Hey, do you know a good plumbing company? What about an HVAC business? No wait, I need the name of a garage door repair company! People in every community — the Dallas/Fort Worth service area and beyond — are always in search of repair companies to help keep their home appliances in good working order for marketing home services.
A quick google of “garage door repair companies,” for example, will deliver a long list of companies with similar names and promises along with Yelp and Google Business profiles to peruse. For prospective customers, it’s a bit of a “water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink” kind of problem because how does someone begin to choose a company?
This is exactly where your branding and marketing strategies come into play.
What People Want From Marketing Home Services Businesses
We don’t have to tell you that people are looking for dependability, companies they can trust and a price they can afford. Many businesses, whether it’s for HVAC systems, garage door repair, plumbing business or something else, they all tout similar versions of these promises.
The question becomes: How do you distinguish yourself from all the other companies doing your same line of work?
Answer?
You want to make people feel something.
You set yourself apart by talking about what makes you different.
And if you’re basically the same company as all other home services companies, you’ve got to create a reason you stand apart. This can be anything from humor to mascots to an unforgettable warranty offer.
This is where our marketing strategies step in to help.
How to Set Yourself Apart With Online Marketing (And Beyond)
Suggestion 1: Know Your Point of Differentiation
Your point of differentiation is what makes you stand out from the crowd of competitors. Ask yourself: When people scroll through their search engine results, why do they click on your link? Or why do people bypass search engines and go straight to your website? There needs to be a compelling reason, an X factor that makes you stand out and convince people to choose you over other local businesses.
Now, if you don’t have a compelling reason why you stand apart, you’ll need to find one.
Suggestion 2: Consider Creating a Mascot
I love something that Obedient Agency recently said in their Instagram stories:
A mascot has a lot of potential for marketing a home services business including relatability, personality and a face to deliver news that isn’t yours or your business partner’s. A mascot can also embody your X factor or point of differentiation.
Important: If you’re going to go all in on a mascot, you need to go ALL in.
Think about how the insurance industry has done this — the major national companies all have a mascot that speaks for them throughout their advertising. There’s the Geico Gecko, Jake from State Farm and mayhem personified in AllState’s Mayhem Man. And that’s not even a complete list! Mascots have a lot of power, but to be memorable they need to be good.
Suggestion 3: Humor Connects You With Potential Customers
While not easy to pull off, humor is a powerful tool for connecting with new customers. Whether it’s on social media, local directories or Google ads, whether it’s your online booking process, local events or local service ads, humor can help you break through the noise. If you choose the humor route, it’s best to fully integrate it throughout your branding and brand experience from top to bottom and front to back.
Important to remember: Humor isn’t universal — you’ll need a strong point of view to pull it off and a willingness to not be fully understood by everyone. When done right, though, your target audience will connect.
Home Services Marketing Avenues to Explore
The following are a few of your options when it comes to HVAC advertising, digital marketing for garage door repair services, a plumbing business and more.
Targeted Ads
When it comes to reaching new customers, especially your ideal potential customers, you need to reach them where they already are. Target ads are a powerful tool in this pursuit. In fact, J.O. Agency has done a lot of targeted ad work with clients like local DFW builder Graham Hart.
Targeting digital ads to various audiences can help spread the word about your company, products and services. These paid ads will help with customer acquisition and communicating your brand story to new audiences. These targeted ads may be the first impression new customers have of your HVAC business, garage door repair, etc., so be sure they tell your story and unique features well.
Social Media Marketing — Paid Social Media Ads
The trick with social media platforms is knowing where you can create a lasting home for yourself. Here’s an unexpected truth: not all companies need to be on social media platforms.
Maybe you’re going the route of marketing your plumbing business through local SEO or pay per click advertising. Great! Social media requires near-constant work and it’s not a requirement to succeed. Plus, you can still run social media ads that link to your website or anywhere else on the internet.
Search Engine Optimization
Your company should bolster its SEO by using relevant keywords to bring traffic to your website. Companies that utilize strategic keywords within their website are listed higher on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
The Semrush blog provides a great explanation of local SEO:
“Local SEO is the process of optimizing your online presence to increase local traffic, visibility, and brand awareness.
Common local SEO tasks include:
- Optimizing your Google Business Profile
- Finding local keywords
- Creating locally relevant content”
Create a Google Business Profile
A Google Business Profile comes with a long list of benefits. Here are just a few, as Bright Local lists them:
- “It’s a powerful local ranking factor
- It’s important for zero-click searches
- It’s a convenient source of useful information
- It’s helpful for business comparisons
- It brings images, reviews, and offers together in one place
- It can generate bookings and appointments
- It’s used on Google Maps for directions and local business lists
- It helps search users find relevant local businesses
- It allows search users to suggest edits and feedback to improve accuracy.”
Most importantly, a Google Business profile is instrumental to your local search visibility. Make sure you set up and manage your profile regularly to help your SEO rankings and online reputation.
Email Marketing
Among digital marketing options, email marketing is relatively inexpensive and convenient. However, it’s important to have a plan of what you’re saying to customers and when. Your email marketing may be an opportunity to share special deals. In addition, you can use the space to share professional advice, tips and tricks on how people can take care of their HVAC, plumbing, garage doors, etc.
No matter what, you need to share valuable information in your emails. That’s the way to make people pay attention.
Word of Mouth Marketing
As a home services business, you know that great customer service helps you achieve word of mouth marketing. Additionally, it’s important to have incentives in place to increase the likelihood that people shout your home service business praises from the rooftops.
We recently wrote on this subject right here and there are multiple options to explore. Here are a few quick ideas:
A referral program can incentivize an existing customer to share their experience with friends, family and acquaintences. As they tell potential customers about their experience, you’re not only reinforcing their positive experience but also reaching prospective customers in the process.
Similarly, encouraging customers for writing online reviews will increase the reach of your home services marketing. Online reviews can help improve your ranking in search results and ultimately support repeat business. Reviews can be left on websites like Yelp, your own plumbing website or your Google Business profile.
Complimentary gifts, like a free service visit just to check up on a garage door, HVAC system or household faucets, can turn new customers into loyal customers. Remember, people are looking for companies they can depend on and a free service check will certainly impress more customers than not — and it’s very likely to turn them into repeat customers too.
We’ll Help Build Your Marketing Strategy
Whether you’re trying to reach local customers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area or expand your business nationwide, our team can help you get there. You need a one, two punch of memorable branding and marketing strategy to stand out in business listings and search results. Contact us through our website here or call us at 817-335-0100 to start the marketing strategy conversation.
For more marketing tips, head to the J.O. Agency blog — you can read about building an online presence here, search engine optimization seo here and social media pages here.
