Jonathan DeLeeuw, Vice President, Mr. Pipeline Internet Marketing
How should a roofing business advertise in today’s market? Traditional methods for small business advertising such as newspapers, local radio and TV are rapidly losing their effectiveness. Today, any business that wants to stay in business needs a website, Facebook page and a laser targeted online marketing game-plan.
However, just putting up a site and setting up a Facebook presence are passive. For these to work well for you, you need ways to increase your online traffic flow. One innovative method is social media guerrilla marketing aka digital guerrilla marketing. The term comes from a book titled Guerrilla Marketing, published in 1984 by Jay Levinson. Levinson basically says (the book has gone through a number of editions) that unconventional techniques can pay off, and that business people need to be alert to changes in media and check them out for marketing opportunities. Guerrilla marketing has come to mean unconventional, low cost, high creativity efforts to exploit social media for its marketing potential.
One way to do digital guerrilla marketing is to form partnerships on Facebook. Message as many painters, gutter companies (and every other type of home service pro) with a short introduction. Here’s an example: “Good morning! My name is X and I am a top-rated local roofer in your area. I come across jobs I can turn your way and would love to discuss further when you have a moment.” This will start the engagement that should lead to a brief phone call where you could really blossom the partnership. This is an updated version of the old concept of "you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours." Do the same for property management companies!
Another idea would be to join as many Facebook Mom Groups, Networking Groups and Property Manager Groups as possible and post and recommend your company often. You can also touch base with other small businesses and propose they link to your sites and you link to theirs. It’s simple, just put a “Resources” tab on your website and link out to the best contractor sites you do business with. You will get link juice and build a strong network at the same time which is awesome.
Recent research shows that social media content tends to be trusted more than most other sources, and that social media users are apt to feel more engaged with businesses they find out about through Facebook. There’s nothing wrong with breaking out of your comfort zone and introducing yourself and your company. In fact, this is the future of online marketing so make sure you are ahead of the curve.
Jonathan DeLeeuw is Vice President of Mr. Pipeline Internet Marketing. A South Florida native, Jon was born and raised in Boynton Beach. With nearly a decade of marketing expertise combined with an extensive background in Business Management, he has focused on helping small businesses become a staple in their industries. The elements of business have always been a passion of Jon, which led him to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Florida Atlantic University.
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