Top 13 best marketing strategies for contractors (that are working right now)

Daniel Bennett ★ -

I've been working with a bunch of contractors recently (everybody seems to be remodeling everything). Here's the #1 issue I see with contractor websites.

You're not giving away tons of value to build trust first.

Your website talks all about YOU (if you even have a website).

Think about it like this. When you go to a party, do you hang out with the guy that's bragging to everybody all about himself or do you get the heck out of there? Right.

Here's a little tweak that changes everything. Give first. Something really valuable. For free. With no expectation. Everybody likes a giver.

Like this 👇 (technically it's called a lead magnet - you trade a valuable giveaway for their email address so you can stay connected with regular emails until they buy).

Put that free ebook as the first thing they see on your site. They download it, read it, share it with their partner, etc. - you're building trust without even knowing it.

If you're paying for ads, it's one of the best ways to get more for your money (aka reduce Customer Aquisition Cost or CAC).

If you need help with that whole lead magnet plus email marketing plus website combo, read on.

Alternatively, just get in touch to have us do the hard work for you so that you can focus on your business.

– Daniel

Table of Contents

  • 1. Blogging, SEO, and Content Marketing for Contractors
  • 2. Local PPC Advertising for Contractors
  • 3. Social Media Marketing for Contractors
  • 4. Video Marketing for Contractors
  • 5. Email Marketing for Contractors
  • 6. Local Business Listings
  • 7. Modern and Mobile-Friendly Website Design for Contractors
  • 8. Create a Lead Magnet
  • 9. Attend Contractor Trade Shows and Conferences
  • 10. Word of Mouth / Referrals & Reviews
  • 11. Publish press releases or appear in local news segments
  • 12. Rent Billboards or Other Ad Space
  • 13. Direct Mailers / Print Marketing for Contractors
  • Need Help Marketing Your Contractor Business?

It can be difficult to decide which are the best marketing strategies for contractors that won’t waste your time, but there are some that work very well.

Here are the top 13 best marketing strategies for contractors that can help grow your business, get more phone calls, and get more leads.

1. Blogging, SEO, and Content Marketing for Contractors

SEO and content marketing for contractors should be a fundamental part of any marketing plan. Contractors need to be visible on search engines like Google and Bing, and the best way to do this is through content marketing.

Many local contractors have been slow to adopt standard SEO practices and are missing out on valuable leads and brand visibility.

Whether it be creating new service pages, location pages, or writing helpful and relevant blog posts, your company needs to be publishing and updating content consistently.

Blogs are an easy way to reach more customers and build more authority in Google’s eyes. With a blog, you can share your expertise and knowledge with the world while also driving traffic to your website.

Blogging is a great way to build trust with potential clients, establish yourself as an expert in your industry, and generate new leads for your business.

When thinking about your blog posts, consider what your potential customers might be searching for online.

If you are planning on writing a blog post about a particular topic, make sure the article provides valuable information that your target audience needs.

In order to be successful with your blog posts, it’s important to find topics that relate to your business and industry and have actual search volume data.

You’ll need to do a lot of keyword research and keep track of what the best competitors in your industry are doing to create an in-depth content marketing plan.

Creating this content is also important so that Google can see that you are authoritative enough for them to show to their searches, as they only want to show the best results for any given search term.

Content marketing is one of the best marketing strategies for contractors next to running digital advertisements and word of mouth.

SEO and content marketing is a long-term process, and will not (usually) lead to instant results. However, some already established companies without a digital presence might see great online growth quickly.

How you can get started:

OR

  • Perform a site audit with a software like Semrush
  • Make sure your site is structured properly (URLs, H1 tags, meta titles and descriptions, canonicals, etc)
  • Do keyword research with a software like Semrush
  • Make a list of content topics
  • Make a list of any missing service pages you offer
  • Assign target keywords to each page
  • Research your content competition for each key phrase and analyze their search intent
  • Schedule the new content you need to be created in a calendar
  • Hire a content writer(s) who specializes in your industry
  • Provide your content writer with a complete brief for every article based on your research and knowledge
  • Request revisions and go back and forth during the drafting process
  • Once satisfied, create your draft in your WordPress website
  • Optimize your content with paid plans from Semrush, SurferSEO, RankMath, etc.
  • Benchmark your keywords in a rank tracking software like Semrush
  • Publish your content
  • Submit new content to index in Google Search Console
  • Start this process over again multiple times every month

2. Local PPC Advertising for Contractors

Running Google search ads or Google Local Services ads for your contracting business is one of the quickest ways to start driving traffic and bringing in new customers.

Create a PPC marketing campaign that will allow your website or phone number to show up when someone types in certain keywords, like “emergency plumbing near me”, “roof installation services”, or “painter near me”.

Make your ads specific and enticing, and only target your local market. Keep track of your search terms and understand that it usually will take a lot of testing to find out what keywords, ads, and search term combinations work best for your business.

You’ll want to make sure to use a call tracking number from a company like CallRail to know which calls come from ads, track which keywords get the most calls, and more.

The main downside for PPC marketing for contractors is the cost per click is generally high (anywhere from $1 or $2, all the way up to even $100+ per click for some!), so you will need to dedicate a decent budget to advertising.

These clicks cost so much because they are highly targeted, and are clicks from searchers looking for exactly what you offer.

It will also take some time to make sure that your campaigns are optimal. Particularly in the first few months, you’ll want to get in and manage your campaigns every few days.

If you choose to run Google Local Services ads, you will need to pay-per-lead with a weekly budget and need to go through a screening process.

You should probably consider starting with $1,000 or more per month to spend ONLY on ad spend, not including any management fees.

How you can get started:

OR

  • Sign up for Google ads and set up your ad account
  • Create a CallRail account and buy a set of call tracking numbers to use
  • In CallRail, adjust your phone number settings and implement all integrations
  • Now in Google Ads, start creating your first ad campaign and select your campaign goals, budgets, locations, days and times, target audience, and more
  • Set up your first ad group with keywords, professional ad copy, target URLs, etc
  • Create as many ad extensions as possible (sitelinks, image extensions, callouts, structured snippets, call extensions, etc)
  • Create new conversion goals by adding conversion script snippets to your site (request a quote, contact us, live chat, etc)
  • Import CallRail conversion goals to track when you get phone calls, turn off Google’s phone tracking
  • Follow all Google ad guidelines to avoid suspension of ads or banning of account
  • Consistently monitor search terms, click-through rates, conversion rates, and other performance factors
  • Apply or dismiss recommendations from Google to keep your campaign optimization score above 70%
  • Keep track of and monitor your calls and mark leads as qualified or not qualified
  • Pause or edit any poorly performing ads or tweak any landing page designs for better conversions
  • Create new campaigns for specific services and designate a significant budget to each
  • Continue consistent optimizations

3. Social Media Marketing for Contractors

Social media marketing is a great way for contractors to reach out to potential customers in their networks.

They can also promote their work, get feedback, and build relationships with the people who matter most.

Facebook and LinkedIn are two of the best social media websites for contractors to market on.

For commercial services, you’ll want to focus on building relationships on LinkedIn with business owners, building owners, and facility managers.

If you are focusing on residential services, you can run Facebook ads with an appealing message to entice potential customers to contact you.

You can use social media marketing to grow your contracting business by sharing posts related to contracting, construction, plumbing, etc. with information that will be helpful to potential customers.

You can also share posts about new products and services, as well as helpful tips and tricks for success in the industry.

Combine your social media efforts with a great website by sharing your blogs and pages for a powerful effect.

Consider boosting any good posts and running ads or like campaigns to grow your page and audience.

How you can get started:

OR

  • If you don’t already have one, create a Facebook page for your business (not a personal profile)
  • If you don’t already have one, create a LinkedIn page for your business and tie it to your personal profile
  • Fill out ALL the information for your pages, including: address, phone number, category, profile picture, description, etc.
  • Start publishing consistently, at least 2 times a week
  • Examples of posts: birthdays, work anniversaries, service offerings, latest blog posts, etc.
  • Dedicate a budget to start running a ‘Like’ ad campaign for your page to help build likes
  • Dedicate a budget and start running a separate ad campaign to your target audience
  • Start with 1 or 2 social media networks at a time, and expand onto other networks as applicable to your business (Instagram, SnapChat, TikTok, etc)
  • Do this every month for consistent growth and social media visibility

4. Video Marketing for Contractors

Save time and money with a professional videographer to help you create a quality video, perfect for marketing your service.

Doing it yourself is fine but can take tons of time and not produce good results. Hiring a pro can help you get the video you need, in the time frame you need it, plus they have all the equipment!

Professional videographers are designed to handle everything from pre-production to post-production. They’ll work with you to make sure your video is high-quality and showcases your business.

Save time and energy by hiring a professional videographer – you’ll be thankful you did and the end result will be a great video you can be proud of.

Contractors, who are often on the go, need to make sure they are getting their message across.

By utilizing video content across platforms and publishing video blog posts for on-demand delivery, contractors can reach their clients anytime, anywhere.

The best types of video content to create for contractors will be informative pieces that will help prospective customers either before they’ve contacted you or after you’ve serviced them.

Make videos on how you repair certain issues, review different materials, products, and brands in your field, or help explain common problems you hear from past customers or calls.

How you can get started:

OR

  • Purchase a professional video camera (the latest iPhones actually work great if you have nothing else)
  • Purchase a professional microphone, preferably a lapel mic
  • Set up accounts for your company on video sharing websites such as YouTube and Vimeo
  • Put together a list of potential video topics (consider keywords and what potential clients might search)
  • Examples: How to inspect your roof shingles, how to fix a leaking bathtub faucet
  • Schedule a time to film the video with employees, clients, or on location
  • Purchase a video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro
  • Take time to splice your video footage together, adding transitions, text, overlays, etc. to make it more professional
  • Upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo
  • Take time to make the title and description catchy and keyword-focused
  • Publish your video
  • To help boost the views on your video, you can also run Google Display Ads on YouTube.
  • Attach your YouTube video to any relevant blog posts you create

5. Email Marketing for Contractors

Email marketing is a great way for contractors to reach out to potential customers, and nurture past customers.

Contractors can also use email marketing as a tool for generating leads.

They can send out an email about their services, or a special offer, and include a link that directs people to their website where they can learn more about the contractor’s services. This will help contractors generate leads and increase revenue.

Using certain email marketing software like ActiveCampaign can help you do all of this without needing to take too much time out of every day manually sending emails.

By taking advantage of automations, you can get customers’ emails, put them in an automated campaign that you set up prior, and send them emails over time.

After you’ve built up a list of both potential clients and past clients, you can send out an email blast with an offer whenever you need to book some jobs.

How you can get started:

OR

  • Sign up for an account at ActiveCampaign
  • Go to the contacts section and import your list of already existing contacts’ email addresses (or create a plan to build your list with a lead magnet)
  • Create a new list of contacts if you’re starting from scratch – select “Lists” and click the “Add a list” button.
  • Give your list a descriptive name and description to prepare this segment
  • If you have no real email list yet, you will need to set up the template that sends to your future list
  • Create a new campaign based on the segment of your list (cold leads, past clients, lead magnet submissions, etc)
  • If you want to just bulk send a one-off email, simply select the Standard campaign and select which list to send your email to
  • When creating a new automation campaign, select the ‘Automated’ campaign type – which is how you’ll create a lead magnet list
  • Select the trigger that starts your email campaign – to keep this simple, choose ‘Subscribes to a list’
  • Select your list and have the automation run one time to go through the whole campaign, otherwise it will loop
  • Add an action to happen after a visitor is added to your list, for example ‘Send an email’
  • Create a series of emails that you will send to the emails that subscribe to your list (generally 80% nurturing, 20% sales)
    • Email 1 example: Thanks for subscribing, here’s your free PDF!
    • Email 2 example: Did you still need help?
    • Email 3 example: Get 20% off your next service
    • Email 4 example: Here’s a tip to help you do that…
  • Between emails, set a time to wait before the next one is sent (for example, ‘Wait for 1 day’)
  • At the end of your sequence, you can then have those who go through this campaign transferred into another
  • You or your developer can then put your lead magnet on your website and start capturing emails and sending them through this automation

6. Local Business Listings

Contractors are always looking for new ways to get more leads and connect with potential customers. One of the best ways to do this is through local business listings.

This is an affordable way for contractors to show up in search rankings, show up across directory sites, increase sources of calls and leads, and differentiate themselves from the competition.

Local business listings also help your business rank higher in the Google Local map pack for your industry search terms.

Having a variety of local citations with your correct name, address, phone number, and website URL also helps prove to Google that you are a real company, and not some sketchy fly-by-night getup.

These types of citations only work however if you have an actual company address that a customer or client could come and visit or have a meeting with you at.

Many of the most powerful local business listings like Google do not accept P.O. boxes or shared spaces.

How you can get started:

OR

  • Scan your business information with a citation scanner
  • Check if you’ve got any listings with incorrect information
  • Manually visit each website and try to figure out how to log in and change the information
  • Reach out to companies manually to request removal or listing acceptance
  • Fill out all listings profiles completely
  • Upload company photos
  • Watch for and manage reviews to ensure you are rated highly
  • Save usernames, passwords, and other login information
  • Submit your business information to leading data aggregators yearly
  • If anything changes like your address or phone number, you’ll need to log back into all of these websites to update them

7. Modern and Mobile-Friendly Website Design for Contractors

Old and ugly websites just don’t cut it anymore.

You’ll need to make sure that all of your marketing efforts aren’t going to waste by sending potential clients to an inefficient and unoptimized website.

Your contractor website needs to be responsive and mobile-friendly to work on devices of all screen sizes.

The following are some of the benefits of having a modern, responsive, and mobile-friendly website that follows best practices:

– It provides a better user experience.

– The site will load faster on smaller screens and devices.

– It allows you to reach more customers with your content.

– Helps increase conversion rates.

– You will have a better chance of ranking your website higher in Google

– Get more phone calls from mobile devices

– Establish and build brand authority

Not only should your website be mobile-friendly, but it needs to be fast to keep up with the needs of today’s users. No one likes using a slow website.

While you can use the same templates that other companies use, it is worth it to invest in a custom-made website from a professional.

How you can get started:

OR

  • Run a mobile-friendly scan from Google
  • Run a PageSpeed Insights scan
  • Run a GTMetrix scan
  • Run a ScreamingFrog crawl
  • Run a Semrush Site Audit
  • Check all reports for areas of improvement
  • Put together a page ‘sitemap’, a list of all of the pages that you will need and the content needed for them
  • Hire a designer to create a professional website layout for your brand
  • Go back and forth with revisions until you’re satisfied with the look
  • Pay for a fast hosting company and yearly domain renewals
  • Hire a developer to take your design and turn it into a functional website
  • Go back and forth with revisions until you’re satisfied
  • Launch website and pay a retainer fee to your developer or risk losing them / hope they don’t disappear
  • Make sure to keep any plugins and software updated or your site can break
  • Pay for backup and monitoring software
  • Set up forms and form submission emails and ensure they’re working correctly
  • Set up Google Analytics software on your website to track website visitors
  • Set up Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools and submit your sitemap
  • Monitor for broken links
  • Monitor your uptime to make sure your website stays up and is stable
  • Make sure you are using an SSL certificate to avoid ‘not secure’ warnings

8. Create a Lead Magnet

Another important focus on our list of best marketing strategies for contractors is to create and set up a lead magnet on your website.

Lead magnets are one of the most powerful tools that you can use to collect potential client information to be able to market to them.

A lead magnet is something of value that you can give away in exchange for someone’s email and / or other personal information.

These lead magnets need to be relevant and valuable to your target audience, otherwise they will not want to give up their personal information for it.

As a roofing contractor or a plumber, you may want to offer them a discount in exchange for their email address, or a free inspection.

When they give their email to you willingly, you are then allowed to send emails to them until they unsubscribe from your email list.

You need to make sure to find the fine balance of not emailing them too much, or they can get upset and flag your emails as spam, which will then hurt your chances of showing up in others’ inboxes.

How you can get started:

OR

  • Consider what type of lead magnet you want to implement and what you want to offer
  • Create the actual lead magnet content (PDFs, infographics, templates, spreadsheets, documents, etc)
  • Register for an email marketing and automation account at ActiveCampaign
  • Set up your first campaign which will be the lead magnet content
  • Set up your first automation which will be the process the visitor goes through to get the lead magnet
  • Create a form and / or pop up on your website with your offering
  • When a visitor fills out the form, they will be put in your automation and receive the content you created for them
  • You are free to follow up with them manually or you may have them put into another campaign that follows up with them for you
  • Include helpful information and a call to action for every email you send
  • Do NOT spam anyone ever! You can and will get your email addresses blacklisted from mailing servers.

9. Attend Contractor Trade Shows and Conferences

IBS 2022 – International Builders’ Show

Attending contractor trade shows and conferences in your market is a great way to grow your business.

You get to meet potential customers, network with other contractors, and showcase your company’s products and services.

It is important that you are prepared for the event. Make sure you have a booth or table that is eye-catching, brochures, business cards, and giveaways like pens or stickers.

If you play your cards right and are consistent in your networking, you can open up doors for partnerships and contracts with larger providers.

How you can get started:

  • Go to Google and search for “[your industry] trade shows” (“plumbing trade shows”, “roofing trade shows”, etc)
  • Make time and schedule for company owner and leading employees to join
  • Register for admission for all employees
  • Make sure to bring: business cards, flyers, brochures, case studies, etc
  • Reach out to trade show host and request to be featured or to buy a booth
  • If buying a booth, make sure you have: an effective call to action, an appealing booth with great graphics, proper sales funnel, etc.
  • Hire us to create your pamphlets, brochures, backdrops, and more so you show up professional and prepared

10. Word of Mouth / Referrals & Reviews

One of the most effective ways for contractors to grow their business is by word of mouth referrals.

This can be accomplished in one of two ways; either by getting more reviews or through the use of referral programs.

Get reviews by asking clients to leave a review on your Google Business Profile page, Yelp, or Facebook after completing a service.

You can then promote these reviews by sharing them on your website, social media, email blasts, and print products.

Alternatively, you can use referral programs to reward your customers. Be careful offering incentives, as officially Google prohibits offering money, discounts, or gifts.

How you can get started:

  • Just plainly ask all of your customers for reviews after you complete their project
  • Create review request cards and brochures that you and your employees hand out to your satisfied customers
  • Send out email blasts requesting 5 star reviews from your list of clients
  • Offer a referral program; incentivize others to sell for you by rewarding them with a flat monetary fee or a percent of the project
  • Respond to all reviews with thanks and appreciation
  • Respond kindly to any negative reviews and make it right with the customer
  • Report any fake reviews

11. Publish press releases or appear in local news segments

If you can get your business in local newspapers, online news websites, or local broadcast television, you will be able to reach a wide (and generally older) audience.

Find a way to make a positive influence in your community through giveaways or donations, or by offering a new and innovative solution.

Then you can reach out to local news stations and request coverage for your story. Often times these types of media companies will accept a story for a flat fee.

These can come in the form of news segments, interviews, or a local advertisement on their channel.

How you can get started:

  • Decide on a newsworthy event to promote (job fair, contest, giveaways, charities, new product that helps viewers)
  • Reach out to your favorite local news stations (or other press release companies)
  • Tell the network the story you have, what you would like to promote, and how you would like to promote it
  • (Probably) pay them for a sponsored segment
  • Decide on a call to action, such as signing up on your website,  or calling to get a quote
  • If you need a video ad created, you can get in touch to craft a professional video for you

12. Rent Billboards or Other Ad Space

Renting billboards or other advertising space is a great way to get your name out there and get locals to recognize your business.

Typically, billboards are mostly used to build your brand and push new products to a local community.

By leaving a lasting impression, a potential client will be more likely to remember your company and contact you for future business.

You can create and use a special call tracking number on your billboards to know which calls came from billboards and which come from your other advertising methods.

You’re not only limited to billboards; you can also consider using local bus advertisement spaces, public benches, car wraps, and more highly visible options.

How you can get started:

  • Visit a billboard rental company such as Lamar
  • Find a billboard in your target market location
  • Choose from billboards based on location, weekly impressions,
  • Request a quote using their online form
  • Have us create a professional billboard graphic designed to the specifications of the billboard
  • Upload or send your graphic to the billboard company
  • You’ll get at minimum 4 weeks of billboard rental time to all traffic in that area
  • Use a call tracking number from CallRail to gauge how many calls come specifically from your billboards

13. Direct Mailers / Print Marketing for Contractors

Direct mailers and other printed marketing are a great way for contractors to advertise their services.

It’s a cost-effective way to get your message in front of a targeted audience.

Create a list of potential businesses as well as their addresses and send them a custom-made mailer with your business information and how you can help them.

If you can, send them something useful with your brand information on it for them to keep around.

Targeting residential business is also very easy, as there are many direct mailing services that allow you to bulk mail throughout zip codes or mailing routes.

These methods are both not very expensive, and can help get your products and services in front of the right people.

However, you will want to make sure you have an amazing mailer design to keep their interest, or are giving away something of value.

How to get started:

  • Think about your objective for direct mail campaign: Phone calls? Website visits? Subject matter? etc
  • Concept an idea for your mailer with a direct call to action you want the reader to perform
  • Use a direct mailing service like USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)
  • Decide which mailing route you’d like to target based on: residences / businesses in the area, ages, average income, and cost
  • Reach out to a professional graphic design company like us
  • Let us know the details and we can craft an eye-catching mailer to get the most out of your direct mail campaign

Need Help Marketing Your Contractor Business?

If it seems overwhelming, it is.

That's ok. You don't have to do everything. You don't even have to do anything.

Unless you want something different than what you've been getting (like more sales).

Get in touch & we'll help you design a strategy that makes sense for you.