A Look Back: 2024’s Most Effective Marketing Trends

Mar­ket­ing a paint­ing busi­ness has always been a mov­ing tar­get, and 2024 was no dif­fer­ent. As we hur­dle toward 2025, we want­ed to take a moment to look at some of the suc­cess­ful mar­ket­ing vehi­cles and strate­gies of the past year, includ­ing some fresh new faces as well as time-trust­ed classics. 

Mar­ket­ing Vehicles

Direct Mail – There was a time in the not-so-dis­tant past when we thought direct mail was about to kick the prover­bial buck­et. But in 2024, as the dig­i­tal mar­ket­place got more crowd­ed (and expen­sive), direct mail saw a revival. Ask your­self these ques­tions: How many emails do you get a week? How many ads do you see on social media? How many pieces of direct mail do you receive?

My guess is that the first two are much high­er, and that’s why more con­trac­tors are jump­ing on the direct mail band­wag­on. This doesn’t mean you should ditch dig­i­tal but con­sid­er how direct mail could bol­ster an already robust dig­i­tal cam­paign. Stay tuned for more arti­cles on how to make the most out of your direct mail in 2025. 

Google – Google is con­stant­ly expand­ing and evolv­ing. Google Ads, Google Map Pack, and Google Busi­ness Page are all good places to devote time and bud­get, but the exact for­mu­la for suc­cess depends on sev­er­al fac­tors includ­ing your demo­graph­ics and ser­vices. It’s imper­a­tive to plan, mon­i­tor, and evaluate.

One impor­tant trend that got a lot of atten­tion this year was Google Local Ser­vice Ads (GLSA): Google’s pay-per-lead oppor­tu­ni­ty. This has been around for a bit but since ​“paint­ing” was added to the list of ser­vices offered, it’s become even more effec­tive for the paint­ing industry.

At this point, we don’t rec­om­mend shift­ing all of your Google $$s to GLSA’s. Instead, con­sid­er run­ning it along with your oth­er Google paid ads, and track and tweak as nec­es­sary. As always, keep your Google Busi­ness Pro­file updat­ed, get reviews, and respond quick­ly when a lead comes in through GLSA’s. Read our best prac­tices on GLSA’s.

Social Media – Social media con­tin­ues to offer new oppor­tu­ni­ties and chal­lenges in 2024. One of the most effec­tive tac­tics we’ve seen this year is user-gen­er­at­ed con­tent. Get­ting videos or heart­felt tes­ti­mo­ni­als from cus­tomers can pay div­i­dends in trust, reach, and effec­tive­ness. But with all good things come chal­lenges. As a con­sumer, beware of the fake review. Tra­di­tion­al­ly reserved for the writ­ten review, fake AI (or actor) cre­at­ed video reviews are no longer uncommon. 

The short-form video has con­tin­ued to grow in pop­u­lar­i­ty on social media in 2024. Whether it’s a project update, before and after pro­file, or videos from your crew, keep those phone cam­eras run­ning to get good video con­tent that demon­strates your cul­ture, tal­ent, skill, clean­li­ness, and professionalism. 

AI/SEO – AI is still all the rage. Whether it’s to help gen­er­ate ideas or iden­ti­fy gaps in your knowl­edge, it’s a time saver. AI can help build FAQs, blogs, or emails. Just remem­ber, while it saves time it can wreak hav­oc on your rep­u­ta­tion if not used respon­si­bly. Only pub­lish infor­ma­tion that’s help­ful, fac­tu­al, and not spammy.

Com­mu­ni­ty Spon­sor­ship – Mak­ing a full cir­cle back to tra­di­tion­al mar­ket­ing, don’t over­look the impor­tance of com­mu­ni­ty involve­ment. Whether it’s spon­sor­ing a youth sport, orga­niz­ing a Paint-It-For­ward project, or attend­ing a local Cham­ber of Com­merce meet­ing, these oppor­tu­ni­ties con­nect you with your neigh­bors and do a soul good. They also help cre­ate aware­ness, trust, and loy­al­ty for your brand. 

Win­ning Strategies

Right mes­sage, right per­son – Vehi­cle doesn’t mat­ter if you don’t know your tar­get mar­ket or have your mes­sag­ing dialed in. Before you loosen the old purse strings for any big mar­ket­ing expen­di­tures, be sure you have sketched out your tar­get customer/​s and test­ed mes­sag­ing for effectiveness.

Track your cost per sale, not just your cost per lead – Get­ting 300 leads doesn’t mat­ter much if you only close one sale. In fact, a bunch of bogus leads increas­es your cost per sale because of all the wast­ed sales resources. If you find that your cost per lead is low but your cost per sale is high, it’s time to do some detec­tive work. Look at the qual­i­ty of your leads (were these peo­ple ever able to buy in the first place?) and your sales strate­gies (do you have a clos­ing problem?).

Take an inte­grat­ed approach – Just like in life, mar­ket­ing suc­cess does not hinge on the one big, per­fect thing that you do, but on the dili­gence and flex­i­bil­i­ty you exer­cise to reach your goal. Real, live cus­tomers are more respon­sive and trust­ing when they see your brand many times in many places. 

Be flex­i­ble and informed – Con­sumers can change their minds at the drop of a hat. Be sure to stay abreast of the lat­est mar­ket­ing trends (our newslet­ter can help!), watch your met­rics, and be ready to make changes when the mar­ket deems nec­es­sary. As the old adage goes, ​“You can’t con­trol the wind, but you can adjust the sails.”

Ready to Lev­el Up Your Marketing?
Let’s con­nect! Sched­ule a free 30-minute Zoom meet­ing with A David Cre­ation. It’s your oppor­tu­ni­ty to ask ques­tions, share your busi­ness goals, and get expert insights into your mar­ket­ing strat­e­gy — all at no cost or oblig­a­tion. Let’s see if we’re the right fit to help your busi­ness grow.