As a business in the contract industry, digital marketing may not seem like a necessity in the off-season. But what if I told you there never really is an off-season? You read that correctly!
Truth be told, the need for contractors never stops. While it may slow down, consumers will always have a need for contract services, such as a leak in their roof during winter or having their HVAC unit cleaned and inspected.
Because of this, marketing your contract business online should be an ongoing effort. Keep reading to learn two reasons contract businesses need digital marketing all year.
1. Off-Season vs. New Season
As previously mentioned, an off-season doesn’t really exist for contractors. Think of an off-season as a new season instead.
For example, if your landscaping business also does snow removal, this is just a switch in your services. However, this also means a new focus for your digital marketing.
When planning your marketing, it’s essential to consider how to adjust your strategy to focus on the services you offer at that time of year.
Let’s continue with our landscaping/snow removal business as an example. You’ll want to make sure your marketing focus is altered before people begin needing your services.
For snow removal, you should start marketing these services at least a month before the first snowfall. By doing this, it allows you to start getting in front of consumers so they will choose your business when the time comes.
The same strategy should be followed by other contract businesses, too!
2. Modify Your Marketing Budget and Strategy
Okay, okay. I know you’re thinking to yourself that not every contract business has multiple services and that there are slow times of year. You’re right!
So, what can contractors do during the slow seasons? Modify their marketing budget.
Having an ongoing strategy is vital. Remember, marketing takes time to become effective. If you stop your efforts during your slow time of year, it’s likely you’ll have a difficult time getting back to where you were before the pause.
During your slow season, this is a good time to evaluate your marketing strategy and focus on brand awareness. Some strategies can include social media marketing and paid advertising (social ads, display ads).
By going this route with your marketing, you’re targeting people at the top of the marketing funnel. That way, when the time comes for them to need your services again, your business is already in their mind.
However, brand awareness shouldn’t be your only focus!
It’s still essential to have a lead generation strategy in place. When you partner with our team at RevLocal, we can help you determine the best marketing strategy for your business based on your current needs.
Picture a roofing company, for example. While the need for roofing during wintertime isn’t exponential, you still need to be found if someone does need their roof repaired or inspected during your slow season.
Also, snow doesn’t care if it’s your slow season. It can cause damage to a roof, and when this happens, a consumer wants to be able to find you quickly and easily to fix the problem before it gets worse.
And, as you begin to approach your busy season again, you need to make sure your marketing is set up to reach customers before they need you.
For instance, a roofing business can work with their marketing team to create a brand awareness advertising campaign promoting free inspections once spring hits.
Final Thoughts
As a contract business, your marketing should always evolve with the time of year. There’s always an opportunity to reach consumers at every point in the customer journey.
If you think of your slow times of the year as an off-season, you’re missing out on building your business’s brand and possibly losing customers to your competition.
At RevLocal, we’re here to help you adjust your business’s digital marketing strategy based on your needs, including the time of year and your budget.
Whether you need help with local search, review marketing, paid advertising or social media, our team has your digital marketing handled.
If you’d like to learn more about our services and receive a free analysis of your business’s online presence, click here to get started.
This blog was written in collaboration with Greg Summy, a Lead Digital Marketing Strategist on our contract marketing team.