Effective marketing for roofing companies can be accomplished by using a combination of traditional and modern marketing strategies.
Most of us are familiar with billboards, yard signs, and business cards, but many are in the dark when it comes to marketing for roofing companies online. In the 21st century, online reviews, social media, and email campaigns should be a part of any roofing company’s marketing plan.
Here we will discuss how the most successful and profitable roofing companies market their services. We’ll describe how referral programs, search engine optimization, and co-marketing with other businesses can improve your roofing company’s sales funnel month after month.
Why does your roofing business need marketing?
Your roofing business needs marketing to reach new customers, build brand awareness, generate leads and sales, and stay competitive.
In today's digital world, more and more people are searching for local businesses online. If you don't have a strong online presence, you're missing out on a huge potential customer base. Marketing can help you get your business found by potential customers who are looking for roofing services in your area.
Marketing can also help you build brand awareness and recognition for your roofing business. This is important because when homeowners are thinking about hiring a roofer, they're more likely to choose a company that they know and trust. Marketing can help you establish yourself as a trusted and reliable roofing contractor in your community.
Marketing is also essential for generating leads and sales. By marketing your business effectively, you can attract more potential customers and convince them to choose your company over your competitors.
The power of knowing your audience when marketing your roofing company
Profitable roofing contractors understand the power of knowing their target customer’s needs.
For example, roofing companies located in regions with harsh, unpredictable weather often specialize in metal roofing systems and aim to become the dominant provider in their market.
In regions where most roofing projects are modest and price-sensitive, local roofing contractors tend to offer discounts for repeat customers, financing options, and lower-cost options.
Knowing your target customer’s needs and wants is critical to efficient marketing efforts. Are your customers more likely to find you on social media or in a quarter-page newspaper ad? Does your company use elaborate field management tools to improve safety, or does it do things the old way?
Your clients won’t always know what they want, so they rely on your expert experience and training to help guide them. The most successful roofing companies invest in training, manufacturer certifications, and providing excellent customer service because the return on investment is high.
Top roofing marketing ideas that work
The top roofing marketing ideas that work are those that help you reach your target audience, build brand awareness, and generate leads and sales. Here are some of the most important strategies you can start with today:
1. Build a strong website and leverage search engine optimization (SEO)
Building a strong website begins with focusing on how users will find it.
Search engine optimization is the process of optimizing your website and online presence so that it ranks higher in search engine results (such as Google) for relevant keywords. When your website ranks higher, it's more likely to be seen by potential customers who are looking for roofing services in your area.
For example, roofing SEO strategies might include strategically using terms like “roofing contractor in [your city]” throughout your website or blog posts. This will help you reach potential customers who are specifically looking for roofing services in your area.
A call-to-action, or CTA, is a directive within online content that encourages the user to take a specific action, such as viewing your website or filling out a contact form. Your CTA should align with your digital marketing goals, be it delivering quotes, building your email list, or getting more phone calls.
When you regularly post new, useful content to your website, you increase the chances that a search engine will recommend your website among the top results. SEO strategies include linking related website content, such as a blog, in the body of the content.
This way, if a reader found one of your posts useful, they can easily find other content they may be interested in. Links to other pages on your site are known as internal links, and those from outside your company are known as external links.
When used together, both can significantly increase your website traffic and increase the average time that the user spends on your website.
2. Create a referral program
A great way to market your roofing company is by creating an official referral program where current clients can recommend your company. Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies you can employ.
Everyone wins when a referral turns into a new project.
Both of the clients get to boast about how they found the perfect contractor, which they share online. You get the chance to show off your skills, make a profit, and build a loyal client base.
3. Build a strong social media presence
As a modern roofing company, it’s difficult to overemphasize the importance of creating a strong social media presence. When was the last time you picked up a phone book when searching for a contractor?
A robust social media presence is the most cost-effective way any business can improve their online reach, and roofing contractors are no exception. Even the most successful roofing contractors continually invest resources in their social media, because that’s the world we live in now.
Use social media to connect with potential and existing customers. Share news about your company, promote your services, and offer discounts and promotions. You can also use social media to answer customer questions and provide support.
4. Run targeted ads
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a great way to reach potential customers who are already interested in roofing services. You can target your ads to specific keywords, demographics, and geographic locations.
This allows you to focus your marketing efforts on the people who are most likely to be interested in your services.
When creating paid ads for your roofing company, it's important to make sure your ads are relevant, targeted, and compelling. Your ads should also be clear and concise, and they should include a call to action.
Imagine that you are a roofing company and you want to find new customers. You could go door-to-door and hand out flyers, but this would be very time-consuming, and you would only reach a small number of people.
A better way to reach new customers is to use paid ads. Paid ads allow you to target your ads at people who are already interested in roofing services in your area. This means that you will reach more potential customers, and you will be more likely to generate leads and sales.
Paid ads are like a shortcut to reaching new customers. They allow you to skip the time-consuming and expensive steps of traditional marketing and reach your target audience directly.
5. Claim your Google Business Profile
Although many contractors are unaware, claiming your profile on prominent websites is not only effective but also free of charge. Claiming your Google Business Profile (GBP) is essential to improving your online presence and reaching more potential customers.
When you claim and verify your GBP, your business will show up in search results for relevant keywords, such as "roofing contractors near me" or "best roofing companies in [your city]". This means that more people will be able to find you when they're looking for roofing services in your area.
Your Google Business Profile will also include a link to your website, contact information, and even customer reviews. Keeping your profile current and informative is a great way to gain exposure at virtually no cost.
6. Co-market with a relevant business
Have you ever considered partnering with a complimentary business to make joint referrals?
Many successful roofing companies offer other services, like vinyl siding installation, gutter systems, and storm damage repair. Others prefer to focus on their key roofing business and refer to other businesses they can confidently recommend.
Co-marketing your services with another business can exponentially increase your marketing reach without investing any more upfront capital.
For example, profitable roofing companies might link to a local siding and guttering contractor in a blog they’ve posted on their website. If the reader clicks on the contractor’s link for more information, that’s a potential client the contractor would otherwise miss.
7. Leverage reviews and testimonials
If your roofing work is exemplary, your reputation is stellar, and your clients are happy, why not spread the word? Many of us shop online for nearly everything, including a roofing contractor.
Shoppers have become used to reading past customer reviews before making a significant purchase.
Posting honest customer reviews is critical to maintaining your online presence because your competition will.
To leverage your company's reviews and testimonials, reverberate their comments every chance you get. Leveraging a great testimonial into a new sale can compound itself and result in another great testimonial and another sale.
No matter how hard you try, eventually a client will leave a neutral, or even negative, review. Successful roofing marketers make sure to respond promptly and ask the poster to take the conversation offline.
Something like “please call me at **** so we can resolve your problem quickly” will keep responses to a minimum yet show willingness to resolve the problem. The goal is to avoid long conversations.
For this reason, digital marketing experts advise responding to a neutral or negative review only once. Otherwise, you could begin a “high engagement” conversation, which Google might rank higher than all the positive reviews.
8. Develop a strong email marketing campaign
Most of us hate getting junk emails that hold no interest or usefulness to us. However, informative, regular email marketing campaigns develop your company’s image of expert knowledge and experience.
Email marketing is a great way for roofing companies to reach a large audience, build relationships with customers, and generate leads.
It allows you to send targeted messages to different groups of customers based on their interests or needs. For example, you could send a special offer to new subscribers or a reminder about maintenance to existing customers.
Email marketing is also a great way to build relationships with customers. By sending regular emails with helpful content and information, you can position yourself as an expert in your field and build trust with your subscribers.
Developing a strong email marketing campaign that offers education, promotions, rebates, and special pricing can help you increase your company’s profitability and expert reputation at the same time.
9. Use other professional directories
As we move further into the 21st century, our professional online presence will affect our success. Many homeowners searching for a roofing contractor use referral sites like Angie’s List and Homeadvisor.
They may also be interested in how your company is viewed by other contractors. As mentioned earlier, developing referral programs with other companies is a good way to expand your company’s reach. These websites often allow you to affiliate your company with others, establishing a trusted network of service providers you can refer to.
Effective marketing for roofing companies begins with a plan
The roofing industry is competitive, so it's important for roofing companies to have a strong marketing plan in place. Marketing can help you reach new customers, build brand awareness, and generate leads and sales.
By implementing some of these marketing strategies, roofing companies can reach more potential customers, generate more leads, and grow their businesses.
If you are looking for ways to take your business to the next level, check out our article and discover 9 amazing tools for roofing companies.
