When it comes to home improvement, US homeowners are big spenders, with total annual expenditure on upgrades like painting jobs adding up to billions of dollars.
Home remodeling companies have enjoyed steady annual growth for the past decade. However, experts are projecting that trend will change in 2023. While no one can predict the future, one thing is clear: Getting marketing right is more critical for business owners in a slowing economy.
During both good times and times of economic uncertainty, marketing is the engine that helps businesses raise awareness, reach potential customers, generate referrals and convert potential clients into new customers.
With forecasts indicating the painting industry might be headed for a downturn, painting business owners need to lean into their marketing strategy. That starts with leveraging key digital marketing channels and tactics that will lead to high-quality leads and attract more homeowners.
Here, we’ll go over the top marketing channels and marketing ideas every painting business owner needs to know about and how to use them effectively.
The pros and cons of marketing your painting business online
First, let’s talk about some basics of what’s involved in marketing a business online today and if it is really worth the effort.
Pros of marketing your painting business online
There are countless advantages to marketing your painting business online, including:
- Increasing brand awareness of your business name and reputation
- Reaching your target market and potential clients looking for the painting services you offer
- Generating high-quality painting leads, like homeowners and business customers with house painting jobs and commercial painting jobs
- Getting more business booked and receiving more requests for your painting services
- Becoming a leader within the painting industry in Google Search, Yelp and social media platforms
Cons of marketing your painting business online
When business owners invest in effective digital marketing strategies, there aren’t many disadvantages to marketing your painting business online. However, spending time and money on tactics that can truly deliver results is critical. When that doesn’t happen, there could be some negative consequences, such as:
- Wasted resources on ineffective marketing strategies
- Not generating high-quality leads
- Spending budget on tactics such as pay-per-click advertising (PPC), email marketing or social media efforts that don’t deliver measurable results
What should I include in my marketing plan for my painting company?
Be sure your marketing plan covers the four Ps of marketing, also known as the marketing mix:
- Product: What services do you offer — house painting services, commercial painting services or both
- Price: What’s your pricing strategy for the services you offer?
- Place: Where do you offer your painting services? Which markets do you serve?
- Promotion: What marketing channels do you plan to use to connect with your target audience, and how do you intend to use these channels to drive new business?
Product, price and place are pillars of your marketing strategy that may not change much over time. However, your promotion efforts — the channels and tactics you use — should evolve as new channels emerge and as you test out channels, determining which ones result in high-quality leads for your business.
Let’s dive into some essential marketing channels to consider for your painting company.
Marketing channels you need to know about for your painting company
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to selecting the right channels for your business.
Some marketing channels may deliver a high volume of leads at a higher cost, while others may be free or low-cost and bring in new clients slowly over time. Some tactics generate top-level awareness and name recognition but not phone calls to your phone number, new subscribers to your email list or paying customers with painting jobs.
Marketing is about testing, measuring, learning and seeing what works best for your business. With the right analytics in place, you should be able to see which channels are delivering new leads, driving conversions and painting jobs.
Here is a solid mix of marketing channels to consider incorporating into your broader marketing strategy.
1. Website
A high-quality website design that leverages search engine optimization (SEO) best practices helps companies:
- Appear on the first page in Google Search and other search engines — that’s hugely important considering that organic traffic from search engines accounts for as much as 53% of all of the website traffic that companies receive
- Reach more potential customers and homeowners
- Convert potential customers into new customers
Be sure your website makes it easy for potential clients to find:
- What commercial painting or home services you offer and your pricing structure
- Your contact information (phone number, email, address)
- Testimonials from satisfied customers and links to customer reviews on social media platforms
- How to become a member of your SMS subscriber or email list (Tip: Make this easy by adding lead generation forms on every webpage)
2. Online reviews and word-of-mouth marketing
Customer testimonials on review websites such as Google Search, Yelp and social media platforms influence local SEO rankings, consumer trust and purchasing decisions. That’s why savvy business owners prioritize painter reputation management and regularly:
- Ask customers for online reviews
- Monitor and respond to all of their online reviews
- Evaluate their brand reputation
- Take steps to improve the customer experience based on customer feedback
3. Email marketing
Researchers have found that email delivers an impressive return on investment of $36 for every $1 spent.
Follow up with new leads as they get added to your email subscriber list to find out what services they’re looking for and encourage them to schedule a free consultation or book painting jobs with your business.
Follow up with existing customers via email after you’ve completed their painting jobs to:
- Send invoices
- Collect feedback about their experience
- Ask for online reviews
- Encourage them to send referrals your way
- Send promotions and special offers for additional services they may need
4. SMS marketing
As with email marketing, SMS marketing is a marketing channel that can drive incredible engagement — with SMS messages boasting an impressive 95% open rate.
If you’ve incorporated SMS lead generation into your website’s lead generation forms along with email, then you should be growing your SMS list organically and can follow up with new SMS leads in similar ways to your email campaign efforts.
Like email campaigns, SMS messages encourage potential customers to schedule a free consultation or book their next painting job with your business.
You can also follow up with existing customers via SMS after you’ve completed their painting jobs to send invoices, collect feedback, ask for online reviews or send promotions for special offers or additional services.
5. Social media marketing
Today’s consumers use social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yelp and LinkedIn to search for and learn about local businesses similar to search engines. In fact, most social media users say they use these platforms to find local providers, and 90% of people say they end up spending money with brands they follow on social media.
That’s why it’s critical for your business to have a presence on key social networks. Check out our Facebook marketing tips to get started with this important social media channel.
6. Paid advertising
Nearly half of all small businesses use pay-per-click advertising to support their business objectives. By some counts, paid advertising accounts for up to 60 to 80% of all revenue generated in the US.
Paid advertising using channels like Facebook Ads and Google Ads can be a great way to accelerate growth when business is slow or just getting started. Certain paid marketing campaigns, such as pay-per-lead ads using Google Local Services Ads, can generate high-quality leads.
7. Traditional marketing materials
Digital marketing gets a lot of the glory, but traditional marketing tactics like printing up well-designed business cards and brochures can pay off, particularly if you’re the type of business owner that is good at networking and asking customers for referrals.
Grow your painting company’s business with Broadly
Broadly offers top online marketing solutions for home service providers and businesses. We will help you optimize your small business website, improve your local SEO or get more customer testimonials, painting leads and new customers.
Broadly’s technology suite is a one-stop shop supporting your marketing needs and business goals.
