Grow your roofing business with video blogs and video brochures

Let's face it, attention spans are shorter than ever. No one wants to read pages of information on your website or in your brochures or proposals about the roof system you are proposing or about the qualifications of your roofing company. So how do you make sure the customer is fully informed?

A short, scripted, edited, professionally produced video can provide enough information in just the amount of the time you are actually going to get from most prospective customers. A win-win for everyone!

Video blogs can serve multiple purposes for your roofing company:

They enable you to more effectively, efficiently and consistently communicate information to your customers.

In just 3-5 minutes you can communicate all of the benefits of a particular roof system you are bidding.

You can highlight the qualifications and accomplishments of your roofing company that otherwise get lost in your proposals or website.

With the proper title, description and tags, potential customers in your service area have a better chance of finding your company online when performing a Google search, since videos (especially those uploaded to YouTube) are now ranking higher than many older, established web pages and online documents.

Your proposals, bids and presentations can be enhanced to help you get all the pertinent information across and help you stand out from the competition.

Print marketing such as postcards, brochures, business cards, door hangers, service vehicles, yard signs, billboards, and more come to life simply by incorporating a simple QR Code that launches your video blog.

They are ideal for sharing on social media and expanding on messages in email newsletters without the addition of pages of unwanted text.

You can play them on a loop from a DVD in your reception area or at trade shows.

They bring your blog posts and articles to life - further explaining the topic you are writing about, or the script itself can become its own blog post or article.

And the best part is that customers can watch them anywhere, any time at their convenience.

Video blogs can be a huge time saver for your sales staff:

For example, if you have 5 salespeople who bid 100 jobs per year and each time they have to spend even 15 minutes explaining the roof system you are proposing, that comes out to 125 total hours per year explaining the same roof systems over-and-over.

At $20 per hour, that totals $2,500 in productivity time lost. But more importantly, that is 125 hours every year they are not out selling more roofing jobs.

Due to the conversational nature of the sales process, it likely takes more than 15 minutes to sell the customer on the roof system, and there is no guarantee your sales staff is explaining the systems as effectively and consistently as you would like them to.

By incorporating video blogs into your content and sales strategies, you streamline the most basic component of your communications processes, instantly have compelling content for marketing and social media sharing, and improve your search engine optimization all in one shot.

RoofPal produces video blogs on a variety of topics such as the benefits of elastomeric roof coatings, historical preservation of slate roof tiles, metal roof restoration, storm damage restoration, and so much more that can be completely personalized for your roofing company.

We can also develop custom video blogs on any roof system you need, for a large bid you are preparing, or a short video brochure or commercial for your roofing company.

If you have any questions about creating or putting video blogs to work for your roofing company, please feel free to contact RoofPal any time.


This episode of the RoofPal Marketing Podcast is brought to you by The Contractors Alliance. Expand your roofing business by integrating Conklin reflective cool roof coatings, foam, single-ply and other systems. For more information please contact Stan Volkman at (612) 750-6639, via email at Info@TheContractorsAlliance.com, or by visiting them online at TheContractorsAlliance.com.

Stop selling! Social media is for creating awareness and developing relationships

Social media marketing is very different than traditional marketing. You shouldn't login with the intent to sell your roofing services. Instead, look to create relationships. If people feel you are part of their community they will support you and recommend your company to their colleagues, family and friends.

Here are 5 tips for getting started on creating relationships with existing and potential roofing customers using social media:

Dedicate Resources
Building relationships in social media requires both time AND people. At least one person needs to be responsible for communicating with those you are connected to, including reading status updates, Tweets, and blog posts; writing comments, joining groups, uploading photos and videos, participating in discussion forums, writing and sharing blog posts, responding to questions, etc.

Be Real
Building relationships in social media is predicated on trust and familiarity. Be yourself, and let your employees be themselves as representatives of your roofing company. Creating a stale, robotic profile and only posting sales messages and links to your website or blog are pointless activities, and honestly a complete waste of time. You want to discover a suitable mix of personality and professionalism.

Communicate Early & Often
It doesn't matter if you send email newsletters, write blog posts, update your status, send Tweets, or post to a group discussion - just be sure you are actively communicating. Get a jump start on topics that are hot in the industry and respond to them earlier than your competitors. Communicating often helps to build relationships with your audience so they can trust you will be there and will inform them of the valuable information they need or are looking for.

Get Involved
Engage your connections with questions and provide relevant context to what you post. People will start to ignore you if what you post isn't a two-way conversation. Get involved - if people are looking for assistance, point them in the right direction when you can or introduce them to someone who can. If someone posts something funny, interesting or personal, "Like" it, comment on it, re-Tweet it, etc. Show them you are interested in what they have to say as well.

Remember to Listen
Building a relationship requires that you listen more and talk less. As much as you want to spend time promoting your roofing services, that is actually the last thing you should do on social media. It is amazing what you can learn just by listening to what your customers are saying. Take the time to read their posts, the comments they leave on your blog, their Tweets, what they say in reviews, etc. This will help you understand their needs, concerns and interests.

If you have any questions about creating relationships with roofing customers on social media or would like help coming up with a social media strategy for your roofing company, please feel free to contact RoofPal any time.


This episode of the RoofPal Marketing Podcast is brought to you by The Contractors Alliance. Diversify your service offerings by integrating Conklin reflective cool roof coatings, foam, single-ply and other systems into your roofing business. For more information please contact Stan Volkman at (612) 750-6639, via email at Info@TheContractorsAlliance.com, or by visiting them online at TheContractorsAlliance.com.

How to find potential roofing customer contact information online (Part 1)

When developing contact lists for commercial roofing companies, the first thing I do is create a spreadsheet with columns for Name, Title, Company, Phone, Fax, Email, Mailing Address, and website URL. You can add more columns for information such as links to their various social media profile URL's upfront, or just add them later as additional information becomes available.

Next, I do a Google search for "commercial property management" plus each city name in their service area. I copy and paste the company name, website URL, address, and general phone and fax number into the spreadsheet as I find them. Sometimes you can also find aggregation sites or directories that have many of these companies listed in one document or page.

Once I am satisfied with my company search, I start at the top of the list, insert a dozen or so rows under the first entry, and visit their website. Most companies will list all of their property managers, brokers, agents, etc. somewhere on their site. I then copy each name, direct phone number or extension, cell phone number, email address, and any other pertinent information into the spreadsheet. Repeat this for each company on the list.

For companies who do not list any or all of their property managers, you can copy the company's website domain and do a Google search for the word 'email' and the company's domain. That usually results in more contacts, especially for managers of specific properties such as onsite managers of multi-housing or apartment communities. To find more information on those people whose email address you found, one at a time do a Google search using quotes around the email address.

I target property management companies first because many commercial buildings are professionally managed, which includes filling vacancies, managing contracts, collecting lease payments, and (most importantly for your roofing company), dispatching repair work and managing capital improvements.

You now have enough direct contact information to execute an extremely targeted cold call and/or direct mail campaign.

The information you have is also helpful for planning an outdoor media campaign. By creating a heat map of the physical addresses of each property management company, you can geo-target the best areas to put up billboards, bus stop signs and more around the most populated property management buildings in the city.

You also have enough information, such as their name, location, the company they work for, their email address, etc. to begin searching for these property managers and brokers on social media and requesting to connect with them.

In future podcast episodes (and blog posts) I'll go in to more detail about finding facilities managers, building owners and even homeowners online, as well as planning outdoor advertising campaigns and connecting with potential roofing customers on various social media sites.

If you have any questions about finding potential roofing customers in your service area online or would like assistance doing so, please contact RoofPal any time.


This episode of the RoofPal Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Hail-Track. Hail-Track combines real-time storm maps with geo- and time-stamped pictures and videos online as well as several other powerful tools to help hyper-target your advertising after a big storm anywhere in your service area. Learn more by visiting Hail-Track.com.

Why you should share pictures and videos of roofing jobs on social media in real-time

There is so much great content a roofing company can share on social media beyond direct sales messages or links to their website, blog posts, manufacturer product information, or 
miscellaneous industry-related articles.

One of the best ways to demonstrate your quality workmanship and scope of service offerings is to show potential customers the actual work you are doing, indirectly advertising your  services by sharing pictures and short video clips of jobs you are working on.

The pictures you upload to your website are usually just the select few you are most proud of, and some may be a few years old. Most contractors don't prominently feature everyday 20-square shingle installations, routine maintenance work on a grocery store, or leak repairs at a warehouse.

For a roofing company, social media is great for updating the people you are connected to about what you are currently doing (as opposed to just sharing the best of what did in the past). It is a perfect forum to post a few pictures and even a 30-60 second video clip or two of the work you did earlier that day, or better yet - the work your company is doing right that moment.

The first step is develop a habit of taking pictures and videos of the work you are doing. This can done easily with most modern digital cameras and cell phones.

The second step is to determine which social media platform or platforms you will post them to, how often you'll do it, and how many pictures and videos you feel is appropriate to post per day.

The third step is to decide who will post them - whether allowing someone on the crew to post on the company's behalf from a smartphone, or to have them email the pictures back to the office for review, selection, editing (if needed), and sharing online.

Regardless of who posts the pictures and videos, make sure to include brief descriptions written in a way that would make sense to potential customers.

Also, don't forget to ask permission to tag the homeowner or company in the post. This is an excellent opportunity for virtual word-of-mouth advertising, as everyone they are connected to can see the quality work you are doing for someone they know.

Taking pictures and video clips also provides you with great content to share with the customer offline, giving them a first-hand look at what exactly was wrong, how you went about fixing it, and the quality of your finished work.

One other benefit to developing a habit of documenting the work you do with photos and short video clips is that, over time, you develop an extensive database of content to use for your website, blog posts, video blogs, sales presentations, brochures, and other marketing materials.

Something I often recommend is to watermark pictures with your company logo so other companies don't use them as their own. If you aren't sure how to do this, please feel free to contact me - I would be happy to show you how.

If you have any questions about real-time social sharing or would like assistance setting up a structured, repeatable process for your roofing company, please contact RoofPal any time.


This episode of the RoofPal Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Hail-Track. Hail-Track combines real-time storm maps with geo- and time-stamped pictures and videos online as well as several other powerful tools to help hyper-target your advertising after a big storm anywhere in your service area. Learn more by visiting Hail-Track.com.

Internal links improve SEO for roofing websites and blogs [+ video]

An internal link is a hyperlink in an online document, web page or blog post that, when clicked, takes the visitor to another section of that same document, page or post, or to an entirely different document, web page or blog post within the same domain.

Here are four reasons why effective use of internal links in your roofing company's website and blog is absolutely critical for search engine optimization:

1. Internal linking tells search engines that you think the document, web page or blog post you are linking to contains valuable content. Basically, if you aren't endorsing your own content, why should anyone else think it's important?
2. Internal linking enhances the visitor's experience. Leading potential customers to other related content within your website or blog will give them more of the valuable information they need to decide whether or not they should contact your company for roofing jobs.
3. Internal linking reduces your bounce rates. When someone views a web page or blog post, giving them additional related pages to link to will reduce the amount of times they visit just one page and then leave your site. Low bounce rates help your web pages and blog posts rank higher with search engines.
4. Internal linking improves indexing. Helping search engines easily travel from one web page or blog post to the next enables indexing to happen faster than normal. Indexing web pages and online documents is a huge part of what allows search engines to display results for a search query so quickly. The better and faster they can index your website or blog, the higher your individual pages and posts will rank when people search for roofing services in your area.

I recommend incorporating internal links into new web pages and blog posts to similar content throughout your website and blog as you create them. And as soon as you publish a page or post, your next step should be to go create at least two internal links coming in to that new web page or blog post from other existing pages or posts (where it makes sense).

Can you have too many internal links? Well, too much of anything is bad. Having no internal links is obviously not good, and having too many isn't good either, so you need to strike a balance.

I recommend using 1 to 5 internal links for every 500 words you type. For example, if you have a 1,500 word blog post you should have between 3 and 15 links.

I don't normally recommend linking more than one word or word groupings to the exact same destination page, post or document, but sometimes it is helpful if what you are linking to has multiple extremely relevant keywords.

If you have any questions about internal linking or search engine optimization, or would like help with creating content for your roofing company's website or blog, please feel free to contact RoofPal any time.


This episode of the RoofPal Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Dataforma. With their best-in-class web-based business management services, Dataforma can help you to run a more profitable roofing business. For more information, please call (866) 764-9992 or visit them online at www.Dataforma.com.

How your roofing company can have a more successful direct mail and email marketing campaign

Direct mail has the potential to reach people that are difficult to or simply cannot be reached online, but it costs money and the response rates are typically low. Email marketing is immediate and inexpensive, but open and click-through rates are often low and if done poorly can flag your domain as spam to internet service providers.

If your roofing company has experienced failure in direct mail or email marketing campaigns, it is likely a result of a combination of factors:

You might be targeting the wrong prospects
The most critical factor for successful email and direct mail marketing is targeting people who match the profiles of your best customers. Marketing to people who don't have a strong interest in what you have to offer (or don't have the authority to purchase) is a waste of time and money.

Your message might not stand out
When potential customers are sorting their mail, size definitely matters. Small postcards are cheap to print and send, but they are also more likely to be dwarfed by the larger pieces of mail. To make sure your direct mail isn't thrown away without being looked at, think big. Oversized postcards are more expensive to print and send, but they are more likely to get noticed.

Your message might be all about you
If everything you present is all about you and how great your company is, people will tune out. Instead, try focusing on benefits for the customer, what's in it for them and why they should care about your offer.

You may have misspelled or incorrect names
If the recipient's name is listed incorrectly, it will immediately be deleted or go into the shredder. Personalization is a great way to make messages more effective, but make sure you have the names correct.

Your message may be boring
Being interactive isn't just for digital media. Direct mail pieces can slide, unfold and open to create an experience for the recipient. The ability to share content via social media, weigh in on a poll question, or watch an embedded video featuring bonus content in an email or via QR Code on print is rarely used but extremely effective. Interaction gives the recipient a reason to engage with your marketing piece.

Your timing might be bad
Often, timing can be everything. Receiving your marketing piece just as there is a need can significantly impact their purchasing decision. Since you can't always predict when that is, frequency (within reason) is your best bet to keep you top-of-mind and stimulate action. If you send an email or postcard about emergency roof leak repairs two months before a storm hits, there is no urgency. If you have your campaign ready to go out two days before a massive rainstorm, monsoon, hail storm, or hurricane is forecasted, they will receive your message exactly when they have a need.

You may be taking the "shotgun" approach
Smart marketers know how to target who exactly gets their emails and direct mail pieces by more than just geography or location. Develop and then use real analytics with your mailing list. Everything you know about your current and potential customers should go into a searchable database that you can use to segment your list based on the message you are about to send.

You might not be contacting them frequently enough
It takes more than one email or postcard for your company to get noticed. Try sending out different messages with unique offers in different formats to become memorable and non-repetitive.

Your message may have no sense of urgency
Try putting an expiration on your offer four to six weeks after they receive it in order to create a sense of urgency.

You may be trying to say too much
Don't write a novel or make the reader work to figure out exactly what your message or "ask" is. Going through the mail and reading unsolicited emails is not the highlight of anyone's day. You have an extremely limited amount of time to get someone's attention, so get to the point.

If you have sent out unsuccessful direct mail or email campaigns before, here is the order of importance to figure out what went wrong and correct your mistake(s) the next time:

1. Improve your list. Make sure you are targeting the right people and that names are correct (and spelled correctly).
2. Improve your content. Get to the point with a well-written, easy to read, relevant, compelling, time-sensitive offer that the reader quickly understands what the value is to them.
3. Improve the physical look. Make sure your email or direct mail piece looks professional, is appropriate for what you are communicating, and is well designed.

If you have any questions about direct mail or email marketing, would like feedback on a campaign you are about to launch (or have recently launched) or would like assistance planning your next campaign, please contact RoofPal any time. We can help you build and improve your mailing list, actually write the content or even design and coordinate printing of the physical piece for you. For more, please visit www.RoofPal.com.


This episode of the RoofPal Marketing Podcast is brought to you by GMD Graphics - your one-stop solution for everything from brochures to yard signs, apparel, vehicle wraps and more. GMD Graphics designs, prints and ships directly to you anywhere nationwide. For a free quote please call (602) 774-3600, email Info@GMDGraphics.com or visit them online at www.GMDGraphics.com.

Simple yet effective strategy for getting quality roofing leads

MARKETING QUICK TIP

Nothing is more powerful than the recommendation of someone you know and trust, right? Does your roofing company proactively ask for testimonials and referrals? This is a simple yet effective strategy for developing quality leads for roofing jobs.

How to do this

After every job you do, ask the customer for a brief testimonial (hand written or typed, via email, on social media, write down what they say over the phone, - whatever works for them).

On your website or blog, include the customer's testimonial along with a brief description of the work you did and one "before", one "during" and one "after" picture of the job. Email them a link and ask them to share it with their friends, family and co-workers (via social media or even email).

Take it a step further
Post the link to the web page or blog post to your social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc.). Ask the customer if it OK to tag them in the post before doing so.

Questions?
If you have any questions about creative things to do with testimonials or referrals to get higher quality leads on roofing jobs, please email RoofPal@gmail.com.