Online Marketing For Tradies: 11 Actionable Tips That Give Results

Name: Adaptify
Brand: Adaptify
Rating: 4.8 (78 reviews)

August 23, 2023
Published: October 5, 2020

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Already have the first group of customers through the door? Bravo! While they bring in a trickle of business, things may eventually slow down. All the more reason to be visible to customers who often look for tradies and are not located in the same area as yours. Getting your name out there as a local tradesperson brings visibility which means viability for your business.

A successful trades business with an online presence generates more paying customers and continues to drive revenue through the roof. Whether you are a bricklayer, handyman, builder, concreter, bricklayer or a carpenter, you can grow your business by mastering online marketing for tradies. A well-rounded online marketing strategy can help a trades business to target customers based on demography and assist to reach more leads, improve local presence and get in-person visits.

In the tradesmen industry, you may be the best plumber, building designer, air conditioner and heating technician or lighting installer providing top-quality workmanship but if your phone isn’t ringing, there simply isn’t enough work to do. Although there are many moving parts to a trades business that extends beyond the toolbox, smart digital marketing for tradies is critical for a healthy growing business.

Although COVID-19 knocked numerous businesses off-balance, things have started returning to normalcy. Because, according to Google Trends, the demand for tradies has started rising again. So, let’s get started with actionable online marketing tips that can help a small business like yours get more customers and grow. These smart tradie marketing strategies are effective for landscapers, renderers, removalists, exterminators and building inspectors.

11 Actionable Online Marketing Tips for Tradies

Without an online marketing strategy, your tradie business can easily fall behind its competitors early in the race. Companies adopting online marketing for tradespeople succeed in creating awareness and generating leads faster. Here are some of the most effective online marketing tips that painters, builders, landscapers and handymen should get started. A successful digital marketing campaign will generate leads, customers, sales and ultimately profits for your tradesmen business.

Build an easy-to-use responsive website

A website is the foundation of a well-integrated online presence. It is crucial for building credibility, reaching potential clients, and informing customers about services. You can also add testimonials and case studies to demonstrate your value to potential customers. With more people turning to their phones for searching products and services, it is crucial to build a responsive website.

A responsive website gives website visitors a consistent experience irrespective of the devices used. By automatically scaling content and other elements to adapt to the size of the screen it is being viewed on, responsive websites are more comfortable to navigate.

Building an easy-to-use responsive website can help tradies like plumbers, builders, and painters to:

– Offer improved user experience and boost search engine rankings
– Have a website that loads faster and reduces the chances of visitors going away
– Build a future-proof online presence as responsive design can adapt to any device that may launch in the market tomorrow

Create Google Ads for targeted locations

Google AdWords help building designers and roofers to have a steady stream of business. With this paid advertising option, a trades business can easily show up in top positions of search results. And, the best part is that you can target a particular city or town or even multiple suburbs for your services.

Whether someone is searching for painters in Sydney or plumbers in Perth, Google Ads can be an extremely effective way to reach those looking for your services. When created with diligence, a Google ad campaign can help a business to boost awareness, reach more customers, and outwit competition.

To create a profitable Google Ads campaign, you must:

Improve local SEO

SEO means Search Engine Optimisation. Local SEO is a part of our SEO services, improving local SEO is crucial for gaining visibility in local areas where you operate. It can help you to rank for relevant local searches that lead to increased foot traffic and more customers.

Whether you are a building designer in Perth or a plasterer in Sydney, here are some tips that can help you to improve your local SEO:

Talk to your customers via Facebook Messenger chat

Customers today expect a business to be available online to answer queries related to services and offer support, 24/7. Facebook Messenger Chat is a free tool that can help tradies to connect with their customers on the go. It helps you to provide timely information to customers, generate quality leads, and help customers make decisions.

Activate the Facebook messenger chat by allowing people to contact your page privately from the messaging section in General Settings.

Facebook Messenger Chat is easy to set up. After you allow people to contact your page privately, create a messenger username and link. Don’t forget to add a ‘Send Message’ call-to-action button to your page. Facebook marketing helps you connect directly with customers, prospects and Messenger Chat ensures that they get answers to their queries without having to wait.

Add testimonials from customers

Reviews and testimonials have radically changed the way a business is perceived. Instead of making blind purchase decisions, buyers today depend on online reviews to decide whether or not to avail service from a business. Getting genuine reviews is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your skills and dedication.

Adaptify Digital Agency is rated 4.4 out of 5 based on 58 Google reviews from customers.

Trades businesses can use Facebook or Google Review to get reviews from their customers. It is essential for plumbers, concreters, electricians to get customer reviews because reviews:

Register with local business directories

Customers usually ‘Google it’ while looking for a service or business. Being present on online local business directories makes it easier for a trades business to appear before customers. NAP (Name, Address, Phone) details on business directories play a critical role in local ranking as well. A tradesman listed on multiple business directories is easily visible to local audiences and strengthens reputation at the same time.

If you are running a local business, consider registering in these 10 Australian local business directories:

Facebook marketing with ads

Did you know there are 15 million Australians now active on Facebook? Facebook ads allow trades businesses with an active Facebook account to reach customers based on their interests, behavior, demographics, and location. Successful tradies, including business inspectors or roofers, use Facebook ads to educate customers, run contests and offer on-site inspections.

Visit the Ad Center from your Facebook page, click ‘Çreate Ad’, and choose a goal for the ad campaign.

The best part about Facebook ads is that you can create an ad with a specific goal in mind. A Facebook ad campaign allows a business to:

Prioritise call ads

Don’t want customers to fill a form and directly call instead? Call ads are a great way to go about it. Trades businesses can easily create a call ad campaign from their Google Ads account. These ads appear only on devices that can make phone calls. After being clicked, the ad places a phone call from the device.

This is what a call ad looks like. It appears only on devices that can make phone calls.

Many businesses consider running a call ad campaign because it:

Branding and vehicle signage

Be it vehicle signage or flyers or letterbox drops; marketing collaterals are vital to influencing prospects. Besides presenting your brand in a visually compelling manner, they create a first impression. Besides building credibility, these collaterals are essential for creating brand recall.

Don’t forget to click high-quality photos uniformed staff and vehicle signage. Post them on your website and social media to build trust and credibility.

Now as usage of technology is booming into marketing, you can enhance vehicle signage by integrating Digital Signage on your vehicle instead of plain text-based signages.

Display high-quality photos of uniformed staff, discount & offers, and creatives to attract your customers. Moreover, build your brand trust and credibility with your customers by showcasing engrossing social media posts on Digital Signage.

Get 5-star reviews on Google My Business (GMB)

Earlier in this article, we discussed the importance of social proof, in the form of getting reviews from customers. But, how to get a 5-star review from a customer? Here are some ways to do that:

When a customer leaves a negative review, instead of ignoring, accept your fault. Reassure them that you could look into the matter. That shows that when people are dissatisfied with your service, you go out of the way to fix the issues.

Create authentic ad copies

What happens when a trades business promotes its services with a bleh copy? It fails to get any traction. A business is likely to get no results after running an ad with a copy that is not click-worthy.

This ad copy grabs the attention with a special offer of 40% off on remedial repair work and personalises it for customers looking for roof repairs in Adelaide.

Here are some of the best ways to come up with authentic ad copies:

That is pretty much everything you need to know to nail online marketing for tradies. If you don’t already have a website, start by creating one. Once your responsive website is ready, go for building a presence across local directories and getting reviews from existing customers. Now you can start running Google ads or Facebook ads. Use social media to attract, build and engage with your audience. Local SEO helps you gain visibility in the local areas when people search for services near them.

However, things can get a little technical at times. And, that’s why we are here to help. We have helped hundreds of Australian tradies market their services online. Call us today on 1300 423 566 to discuss your online marketing requirements.

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Tags: online marketing, paid ads, seo

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