Data shows that people buying houses today are specifically looking for contractors like you to fulfill a major segment of their purchase: remodeling and home improvement.

In the coming decade, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies projects millennials will be creating 23 million new households. And according to NerdWallet, 75 percent of them think it’s a priority to buy a house. But that’s easier said than done when the same generation is deeply in debt and facing a job market that pays relatively less than it did their parents. Their solution involves home improvement projects: They buy fixer-uppers and shape their investment up over time.

Contractors are front and center to this strategy and in order for these homebuyers to find you, you need to meet them online, where your digital footprint is your best bet to stand out from all the noise.

When nearly nine of out ten people are finding their contractors online, that’s where the game is played. Lead generation services like Modernize will help you set up best practices for your online exposure and behavior. Be sure to base your digital footprint strategy on both market research and direct feedback from homeowners. At Modernize, for example, we regularly speak with homeowners who look to us for guidance in the sometimes murky and confusing home improvement market — especially online.

Find out how Modernize can help you create or overhaul your marketing and online presence in 2019. Until then, learn more about the best ways to expand your gateway to higher quality home improvement leads — and more of them.

Home Improvement Marketing: Blogging

When you tell site visitors your stories, they know you have them — it’s as simple as that. A completed project and a smiling customer isn’t brilliant marketing — it’s ancient marketing.

It’s just that in 2018 and 2019, the Internet allows you to tell those stories across the region and with minimal effort. Websites are affordable and effective designs are easy to create. With the guidance of expert lead generation companies like Modernize, you are definitely able to not only tell your stories and the stories your customers want to tell about your projects, but you can also do so with your company’s unique style.

A simple approach to blogging is giving potential home improvement leads a window into your work: Before and after photos communicate what words cannot. Photos aren’t just helpful from a service perspective, though. They’re also a smart move for your digital marketing and contractor lead generation strategy. The majority of your website visitors will spend less than 15 seconds on your site, so it’s important to make the most of that time.

Give them photos of your work and tell them stories around those photos so that they can learn more if your work leaves them intrigued. Don’t know how? Ask us.

Home Improvement Marketing: Social Media

Data shows just one percent of contractors say they utilize social media, despite virtually all homeowners looking for their contractors online.

Stand out from the crowd by first leaning into social marketing — whether on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or some other growing networks — to enhance the amount of your home improvement leads and their quality. One of Modernize’s specific aims is providing you high intent leads as opposed to empty names you have to waste time calling for little or no return.

Develop a strategy to utilize social media. And structure a 40-40-20 rule, which reasons that you should offer customers value in exchange for their attention.

  • Spend 40 percent of your time posting helpful information
  • Spend 40 percent of your time directly interacting with customers
  • And spend 20 percent of your time promoting your brand.

Don’t go at it alone. Find out how Modernize can help.

Home Improvement Marketing: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Research shows 98 percent of homeowners pick a contractor from the first page of results they see on the Internet. That’s good news: You have a clear path ahead of you to showing up in those results.

But merely existing online is not enough to get you there — you have to stand out.

From using the correct keywords on your site to blogging and publishing with an emphasis on new and evolving trends, your SEO strategy is directly tied to your lead generation. That’s not a judgment call on your abilities as a home improvement contractor, it’s rather the reality of the home improvement market.  

Therefore, any contractor should optimize the way their business appears in online searches. If you’re not an expert in creating an SEO strategy, managing it, and continuously adapting it to the ever-evolving taste and preference of today’s homeowners, leave all that to a service like Modernize.

Professional Lead Generation Services

While the reality is that many contractors are not tapping into the potential of data and its resulting analytics, the most successful contractors in the industry are beginning to make the move: More and more contractors are turning to lead generation services like Modernize to complete more projects each year. Here’s where we stand:

  • 1.5 million homeowners found their contractors through Modernize in 2017
  • And that’s, in turn, earned $1.5 billion for those contractors.

Lead generation services like Modernize are paramount to a successful marketing approach in the digital age. No one knows homeowners as Modernize does — and like anything else, homeowners and their homes are ever changing and evolving, both technologically and culturally. Learn more about our most recent findings: the Homeowner Survey Index: Q1 2019.

Whether it’s starting your online efforts from scratch or diving into your decades of experience to discern trends and help you sharpen your client base, learn more about us today and find out how we can help you.

Ready to grow your business?