Owning a business is difficult, especially in areas like the flooring industry, where many companies compete for the same customers.
As a flooring business owner, you need to make your company stand out from the rest and make it more appealing to customers, however you can.
Better products, more experienced employees, advanced techniques, and better prices are just some of the ways to help your company stand out from the rest. You also need to invest time in creating an effective digital marketing plan to help get your name on the map.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing, also called online marketing, refers to any form of marketing that occurs on digital platforms that may or may not use the Internet. It is an umbrella term that encompasses various forms of marketing, including email, paid ads on social media platforms, and search engine optimization (SEO), to name a few. Ads on the radio and television are also considered digital marketing.
The goal of digital marketing is to gain more customers for your business so that you can be more successful and gain more revenue.
Why Use It?
Most industries, like floor installation, are highly saturated, with numerous companies competing for the same customers. To win new customers, you have to stand out from the rest. You have to show what makes you better, and digital marketing allows you to reach out and share content about your knowledge and expertise and connect with potential customers to answer questions or address concerns.
It is also important to note that, these days, whenever a person needs a product or service, they first turn to the Internet. According to digital marketing agency Blue Corona, 97% of consumers use the Internet to find local businesses and services.
They also state that 86% of people use Google Maps to find the location of a specific business. For them to find your business on the Google Maps application, you have to register; otherwise, few potential customers will find you.
Another 82% of people use their smartphones to search for local businesses, so you must have a mobile-friendly website that will work well across all devices.
What Are the Benefits?
There are many benefits to using digital marketing compared to traditional methods. Some of those benefits include:
- Digital marketing is a more cost-effective way for small and midsize companies to compete with bigger companies.
- It is easier to measure the success of a digital campaign, because you can track users across their entire buying cycle.
- There is more engagement with your company being able to interact with potential customers.
Digital marketing also makes your company more visible when done correctly. If a person were to look up flooring installers on Google, your company would be one of the ones to show, which can then convert to a customer.
How Does it Work?
There are many forms of digital marketing, but the goal is always the same: to create more website traffic and convert website visitors into customers. For your marketing to be successful, you need to attract the right visitors–those interested in the services you offer. From there, you want to convert them into customers.
Here are the four steps to a successful digital marketing strategy:
1. Traffic: Getting potential customers to visit your website or social profiles.
2. Leads: When your website visitors fill out a form and share their email or phone number so that you can share content with them.
3. Sales: When a lead converts into a paying customer.
4. Return Path: The act of encouraging customers to purchase more of your products or services.
Types of Digital Marketing
There are several types of digital marketing, and some of the options to consider for your flooring company include:
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a marketing technique that aims to help your website rank higher on search engine results when users look up specific words or phrases. There are several types of SEO:
Local: Geared towards helping family owned-businesses show up in search results.
Technical: Requires a developer to optimize the company website by editing the coding to increase search ranking.
On-Page: This form of SEO is viewable by users; it includes internal links, optimized blog posts, and using key terms in metal titles.
Off-Page: This SEO technique happens off your website and includes building backlinks, using PR, news announcements, and social media to drive SEO results.
2. Social Media Marketing (SMM)
SMM uses platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram to build connections with potential customers. There are two types of SMM:
Inbound: Posting educational content, sharing resources, using paid ads, and even humorous content as ways to build relationships with your audience.
Outbound: Commenting on other profiles and participating in “hashtag” discussions to share your thoughts, opinions, and expertise.
Many social media platforms allow you to create business profiles that list relevant information, including hours of operation, location, and information about your business.
3. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)/Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
SEM is the use of paid advertisements on top of a search engine’s results page for specific searches. These ads typically work in conjunction with PPC, as what you pay is determined by the number of clicks an ad receives.
4. Email Marketing
One of the most successful forms of digital marketing are email campaigns, as most users have an email address. Unlike other forms of digital marketing, with email campaigns, you are connecting directly with consumers. Using specialized email marketing software also enables you to send different emails to different audiences and personalize strategies to each subscriber.
5. Local & Industry Directories
Ensuring that your verified business profile is listed everywhere possible is essential to increasing your visibility. Aside from your profile on Google and social media platforms like Facebook, you need to verify your listings on local directives like Yelp, the BBB, Bing, YellowPages, LinkedIn, and others.
Local directories aren’t the only places to list yourself. You also want to get verified on flooring industry directories, like the National Association of Floor Covering Technicians and The Flooring Contractors Association.
6. Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating informational content like blog posts, how-to videos, and other similar content. With this form of marketing, you can connect with your audience and answer any questions they may have. Content marketing is also an effective method for converting website visitors into paying customers.
How to Convert Visitors to Leads
Once someone visits your website, you want them to provide contact information, so you can follow up and try to make them a customer. A few popular ways to convert website visitors to leads are:
1. Offering Content Upgrades
Content only available after sharing contact information, like an email, is called a content upgrade. People will likely provide their contact details to access the information when you have blog posts with highly sought-after information as content upgrades.
2. Free Consultations
All potential customers are going to look for free consultations, especially when it comes to floor installations. By allowing them to provide their contact information to set up a free consultation, you can convert them into a lead and have an employee go to their home to answer their questions and evaluate their flooring job.
3. Product Brochures
Another method is offering potential leads with a downloadable product brochure, where you list the different types of flooring you offer, discuss your installation process, and share photos. Like content upgrades, these brochures are only available after sharing an email address, which you can use to contact them further.
Making the Sale
Once you’ve converted website visitors to leads, you need to make them customers.
The first step in converting a lead is to get them to book an appointment for a consultation to get an estimate on their floor installation project. You’ll give them a written estimate with the cost of labor and materials and wait for them to call to schedule the work. Follow up before the day of the appointment to remind the client, and ensure they can still meet with you.
Once they’ve chosen your flooring company, you want to finalize the job contract and have the homeowner sign. If they haven’t chosen your company, you can follow up with a phone call or email to remind them, and even give them a special offer to make your offer more appealing.
Following-Up After A Sale
After the flooring installation is done, there are many benefits to maintaining contact with a customer. They may need more flooring work in the future or know someone looking to install new floors.
You can maintain contact by sending sporadic emails with useful information and tips about maintaining their new floors. You can use social media to post similar content in a short-form video format to provide a more visual version of your written content.
Using Digital Marketing to Your Advantage
Digital marketing can initially seem daunting, but learning how to use it properly is essential to your business’s success and growth. There are many digital marketing techniques, but you don’t have to use them all. Options like SEO and content marketing are easy to implement and can significantly affect how your website ranks on search engines.
Take the time to read this guide carefully and decide how you want to approach your company’s digital marketing.
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