Intro
After advertising for home improvement companies for 5 years, I’ve seen some types of marketing that work well for remodelers, and how to get the most out of them. On this list, we’ll talk about 10 of those strategies and what to expect from each of them.
We hope this gives you some good ideas for how to advertise your remodeling business and sell more high-quality kitchen, bathroom, or basement projects.
If you’d like to work with Service Allies for your marketing, you can schedule an assessment call here.
How to Make Your Marketing Pack a Bigger Punch
Knowing your unique selling points can give you a big advantage in your advertising.
When I ask remodelers what sets them apart from other remodeling companies, the answer I get 95% of the time is “quality and customer service.” If everyone’s unique selling point is quality and service, then truth be told, it’s nobody’s unique service. However, once I dig a little deeper, I’m usually able to figure out what the unique advantages actually are.
If your company focuses only on kitchen remodels, for example, you may be able to knock out kitchens way faster than your competition. Or, if you’re a well-established construction company with a variety of expertise, you may have special ability for completing more complex projects like 2nd story additions or full interior remodels. “We make complex projects look easy” is a more specific tagline than “quality and service.”
However your company is set up, you most likely have at least one good advantage over your competitors. Dig for it, and once you find it, use it!
With that being said, here are 10 types of marketing for remodeling that work.
1. Google Listing + Reviews
Creating a free google maps listing is a great way to start getting your name out there. The listing should include several project photos and information about the specific services you offer.
Before you create a Google listing, you should probably have a few customers who are willing to leave you good reviews already lined up. That way if you get a bad review early on, you’ll have some good reviews to balance your rating out.
After you create the listing, don’t expect leads to start pouring in right away. A listing with good, detailed reviews will support your sales and, if your listing ranks high enough, supply a steady trickle of leads over the long run. But the time it takes to create your free listing and ask for reviews is more than worth it!
Also, when you ask customers for reviews, ask them to share honest, detailed feedback. Details are important because when new prospective customers scan through your reviews, they’re probably looking for answers to specific questions. If a customer really wants an envelope cut for their tile shower floor, for example, they might scan for a positive review from someone who you did this for. And at the most basic level, a customer that’s thinking about hiring you for a bathroom remodel will want to see that other customers who hired you for bath remodels were happy. The more details your customers can include, the better!
2. Yard Signs
If you’re not already stocked up on yard signs, order some! Yard signs are one of the most effective ways to advertise remodeling companies.
Not only do you get your business in front of more people, but the fact that your sign is in someone’s yard is a vote of confidence for your business. This makes your yard signs work like an ad and a referral at the same time.
Yard signs are especially effective in neighborhoods. In some cases, as more and more neighbors start signing on with you, it can create a domino effect. Yard signs are so cheap, yet so effective, that they’re basically a no-brainer for any remodeling business.
3. Lead Companies
If you want to start getting leads quickly without breaking the bank, lead companies might be the way to go.
Lead companies work by getting their own leads through generic advertising campaigns (or buying them from other lead companies) and redistributing the leads to their contractor clients. Some companies only send the same leads to one contractor, while other companies send the same leads to several different remodelers.
There are two major drawbacks with lead companies:
1) You’ll need to call new leads fast and often.
2) You won’t have the opportunity to advertise your own brand.
That being said, lots of established remodeling businesses still utilize lead sources and get good results. And since most allow you to determine your own budget, you can start off with a small advertising budget if needed.
For leads, take a look at 99Calls or Service Direct.
4. Website Design
A professional business website can help you sell more remodeling projects by acting as a portfolio, instilling confidence in your prospects, and even generating new leads.
One of the most important things you can have on your website is a photo gallery of your remodeling work. This will give your prospects a lot more confidence in moving forward with your company for their project.
Your website can also help you establish your company’s unique selling points. Are you a one-man band who is able to give special, personal attention to each project? Sell from that position. Or, are you a specialized bath remodeler who can knock out shower installations in a day? You might appeal to customers who quickly want their bath redone in time for the holidays.
While a professional design is important, what’s most important is content. You should be detailed and clear about what exactly your company offers, and have project photos and featured reviews to back it up.
Keep in mind, websites won’t generate leads on their own - you’ll need a source of traffic. That source of traffic can be SEO, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or anything else. You can use your website as a sales tool all by itself, but you’ll need to get visitors to your website before it can become a lead generation source.
This is what the content on your site should be focused on. When your ideal prospects are on your website, what questions will they have? What are some of their fears and what are some of their desires? Your content should join the conversation that’s already going on in their mind and answer their questions. It should all flow to the point of getting them to submit their information.
To further entice visitors to become leads, you can offer special promotions like financing, discounts, or guide PDFs (lead magnets.)
To help your website company get you the best results, make sure you give them all the content they ask for - details about your company, your unique experience, bios of your team members, photos, and everything else they need. This will enable them to make your website content as rich and unique as possible.
Interested in remodeling website design? Talk to Bucksaw Creative.
5. SEO
SEO lets you capture leads who are at the bottom of the sales funnel and ready to buy. Because of this, leads that come through SEO efforts are typically easier to sell than leads from other marketing sources.
Look for SEO companies who create well-structured, original content. This content should also include plenty of images and links. Since Google’s focus is giving users exactly what they're searching for, your content should focus on answering their questions and being the most valuable resource for that keyword as possible.
Your SEO should also center around the types of projects you really want. Do you want more bath remodel projects? Your SEO should focus on keywords related to bathroom remodeling.
Note: avoid using AI generated content for SEO. At first glance, it might seem like a good opportunity to generate unlimited content and start ranking your site. However, lots of companies will probably start spamming content. And, since Google wants to give searchers meat and potatoes, valuable content, they’ll probably look for ways to avoid serving this content to users. In fact, there are already tools out there to check if content is real or is AI generated, like this one.
SEO isn’t something you want to go cheap on. Here’s why:
There are a limited number of users searching for remodeling services. And the goal of SEO is to get as many of those searchers to go to your website as possible. Because of this, SEO companies need to compete with each other fiercely to get a share of the traffic. Even if it’s expensive, sign on with a company you feel confident can win that competition!
Keep in mind, it can take 3-12 months before you start seeing real results from your SEO efforts. Because of the cost, and the time it takes to start working, I typically don’t recommend SEO to brand new remodeling companies.
Hook Agency focuses on website design, SEO, and PPC advertising for various types of home improvement contractors, including remodelers.
6. Facebook & Instagram Ads
Paid Facebook Ads allow you to quickly start getting your own leads while growing your reputation at the same time. Unlike posts on a Facebook page, which might get in front of a few hundred people at best, paid ads let you buy tens of thousands of views in the locations you want to advertise in.
Since your ads immediately start showing to so many people, leads start coming in quickly as well. At Service Allies, our clients typically get around 30,000 to 70,000 views each month and start getting leads within 1-3 days of launch.
Another perk of running Facebook Ads is that you get more control over the messaging in your ads, which in turn affects the quality of leads that you get. You can also focus on the specific types of projects you want by gearing the ad copy towards those projects.
And because the Facebook & Instagram platforms are connected, your ads will show up on Instagram too.
Service Allies specializes in running Facebook Ads for remodelers and other types of home improvement companies. Because of our experience, we know how to quickly create ads that are effective in generating high quality leads. We can help you with:
If you’d like to schedule a demo with Service Allies, you can do that here.
7. Direct Mail
Believe it or not, direct mail still works and can be a great option for advertising your remodeling business. Since homeowners think for a long time before pulling the trigger on a remodel, there is a large pool of homeowners in the market at any given time. This is what makes mailers effective.
Fine-grain control over your audience is one of the top advantages of a mailer campaign. You can focus on a target demographic that you know is full of your prime customers. You can also customize your mailers to focus on the types of projects that are most profitable for your business.
Your direct mail campaigns should include good, clear calls to action and maybe even some incentive to sign up. If you have immediate availability to start new projects, for example, lead with something like “We’re looking for new kitchen projects to start right away!” Since a lot of remodeling companies are booked out 3-6 months, this tends to be an attractive tagline.
Your mailers should include relevant photos of your work and be designed to turn recipients into leads. To do this, provide a clear call to action for them to contact your business.
If you're looking for a specialized direct mail company, check out Dope Marketing.
8. Reaching Out to Old Lead Lists
Do you have a list of remodeling leads who never answered the phone? Most companies mark these leads down as a loss, but these lists can be a goldmine of opportunity!
Since homeowners take months or years to pull the trigger on a remodel project, there’s a good chance that a lot of your old leads are still in the market. If you call through your list, you might be able to run dozens of additional estimates - all without spending any more money on advertising! And the bigger your list, the more opportunities you’ll have.
When I follow up with old lead lists, I usually set aside maybe 20 leads at a time. I work these leads over the course of 4 days with phone calls and texts. This approach seems to get a good response rate (between 60 to 70%). Once I’m done following up with those, I’ll set aside 20 more and repeat the process.
Old prospects may also be looking for something new. Even if your old kitchen leads already completed the kitchen remodel, they might now be looking at remodeling their bathroom or finishing their basement.
This is also why it’s a good idea to save all your leads on a spreadsheet or in a CRM - even if you consider them lost. Because calling through your list every now and then will help you generate more sales and make your advertising return on investment higher.
9. Text & Email Campaigns
Text & email marketing campaigns help you engage with your leads and turn your list into another source of revenue.
If you have a few hundred emails on file, an occasional email blast with a special offer might be the way to go. And if you have a list of over a thousand, it might make sense to send several well-written emails every month. Check out Zac Garside, a copywriting specialist who crafts these email campaigns for various types of home improvement contractors.
Since text messages have an open rate of over 90%, texting is also a great way to engage with your lead list. Text campaigns are good for auto responders, appointment reminders, and the occasional promotion. Promotional text messages should be used much more sparingly than promotional emails.
Please note that A2P (application to person) texting campaigns have special regulations around them. You’ll need to register each texting campaign and attach your business details. You also need to be clear on your contact forms that you’ll be using their phone number to send them text messages and what types of texts you’ll be sending.
If you’re interested in running text & email campaigns, you’ll need a CRM that has this capability. Take a look at Hatch.
Service Allies also has a CRM that we include for our clients on our remodeling marketing program, and we handle A2P registration on your behalf. You can learn more about A2P here.
10. Truck Wraps
Vehicles that are regularly on the road get between 5-15 million impressions every single year. (Of course, this may vary by location and how often you’re driving.) This makes your vehicle a moving billboard with enormous advertising potential.
Assuming a good truck wrap will cost you $5,000, and will last 5 years, that’s only $5,000 to have your business seen 25,000,000 to 75,000,000 times! Compared to other advertising sources, that’s dirt cheap.
Not all truck wraps are created equal, however. If your brand is generic and blends in too much with others, your truck wraps won’t be nearly as effective. You want a brand with a look and feel that sets you apart from your competition. If you’re interested in branding and having your trucks wrapped, talk to this specialized company: KickCharge Creative. (The owner of KickCharge Creative suggested I mention that you make sure you have a solid brand before investing in a wrapped fleet.)
For new companies, I recommend starting with some other forms of advertising on this list before you invest too heavily in a brand. You may want a few years first to figure out what your niche and value proposition is. Also, while branding and truck wraps have high returns on investment in the long run, it may take awhile to start getting leads. And since cash flow can be tight early on, you might want to focus on something that will produce quicker returns.
Conclusion
While not all marketing companies are created equal, the results you get don’t just depend on the company. They also depend on you. If you provide the needed content, follow up with your leads like a boss, and make use of the tools provided to you, you’ll get much better results with your advertising.
Not to mention, if customers have a great experience with you, you’re far more likely to get referrals and good reviews!
So don’t believe it if marketers promise you the world on a silver platter, or promise to save your business. The success of your business is more tied up with you than your marketing, and marketing is simply one of many tools in your arsenal.
One of the marketing types mentioned on this list was Facebook Ads, which helps remodelers grow their brand while getting a high volume of leads at the same time. This is Service Allies one and only specialty. If interested, check out our Marketing for Remodeling Facebook Ads and schedule a call with us today!
