Nowadays people go online for everything. Whether it’s for information, buying products, services, or advice, which makes the internet a very competitive landscape. It’s important to stand out from the crowd! A couple of ways to do this are by having a simple and functional website and posting a behind-the-scenes style of media content. For some, this may seem obvious. But just building a website or content one time isn’t enough. Optimizing what you say about your painting services, and how you say it comes in the form of “channel optimization”. Ok enough with the jargon, let us explain.
5 Brilliant Marketing Ideas for Painters
Optimized Content
Don’t just post stuff! While it’s very important to constantly have new content on your website, Facebook, Instagram, etc, visitors don’t want to see the same content over and over again. If you haven’t posted anything new to your site in a while that can turn people away. Visitors want to see fresh content all the time. It conveys the message that your site is up-to-date and relevant.
New content can include a new product or service you’re offering, a seasonal special or new promo, discount, webinar, podcast, blog post or article.
So here’s a tip for Facebook, post a behind the scenes video of you prepping to paint, and tell your Facebook fans something they probably don’t know about prepping like a quick tip. Make sure to have captions (text on the screen) as most people don’t have audio on all of the time. Post this video and give your fans value and more opportunities to share your stuff.
Responsive, Up-to-Date Website
Responsive web design means that your site is optimized for desktops, cell phones, and tablets. This means your existing site would automatically fit the size of any device and would function the same way. A poor mobile experience means poor conversion rates, aka fewer people interacting or purchasing from your website. You want to make sure your visitors’ website experience is the same regardless of what they use to find you.
Your website navigation should be easy to understand, help visitors find what they are looking for, and improve your SEO. Use words they would use. There is such a thing as being too clever. For example, just use the word blog for your blog in the menu. If you offer both interior and exterior painting services, make that obvious and easy to find. Since your paint jobs are typically all custom, making it simple for your customers to request a quote is essential. Some customers may not realize you also offer plaster repair, which is more specific than just an interior painting service. Break it down, help your audience find exactly what they need. What about storm repair? Make it clear you can create a custom quote just to fix up after a major storm if you’re in a flood zone or area prone to hurricanes.
On the back end, cleaning your site is important because it improves the user experience. You want to make sure all the content is new, links work, and you don’t store unnecessary files. This will also increase your website speed. The faster your site loads, the more likely your viewers are to stay and interact with your products or services. Less junk on your site means it’s cleaner, easier to navigate too.
Avoid:
Using words visitors won’t understand
Industry jargon or lingo
Outdated information
Expired or broken links
Too much information
Leaving up old or out of stock products
Storing extra or unnecessary files
Be Responsive & Proactive
Are you getting customer questions or comments on social media? Are people requesting quotes on your website? One of the worst things you can do is ignore this! Responding to comments made on your website or social media is an absolute must-do. If visitors check out your site and see no responses to comments they will think no one keeps up with it. Which means they won’t be coming back. Repeat visitors are always better than one-time visitors.
If it feels overwhelming to manage and you don’t have someone on your team dedicated to doing this daily, there’s good news. You can manage this yourself pretty easily on a weekly basis. Dedicate 30 – 60 minutes once per week to check for comments, reviews, questions, etc. Respond in thanks to your customers and if someone is upset with your painting services, offer a solution. Not only does this provide quality customer service to the people who already trust you, but it also shows your potential customers that you care and that you’re responsive. One more big bonus! Facebook wants to see engagement (comments, likes, etc) on your Facebook Business Page, so even if you are the one commenting back, it still increases your overall ranking on FB.
Keep Software Up-to-Date
Just about every type of software requires some level of maintenance or updating. Website software includes plugins, extensions, designs, and themes. If your site runs on WordPress or something similar check to see if there any new updates.
If you use any Google Chrome web browser extensions check to see if there are new updates to install. Common extensions you may be using include password or security savers for example. Not installing the latest updates may cause problems later on. We all know how much we love to wait for things to load, right? Not. Update your software and avoid long load times or worse, crashes.
We know that you have things to paint, so don’t let a simple update get missed today and then deal with hours of issues, load times, and potential crashes tomorrow.
Authority & Trust
It’s important to establish know, like and trust when selling your painting services. One way to do this is through a team or about page. It’s a great way for visitors to see who is working behind the scenes. It helps your customers establish that know, like and trust with you. At the end of the day, people do business with other people.
Another big no-no is only talking only about your business’s services on social media or when you send email newsletters. Talk about the things your customer’s don’t know, like what would happen if they don’t use the proper material for caulking. Plus, most of your customers are probably homeowners or people who can make decisions about the place in which they live. Talk to them about the things that matter to them like how to clean the marker off the walls and keep the cost of heating down. Why? Your painting company now becomes an authority for your customers to come to for helpful, relevant information.
Marketing strategies don’t always have to be complicated. Just simple changes in what you say about your company or how you post your message can have a big impact. If you want your viewers to have a better user experience then updating your website is key. It might add to your workload but it’s worth it. When you start getting more traffic, getting more conversions, sales, and comments you will be glad you did it!