What's Working in Digital / Social in 2020?

[This is contextual to the construction industry, but the same fundamentals apply to nearly every business.]

Of course the answer is contextual based on the company, the market, number of locations, team, goals, etc.

But here are some fundamentals that apply to every situation:

CLARITY

Before you even think about marketing, get clear on exactly what you want.

• What are your ideal projects? Who are your ideal clients?
• How many projects do you want this year? And where?
• How many sales associates and other team members do you need to hire this year to hit those targets? (Yes, you market to attract talent too)
• What are you willing to do to hit your targets?

TEAM

Who is going to do marketing?

• You, as the owner?
• Another team member?
• Someone you need to hire?
• Outsourced agency or marketing person?
• A combo of the above? <<< My recommendation

WEBSITE

Make sure your website:

• Looks like it's 2020.
• Builds trust with client testimonial videos, reviews, etc.
• Is designed to convert visitors into leads on both mobile and desktop.

LEAD-HANDLING SYSTEM

I put this in the list before all forms of marketing, because this is a foundational piece. Most companies spend a ton of time and money on getting leads in the door, but waste most of them because they don't have an automated system for replying to them via email and text immediately and frequently. The focus here is on your lead-to-appointment conversion ratio (% of leads that turn into appointments).

• If you're looking for tools, I'd recommend Zapier and ActiveCampaign for building out your lead handling system.

SOCIAL

• The essentials are Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.
• If you've got more resources (time), build out your YouTube channel with FAQ videos.
• Share content on your social channels daily.
• Examples: before / after photos, team photos, commentary on local events and news, reviews, and videos.

SEO

• SEO is longer term brand building and traffic generation.
• Don't cheap out on it. If you don't have the budget, learn how to optimize your Google Maps listing(s), get reviews, and spend some time learning it (start by reading some content from Neil Patel and Brian Dean).

ADVERTISING

• Social (FB & IG) is going to give you the best bang for your buck, especially if you're doing video.
• Google Ads can work very well, but will generally require a bigger budget than social.
• With either social or Google Ads, expect the first month to be testing and data gathering before you get your campaigns dialed in and profitable.
• Google Guaranteed is also solid, although it's getting saturated in most major roofing markets.

OTHER

• Have a system for getting reviews.
• Get at least 3 client video testimonials.
• Create a video for recruiting, and run that as an ad on social.
• Have a system for generating referrals.

There's No Magic Here

This may seem like a lot. You don't have to do all of this. The key is to figure out a system that works for your business that you can do consistently. The best plan is the one you'll actually stick to.

Marketing is a SYSTEM. Shortcuts and hacks and magic funnels can work in the short term, but you'll burn through those tactics very quickly.

Specific questions on this stuff? Drop em in the comments ??????