28 proven ways for remodelers to drive leads

8 tips for Social marketing and other Internet options

We could dedicate several articles to this subject (and we are in July, so be sure to check it out), but here are a few things that remodelers said are working for them.

• YouTube — It’s not just for cute dog videos. Remodelers are using the online video site in a number of ways. The most-mentioned was recording short testimonial videos from happy clients telling about why the remodeling experience was so great with a given firm. How-to videos can also help drive traffic and establish you as an expert resource. Videos should be kept short — two or three minutes.
• Facebook/Twitter/Google+/Pinterest, etc. — The social media sites can be a great way to improve SEO, as well as promote a firm’s knowledge and work. An interesting post can get passed along and greatly increase your reach.
• Angie’s List — More and more clients are turning to review sites like Angie’s List and Yelp to find out about service providers. They are viewed by many consumers as an independent source, so encouraging your clients to write positive reviews on the sites is a great way to drive business. Here’s an exercise: Type your company name into Google followed by “reviews.” That will tell you a lot about what people are saying about your company and if you have a problem you need to address.
• Craigslist — The free classified ad site is a place for just about anything. It might not be a big driver, but it is free and will help you reach a younger audience. One remodeler said it has been a great source of leads for his business.
• Paid lead services — Companies like ServiceMagic don’t have the best reputation in the industry. Many remodelers complain about the quality of the leads and how the companies deal with clients. That said, thousands of remodelers generate huge amounts of business from them, and dozens of our readers said they have been a good source of leads. (It’s worth noting that this also showed up frequently on the list of marketing tactics that don’t work anymore.)
• Houzz — The popular photo site is an impressive collection of thousands of photos and design ideas. Remodelers can post images of their work and tag them with location and type of project, products, finishes, etc. When a consumer searches on the site for, say, “Chicago bathroom,” they can find those photos, driving traffic back to a remodeler’s website.