Did you know that there are over 50,000 established roofing companies in the USA alone?
That means you have some competition.
If you’ve been experiencing a lack of clients, it might be time to step up your marketing.
You can’t just rely on referrals and the classic way of going about business.
It’s 2018.
There are hundreds of ways to market your business, and it’s not wise to rely on just one or two methods.
You need what I call a marketing machine — a system that works around the clock to bring clients to you passively.
Wouldn’t that be nice? Well, keep reading if you want to learn how to get more roofing leads and make that a reality.
How to advertise a roofing business
If you don’t advertise your business, how will anyone know it exists?
You don’t have to spend a heaping amount of money on starting advertising either if you follow the steps I lay out below.
These are low-cost investments that can have killer ROI. Try them for yourself
Try out Facebook ads
93% of companies that pay for social media ads use Facebook ads.
This shouldn’t be very surprising, though.
Their platform has incredible targeting capabilities and data to work with.
Ads can be very affordable when configured correctly, and they can passively bring you commercial roofing leads or residential.
Visit here on Facebook to begin.
You will need a Facebook account first before you are able to use the platform, so sign up if you haven’t already.
For those who have an account, click the “Create an Ad” button.
There are over a dozen different campaign goals you can choose from.
These all have their own unique tools and costs.
Since you’re trying to get more roofing leads, opt for the “Lead generation” option and give your campaign a name.
Select your business Facebook page from the dropdown menu. This will be attached to your ad for users to click.
As a roofing company, you’re probably going to be targeting local customers, right? Then it only makes sense to set your Facebook ad targeting to align with this.
Let’s say you operate out of Toronto and only go approximately 35 miles out for work. You can set your radius to exactly that.
After this, you need to refine your target’s age, gender, and language.
You can also set more detailed information, such as:
- Demographics
- Interests
- Behaviours
Your own experience and data can help you adjust these features.
Free market reports are great resources for collecting this kind of data on your customers.
Paid ones can be quite expensive, literally in the thousands of dollars — which is why I suggest browsing for summaries, trends, and key drivers of the industry.
A quick Google search resulted in a lot of useful sites, including this one that contains the most popular products, niches, and more.
Anyways, back to Facebook.
You should keep the automatic placement option if you’re not overly experienced with ads. Facebook will place them in the most optimal areas for you.
Now it’s time to set a budget.
That’s a scary word, huh?
It doesn’t have to be. Even just $5 to $10 per day can get you roofing leads.
As your ads run over time, you can optimize them to perform better.
If they perform better, you make more money.
If you make more money, you can increase your budget.
Simple, right?
Set an amount that you’re comfortable with and a schedule. You can’t go wrong with a low-cost bid strategy, either.
Making ads is all about keeping it simple, then refining and optimizing as time goes on.
Move onto the next page, and you will be prompted to choose an ad format.
Starting with a single image, carousel, or slideshow ad is best, as you may not have a video prepared.
Upload an image or choose from the free stock photos Facebook offers.
I love using Unsplash or Pixabay for commercial use images. They have everything, and they are all free.
The text portion of the ad appears above the image. This is where you want to use copywriting strategies.
Don’t make it boring or dull.
What do your customers really want, or what are they feeling?
If someone needs roofing services, it usually means that there is damage, leaking, or similar.
Use those aspects in your ad copy. It brings out the emotion in users, and it speaks to their needs.
You also want to have a clear call to action. This is a statement that tells the audience to do something specific. In the case of my example ad, it’s “Contact us for a free estimate.”
Scroll down and select create a new lead gen form.
Go through the individual sections and fill out the needed information. After you’re satisfied, hit the finish button on the top right.
You’ve successfully created your first Facebook ad, congratulations! Just click the confirm button, and it will be quickly reviewed before being shown off to the world.
Get your local SEO in check
What marketing machine would be complete without SEO?
Search engine optimization is the golden ticket for any service business. When done correctly, it will get you consistent clients without having to go to them.
Almost all experiences online begin with an organic search.
Your ideal customer might notice a leak in their roof and search Google for “How to fix leaking roof” or “Local roofing companies” to solve this problem.
With SEO, you can intercept them by using these phrases and keywords on your website.
The result?
Your business appears in front of them just when they need it the most.
I always cringe a bit when I see businesses not optimizing their websites for search engines, they’re missing out on free money!
If you don’t have a website, that’s the first step. Feel free to contact me, and I’ll help you build a site that generates traffic and leads.
Once you do have a website, it’s time to perform keyword research. We’re going to be focusing on local keywords, as they have less competition, and you can rank for them easier.
Let’s head over to Keywordtool.io.
Type in “roofing company” after your city name and click the search button.
You will see tons of related keywords that clients are going to be searching for.
Collect a dozen of these into a spreadsheet or text file.
There are key areas of a website that they need to be placed in. Some of them include:
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
- Header tags
- URLs
- Within pages and content
- Alt text of images
- File names
I personally use WordPress, which makes adding keywords to these elements very easy.
For example, if I wanted to add a keyword to the title tag of my homepage, I can do so like this:
Get a freelancer or employee to do this for you if you’re not too tech-savvy.
I’d recommend taking the time to learn how to do so, though. It’s a great skill that you will use time and time again.
Stop doing everything alone
I’ve been there, too.
You want to run your business and do every little task.
But there is so much potential when you partner with other companies.
They can refer leads to your roofing company or flat-out get you jobs.
The key is to partner with a company that doesn’t directly offer the same services but does work on houses.
Think:
- Driveway repairing
- Window washing
- Bricklaying
- Landscapers
See what I mean? They have their own unique set of services but are in the same space as you. Head over to Google and research local companies like these.
Let’s imagine that the first website I highlighted above seems like a great partner. The next step is to send them a pitch.
But let me tell you something.
I’ve sent thousands of cold emails in my days as an entrepreneur, and I’ll let you in on a secret.
Selling does not work.
It’s all about creating genuine relationships and friendships with the businesses you partner with.
What do I mean by this?
I mean doing less of this:
- Sending long and boring emails
- Only focusing on you
- Not offering value
- Trying to establish an immediate partnership in the first email
And doing more of this:
- Being genuinely interested in their business
- Establishing if there’s a real opportunity to partner
- Short and sweet emails
- Emailing, calling, and eventually having a meeting(A.K.A, not rushing the process)
Find their contact form or email. It’s usually in the footer of the website.
I’ve found that a subject line with the individual’s name has the highest open rate. Something simple like “Hey X” or “To X” works great, but “Quick question” is a nice general one, too.
When you’re crafting your email, it should look something like this:
If you get a positive response, schedule a discovery phone call.
It should be used to ask questions about each other’s businesses and goals and to get to know one another.
After this, I typically enjoy setting a date when we can meet for coffee.
Remember that the partnership has to be mutually beneficial.
If they are going to refer you roofing leads, you need to help them get clients, too.
Let’s say that you finish a roof for a customer and notice that their driveway could use some improvement. Hand them your partner’s business card and tell them to say you referred them.
It’s that easy.
Summing up how to market a roofing company
So, you own a roofing company and need more leads.
Instead of relying on referrals like most of your competition, you need to work smarter.
Start off by creating Facebook ad campaigns. This will place your services right in front of your target audience, and you can include a lead generation form right into ads.
A small budget of $5 to $10 is more than enough to begin collecting data to refine your campaign while getting some leads, too.
Use calls to action, emotion, and focus on what the client really wants. Maybe it’s a better-looking house or a quick solution to a leak.
While those gradually get your users contacting you, optimize your website for search engines. This begins with keyword research with tools like Keywordtool.io or Google’s Keyword Planner.
Find local keywords that relate to your location and services. Place these within pages on your site, the content you write, and areas like title tags.
This helps search engines understand that you own a roofing website. In return, more users searching for those phrases will naturally find your business.
Lastly, run. Don’t walk.
Form partnerships with companies in your local area that don’t offer competing services. Build a real relationship and try to help one another grow.
Using these strategies in combination is guaranteed to get you more roofing leads.
If you want to learn more about marketing, explore my online courses.
