A substantial percentage of your marketing efforts will take place online in today’s digital world.
In 2018, 27 percent of consumers browsed online daily for a local business, according to BrightLocal. Another 69 percent looked on a monthly basis, while 56 percent looked on a weekly basis.
While some individuals believe that handyman firms can get away with using only “old school” marketing strategies, having an active web presence is essential. Because it’s where your customers are, you should be there as well.
Improve your website’s performance.
You should have a website for your handyman services if you don’t already have one.
While having an online platform to display information such as your services, fees, contact information, and a biography is beneficial in and of itself, optimizing your website for search results will reap even greater benefits.
Assume you’re looking for an expert to help you with a repair. The first thing they’ll probably do is go to Google and search for “Handyman near me“.
To put it another way, search engine optimization entails injecting specific keywords into your website so that search engines can recognise them, better interpret the information, and present it in relevant search results.
“It’s usually a reasonably non-competitive field for SEO,” says Brad Ormsby, owner of Colorstone Marketing, a California-based marketing consultancy that has worked with a number of handyman clients. “Once ranked, our handymen have had so many calls that they are unable to handle everyone.”
Encourage favorable feedback from customers.
You’ve probably heard that online consumer reviews are quite important. According to the same BrightLocal study, 86 percent of shoppers read reviews for local businesses. These reviews have been demonstrated to have a 67.7% influence on purchasing decisions.
The difficulty is really acquiring those reviews from your consumers, especially since people are considerably more likely to share their negative experiences (because our brains have a negative bias).
This implies you can’t expect your most loyal consumers to submit wonderful reviews on a number of platforms on their own volition. You must specifically request their recommendation. You could even reward those who leave positive reviews with a discount on their next service or a freebie.
Additionally, if and when a negative review does appear, make sure you respond to it. Customers expect firms to respond to bad reviews in 53% of cases. Furthermore, that extra effort demonstrates to all of your current and potential customers that you are sincerely committed to customer service—even if it means receiving some difficult-to-hear feedback. Also read: apple made
Maintain an active social media presence.
You’re probably sick of hearing about how vital social media is, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be a part of your marketing strategy.
Maintain an active social media presence by posting on your chosen accounts on a regular basis (at least once a week). That’s a technique to stay in touch with your existing customers and followers so that you’re top of mind when they need a handyman.
Many repair experts are stumped as to what to post, yet there is plenty of inspiration available. Post a brief description of a current project or a bio of yourself or one of your team members (along with a photo).
The beauty of social media is that it is largely free. However, you might want to consider allocating some funds to advertising so that you can target a certain group of users and direct them to your website.
Last but not least, make sure you’re paying attention to your messages and mentions. You don’t want to leave such notes unanswered, as 57 percent of consumers have contacted firms via social media with a question.Also read: software
Create business profiles in online directories.
While boosting your social media accounts and search rankings is beneficial, it isn’t the only place where potential buyers check. Many people look for handyman services in their neighborhood on highly targeted platforms.
Some of the most well-known are:
- Yelp
- Nextdoor
- Angie’s List
- HomeAdvisor
All of them make claiming your business, verifying your information, and creating an account simple (and, in most cases, free!) so that you appear when people search the platform for your services.
Not only will this broaden your audience, but having those external platforms link back to your website can also help you rank higher in search engines.
Finally, claim your Google My Business (GMB) listing if you haven’t already done so. This allows you to customize the information that displays when people search for your business, such as your name, hours, and location.