Marketing is a key strategic component of most businesses, and property restoration is no exception. In fact, given the high competition and huge role of referrals and word of mouth, marketing is absolutely essential to long-term success and growth. With that in mind, here are seven fundamental restoration marketing strategies that every leader should understand and implement, ASAP.
7 Property Restoration Marketing Strategies
#1: Cultivate referrals with a standardized, incentivized, company-wide program
The goal of restoration company marketing is to increase awareness of your business so you’re top of mind among property owners in the regions you serve. It means being the company people refer when their friends ask for recommendations, during severe events or any other time of loss —a critical element in consistently contracting the kind of work that can truly sustain your business.
Start by giving people a reason to contact you. This can be a basic incentive, like a cash bonus or credit. Next, standardize the messaging with a written guide—and make sure everyone on your team knows how and when to communicate it (and when not to). Finally, include a process for when to follow up by phone or email, and how to request feedback in a way that inspires customers to take action.
#2: Network in the community, at events, and online
Once you’ve got a program in place, it’s time to get it in front of potential referrals—suppliers, insurers and agents, and others related to the industry. Find them in your community, befriend them, and let them know that successful referrals can benefit you both! Visit “with food in hand,” as John Braun advises at Restoration & Remediation Magazine. “Show them how you can be their hero.”
In addition, attending one (or a few) of the many restoration industry conferences and events can open up the door to referrals from even more sources. It’s also a great way to network with others in the restoration industry, find new vendors, or crib notes on what marketing strategies are working for other businesses.
> Pro Tip: Get more from your event attendance with these tips for representing your business at a trade show or conference.
#3: Invest in a digital presence, starting with a website overhaul
Having a functional and up-to-date website is essential when developing a restoration company marketing plan. It’s your storefront online, the first place people go to look into the referral they just received. As such, it should provide info quickly, clearly, and simply, without the need for much searching, and while making it easy for folks to get a hold of you.
Some website fundamentals to follow include:
- Put your contact information front and center
- Include a map of where you are and each of the areas you serve
- In a sentence or two, explain why you’re a better choice than the competition
- Use responsive design to ensure effective operation on any device
#4: Reach more prospects with search engine marketing
In addition to serving as your online storefront, your website gives you a way to attract new business from people searching online. Called search engine marketing, this represents a major pipeline for bringing in new customers.
Think of the millions of people who use Google every day. Then think of the power of your site being one of the first results they see. It’s a game changer, putting you ahead of the competition in one shot. But it’s also no easy task, requiring an expert combination of design, written content, website coding, and marketing research—all of which should be integrated into your new website design.
#5: Evolve your digital marketing and cultivate online reviews
A functional, always-updated website isn’t just helpful for referrals and new business, but also as a hub for all of your other digital marketing efforts, too. And that’s a bag of highly effective tricks that ranges from paid ads and promotional videos to website banners and automated emails—each of which can be an effective way to win new business, as well as sustain and grow current relationships.
Digital marketing also includes cultivating positive online reviews—an effective way to bring in new business and validate your company for new prospects. Focus on getting a five-star review from every customer you serve in places like Yelp, Google or HomeAdvisor to improve your odds of turning referrals into new business.
> Pro Tip: Read our quick guide on mastering the art of 5-star reviews.
#6: Take social media seriously
The process of creating a formal presence on channels like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, social marketing offers the chance to reach millions of new customers every day. It’s also a great way to build your reputation by engaging with your community, past customers, and potential new ones.
A strong social game brings in new referrals and business opportunities. It also offers the appearance of reliability and a reputation within your community. If a potential new customer sees years’ worth of Facebook likes and positive networking, they know you’re not a fly-by-night entity but an established presence they can trust with the important job of restoring their property.
#7: Grow your relationships with newsletters and advanced email marketing
In theory, every customer contact you have can generate revenue of some type. And regular newsletters and email marketing are effective ways to keep them all in the loop, and to keep your company top of mind. It’s also a great way to earn new business by communicating new messaging or promotions.
When it comes to customer outreach, email marketing should be a central piece of any property restoration company’s marketing plan. By sending the right messages at the right time to the right people, during key moments of the customer pipeline, businesses can maximize their chances of getting repeat businesses, upsells, referrals, and many other goals.
But it’s not always easy to know what to send, to whom, and how often. It can also be tough to gauge what’s working and what isn’t if you’re not actively measuring these efforts. Even companies that have hired or trained someone to handle the important job have to deal with the difficulty of training new people on that job if (and probably when) they move on to new opportunities.
> Pro Tip: Even without a team of in-house experts, these challenges are possible to overcome. Restoration-specific marketing tools like our very own Luxor suite, offer advanced features that are comprehensive, customizable, easy to use, and available without the need for outside expertise.
Take your restoration company’s marketing strategy to the next level with LuxorCRM
LuxorCRM is a powerful sales and marketing tool from CoreLogic | Next Gear Solutions that’s designed specifically for restoration companies. Luxor Marketing, one of our most recent additions to the Luxor platform, offers a full suite of built-in marketing tools including:
- Template creation to quickly make attractive, interactive templates that integrate customized customer info
- Campaign structuring to create more effective campaigns
- Target list data integration that leverages automation to offer a more curated customer experience
- Top 10 reports for an at-a-glance look at how campaigns are performing, against goals and standards
- Interactive dashboards that show how customers are interacting, where they’re bouncing, and more
Ready to take a closer look at the Luxor Suite? Get more info here, or contact us today to set up a consultation with a CoreLogic expert.
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