The Media
Media encompasses more than broadcast television and radio. It includes cable, Internet radio, your website, Internet advertising, search engine marketing, outdoor advertising (including your trucks), direct mail (including newsletters), public speaking opportunities, home-and-garden shows, and so on.
With any media, the goal is to find a vehicle that reaches your target audience for the most affordable price. Start by defining your target. Most contractors focus on homeowners, age 35 and over. Some may select an older demographic believing that older homeowners are more likely to have disposable income and more willing to pay for higher end services.
Many focus on women because the marketing research shows that women influence seven out of eight HVAC replacements as well as most service calls. Ask yourself, who calls your company? Who answers the door when you arrive at the prospect’s home? This is your target.
Broadcast Media
Broadcast media can work well in smaller markets but tends to overreach in larger metro areas. It does you little good if you are speaking to a prospect 30 miles outside of your service area.
Cable, on the other hand, allows more precise targeting down to the zip code level. It is also highly affordable. The same is true for Internet radio options, such as Pandora, I-Heart Radio, etc.
If you decide to go cable or Internet radio, try to envision what stations your target customer watches or listens to. You may be thrilled to see your ads on a sports channel, but you might be more effective on one of the home improvement or cooking channels.
You might find better luck targeting Christian or soft rock radio than talk radio. It all depends on your target customer.
Digital Media
There is a lot of focus today on digital, and rightly so. However, the same ROI focus should be applied to digital media that applies to other media. Focus paid search on the key problems you can solve to keep costs low and results focused.
Search engine optimization for your website should also stress the things that differentiate your approach, but from the consumer’s perspective. Do not expect consumers to search for technical terms, but for problems and solutions.
Traditional Direct Marketing
Ironically, the focus on digital and subsequent shift away from traditional forms of direct marketing has made direct more attractive.
One of two options high-performance contractors should consider includes radius marketing. This is where you mail to some number of homes surrounding your customer with a note about the problem the customer experienced and how you solved it. Chances are good that others will share the problem.
The other form of direct marketing that works for high-performance contractors is consumer newsletters.
A newsletter gives you the space and word count necessary to better explain your brand approach that makes you different. By making the newsletter interesting with a little information on your high-performance services, readership will be better.
You do that by including a recipe, a crossword puzzle or Sudoku, and items about your local community. Mail the newsletters quarterly and include a special offer in each issue.
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