Do you have an email marketing strategy for your contracting or construction business?
If not, you’re missing out.
After all, it’s hard to enough generate contractor leads.
And not every lead you do get is going to be ready to buy right now.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an efficient, cheap, and easy way to contact potential customers at the click of a button? How many additional jobs could you book if you had an automated sequence letting current customers know when a project you completed for them might need maintenance?
The Basics of Email Marketing
Before we get into real-world examples, let’s clear up some basics first.
Email marketing typically consists of three things:
- A list. This is a list of people (names and email address) who have agreed to be contacted by your company. They could be current customers, leads, or anything in between. You can (and should!) have multiple lists.
- An email blast. This is the most basic form of email marketing. You send an email blast to each person on your list at the same time. Easy, peasy.
- An automated sequence. This is where the real magic happens. With an automated sequence, you can schedule emails to be sent to individual people on your list at various times, all relative to when they were added to that list. I’ll explain more about this later, but it can be incredibly effective.
Now that we know the basics, lets take a look at some real-world examples of how contractors can use email marketing to drastically impact their business.
3 Ways to Win With Contractor Email Marketing
I’ll let you in on a secret.
No one wants to sign up for your “newsletter” – let alone read it.
It’s not a very effective digital marketing strategy. Your potential customers likely get dozens of promotional emails every day. They don’t need another.
That’s not what email marketing is about. Email marketing for contractors is about building a list of current or potential customers and reaching out to them when you have something of value to offer.
Let’s take a look at three real-world examples of how you can put this into use.
1. Engage your current customers.
You want to keep in touch with your target audience, don’t you?
And no, I’m not talking about sending a monthly newsletter about your company.
Here are some ways you can use email marketing to stay in touch with current customers:
- Send an email blast with a promotion or discount. Maybe you’re an HVAC company offering Spring/Fall discounts? Who better to contact than your current customers?
- Send an automated sequence asking for a review. Review ratings are a key part of contractor SEO. You could set up an automated email sequence to go out to each new customers the day after you’ve finished the job, providing a quick and easy link for them to give you a Google review.
- Send an automated sequence about maintenance. You could set up an automated email sequence to go out 6 months (or whatever your desired time frame) after a job has been completed, informing the customer that they may need maintenance. If you’re bought a new car in the last five years, you’re likely familiar with emails like these.
If you want to effectively market your contracting business, there’s no better audience than your current customer base. With email marketing, you can quickly and easily get in touch with them.
2. Automatically follow up with leads.
What happens when someone fills out a form on your website?
(Wait… you have a lead-generating website, right? If not, check out our guide to contractor web design.)
For websites that don’t take email marketing seriously, typically… nothing happens.
That person waits and waits for someone to give them a call – and they probably contact a couple of your competitors while they’re waiting.
With an effective contractor email marketing strategy, you can automate the process:
- Send an automated welcome email to new leads. As soon as someone submits a form on your website, they’ll get a “welcome” email that tells them when to expect a callback. Bonus points if you share some of your awesome testimonials while you’re at it :)
- Send an automated email with a calendar link. If someone requests in-person service from your website, why not eliminate the back-and-forth? You could send them an automated email with a link to your availability so they can schedule at their convenience.
Now that your gears are turning… what are some ways you can automate your scheduling process using email marketing? How many hours can you save by simply having an automated email process?
3. Re-activate unsold leads.
Let’s face it – not everyone who contacts you is going to be a buyer. That’s life.
But with how expensive contractor lead-generation can be, why give up after one try?
Email marketing allows you to:
- Send an email blast to unsold leads. Maybe you’re a bathroom remodeler with a list of lost bids. You could send a quick blast to your list asking them if their job was ever completed – or if they’re satisfied with the final product.
- Send an automated follow-up to unsold leads. You could set this to go out a week after first contact, two weeks, a month… the possibilities are endless.
Don’t abuse this – if someone isn’t in the market for your services any longer, simply take them off your list. But if they haven’t bought yet… what’s the harm in giving them a little nudge in your direction?
Email Marketing for Contractors Works
If you do it well, that is.
No one wants to sign up for your newsletter. Even if they did, what does that do for your business?
Start using email marketing the smart way.
- Engage with your current customers.
- Automate your follow-ups to new leads.
- Re-activate unsold leads when possible.
Building out automated processes like this can be time-consuming. Luckily, you have awesome contractor marketing agencies like Local Sight who can do all the heavy lifting for you.
Give us a call today, or request a free website analysis to see how we can generate more leads for you.
