There’s enormous risk in opening a business and keeping it healthy. Shutting down means a huge loss of capital investment, time, stress and potential bankruptcy for the owners.
When your home improvement business starts to show signs of sickness, how can you save it from closing? Marketing is your best tool to keep business healthy and growing!
What Causes A Small Business To Close?
It’s devastating to see something a neighbor, friend or family member poured their blood, sweat, and tears into...only to watch it wheeze its last dying breath.
The 2020 pandemic had a painful impact on the lifespan of small businesses. Thousands of small businesses open every day in the US. And even without a global shutdown, over 50% will shut their doors permanently by year 5.
There are a number of factors that impact new and established businesses, causing them to fail. Some are external and unavoidable like:
Unexpected shutdowns
Recessions
Changing taxes
New tariffs
DIYers
High employee turnover
A lack of demand or public interest
But what about variables that can be controlled?
Many home improvement companies are making two big mistakes in their marketing efforts; too much reliance on word of mouth and an inability to adapt to modern forms of marketing.
These factors are incredibly important in expanding a business, generating leads and increasing revenue.
Understand Your Ideal Customer
In the home improvement industry, there’s often a disconnect from the customer that slows growth. Business owners are distracted by day-to-day operations, and don’t always have time to think about their unique customer. Business becomes a take-any-job-you-can-get situation, instead of working on projects you’re passionate about with customers who value your service.
You can reposition your marketing to have a better impact on the people you want to work for, while being more selective about the work you do. It all starts by understanding your ideal customer.
Your ideal customer is the perfect person to work for — they already know your value, they don’t question the price tag, and they hire you for the services you’re best at.
Consider the specific problems your ideal customers face (often called “pain points”). Ask yourself these 7 questions to better understand your ideal customer:
Who are they? (Age, occupation, financial situation, home type, education, etc.)
Why do they need you?
What result do they hope to achieve from your service?
What are their common objections?
How does your price impact their decision?
Why might they choose you over the competition?
How did they discover your business?
Once you can clearly describe your ideal customer, target them with purposeful marketing. Look at your business through their eyes. How do they perceive you, your service, the cost of hiring you, and the result they want to see from your work?
Now you can shift your marketing to engage this type of person and turn them into a paying customer.
Enhance Your Website
These days, if you don’t have a compelling website that’s easy to find online, you don’t exist. It’s surprising how many contractors and home improvement companies still don’t have an excellent website.
A website will only convert if it has:
A user-friendly design
Content that resonates with your ideal customer
High-quality images, preferably of your work (not stock photos)
Active updates (usually through a blog)
Social proof (testimonials or reviews)
Calls to action
Accurate contact information
Search engine optimized (especially local search)
Mobile-friendly formatting
If you have an old, outdated website, or no online presence at all, don’t wait!
Building a good, persuasive website takes time. Developing helpful and customer-focused content takes time. And getting search engines to recognize your website and bump it to the top of the search results takes time. It’s smarter to get started on your website now to encourage growth for the future...even if you're content with the revenue you're bringing in now.
Don’t Overlook Direct Mail
Once you understand your customer, it’s time to decide how you’ll reach them. There are several effective ways to market a home improvement business. And direct mail still works!
Direct mail marketing is sometimes called snail-mail marketing. It’s advertising that arrives to your customers mailbox in the form of:
Magazines
Postcards
Coupons
Flyers
Brochures
Sales letters
These marketing methods are still effective, even in the digital era.
Some argue that with the expansion of online marketing, a physical piece of mail can be even more eye-catching and impactful than an online ad. Most consumers see upwards of 10,000 digital ads each day and they quickly learn to ignore them.
If you have well-written content and a striking design that speaks to your perfect customer, direct mail can be very powerful.
Stay Top Of Mind With Digital Marketing
Although direct mail still has its place, one thing we’ve learned in modern marketing is that the consumer is not impulsive.
When I get a postcard advertising a deal for some home upgrade, I’ll usually throw it in my junk drawer for a rainy day. Every time that drawer opens, there’s a familiar company logo.
Consumers need to see your ad several times before they decide to buy. If that postcard makes it into the trash the day it arrives, how will the consumer continue to be reminded of your product or service?
That’s where modern forms of marketing go hand-in-hand with older applications. Digital marketing gets the word out about your company instantly and frequently. And even if they ignore digital ads half the time, potential customers are still getting consistent, subconscious exposure.
Not only that, but using digital marketing correctly can have a positive impact on your customers' experience.
Digital Advertising Options
Marketing online is so popular because of its affordability and accessibility. There are many ways to reach customers when they’re online.
Social Media has countless benefits. It can be a completely free resource and top avenue to reach your customer. Daily posts about your workmanship, before and after photos, home design trends, and other engaging content can really attract an audience of local buyers.
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Email marketing puts your business directly into consumers pockets. An email blast is a great way to offer free tips, discounts, reminders, and resources that promote sales.
And there’s a number of ways to run digital ads online. Social media ads, Google ads and other pay per click (PPC) options are available to keep your leads flowing. When set up correctly, PPC ads can have a 200% return on investment.
By approaching your customer everywhere they spend time, you’ll have the best chance of converting leads into customers.
I want to know what your experience is — What kind of business do you have and which marketing strategy works best for you? Or do you mostly thrive off referrals? Tell me in the comments! 👇