If you clicked on this article, chances are you are a roofing contractor or own a roofing business and are trying to get more leads for your business. In the most affordable way possible.
These days, the roofing industry has fierce competition. With thousands of roofers available with a quick online search, getting leads and nurturing client relationships has become a vital piece in remaining in this competitive roofing environment.
Luckily, there are proven, affordable and free marketing strategies a roofer can implement in order to generate more leads and market their business.
The following are some affordable yet powerful marketing strategies your roofing business can implement to increase exposure, create a streamline of leads, and increase revenue.
Most of these tools are either free to use and implement into your marketing plans or have such high return that they are worth the initial investment in time and money (PPC campaigns).
We recommend exploring different strategies to determine which strategy works best for your business and attracts your dream client.
So here are 8 affordable and free ways to get roofing leads and market your roofing business:
1. Design a Website That Converts
Having a website is the face of your roofing business, it is a cost-effective way to have all your business information accurate and correct and readily available when potential customers are looking.
Here are the top features you should include in your website to increase its conversion rate:
- A fast-loading website that’s also mobile-friendly with a modern professional but simple design
- Company name, logo and contact information
- Images of services and previous projects
- Online reviews and testimonials
- Call-to-Action (CTA) button: make it big and noticeable!
- Optimized for conversions and search engines
- Landing pages for each service and location
2. Optimize Your Local SEO
Optimizing your roofing SEO can help you reach customers actively searching for roofers online. Over 80% of customers use the internet to find local skilled trade professionals, so to reach them, you need to focus your marketing efforts on perfecting your SEOs.
Local SEO is a marketing tool that promotes local businesses to local customers. The order of which roofing companies list on search results is determined by the search engine’s algorithm and is based on how accurate a business matches what the customer is searching for. Therefore, it is important to enhance your website, and digital footprint to please the algorithm and rate higher in search results.
Note: You can implement this method on your on for free or hire a marketing team to do it for you.
To get started with improving roofing business’s local SEO, keep in mind the following points:
- Use a consistent name, address, and phone number in all your online pages including your website, social media, and local business directory listings.
- Choose keywords based on your niche services and geolocation on all online pages.
- Incorporate the same keywords into content on all online pages.
- Create a Google My Business account and link it to your website.
- Add Your Business to local directories that are relevant to your industry.
- Get reviews for your website, Google My Business, and local directories.
> Friendly Tip: Add links to your website into all your social media profiles, online content, and local business directories.
3. Utilize Google My Business
When searching locally on Google for a roofer near you for example, Google results shows a map with a list of local businesses underneath it. That is where your Google My Listing (GMB) shows up.
This is a free tool Google provides local business to increase their online visibility. It is easy and fast to claim your GMB.
Make sure your GMB is claimed, updated and accurate, and don’t forget to link your website and other social media.
4. Claim Your Business Listings
Maximize your lead generating range by claiming your listings on online directories like Google My Business, Yelp and Friendly.biz. After claiming each listing, you’ll be able to update your business information and contact details.
Online directories are the modern yellow pages, they list local businesses based on specific industries in targeted areas. Local directories can generate great roofing leads for your business. It can also help improve your local SEO.
Make sure your business is added into all directories and updated fully and accurately, all links are working and contact details are updated. This would ensure any person seeing your business page anywhere online gets all the information they need to make that call and book that appointment. This also increases your Google Quality Score (we discuss is further in section 7).
Claiming your listing is free, if you’re business is not listed on a directory, you can usually add it with a small fee. The more online pages you have relating to your roofing business the stronger your online presence is.
Industry-specific directories are recommended to attract the right kind of audience. For example, Friendly.biz is an online directory that lists local business for skilled trade professionals and is the perfect place for you to add your business.
Also, consider getting in the top search results on directory categories, similar to Google, online directories rate listings based on how updated and accurate their pages are. You can also sign up for a premium position (Priority Listing) and be placed at the top 3 results. This is more cost effective than on Google and can generate a tremendous amount of exposure.
You can see if your roofing business is listing on Friendly here.
> Friendly Tips:
- Add your roofing business in as many directories as you can, focus on the industry-based ones first.
- Make sure the information in your listings is all the same, accurate and complete.
- If you change your address or phone number, update your business listings as soon as possible.
5. Join Relevant Social Media Platforms
Social media is powerful marketing tools if used correctly, best part? It’s free to join!
Having a strong online presence can attract the right audience to connect with you resulting in growing a large customer base.
Social media platforms such as Facebook can be very effective for roofing contractors, as a very visual industry, you can take advantage of this tool by connecting with your target customers directly and showcasing your services where customers spend most of their time!
Social media is also a great way to get referrals, being in the home improvement industry, your previous customers can be used as a resource to provide you with positive feedback, reviews, and authority. Try asking your satisfied clients to post positive reviews through their social media channels.
Don’t forget to boost your social media content by engaging with customers personally, adding before and after photos of your roofing projects, providing tips and product recommendations and answering questions.
6. Invest in Facebook Ads
Facebook is the largest social media platform, with over 2.8 billion monthly active users (Statista). For many roofing businesses, Facebook can be cost effective way to get leads. Here are the top two Facebook strategies we recommend:
- Content and Video Marketing: Facebook users watch over 100 million hours of video every day. You can generate a great number of leads through educating viewers by publishing content and videos showcasing your services and processes as well as potential roof issues they should keep an eye on.
- Facebook Ads: this is one of the fastest ways to generate roofing leads. Start by learning about your target audience, study Facebook traffic and keep monitoring and tracking your results! This will help provide you with the perfect opportunity to create high value marketing campaigns with high Return on Investment (ROI).
> Friendly Tip: Facebook ads work really well doing a storm or intense weather forecasts. When a storm happens in your area – by targeting the right people, the right areas at the right time, you can create an ad on Facebook to capture fast roofing leads.
7. Run PPC Campaigns with Google Ads
As a roofer, starting to generate a serious stream of leads through organic search starts with being on the top of Google search results. You can do that organically through SEO (as discussed above) or consider investing in a Pay Per Click (PPC) Campaign.
PPC advertising works by biding on keywords that drive traffic of businesses and homeowners interested in your roofing services. Every time a potential client clicks on your ad, they get directed to your website or landing page and you get charged.
With Google Ads, your ads are measured by Google algorithms and a Quality Score is assigned. A Quality Score identifies how your ad affects the user experience – based on the quality of your ads, landing pages, or keyword selection. Having a higher Quality Score reduces the cost per click. Google wants to offer the most relevant search results for its users. That’s why buying your way to a top position is not an option.
> Friendly Tip: Set up call tracking for your ad campaigns. With call tracking, you can identify which marketing campaigns, ads or keywords are driving the right leads and sales. By collecting and analyzing this vital information, you can get a more accurate control over your investments.
8. Don’t Overlook Offline and Traditional Marketing
Offline marketing like TV and radio can be pricey compared to online marketing. However, for a roofing business – a very visual and personal industry – offline marketing should not be overlooked; since it helps build trust and credibility, create a long-lasting impression, and target the people that prefer to live offline.
Here are some affordable and free offline marketing strategies that still work and generate you more leads if done correctly:
- Door knocking / canvassing: one of the most popular offline lead generating approaches, however most people avoid doing business with a stranger knocking on their door, so use this method wisely.
- Direct mail: mail directly to homes or offices, designing leaflets and promotions that feature photos of your completed projects, snail mail can lead to gaining qualified commercial roofing leads.
- Tradeshows: this method helps create awareness about your services, nurture partnership networking opportunities, and get new roofing leads.
- Word of mouth: this method is absolutely free and generate you a stream of new customers through satisfied clients. This can also be done through online reviews, so be sure to encourage your customers to complete unbiased reviews on your website, socials, and directory listings.
- Outdoor advertising: Some cost-effective outdoor advertising includes small billboards, yard signs and branding vehicle and t-shirts with company logo and phone number can be creative and cheap advertising ideas.
- Insurance agents and referrals: this is highly powerful in generating a constant stream of leads. Start building relationships with realtors and insurance agents by helping them out and showcasing your excellent service. You can reach agents online or through your client base.
To Recap:
Getting more roofing leads starts with your online presence. A high converting website that appears on Google’s top results with all socials and directories claimed, completed, and updated can lead to creating a streamline of leads that is generating sales with such a high ROI that the initial investment you made with your time or money is incomparable.
You can promote your roofing company for free or through paid advertising, each with its pros and cons discussed above. But keep in mind that is it vital to test a number of different marketing strategies to find the right marketing plan that works best for your target audience, brings you the most value and increases your roof sales.
If you are looking to start a streamline of leads for your roofing business, and want to learn more, book a Friendly Discovery Call with us here!
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