Even if you’ve spent years getting your hands dirty to establish your business, these evolutions in marketing are changing the game—and you’ll need to adapt if you want your business to survive. Today, to succeed in the home services industry, you’ll need to compete more efficiently and on a much larger scale.
Above all else, maximizing your ROI is key to setting yourself apart from the competition. To invest your time and money wisely, you’ll need to find effective strategies to boost your sales. This goes far beyond clicks and pageviews—it’s all about converting leads into appointments without spending a penny more than you need to. That’s where a comprehensive digital marketing strategy—and targeted advertising—come into play.
Whether you’re in plumbing, pest control, HVAC, or another home services business, here’s why paid media should be a non-negotiable component of your marketing strategy.
With endless streams of content being posted online every day, it can feel impossible to cut through the noise and get your brand’s message in front of your target audience. Paid media offers a simple solution for business owners to promote their brand’s message, increase online exposure, and get in front of potential leads.
Paid media incorporates various types of content, from social media posts and videos to pay-per-click (PPC) ads and branded content. With paid media, there are countless ways to increase your conversion rate, working like a one-two punch by increasing organic traffic to your website when your PPC ads appear in the same search results. Essentially, a powerful paid media strategy can help your brand reach new audiences online, influence consumer decisions, and simply create brand awareness—all at the same time.
For example, social media platforms provide great opportunities for targeted advertising. By investing in ads on social media platforms that your target audience commonly uses (think Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook), you’ll raise awareness of your brand by tailoring your content to the preferences of individual consumers.
Still weighing the pros and cons of an investment in paid advertising? If done correctly, and with the right strategy, it can be worth every penny. For home services companies, the benefits of paid advertising extend far beyond new leads and increased exposure. Paid media can be used to increase the power of your content marketing campaign, boost your social media following, and enhance your business performance.
Whether you’re an electrician or a roofing specialist, paid media can help you generate high-quality leads—and then convert those leads into loyal customers. Think about it this way: an effective SEO campaign helps bring organic traffic to your website with engaging content, irresistible headlines, and relevant keywords. Then, paid ads help you skip the line and boost your website to the top of search engine results.
Of course, paid media requires an upfront investment in the form of the strategy, campaign setup, and media budget—and don’t forget to account for the time needed to optimize it, create reports, and analyze the data. Whether you try and do it yourself or hire a specialized team to do it for you, it’s one of the most effective ways to acquire new clients and set yourself apart from the competition. Essentially, if you’re looking for effective ways to compete with the major home services companies in your area, paid media is the answer.
Regardless of your niche, paid media is exceptionally competitive, and for good reason: it allows you to connect to customers at the moment they’re searching for information related to your services so you can be there when exactly they need you.
Building a successful paid advertising campaign isn’t as simple as buying bulk ads and hoping for the best. In such a competitive space, you’ll need to come up with a well-researched digital marketing strategy to gain exposure and boost your visibility online (or, better yet, hire an experienced marketing partner with specialized training in the home services industry).
Programmatic advertising involves the use of automated data analysis for media buying across almost the entire internet. It’s about finding consumers where they are, which is a complement to paid search, putting you where consumers are trying to find you. Unlike traditional digital marketing techniques, programmatic advertising utilizes data insights and algorithms to target the right user at the right time as they move through the process of choosing a home services provider to contact.
“Programmatic is incredibly versatile—it can support the entire customer acquisition funnel, including remarketing to past customers or specifically targeting those who are actively ‘in market’ for their services,” says John J. Antognoli, Senior Client Advisor at Company 119. “The best part is that these diverse goals all share the same learnings as consumers interact with the branded ads and the website, so programmatic gets smarter as time goes on and all the campaigns can get better together, faster.”
In contrast, traditional media buying requires a lot of manual work, including requests for proposals, negotiations, and manual insertion orders—making it a slow and inefficient process for business owners. Ads are typically purchased in bulk, which leaves little control over the inventory and placement. So, you’re hoping the consumers come to you where your inventory is—as opposed to serving ads at the best time possible for the lowest price.
“Unlike traditional media buys, direct to the publisher, programmatic takes advantage of a massive market and uses Artificial Intelligence to find the right places for the ads to be while negotiating the best price on our behalf, so it is constantly optimizing the little things and finding patterns humans never could find. This is amazing in its own right, but the greater advantage might be the time it frees up for Human Intelligence,” according to Antognoli. “Campaigns need both constant attention in the present and someone to think big picture, interpret the data and make the next move.”
Three types of programmatic advertising can help you reach your goals:
These three types of programmatic ad buying help business owners use advertising to automate their processes and make ad buying more efficient. “Then, once you start building up that base of consumers, you choose a different approach to guide them through consideration and action in your funnel,” says Antognoli. “Maybe, at this point, retargeting with native is a better type of advertising. Again, this is the beauty of programmatic, it is not ‘one size fits all,’ and that makes it a better fit for home services brands looking to spend media dollars more effectively to generate more business in this unpredictable economy.”
Whether you’re just getting started with paid media or searching for ways to maximize your ROI, here’s what you need to do to build a successful strategy for your home services business.
If you’re using PPC ads to boost your online visibility, you’re probably already familiar with paid media automation. With Google Ads continuing to introduce more automation options for business owners, it’s safe to assume that paid media automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will soon become catalysts in paid media advertising.
According to HubSpot, 92% of marketing agencies are investing more time, resources, and budgeting into automation integration, while 68% of businesses are using automation in some way. In the home services industry, paid media automation offers a strategic tool to help electricians, plumbers, construction workers, and other business owners gain an edge over the competition.
Especially if you’re losing business to local competitors or struggling to make it to the top of your local search results, an investment in paid automation can boost your efficiency, help you reach a wider audience with tailored content, and maximize the ROI of your paid media campaigns—as long as you combine that investment with an effective strategy.
In 2020, social media advertising generated $41.5 billion in revenue, accounting for 30% of all internet ad revenue. By 2022, advertisers expect to spend over $56 billion promoting their products and services across social media platforms, according to Statistica.
With more and more consumers embracing online shopping as a part of their daily lives, paid advertising on social media is more effective than ever. In addition, social media ad platforms are growing more advanced, allowing businesses to conveniently target consumers with tailored messages and content.
Facebook is a great place to begin, as it has been a major player in the paid social media advertising space for the past decade—and it has ironed out many of the wrinkles over the years. Compared to other platforms, Facebook offers a more sophisticated ad strategy, allowing brands to target consumers with ads based on individual preferences. With the right paid media strategy, you’ll be able to create powerful Facebook ads that are personalized to individual users, with the ad format, CTA, and other components tailored to the user they’re being displayed to.
Generally, Facebook users are in the ideal target market for home services brands, with a vast number of middle-aged users with disposable income. Since they feel more comfortable using technology socially, they’re more likely to trust Facebook as a place to search for a home remodeling company, landscaper, or auto repair business.
After mastering your Facebook marketing strategy, you can explore other social media platforms and apply some of your learnings on networks such as Pinterest and Instagram. Especially for home builders and remodeling companies, Pinterest provides a great opportunity to raise brand awareness.
With older, upper-middle-income users searching for inspiration on Pinterest for their next home renovation project, you can easily target consumers with tailored advertising. Then, when local consumers are searching for a reliable home services business to hire, they’ll turn to a brand they’re already familiar with.
As we look to the future of paid social media advertising, we can expect opportunities for ads to become more personalized, sophisticated, and targeted—but what does this mean for home services companies? With major social media platforms increasing the effectiveness of their advertising platforms, you’ll have to keep an up-to-date paid media strategy to compete online where consumers are deciding on the home services brands they will do business with.
As a form of paid media, video has experienced incredible growth over the last decade, and marketing experts expect that it will become even more prominent, especially for mobile marketing. For home services businesses, video offers a much more digestible form of content than text, with viewers retaining 95% percent of a message after watching it in an instructional video compared to 10% after reading it in text.
Video does have a barrier to entry, which is the actual video content itself. As a result, plumbers, contractors, and auto repair companies tend to shy away from video content and focus on channels with a lower barrier of entry—creating the perfect opportunity for your business to swoop in and attract new leads. According to WordStream, 96% of people have watched videos to learn more about products and services, and 86% prefer video content from brands. In other words, videos give you a competitive edge by providing content that boosts your company’s reputation and credibility among local consumers.
So, how can you create videos that convert leads into loyal customers? When it comes to video content, the sweet spot for paid ads is 6–10 seconds. To optimize your brand’s visibility, be sure to mention your business within the first 3 seconds of the video ad.
Video advertising goes really well with Facebook, another combination we strongly recommend. As a simple starter, carousel ads combine up to 10 videos in one ad unit. This way, you won’t have to decide between showcasing your services, customer testimonials, or past projects—you can have it all with a single ad.
To boost website traffic and increase conversion rates, link each video to a different page of your website that’s relevant to the topic of the video. For example, if you’re an electrician sharing a video on generator installation services, be sure to link to that landing page that provides the associated content instead of your Home page. This way, customers can instantly learn more about that specific service and contact you as easily as possible.
By mastering paid video ads, you can influence consumer perception, build brand recognition, and drive more traffic to your website. Once there, customers can find out what sets your business apart from the competition and how you can help them. Even better, video generates quality traffic. According to WordStream, consumers who end up on websites through paid video ads are 184% more likely to make a purchase.
Over the last few years, Stories ads have become a dominant force in the paid media space. While Instagram is commonly associated with sponsored stories and other influencer campaigns, Facebook continues to increase its level of engagement, with over 500 million users posting stories daily.
Sure, Stories ads are an effective marketing tool for influencers and big businesses, but local businesses can also use them to their advantage, too. While it was possible 30 years ago to build your plumbing business from the ground up through radio ads and direct mail, times are different today. Over 72% of the U.S. population currently uses smartphones—so even if you don’t use these social networks, staying up to date with the latest social media trends is crucial to the future success of your brand.
As a key format for social media advertising, Stories ads allow home services businesses to foster natural, meaningful interactions with consumers on their mobile devices. Stories ads are displayed on a full-screen portrait, providing an optimized experience that companies can use to extend their paid social media ads and connect with customers on their preferred channel.
As a home services company, Stories ads provide great opportunities to showcase your current projects, connect with local consumers, and drive engagement. Try using calls to action to drive engagement by asking questions or polls—or promoting Instagram posts or content you’ve produced for IGTV. For example, if you’re running a home remodeling company, consider asking users what they’d most like to change about their kitchen.
While Stories ads, paid video content, and other targeted forms of advertising have all contributed to the rise of social media advertising, there’s also a darker side of the coin to consider.
The misuse of data of millions of Facebook users brought social media ad transparency to the attention of the government and consumers. As a result, Facebook has experienced pressure to increase the transparency and security of its advertising platform. Similarly, Twitter has been tasked with overcoming challenges related to fake profiles and bots.
As a result, for companies utilizing paid social media ads, transparency is key to boosting credibility and earning consumer trust—and all this is a good thing. While it goes without saying, all brands will need to take steps to follow local legislation regarding consumer practices and focus on being honest about their ad practices. Do the right and build trust, and you will be rewarded. According to the 2019 Eldman Trust Barometer Report, the vast majority of U.S. consumers (81%) agree that trusting a brand to do the right thing is a key factor in purchasing decisions.
If you’re not sure where to start, a reliable marketing partner can help you navigate local legislation to ensure you’re keeping up with the best ad transparency practices.
Seems easy enough, right? A successful marketing strategy is built on several components, and although paid media can make a major difference in the success of your digital marketing campaign, it’s just the start. Paid media is critical to being there when your target audience needs your services, but you’ll need engaging content and a user-friendly web design to maximize your success.
Basically, investing in paid ads is just the first step of your campaign. Setting up the best targeting options puts you in front of potential customers, but you’ll need to back up those ads with persuasive copy that makes consumers click on your ad and schedule a consultation.
So, how do you write an irresistible copy? One way is to begin by considering your audience’s pain points. Potential customers of home services businesses click on ads because they want to accomplish something and solve a problem. To this end, one of the best copywriting strategies is to mirror your customer’s goals in your ad copy.
For example, if you’re writing a Google ad for a roofing company, your first headline should reflect what the user is trying to accomplish (i.e., Expert Roofing Repair and Replacement in Denver). Then, use the description to highlight the simplicity of the process and the benefits of hiring your company (i.e., We’re experts in roof repair, roof replacement, and hail damage serving the Denver metropolitan area for over 20 years. Contact us today for a free quote).
Then, you’ll need to create a user-friendly web design so customers can easily navigate to your landing pages, blog posts, and contact page. Your website is your strongest lead generator, and websites with strong conversion funnels will seamlessly guide users through the buyer journey to generate more conversions.
As the most important page on your website, your Contact page should be easy for users to find. Customers don’t want to spend a lot of time searching for a phone number or email address, especially if they’re just trying to ask a quick question. When users land on your website and want to get answers fast, they’ll search for your phone number to make a call.
To guide users down the funnel, you’ll need to convey your brand’s message and answer commonly asked questions with engaging, short-form content. Focus on getting your message across quickly and thoroughly—and follow up your content with a compelling call to action to drive conversions.
The best way to maintain a competitive advantage is to embrace the game-changing marketing evolutions that are disrupting your market. From targeting consumers with tailored social media ads to boosting the success of your campaign with programmatic advertising, an effective paid media strategy can help you leverage your opportunities and come out on top.
Ultimately, to maximize the ROI of your paid ads, you’ll need to supplement them with irresistible copy, an optimized website, and a powerful digital marketing campaign. Remember: to survive in today’s rapidly evolving home services industry, you’ll need to take a different approach from others—even if it’s a more challenging road.
