How to Make Your Small Home Improvement Business Unique and Interesting
If you’ve recently decided to start a home improvement business, there are various aspects you need to think about in order to be successful. Reaching a wide audience is a necessity if you want to stay afloat and expand over time. For that to happen, you need a great marketing strategy that will set you apart from the competition. Here are some tips that should help you on your mission.
Understand the budget you’re working with
First and foremost, it’s vital that you understand what kind of budget you’re working with. Unfortunately, small businesses are often not able to set aside a big portion of their funds for marketing purposes when there are so many other things to think about. With that in mind, you want to define your budget so that you can see what kind of advertising is within your reach. That way, you will know if flyers and billboards will be your main way of promoting your business or if you’ll be able to invest some money into TV ads, for example.
Research your target audience
To know what kind of marketing strategy to employ, you need to know your target audience. These are the individuals that will be requiring your services most often. You need to see which social media platforms they use the most, which magazines they tend to read, what budget they have at their disposal for a typical renovation, and so on. Knowing these specifics will allow you to modify your approach.
Start a blog with unique but relatable content
As a small home improvement business, starting a blog is a very cost-efficient way to reach an audience. If you already have a website, adding a blog section should not be difficult and this move can bring you plenty of readers and even clients that are willing to pay for your services. However, it’s crucial that you keep producing original content that will show off your skills but also provide readers with some useful advice. You want to keep a regular schedule so that your viewers know when to expect new articles or even instructional videos.
Come up with one-of-a-kind offers
While it’s good to encourage your clients with some DIY projects that they can handle, you still want to steer them toward hiring you. Therefore, consider coming up with some unique offers that they simply can’t miss out on. For instance, you can have a few months of the year when you offer a discount on interior or exterior painting. Then, if you sell products, you can have a month where you put certain items on sale. You can also consider free delivery or complimentary consultations.
Show clients how you can add value to their lives
No matter if you offer products or provide various services, to get the attention of potential clients, you need to show them how you can add value to their lives. For example, perhaps you are the only business in your city or wider area that offers a certain service. It would be much easier for them to hire you than to look for specialists that might charge more as they’re located farther away. There are many other unique selling propositions about your company that you can highlight and attract clients.
Make sure your branding is uniformed
Regardless of how small your company is, you need to work on your branding. This means that you should ensure you are uniformed on all fronts. For example, if you already have a logo, it should be used on your website and social media accounts. Then, you also want to make sure you’re providing all employees with appropriate uniforms that also include company colors and the logo. Furthermore, you can look into quality custom made backpacks that every worker can take with them when carrying some essential tools. Even your company vehicle needs to match the overall visual aesthetics. Taking all of these steps should help spread brand visibility and awareness and bring you to potential customers’ minds.
Collaborate with others
Just because you’re trying to be unique, it doesn’t mean that you cannot collaborate with other people. For example, you can team up with another small company that offers products or services that complement yours. Let’s say you handle bathroom renovations – well, teaming up with a tile or bathroom store can be a big plus as you might get even more recommendations. You can also find a micro-influencer to work with, as they can promote you to their sizeable following.
Follow up with your clients
However, your job doesn’t stop once you’ve attracted clients and convinced them to hire you. You also want to follow up with them on various topics. For starters, ask how they found you in the first place so that you can perhaps modify your approach. Then, you also want to see what they have to say after the project is done. If they’re satisfied with what you’ve done to transform their home, see whether you’re allowed to share before and after photos on your social media pages, and even repost what they’ve shared. This is a great way to boost authority, show your expertise, and gain a stellar reputation.
Admit your mistakes
On the other hand, if you’ve made any mistakes during the projects, make sure you own up to them. Take responsibility and see how fast you can make the situation better. As you can learn lots from this, you can even turn it into a blog post that will show how you are aware of the mistakes you’ve made, but that you did your absolute best to rectify them as soon as possible and how the results are still top-notch.
Add warranty to your offer
Finally, you want clients to feel safe with you, so you need to get all the necessary insurances that will ensure nothing is damaged and no one is harmed during the whole renovation project. Furthermore, you also want to include a warranty on your work and guarantee that you will come back free of charge in case anything turns out to be improperly done.
There are various ways how you can make your small home improvement business interesting. These ten should be of immense help.
Guest Contributor: Ron Wolf