Business listing, getting listed in online directories, and optimizing your website for local search terms with keyword targeted blogs, videos, or service area pages.
These three techniques can dramatically improve your lead quality and quantity and provide a solid foundation to build upon with additional marketing tools.
– Jarrod Mason, Founder at YouWho Digital
Digital Marketing
How can home service professionals start a blog? What are some of the benefits of starting one?
Starting a blog can be an effective way for home service professionals to market their businesses and reach out to new customers. Here are 5 essential tips on how to get started:
1. Choose your niche: Determine what type of content you’re going to focus on in your blog – topics related to home services, customer testimonials, tips for homeowners, etc. This will help you create content that resonates with your target audience.
2. Brainstorm ideas: Make a list of ideas for topics to blog about related to your niche. Consider everything from DIY projects to customer reviews and industry news.
3. Do the research and make your content SEO-friendly: Research topics thoroughly before you start writing to ensure your content is accurate, up-to-date, and also optimized for SEO so you can get organic traffic from Google.
4. Make a plan: Create an editorial calendar for yourself so you can stay organized and know what topics to write about each week, month or quarter.
5. Promote your blog: Once your blog is up and running, promote your content on social media and through other marketing channels to reach new potential customers.
By following these steps, home service professionals can create a successful blog that helps them grow their business and reach out to more customers. There are many benefits to starting a blog. Starting a blog for home service professionals is an excellent way to promote your business, establish yourself as an industry expert, and stay connected with your customers. A blog can also help you generate more leads by targeting potential customers who are searching for related services in their area.
Additionally, blogging allows you to connect with like-minded individuals and build relationships with them, which can be very beneficial. You may also find that blogging helps you to develop creative skills such as writing, research, and design. Lastly, blogging can be a great way to generate income by monetizing your blog or selling products and services related to the topics you write about.
– Amira Irfan at A Self Guru
What is the difference between SEM and SEO?
SEM typically means pay per click – in Google that’s using their adwords product.
How can a home service professional start their own website?
When you have plumbing issues, you hire a plumber. When you need your taxes done, many folks hire a tax accountant, when your car needs repair, you go to a mechanic, this is because while it may seem easy to “do it yourself,” hiring an expert service professional ensures the job is done correctly and saves you a great deal of time.
These professionals have spent years honing their skills and keeping up with the latest technologies, trends, and tax laws.
Starting your own website is no different from any other highly skilled service professional. A website requires not just a skilled designer but someone that understands how critical SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and content are bringing leads to your website. SEO experts have years of training and must keep up with the ever-changing rules of the road.
So, when you are ready to start your own website and grow your business, look for web design agencies that have impeccable reputations. Schedule a consultation with them to make sure they are a good fit. Make sure you have a clear vision of the design for your site, have a business plan, and find websites in your profession that you like to share with the web design agency.
– Steve Crayne, Founder at Starting Gate Marketing
Social Media Marketing
What social media metrics are the most important to track?
The most important metrics depend on the campaign and the goal. For example, if you are trying to increase web traffic, then you would want to see how many clicks a post and or story gets. If you are working on brand exposure, you want to see the data for impressions, etc.
– Derek Lushbaugh, Co-Founder at SouthMade.com
Offline Marketing
Which offline marketing strategies/tools should home professionals invest in?
Home professionals should invest in direct mail advertising. This involves sending postcards, brochures, or coupons directly to potential customers’ homes and is a highly effective way to educate customers about the services you offer.
Promotional emails can be ignored or miscategorized as spam but providing a piece of mail with a clear offer and call to action ensures your message gets seen and can help drive their purchasing decisions.
When thinking about direct mail, don’t forget about your existing customers. Direct mail is a highly effective and personalized way to stay connected with your customers.
Another strategy is to collaborate with local organizations, such as chambers of commerce or community groups, who may be able to promote your services through their networks. These collaborations can also help to cultivate relationships with local business owners.
Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth advertising. Ask satisfied customers to leave a positive review online and to spread the word about your services.
The right marketing platform can help you achieve all of this. Customer Lobby helps you target the right customers with personalized mailings, emails, and text messages that maximize your marketing ROI.
– Allison Bruce, Vice President of Customer Success at CustomerLobby.com
Final Thoughts
We know that thinking about marketing strategies is one of the most complicated aspects of a business. We hope we were able to answer some of the most important questions on your mind. At Porch.com, we are always eager to help our Home Professionals, so we hope this article is helpful for you all. If you are a marketing expert and feel we are missing something, please reach out to us so we can add any information that would be helpful to our readers.
Author’s Note:
This article is still being edited as experts submit their advice.
