Generating good-quality leads is never a simple task for any business but especially difficult for businesses in the roofing industry.
The reason for this is that most other businesses deal in various products or services for which it is easy enough to create demand; or demand for the product already exists on the market. But roofing is only required in certain situations and more closely resembles a need than a want, making it much more difficult to generate suitable leads.
Even by employing the best methods, both traditional and modern, roofers often find it hard to get reliable leads for growing their businesses. That’s why we’ve put together some strategies in this guide that have been used successfully for the purpose and can deliver great results.
These methods will help your business generate quality residential and commercial roofing leads. So, check them out now!
Understanding What Defines a Lead
To get desired results from the lead generation strategies that we’ll be sharing here, it is essential to understand what exactly a lead is.
A sales lead refers to a prospective consumer of a certain product or service, created when that consumer shows interest and provides their contact information. It can even refer to a firm or a business interested in a particular offering. There are many ways by which businesses can generate leads, such as advertising, trade shows, direct mail, and others.
Over the years, the various methods used for lead generation have changed, as old techniques are no longer effective in the modern era. And for a business to be successful, it needs to be familiar with the latest techniques and tools used for the purpose.
Types of Roofing Leads
Roofing leads may be classified into exclusive and shared leads.
1.) Exclusive Leads
Exclusive leads are those contacts that have not been exposed to your competitors. They are usually generated organically and contact a particular brand or business directly. This means they are already on the market for a specific product or service and have some idea of the brand or business they are looking for.
Exclusive leads are the most valuable of all roof leads as they have the highest conversion rates and often create the most repeat customers. The most effective way of generating exclusive leads is by employing different online marketing techniques.
2.) Shared Leads
Shared leads are obtained from third-party brokers who sell information regarding various prospects to multiple businesses. These leads may not result in fast conversions, and generally, in this case, most customers are those with repeat business. Many businesses focus on getting shared leads only due to the misconception that they are easier to obtain.
However, using the right marketing strategies can help you acquire exclusive leads easily as well.
Another classification of roofing leads includes B2C and B2B leads.
3.) Business fo Consumer (B2C) Leads
B2C leads refer to residential customers and are generally less expensive than B2B leads. This is because residential prospects are not as sophisticated as commercial ones. In this case, the lead generation techniques may not be as comprehensive as those used for B2B leads.
4.) Business fo Business (B2B) Leads
B2B leads are for industrial businesses and commercial customers looking for roofing services. These consumers generally have some understanding of various lead generation techniques that might be employed to reach them, and it is harder to convert them than B2C leads.
The Best Roof Lead Generation Methods
Here are some of the most effective lead generation techniques you can employ for your business.
1.) Canvassing
Canvassing involves initiating contact with a prospect or lead with whom you do not have a scheduled appointment or meeting. It is among the oldest lead generation techniques that roofing professionals can use. It can provide excellent results in many situations, especially those that require a personal touch.
Since this is the first contact with the prospect, canvassing requires you to be prepared for almost anything. Also, having clearly set objectives such as obtaining an appointment and contact information with a well-planned approach using a proven script can be very beneficial.
The success of canvassing campaigns depends upon your approach, so ensure that the target customers have adequate information. This includes letting them know about your company, the services offered, and other advantages that might convince them to request a consultation.
Even if it does not result in consultation, canvassing will make the prospects aware of your business, and they may contact you when such services are required.
2.) Direct mail
Another traditional method of generating leads for roofing contractors is direct mailing, which is usually underutilized by most businesses. Direct mail can be used for both B2C and B2B customers and offers a wide selection of options that you can use. These include letters, postcards, surveys, and more.
Like other methods used to generate leads, direct mail starts with developing an offer that the prospect might be interested in. Such offers can include a company brochure or an information kit designed to generate the desired response and are called a lead magnet.
Lead magnets can help identify people who have a specific interest or are looking for a particular solution to a problem. Mails with appealing photos and clear calls to action are the most effective, just like in the case of emails.
Also, even if some prospects ignore such mails as they are likely to, in most cases, enough will consume the content to make it worthwhile.
3.) Search engine optimization
SEO or search engine optimization is a powerful lead generation tool that can be used by almost any type of business, including roofing companies. It does not cost anything and helps you get an organic position on the first page of Google search results.
However, since most roofers do not have the time to undertake the various activities involved in SEO, they may hire a third-party marketing company. SEO efforts include many things, such as writing new blog posts, creating new service pages, inserting title tags and meta descriptions, and using keywords.
For roofer lead generation, SEO can include several components. For instance, on-page and technical SEO focuses on the website structure and optimizing the headlines, HTML tags, and images. Local SEO enables your business to be more visible in local search engine results, while content SEO involves creating content to improve the website ranking.
SEO also involves link building, which is the process of obtaining hyperlinks from other websites. These SEO efforts may appear challenging to newcomers, which is why people often hire agencies to manage them. Such agencies are also familiar with the latest practices in the industry and can help your business achieve or sustain higher rankings.
4.) Search engine marketing
PPC or pay-per-click ads target advertising campaigns on various search engines, such as Google, HomeAdvisor, Bing, and others. These ads appear before the organic search results and are the first thing people see when they search for a roofing company.
PPC is a powerful tool that can help roofing businesses earn more than many other methods, leading to increased website visits from prospects. And visitors from such roofing leads are more likely to convert to actual customers.
Tools like Google Ads can help new roofers quickly get on top of Google rankings, resulting in significant engagement. The top three paid ads attract the maximum number of clicks on the search engine result pages. Besides Google Ads, Microsoft Advertisement is another powerful tool that you can use for your PPC campaign.
While the costs per click are rising steadily in the case of Google Ads due to high competition, it is lower on Microsoft Advertisement, which uses the Bing search engine. This is because Bing has a lower search engine market share, but it can still be profitable for your business.
In the end, the success of any PPC campaign comes down to the engagement of the prospects, which will require designing an appealing ad with a convincing CTA. When creating your PPC campaign, target buyer intent keywords, as using others may not result in sales.
5.) Facebook and Instagram advertising
Facebook and Instagram are powerful and effective platforms that can be used to generate roofing leads most effectively. They offer a cost-effective method to earn more leads since social media platforms are great places to find prospects.
But, local roofing companies need to develop a carefully planned strategy to use such platforms effectively, as Google does not allow posting promotional content directly. That’s why you need to use paid ad campaigns through tools like Facebook Lead Ads. Such tools allow the collection of contact information quickly without any hassle.
Alternatively, you can go with a traditional ad style that can enter the prospects into your marketing funnel. Lead ads can be very useful since they repopulate forms allowing users to easily provide their contact information. However, there is always the chance that some users get bored and do not fill out the forms completely. That’s where platforms like Facebook come in handy, as it eliminates this obstacle completely.
Additionally, you can post your Facebook ad campaign on Instagram to get exclusive roofing leads.
6.) Local trade shows
Attending local trade shows offers several benefits for any roofing professional. Besides helping generate quality leads, these trade shows are a great way of making prospects aware of your business. They also provide excellent opportunities to check out the competition and create new business partnerships.
There are both B2B and B2C trade shows, and you can choose which ones to attend, depending upon your niche and target audience. However, to make maximum use of such shows, it is vital to provide some value to the visitors. This could be in the form of a freebie to any person who visits your booth or may include coupons and giveaways.
Also, there should be a proper follow-up, as most sales are made during this phase. Talking to customers face-to-face provides an opportunity for more effective conversions and can be used for promoting your local roofing business. Customers can also discuss their needs and requirements, and businesses can set up free roof inspections or consultations.
The biggest advantage of attending trade shows is that they allow establishing connections for your domestic or commercial roofing business. You can connect with other businesses in the industry and learn from them, which can also lead to potential partnerships in the future.
7.) Email marketing campaigns
The best lead generation strategies often incorporate email marketing, which can effectively increase conversions. That is why almost all roofing companies have an email marketing campaign to supplement their other efforts. However, since many avoid opening marketing emails, personalization and customization are the keys to making the best use of such campaigns.
Many roofing companies do not engage in email marketing, which reduces their lead generation stream. And, even though contacting people through email is easier than ever, getting them to respond to emails has become more difficult. That is why each message has to be customized according to the target audience.
Apart from creating a personalized and customized message, you should ensure that the campaign includes follow-up emails. Such emails are meant to remind customers about your company and make them aware of the various promotional or special events.
One of the ways of getting conversions through email marketing is by including a link that takes the users to schedule a free consultation. This can be easily done by setting up an auto email campaign.
8.) Google Map Pack
Google’s local map pack refers to the most prominent position in the local search results from Google. It is where various businesses are listed, and their locations are identified on a map with place marker icons. The map pack plays an important role in helping customers decide what and where to buy while shopping online.
For companies in the roofing business, leads from the map pack can result in a significant ROI, especially since businesses can create free listings. You may even hire an SEO expert to optimize the listing, but this may affect the ROI.
Statistics state that almost 93% of local searches utilize the map pack, and for roofing companies, local searches comprise the majority of the prospects. This also allows you to use local SEO with great results.
The Google map pack uses Google My Business listings data providing users information about local services that meet their requirements. For this purpose, you need to utilize the business listings by using photos, posts, and contact information.
9.) YouTube marketing
YouTube marketing has become incredibly popular in recent years for all types of businesses and can be used for your roofing business as well. Videos that have been recorded of roofers at work can be used for video marketing and can even be embedded in your website.
Additionally, being a search engine itself, YouTube increases the chances of prospects coming across your brand while browsing the platform. Other prospects might get exposed to the videos embedded on the website as Google factors in the presence of videos while ranking websites.
The reason why YouTube is such a fantastic option for promoting your business is that people spend countless hours every day on the platform. You can look at other businesses that are using it profitably and learn from them. And the best part is that creating YouTube videos can help a roofing business expand its online presence effectively.
Final Thoughts on Generating Leads for Roofing Contractors
There are several methods that any roofing company can use for lead generation purposes, but selecting the right one requires proper research and planning. This is because the circumstances of each business are different, as are its goals and challenges.
Fortunately, most of these strategies can be implemented by almost any type of roofing business, and you can even combine several techniques to get the desired results. Just make sure to develop a detailed plan of action and research properly before trying them out.
On that note, it is time to wrap up this guide. Until next time!