It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in business—driving qualified roofing leads can be tricky. Sometimes, it’s a constant battle of throwing things at the wall just to see what sticks.
But without a constant flow of leads, you’ll have a hard time growing your company. Well, without leads, you’ll lose out on opportunities to convert prospects into paying customers. Instead of just sitting around and hoping for the phone to ring, you need a powerful lead generation strategy to get in front of your dream customers.
Lead generation might seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Truth is, there’s a wide range of lead generation strategies out there for roofers, and plenty of tools that can help you speed up the process. Here’s how to build awareness and win more roofing jobs with effective lead generation.
If you’ve been working on your social media presence, you’ve probably already noticed that social media has evolved into a customer service platform. According to Qualtrics, 31 percent of customers turn to social media to ask for advice or reach a business before moving forward with a purchase.
Instead of playing phone tag or waiting hours (or even days) for companies to respond to an email, your customers are turning to social media for help. Maybe they’re searching for quotes on shingle replacement, or they’re looking to book an emergency appointment for hail damage. Either way, they expect rapid responses around the clock.
How can you use social media as a customer service platform? You’ll need to focus on helping people, answering questions, and providing quick responses to issues. For example, turning your Twitter account into a support channel can showcase your service efforts, which can boost your roofing company’s reputation—especially if you do a good job.
And there’s good news: You don’t have to sacrifice your sanity to answer leads on social media. You can use automation tools to score leads and provide outstanding customer service, even after business hours are over.
At the end of the day, leveraging automation for customer service can make all the difference for your company. According to McKinsey data, customers spend between 20 and 40 percent more with companies that respond to customer service inquiries on social media. At the same time, companies that don’t utilize social media for customer service interactions lose 15 percent more customers each year.
Not all keywords are created equal. If you want to get noticed by local homeowners, you need to break through the digital noise and capture their attention with the right PPC keywords for roofers.
Think of keywords as labels. Google uses keywords to search for answers and solutions to searchers’ inquiries. Keywords might range from product and service descriptions (asphalt shingles), brand names (Cleveland Roofing Co.), and geographic location (Cleveland roofers), to questions about a problem (how to choose the best roofing material).
When it’s time to start crafting your ads, you’ll want to consider a few factors:
Remember: Bottom-of-the-funnel keywords are usually the most valuable and expensive. But if you want to generate leads, you’ll need to target top-of-the-funnel keywords to drive awareness and boost website traffic. Not every click is going to convert, so you need to cast a wide net to maximize your chances of generating qualified roofing leads with PPC.
It might sound obvious, but this is important to remember: Your ads send potential leads to your website. And if you want to keep those leads around, you’re going to need an easy-to-navigate website to make their lives easier.
Your website visitors are searching for answers to their roofing questions. They want to learn from your business, and they want to feel understood while they’re browsing your website. That means you need to fill your website with quality content (think: FAQs, learning materials, blog posts, customer testimonials) to showcase your expertise.
That’s right: It’s time to say goodbye to boring, outdated content. Quality roofing content can take your lead generation efforts to the next level. It builds trust among website visitors, so you can turn your average visitor into a new lead. And when you highlight your expertise to potential leads, you can show them exactly why you’re worth hiring over the competition.
Great content also improves your search engine rankings, which can draw even more roofing leads to your website. When a local homeowner searches for residential roof replacement and finds your blog, they’ll be one step closer to picking up the phone and hiring your company.
It might be tempting to leave your website on the backburner, but trust us: That is one of the worst things you can do for your business. Your roofing website is the foundation of your digital marketing strategy. If you want to generate leads, you need a website that matches your business strategy and goals—and that means skipping the cookie-cutter template and hiring a professional web development team to transform your current website into a lead magnet.
If you’re not using email marketing to generate leads, it’s time to start. It’s one of the most effective digital marketing channels—and the numbers back this up. For every $1 spent on email, there’s a $40 return on investment. And with the right email marketing in place for generating leads, you’ll be able to seamlessly guide them from prospect to paying customer.
So, what’s the secret to click-worthy emails? One word: Personalization. According to 74 percent of marketers, targeted personalization plays a key role in customer engagement. Instead of sending one-size-fits-all emails to every homeowner on your contact list, you need to cut through the noise with tailored messaging.
Maybe you’re not ready to use automation for social media, but it’s a must-have for email. With automation tools, you can set and forget your email marketing strategy to save time. Email automation can also help you win new leads with personalization by using specific triggers to send the right email to the right subscribers at the right time. For example, you might send an automated email when:
Of course, it’s not enough to just set up automation and hope for the best. To generate a steady stream of roofing leads, you’ll need an attention-grabbing email design. Focus on emails that are short, sweet, and straight to the point. Your emails should be as clean and concise as possible—complete with an irresistible subject line and compelling call to action.
We’re not exaggerating when we say that data might be the most valuable asset your company has. Think about it: Data highlights key insights into your customers. With the right data at your fingertips, you can tweak your lead generation strategy to fit your customers’ needs—with tailored messaging and a personalized journey to guide your leads through every stage of the sales funnel.
Countless contractors are already leveraging data to optimize their marketing strategy, but some are still unsure of how to become a data-driven company. In fact, 80 percent of customer data remains untouched, meaning it’s never actually used to improve the customer experience.
How can you use data to take your marketing strategy to new heights? Well, you probably already know that data can show you what’s working and what isn’t. From engagement rates to heatmaps, tracking the right metrics can show you exactly how leads navigate the customer journey.
But the benefits of data don’t end there. Thanks to the rise of services like Spotify, Netflix, and Amazon, your customers expect a personalized experience that saves time and recognizes their interests—and that’s where data can be your MVP. When you use data to your advantage, you can send the right message to the right people at the right time. And sometimes, that might just be the difference between a website visitor and a lead.
If you want to grow your roofing company, you’re going to need a strong lead generation strategy to hit the ground running. But remember: Driving qualified roofing leads to your business takes time and effort.
Building any successful marketing plan takes time, and you’ll have to step outside of your comfort zone to drive results. Once you’ve captured leads, you can start guiding them down the sales funnel with an effective lead nurturing strategy.
Have any questions about lead generation? Give us a call to keep the phone ringing and your appointment book full with a standout lead gen strategy.
