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How Can Contractors Keep Getting Leads During the Slow Season?
How Can Contractors Keep Getting Leads During the Slow Season?
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The busy season for many Canadian contractors means many calls, estimates and projects. Then the weather changes, the demand changes and the calendar begins to look somewhat too bare.
Services such as roofing, landscaping, and exterior remodelling are seasonal. During periods of sluggish inquiries, a rational approach to reducing costs might be to cut back on marketing. However, when you are not noticed by your customers, it can be more difficult to get leads and be ready for the next peak season.
Local marketing isn’t only about getting customers when you need them most. It’s a matter of being visible, fostering trust, and generating opportunities all year round.
Why Canadian Contractors Feel the Slow Season
The impact of seasonality on various trades varies. Landscaping, roofing, painting and exterior renovations may be delayed due to snow, freezing weather and shorter daylight hours. Homeowners can delay major renovations until spring, and other people wait for a better time to put their money into renovations.
With fewer customers to hire, it can be more difficult to find projects to compete for. Contractors might be tempted to cut their rates, or take advantage of referrals more than usual to fill their schedule.
But not all trades are like this. Some HVAC businesses might experience a surge in business in the hot summer months, or in the cold winter months, while plumbers or electricians may be getting call after call for service year-round. Renovations and insulation of indoor spaces may also be opportunities in the cold of winter.
The question is the timing: When are your customers most likely to need your services, and when are they likely to be able to find your business when they start looking?
Stop Relying on Referrals Alone to Fill Your Calendar
Referrals are valuable. They can introduce prospective clients who may already trust you because someone they know recommended your services.
However, it is hard to predict referrals. The only things you can control are when the customer is satisfied, when the customer recommends you, and when the recommendation becomes a project.
Having an online presence will provide homeowners and property managers with another means of finding your business. Your website, customer reviews, pictures of your work and information about your services can make a difference when someone queries Google for a local contractor.
Five Local Marketing Strategies to Keep Contractor Inquiries Coming
- 1. Make Sure Homeowners Can Find You on Google
Many homeowners will begin their search by calling a local contractor when needed. But if your company is not standing out strongly or you don’t have as much information online, your customers might end up calling a competitor.
Local search helps increase your visibility for targeted searches. Optimize your Google Business Profile by adding all the right business details, service categories, hours, service areas and photos of recent projects.
You also need to have pages dedicated to your primary services as well as the locations you really do serve. Valuable, locally applicable information may be able to answer the questions a homeowner may have before contracting with a professional.
For example, a Calgary roofing company may create a guide to inspect a roof after winter. A landscaping business can develop material on preparing a yard for spring.
Invite happy clients to offer authentic reviews and reply to any comments professionally. Together, these steps make potential customers aware of what you offer and help build trust in your business.
- 2. Turn Your Website Into a Lead-Generating Tool
Keep it simple. Describe your services, determine where you’re going to serve your clients, show your contact details, and offer an easy method for obtaining an estimate.
Demonstrate your work on project galleries, before/after photos, testimonials and case studies. This information helps homeowners appreciate their workmanship and what they can expect.
Your site needs to be mobile-friendly, too. A homeowner searching for a contractor on their phone shouldn’t have to struggle to find your phone number or fill out a contact form.
A properly created site can help your other marketing initiatives convert interest into inquiries. If there isn’t a clear pathway to reach you, even relevant traffic from the website can fail to generate business opportunities.
- 3. Use Paid Advertising When You Need Leads More Quickly
SEO can be used to generate long-term visibility, but this requires time. Contractors can use paid advertising to target specific groups of people who are looking for specific services.
Google Ads can be targeted at searches that are associated with your trade and service area. Campaigns might also be modified according to the time of year, available capacity, and the kinds of projects your company would like to carry out.
For instance, if the temperatures are falling, an HVAC firm may advertise furnace services. In certain seasons of the year, remodelling professionals may also promote remodelling of the bathroom or basement, when outdoor projects are not feasible.
What’s important is to keep each campaign relevant. Redirect the visitors who are interested in a service you’re promoting to a page that educates them about the service instead of sending everyone to your home page.
Instead of just clicks, monitor calls, estimated requests and qualified leads. Paid ads should deliver a return on investment and not just visits to your website.
Also, keep in mind that no advertising can guarantee demand. If there is no demand, there is no business. Campaigns should be accurate in relation to the actual state of the marketplace as well as your capability to carry out the campaign.
- 4. Keep Social Media Working Between Projects
All you need to do is post every day and make some videos. Regular and relevant content can be a great way to establish yourself as an expert and stay top-of-mind in your community.
Share work done projects, discuss common household maintenance issues, and respond to customer inquiries about maintenance. Display videos of your process, materials or completed items. This can also help others understand the importance of using a professional service.
Another opportunity is seasonal content. An HVAC contractor may provide a furnace maintenance checklist to its customers, and a remodelling firm may suggest some indoor projects homeowners might consider throughout the winter.
Make content creation easier by taking photos and videos while working on projects. One project can be used for multiple social posts, one website case study, and for future marketing campaigns.
- 5. Market the Next Season Before It Arrives
Homeowners typically do a lot of research on large-scale projects before they’re ready to hire. As contracts get booked for peak periods, contractors who wait may face competition from those who’ve already established themselves and are booking work.
Take advantage of quieter times to promote services that are upcoming and encourage early planning.
In the winter, a landscaping firm may reach out to homeowners to talk about landscaping projects for the spring season. A rooftop build provider might market inspections and also price quotes before the primary roofing season. A renovation company might release some guides to planning renovations a few months ahead of time, that may help homeowners get ready.
You can use email marketing to inform past customers about maintenance or upgrades that are relevant to them.
A Practical 90-Day Marketing Plan for Contractors
It isn’t necessary to change everything in your marketing approach. A phased plan can be utilized to discover strengths and weaknesses, create visibility, and enhance results over time.
Days 1-30: Fix the foundations. Check your website, Google Business Profile, service pages, reviews, contact forms and lead tracking. Simplify how customers find your business and request a quote.
Days 31–60: Build visibility. Share the information you’ve published on social media, share completed projects, optimize your local SEO and experiment with local advertising if there is demand for it.
Days 61-90: Measure and improve. Check out qualified inquiries, estimate demands, booked projects and campaign costs. Identify what channels are providing good opportunities, then channel your budget to those.
This should be seen as a starting point and not a promise of results within 90 days. Especially with SEO, you typically need to work on it for a while before it starts to produce results.
Measure What Matters Beyond Website Traffic
Visitors can come to your business from a marketing campaign, and you may not have the projects you need. That’s why contractors shouldn’t focus on impressions, clicks, and follower numbers.
Measure metrics that relate marketing efforts to business results:
- Qualified inquiries: How many potential customers need services you provide?
- Estimate requests: How many prospects are taking the next step?
- Lead conversion rate: How effective is your website at converting visitors to inquiries?
- Cost per qualified lead: What is the cost of acquiring a qualified lead?
- Booked projects and revenue: Which marketing channels contribute to real business?
These indicators can show you how effective your marketing expenditure is and where you need to improve.
How Faber Cre8tive Can Help Contractors Stay Visible
Many contracting companies experience changes throughout the year. However, if the company’s online footprint is inconsistent, the website is out of date, or campaigns are not well targeted, it can make the quiet period more challenging to manage.
From web design to local SEO, to paid advertising and social media marketing, Faber Cre8tive can help businesses build their digital presence. The perfect formula can help enhance discoverability, establish credibility and tie marketing efforts to business goals for contractors.
Are your marketing strategies up to scratch for the new season? Talk to Faber Cre8tive about a digital marketing strategy focused on your services, service area, and growth goals.
