Whether you own a roofing company, interior design firm, mechanic shop, lawn care service, or any other service-based business– people rely on you when they need a helping hand. Maybe they can’t do the job themselves because they don’t know how, they don’t have the equipment, or they don’t have time. Regardless, trades businesses are essential to keeping our society running like a fine-tuned machine. You already know there’s a need for your business. So if your service-area business isn\’t getting any sales, you probably just need a little help with marketing.
Marketing Trades Businesses
You may get caught up in what you think is “good marketing”. Unfortunately, this mindset could cause you to throw away a lot of hard-earned cash. The cold hard truth is that the strategies you’re using might work well for e-commerce businesses or influencers, but for a service-area company that relies on local jobs and labor, these strategies often yield mediocre results. Continuing to use these tactics can quickly put your company’s well-being at risk, especially if you frequently rely on one-off jobs.
If this sounds like you, it’s time to invest in a clean website, local search and SEO, direct response marketing, and review management.
A Website That Makes Money
The first thing you need as a local service-based business is a clean and professional website. This will be one of your most powerful tools for generating qualified sales leads and closing deals. All of your other marketing efforts will lead back to your website. Yes, that includes Google My Business, Facebook, Instagram, and even TV advertisements. It’s also the foundation for SEO which is how you’ll take over the local search results, but that comes later. So what we’re saying is to make sure your website is built to perform.
Local Listings Are Crucial
Oftentimes, when people reach out to a business for help, it’s because they waited too long and now they have an emergency situation on their hands. You might expect this for things like a gas station or fast food, but the same concept applies to labor-reliant companies. Whether someone is looking for a roof repair company to fix a water leak or a bee removal specialist to get rid of some angry hornets, they’re going to look at their map application, read the reviews, and make a snap judgment.
When this happens you want to make sure you’re the first company they see in the map pack. Rise Local can help you with this by ensuring all of your local listings profiles are complete. We can also show you how to get more client testimonials once you complete a job to usher in more work.
Be Convenient
A lot of companies think they have to be the most affordable to be successful. They work hard and have the lowest prices around, but they still struggle to find new clients. This is because while low prices allow you to get the job done, it doesn’t leave room for a high-end experience or additional conveniences.
The budget business model works well for some, many buyers prefer to have the best service and the most convenience– and they’re willing to pay for it. If you’re struggling to find jobs, the first thing you want to do is re-evaluate your prices and the services you’re offering. You may want to start offering virtual estimates, text quotes, DIY kits, or finding ways to work while the homeowner is away.
If you’re already doing those things, you need to consider if you’re effectively displaying those services on your website and social media profiles. You want to make sure people visiting your website know about all of the extra things you do to give customers a better experience because that will play a part in their decision-making process.
Your Service-Area Business Depends On SEO
One of the most common things we hear from business owners starting SEO is that they wish they’d started sooner. A lot of businesses want to jump right into paid ads for some quick jobs. This can work well especially if you take on large, expensive jobs that take months to complete. Unfortunately for most other service businesses, paid advertisements spread their profit margins thin because not every click translates to a sale.
SEO is a long-term strategy that helps people find you on organic search results pages. By utilizing research, keywords, and well-written copy, people will find the information they’re looking for and are more likely to hire you. This marketing strategy is also great for service-area businesses because it’s evergreen. Each page you publish continues to build your online visibility and your investment never goes away. Something you wrote five years ago could be the thing that brings in a new sales lead today. But if you hadn’t been publishing consistently, your brand never would’ve ranked high enough for someone to even find that page.
As a local service-area business, you’ll also need to focus on local search terms and long-tail keywords. For example, our agency Rise Local probably won’t catch a lot of new clients with the keyword “digital marketing agency”. However, we might find our perfect client by making content with the keyword “dallas digital marketing agency for local businesses”. Why? Because we honed in on a specific geographical area and a specific demographic which takes out a lot of the guesswork for a business owner looking for services like ours.
Relationships Are Still Important
You might think just because you do one-time jobs, you don’t need to nurture your relationships or brand. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We can take your business far using our marketing strategies, but there are few things as powerful as a client testimonial. When you do good work and people actually like you, they’ll sing your praises to anyone that will listen. The people that come to you based on recommendations will require fewer sales pitches and oftentimes will make larger purchases right away because they already trust you. That\’s why you should always invest time and effort in reputation management.
Many service-area businesses overpromise in their advertising and on their website. But a customer has no reason to lie for you, so people are willing to make decisions based on their testimonies.
Dallas Digital Marketing Agency For Local Service- Area Businesses
If you’re a local service-area business, Rise Local can help introduce you to new customers and turn your company into an industry powerhouse. Call us today to schedule your free initial consultation. Together, we can develop a custom digital marketing strategy to promote your business. We can also tell you a little bit more about our tried and true strategies for local SMBs like search engine optimization (SEO) and local listings. You’ll be surprised by how effective these are and how fast we can help you grow!