Start Fall Marketing NOW for Your Home Improvement Business: Get a Head Start on a Successful Lead Generation Season

Posted by David Chism | Mon, Jul 17, 2023

 Start Fall Marketing NOW for Your Home Improvement Business: Get a Head Start on a Successful Lead Generation Season

As a trades pro­fes­sion­al, you already know how crit­i­cal it is to be think­ing a sea­son or two ahead. The same goes for your mar­ket­ing! As sum­mer rolls on, this is your chance to take proac­tive steps and build an effec­tive cam­paign for the fall, doing every­thing you can to ensure strong lead gen.

Today, let’s get super prac­ti­cal: we’ll dig into the val­ue of ear­ly prepa­ra­tion, share tips for a suc­cess­ful lead gen­er­a­tion sea­son, plus look at some do’s and don’ts to help you max­i­mize your mar­ket­ing efforts. Let’s dive in!

1. Embrace Ear­ly Planning

We get it: espe­cial­ly in these eco­nom­ic times, you might be think­ing about lead gen for next week, let alone next sea­son. But you’ve got to do both, rec­og­niz­ing the val­ue of ear­ly plan­ning. By start­ing prepa­ra­tions dur­ing the sum­mer, you allow your­self ample time to strate­gize, refine your mes­sag­ing, and imple­ment tar­get­ed tac­tics to cap­ture the atten­tion of poten­tial customers.

2. Assess and Ana­lyze Past Campaigns

Hey, you know what the clas­sic def­i­n­i­tion of insan­i­ty is, right? Doing the same thing over and over and expect­ing a dif­fer­ent result… 

If you’re spin­ning your wheels in your mar­ket­ing, take a close look at the results and insights from your pre­vi­ous efforts. Ana­lyze what worked well and what did­n’t, iden­ti­fy suc­cess­ful lead gen­er­a­tion chan­nels, and learn from any mis­takes or missed oppor­tu­ni­ties. This eval­u­a­tion will help you fine-tune your approach and avoid repeat­ing inef­fec­tive strategies.

3. Iden­ti­fy Your Tar­get Audience

Under­stand­ing your tar­get audi­ence is essen­tial for cre­at­ing com­pelling and tai­lored mar­ket­ing cam­paigns. And we don’t mean an age range and a hand­ful of zip codes… Do you have a true cus­tomer per­sona? Have you defined their pain points, moti­va­tions, and val­ues? Did you give them a name (it might sound strange but it real­ly helps)? By know­ing who you want to reach, you can craft mes­sages and offers that res­onate deeply with them, increas­ing the like­li­hood of gen­er­at­ing qual­i­ty leads.

4. Devel­op a Com­pre­hen­sive Con­tent Strategy

Con­tent mar­ket­ing is a pow­er­ful tool for engag­ing and edu­cat­ing poten­tial cus­tomers. But here’s where a lot of pro­fes­sion­als go wrong: they cre­ate ONLY sales-dri­ven cam­paigns, focus­ing on them­selves and very lit­tle on their cus­tomer. Turn the mes­sage around and offer help and val­ue, cre­at­ing a con­tent strat­e­gy that includes infor­ma­tive blog posts, engag­ing videos, case stud­ies, and cus­tomer tes­ti­mo­ni­als. Focus on pro­vid­ing use­ful infor­ma­tion that solves prob­lems and posi­tions your busi­ness as a trust­ed author­i­ty in the industry.

5. Opti­mize Your Web­site for Lead Generation

Is your web­site a glo­ri­fied dig­i­tal brochure, or is it ready to cap­ture and con­vert leads effec­tive­ly? Cre­ate promi­nent and com­pelling calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide vis­i­tors towards tak­ing the desired next step. Imple­ment lead cap­ture forms, strate­gi­cal­ly placed con­tact infor­ma­tion, and user-friend­ly nav­i­ga­tion to enhance the expe­ri­ence and boost con­ver­sion rates.

6. Lever­age Social Media Channels

Social media plat­forms are invalu­able for expand­ing your reach and engag­ing with poten­tial cus­tomers. Use plat­forms like Face­book, Insta­gram, and LinkedIn to show­case your exper­tise, share project updates, and pro­mote spe­cial offers. Also, build a com­mu­ni­ty around your brand by active­ly respond­ing to com­ments and engag­ing with fol­low­ers. Just remem­ber: your con­tent strat­e­gy is all about inform­ing and edu­cat­ing, not just push­ing for a sale. If every social media post ends with Call now!” it’s going to be a major turnoff. Use your chan­nels instead as a resource, help, and a win­dow into your company’s per­son­al­i­ty, cul­ture, and values.

7. Imple­ment Tar­get­ed Email Campaigns

Email mar­ket­ing remains a high­ly effec­tive strat­e­gy for nur­tur­ing leads and dri­ving con­ver­sions. In fact, we’ve been watch­ing open rates climb! While broad newslet­ters can be nice for stay­ing top of mind, we also rec­om­mend seg­ment­ing your email list based on cus­tomer pref­er­ences and behav­ior, and send­ing per­son­al­ized mes­sages that address spe­cif­ic pain points. Sweet­en the deal by offer­ing exclu­sive dis­counts or ear­ly access to fall promotions.

8. Col­lab­o­rate with Influ­encers and Partners

Con­sid­er col­lab­o­rat­ing with influ­encers or strate­gic part­ners in your indus­try to expand your reach and cred­i­bil­i­ty. Influ­encer mar­ket­ing can help gen­er­ate buzz, increase brand aware­ness, and attract a wider audi­ence. Seek out part­ner­ships that align with your val­ues and tar­get mar­ket for max­i­mum impact.

9. Mon­i­tor and Mea­sure Your Results

Track the per­for­mance of your fall mar­ket­ing cam­paigns using rel­e­vant met­rics and ana­lyt­ics tools. Mon­i­tor key per­for­mance indi­ca­tors such as web­site traf­fic, lead con­ver­sion rates, and engage­ment lev­els. Also, reg­u­lar­ly assess your progress, make adjust­ments as need­ed, and iden­ti­fy areas for improve­ment. In oth­er words, don’t set it and for­get it with your fin­gers crossed.

10. Avoid Com­mon Pitfalls:

While plan­ning for a suc­cess­ful fall mar­ket­ing cam­paign, it’s impor­tant to be aware of poten­tial pit­falls. Here are a few major mis­takes to avoid:

  • Gener­ic messaging

  • Neglect­ing cus­tomer feedback

  • Over­promis­ing and under delivering

  • Under­es­ti­mat­ing the pow­er of data-dri­ven decision-making

Instead, stay agile, adapt to changes, and always pri­or­i­tize cus­tomer satisfaction.

What’s Your Takeaway?

It all starts NOW. Pre­pare ear­ly, know your cus­tomers, know your KPIs, and set strong goals. By prepar­ing your home improve­ment mar­ket­ing for the fall sea­son dur­ing the sum­mer months, you set the stage for a pow­er­ful lead gen­er­a­tion campaign. 

About David Chism

David Chism started his business out of a passion for helping small contracting businesses grow, be more profitable and become better known to their target clients. One lifelong hobby of David is using techie gadgets. So this blog is a place where he writes about technology, marketing ideas, just for fun (humor), personal thoughts on small business and more.

     
   
       

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