Helping electricians find new customers
You probably don’t have the resources of a huge firm with dedicated sales and marketing teams if you’re an electrical contractor running your own business. Is this, however, a reason to forgo marketing your company? Certainly not! You are accountable for the success or failure of your electrical contracting business as a business owner.
There are some basic marketing tips you may use whether you work alone, in a small family business, or own a larger electrical firm. And they’ve been shown to help you find new clients, land more work, and expand your electrical business.
ONLINE PRESENCE
First and foremost, you must go online. Get a website immediately if you don’t already have one. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a website, free website builders like Wix and Squarespace have themes specifically for home services firms. Once you’re online, use SEO strategies like landing page optimization and adding your NAP (Company Name and Address) to boost your ranks. Every page on your website has a unique number). incorporating your NAP (Company Name, Address & Phone Number to every page on your site). Making some fundamental search engine improvements will help your site get found more readily in search, resulting in more new clients in your service area.
A BLOG
Begin creating a blog once you have a website. Content marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your construction business. You may immediately create trust with potential new clients by simply writing high-quality articles on themes with which you already have firsthand knowledge. The goal is to create high-quality content around search terms that potential clients would use on Google. This may be something along the lines of ‘how to hire an electrician.’ Apply your understanding of the issue, be honest, and be transparent while writing an article like this. While this may appear counterintuitive to some, since it may appear that you are attempting to divert business, your honesty and integrity will be rewarded.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Why aren’t you using social media like your clients are? This is a fantastic approach to keep in touch with existing contacts while also reaching out to new ones. You may also pay to “boost” your postings on social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter so that more potential customers see them.
KEEP YOUR AUDIENCE INFORMED
Start a newsletter if the client database you’ve already built includes email addresses. You may offer customers reduced services in exchange for subscribing, and sending a regular email blast is a wonderful way to keep your company front of mind for when they require electrical services.
A novice may find the world of marketing intimidating. But, as you can see, getting started isn’t all that difficult.
TESTIMONIALS
If your clients are pleased with your work, ask for their assistance in spreading the news. Customer feedback has never been more valuable than it is now. Approximately 86 percent of customers will read up to ten reviews before determining whether or not to trust a local business. While this may seem concerning if you don’t have any customer reviews, the good news is that your customers will most likely be happy to provide you with a testimonial that you can use on your website and other marketing materials to demonstrate to new potential customers that you provide high-quality service.
A novice may find the world of marketing intimidating. But, as you can see, getting started isn’t all that difficult.
NETWORK
Networking with other area electricians is an often ignored approach to market your business. They are, after all, your competitors. However, if you build a pleasant relationship with them, they’ll be more inclined to recommend jobs to you if their schedule is too full to take on new business or if they’re offered jobs that aren’t in their area of expertise. Furthermore, you should make an effort to network with other area businesses, particularly those that provide home services. A family or contractor working on a large remodel may be referred to you by their painter, carpenter, or plumber. You can do this with a variety of methods, ranging from Linkedin to specialist forums and Facebook groups.
TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
If you have any customers in your database you haven’t heard from in a while, reach out and ask them if they have any service needs they’ve been putting off. After all, this is one of the benefits of having their contact information. Calling an electrician may very well be a to-do list item they’ve been putting off. An easy marketing strategy to incorporate is sending a yearly email or postcard to your existing customers, offering them a free electrical “health checkup.” This will create goodwill with your customers, because they’ll know you’re looking to catch issues for them before they arise. And if they have any electrical needs, it’ll be convenient for those to get done at the same time.
CALL TRACKING
How can you know if any of the tactics listed above are effective? Call tracking and intelligence reporting. THIS IS OUR SPECIALTY!! Google Analytics makes it simple to see how many visits convert and which digital marketing methods drove them there. Customer phone calls, on the other hand, are likely to account for the majority (or at least a significant amount) of your business. You can discover which marketing techniques are resulting in phone calls and which ones aren’t with the correct call tracking and intelligence reporting.
When one of our electrical contracting clients enrolls in call intelligence reporting, for example, our call analytics team can listen to and tag each of their calls. We then combine this information into an easy-to-understand report with key takeaways, such as:
How do their potential clients find them?
The number of calls generated by our marketing technique and what percentage of those calls are top quality leads
The true worth of your marketing expenditures
Ways to make yourself better in the future
SUMMARY
I’m willing to bet you’re an excellent electrician, but are you also an expert in the field of electrician marketing? Most likely, you founded your company on the strength of your high-quality services, experience, and dedication to your trade. It’s a difficult task, but if your electrical contracting company has been in operation for more least two years, you’ve already exceeded 34% of small businesses. If you increase it to five years, your company will have outlasted 50% of its competitors.
So, first and foremost, congrats! You did an excellent job. But now comes the difficult part.
Your industry knowledge and passion will not be enough to propel your company much further than it is now. Not only is competition at an all-time high, but you must also consider the recent digital transformation: 97 percent of consumers now use the internet to identify local businesses. While word of mouth used to be the most reliable source of leads, the process of generating reviews and recommendations has shifted online to sites like Google, Nextdoor, and other internet directories. What I mean is that you need to market yourself online if you want to expand your electrical contracting business in 2020 and beyond.
You can build a self-sustaining supply of quality leads and booked tasks with the appropriate combination of online marketing methods for electricians, which will not only enhance your bottom line, but also position you as THE authority in your market.
Put these pointers to work, and you’ll have new customers in no time.
