Personalized and targeted marketing for roofing contractors in 2013

Let's say you get two emails today from companies soliciting a product or service you may in fact need or buy in the coming year.

The first is obviously a standard lead generation marketing email with a huge CONTACT US or CLICK TO BUY button that you can safely assume was already sent exactly the same way to hundreds if not thousands of other potential purchasing decision makers. You are likely also Bcc:'d (blind carbon-copied) as part of a mass distribution list. How inclined are you to respond to this email, call them or even visit their website?

NOTE: If you have ever done email marketing for your roofing company, this is likely the route you have taken and you probably saw a bit of a spike in website traffic, maybe got a handful of folks to email you back and a couple to even call you. It is quick, cheap and easy - especially on a large scale. But what about commercial roofing companies who deal with 1,000 or less building owners or property or facility managers?

The second email you receive today is sent directly to you (i.e., your email address is in the To: line). Your name is in the subject line and in the salutation. The body of the email references your company specifically as well as why the sender feels your particular company could benefit from doing business with him or her. And to top it off, to save you the time and hassle of reading through a bunch of boring literature, there is a link to a short video (addressed to you) that succinctly explains the product or service, its benefits, etc. How inclined are you to watch, then respond to this email?

EXAMPLE personalized roofing company introduction video:


It would appear the sender of the second email really wants the opportunity to earn not just whoever's business, but precisely your business. He or she has gone out of their way to identify you as an individual, assess the fit of their product or service to your company, and reach out personally to introduce themselves. This is not the typical approach by marketers because it seems like it would take time, would be expensive and is difficult.

Can I afford this?
Your question should really be "Can I afford not to do this?" Commercial roofing companies typically don't deal with tens of thousands of potential customers. In your service area, there are likely few enough potential customers that this personalized approach would not only be feasible financially, but could be done within a 12 month period. This may be simplest, most inexpensive way to differentiate yourself from all of your competitors (at least those who haven't read this blog post yet).

I have discovered a method for researching contacts and developing personalized introduction and overview videos for roofing contractors that really works, and would like to share with you the basics of how to do it.

NOTE: If instead you would like my help I charge $100 per lead (minimum 20 leads), which includes identifying the contacts, qualifying them, collecting all available contact information, and developing & posting the personalized videos to your YouTube channel. Please email RoofPal@gmail.com for more information.

How do I do this?
First, develop a short video about your roofing company, the services you offer, a particular type of roofing (like cool roofing systems, metal roofing, roof cleaning & maintenance, etc.), or any message you would like to get out.

Second, identify potential roofing customers (please click to read my previous blog post or watch the podcast episode on this topic).

Third, develop individual slides or frames for each of the contacts on your list. It is particularly effective to incorporate their picture from the company's website or their LinkedIn profile page. I use Microsoft PowerPoint and save each of the slides as a .png image file.

Fourth, compile a list of all of the unique first names on your list (for example, there may be 6 men named Jim, 8 women named Mary, 3 men named Tom, etc.) and record yourself offering a very short personalized greeting, using the first name. Repeat this for every unique name and save each as its own video file, as these can be reused for every person with that same first name.

Fifth, in the video editing software of your choice (I use Windows Live Movie Maker) import the video about your roofing company along with the first name greeting video associated with the person's first name, as well as the individual slide for that specific person. Burn it as one single video file and upload it to YouTube.

NOTE: I recommend uploading these videos to YouTube as Unlisted, which means only those with the link can view the video. Otherwise when someone visits your channel, does a Google search, or finishes watching the video you send them, they'll see all the other one's you have put together and the whole process won't feel as personalized as it originally did, basically killing your strategy.

Sixth, send an email directly to that contact using their name, title, company name, etc. in your introduction and include the link to the video on YouTube. The idea is to make this very personal (without being creepy) to convey to the recipient that you really would like to earn his or her business and are not simply doing a mass email blast.

Would you like help doing this?
Again, I charge $100 per lead to develop these videos (minimum 20 leads). This includes developing the company overview video, identifying potential customers, collecting all available contact information I can find online (including links to social media profiles, email address, phone number, mailing address, etc.), as well as developing and posting each personalized video to your YouTube channel. I would ask that you record the personalized greetings though to keep it authentic (I provide you with the list of names and a recommended script). If you would like to discuss more or get started, please email RoofPal@gmail.com.

If you do put some of these together, I'd like to see an example and hear how it worked for you. If you have any other ideas, comments or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below. Best of luck!