For trades business such as painting, siding, roofing, landscaping, hardscaping, windows, etc., generating quality leads is crucial to not only the success of your marketing campaign but also to the bottom line. For many, this means navigating an ever-changing digital marketing landscape full of new and technologically advanced platforms. I’m here to tell you that generating quality leads for your trades business using social media sites like Facebook and Instagram may be easier than you think.
For starters, you must understand that marketing hasn’t changed, and it never will. In my book “Stop Posting! Start Marketing!” I delve into this topic much more than I am going to in this article, but the main takeaway is that marketing hasn’t changed because people haven’t changed. That is to say, that just because you post an ad with a lead capturing form on a social media marketing platform, and you don’t have a marketing strategy, you’re probably wasting your time.
Social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram are great resources to generate quality leads if you know where to look. Notice I said, quality leads, and not leads in general. Trust me when I tell you that even a novice digital marketing manager can run a campaign and drive a massive amount of leads for any trades business from social media. You, on the other hand, probably don’t want to waste your Monday afternoon calling on lead after lead of people who are not very interested at all. But don’t worry, there’s a better way.
First, be sure you have a Facebook Business Page set up for your business and a Facebook Ad Account setup. Next, navigate your way to Facebook Ad’s Manager, Create an Ad, then choose Lead Generation. Be sure also to have an Instagram page set up, and connect it to your Facebook account. This way, you can run ads on both Facebook and Instagram from Facebook Ads Manager at the same time.
5 Steps to Social Media Lead Generation for Trades Businesses
As previously mentioned, and before you do anything, be sure you are in a marketing-minded state of sorts. What I mean is that you are focused, have the time and energy to attack a new task, and are on an even keel in your emotional temperament. Trust me, with the immediacy by which some of these social media sites operate; you could end up spending a lot of money in a concise amount of time if you’re not careful. Once your focused, then begin thinking about the following steps and how it relates to your particular trades business and trade area.
Social Media Lead Generation Sucess – Step #1 – Find the Right Audience
The first step is to understand who your audience is. For some of you, this may be more than one group of people, but try to define one major group you are going to target. Start with the basics, such as your customer’s age, gender, and geographical location. Next, decide what sorts of things they are interested in? Search from various options such as Home Improvements, Home Renovations, HGTV, Home Depot, and DIY network. While some of these may seem a little obtuse, they are key indicators that your audience will be homeowners in the trade are you have selected. A safe bet for all of this is to start with an audience of 30 years and older, living in at least a 30-mile radius of your trade area. Spend as little or as much time here as you need to, but remember that this audience will need to be adjusted over time to increase efficiency depending on the results.
Social Media Lead Generation Sucess – Step #2 – Create the Right Content
This is where you decide what your audience will see that will make them read your post, and then complete a call-to-action. Notice how I didn’t say read and then see. Seeing a picture or watching a video is always going to make the best first impression on your audience. Don’t think that anyone is going to want to read several paragraphs about your offer, or your business without knowing what’s in it for them. They’re not. What you want to do is create is a piece of content that someone in your target audience will stop and notice, then briefly read, and then take part in your call to action. In this case, it’s filling out a lead form. Fortunately, Facebook already has a lead form wizard, and all you need to do is fill it out.
Social Media Lead Generation Sucess – Step #3 – Create an Amazing Lead Form
A lead form is nothing more than a way to capture information of a user who shows interest in your company or product. Some of this information can be autogenerated, such as the user’s name, phone number, email address, etc. Other information you need to ask for, and here is where you separate a quality lead from a passive one. By asking specific questions of your audience on the lead form, you will now be able to weed out people who are not interested. How? Ask a few open-ended questions that, for anyone who is just kicking the tires on your promotion, will not waste their time filingl out. Ask things like, What Color Would You Like House Painted? When Would You Like This Project To Start? Or, What Room Of The House Is This For? Mix in a few multiple-choice, easy to answer Yes or No questions, and you’re all set.
Social Media Lead Generation Sucess – Step #4 – Analyzing the Results
If you think a social media lead generation campaign will be a “set it and forget it” situation, think again. In fact, the only way to ensure your trades business is going to have success generating leads in the social media world is to analyze what is happening, and most likely on a daily basis (at least to start). Marketing is an equation, and you’ll need data to solve your particular social media marketing problem. Start by determining how many people in your target audience are clicking on your ads. If it’s not working, change the audience and/or the content of the ad and try again. Once you figure that out, determine how many people who click on your ad will also fill out your lead form. If it’s not enough, adjust the content and the questions on the lead form and try again. Once you figure that out, determine how many of the leads your trades company gets from social media actually turn into paying customers. Once you figure that out, divide the total amount of money you spent by the total amount of revenue you generated from your social media lead generation campaign, and see what your return on investment is.
Social Media Lead Generation Sucess – Step #5 – Closing the Deal
When your trade business receives a lead from social media, you will need to have a system to follow up with the lead. Waiting too long to reach out, not being organized, and not having answers to your perspective customer’s questions are all things that will not only slow the process down but will increase the chances of not being able to close the deal. Be sure that the person you choose within your organizaiton to follow up with with customers can communicate well and will be able to follow up with clients as much as needed to close the deal. As the leads you receive from social media are no different than any other leads you receive from other sources, they are going to fall into the same sales cycle timeline your trades business typically follows.
Final Thoughts
Roofers, painters, siding companies, landscaping, and hardscaping companies, and pretty much any trades business can use social media to generate quality leads. Be sure to follow the five steps above in your efforts to ensure your campaigns will be successful. If you think this is a great idea, but this process is just not for you, be sure to shoot me an email at joe@relevantelephant.net so I can hook you up with a marketing professional who can help. Consequently, if you feel this is something you want to tackle on your own (good for you!) but maybe need a little more information, be sure to get a copy of my #1 Amazon best-selling book “Stop Posting! Start Marketing!” which will walk you through each of these steps (and many more) in greater detail.
