If you own a small home services business, you should be reaching out and engaging with your customers. Now more than ever, homeowners are using the internet to research, compare and contact service providers. To unlock this large and growing market, you need to meet them halfway.
From business websites to social media platforms and Google Ads, there are lots of ways to build and leverage your online presence. Traditional advertising and word of mouth still have their place. But online marketing is the new frontier for the domestic services sector. Running a sustainable long-term business is about more than delivering value. It’s also about attracting, engaging and motivating the people who drive your success.
In this article, we’ll look at common challenges of your business and marketing ideas that can help.
What Makes Small Business Marketing Unique?
To make smart moves in the digital space, it’s important to understand key differences between small and large businesses. The strategies multinational companies use may not work for your roofing or tree care business, with small local markets requiring a more considered approach. While the internet is full of endless opportunities, you need to focus on specific markets to achieve local penetration.
With 97% of users have searched online to find a local business and only 64% of small businesses having a website, there is a huge opportunity for your business to grow.
Home services businesses have a limited geographic scope and rely almost exclusively on local markets. To find new loyal customers, you need to target people in your local community. Local search is a huge growth area, with the global nature of the internet increasingly segmented into small regions and niche sectors. There are lots of ways to reach people in your local community, from location-based keywords to Google maps, local reviews and social media.
5 Marketing Challenges for Home Services Businesses
Small services businesses have many challenges to overcome, from budgeting issues to local competition, offline integration and long-term branding. Regardless of your products or services, the following issues are faced by almost everyone.
1. Attracting and Engaging Your Market
Digital marketing is a powerful way to attract and engage highly targeted groups of people. Instead of shouting your message from the rooftops and hoping someone listens, online marketing allows you to target people who are actively searching for products and services just like yours. As a local business, you can focus on specific demographics and reach out to people in your area.
2. Making the Most of Your Budget
As a domestic services business, you most likely don’t have unlimited funds available for marketing purposes. If you want to succeed, you need to get in front of your market without wasting your resources. Luckily, digital campaigns offer a wide range of varied and efficient marketing opportunities. When keyword-based content delivery is combined with detailed analysis and reporting, you can make every dollar count.
3. Standing Out From Competitors
Competition can be tough for small business owners, both in the real world and on the internet. To stand tall and get noticed by potential customers, you need to make a good first impression. There are lots of great ways to separate the signal from the noise, from paid Google Ads to neighborhood social media, product promotions and valuable content delivery.
4. Integrating Online and Offline Marketing
If you offer any kind of domestic services, your business will always be based in the real world. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore online marketing. For your digital marketing to count, you need to integrate it with your existing advertising and marketing campaigns. While there are challenges for social marketing, they’re easy to address when you think outside the box. For example, you can print your social media information on work vehicles and give clients an incentive to subscribe to your website.
5. Maintaining Brand Relevance and Trust
Small businesses often struggle to remain strong and relevant over time. Attracting new customers is only half the story. You also need to promote brand loyalty through smart branding. Digital marketing is a great way to inspire trust in your local market, with a strong and enduring online presence helping to build your brand over time. When you’re visible on the first page of Google, you quickly become a local authority.
Wrapping Up
As you continue to grow your home services business, it’s important to be aware of the challenges you may face so you can tackle them head on. If you’re ready to get started with small business online marketing, contact Brighter Vision today.
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