Are you trying to break into the world of garage door marketing? It can be intimidating, given the constantly changing marketing strategies that revolve around SEO. Beginning SEO can be tricky, as it involves discovering the best ways to increase your website ranking and drive traffic back to your website. It’s important to streamline garage door marketing ideas to become successful as a local competitor in your area. Without industry knowledge, it’s difficult to develop the necessary strategies that will bring your garage door marketing to the top.
After 15 years of marketing experience and five years running my own garage door company, I have collected numerous tips on how to use garage door marketing ideas to get an edge on garage door competitors. The ten sections below are some of the most beneficial areas I have found.
- SEO
- Content Creation
- Leads
- Paid advertising
- Social Media
- Home Shows & Local Festivals
- Google My Business
- Google Local Services
- Direct Mail
- NextDoor
SEO
We’ll start with SEO for garage door companies. I can’t stress the importance of SEO enough because I know from experience that it can drive in as much as 65% of new clients. SEO is Search Engine Optimization. A long-term strategy that you continuously build on to maintain the online visibility of your business. You can complete SEO on-site and off-site with strategies including link building, content writing, and keyword integration.
If done correctly, it’s very effective. However, if done wrong, you can land your website in Google jail or quickly lose relevance within the shifting Google algorithm. That’s why you should leave SEO tactics to those with experience like the team at Such n Such Media. With proper SEO building and supervision, it can become your best garage door marketing strategy. This is because the amount of effort you put in correlates directly to the amount of new business you receive.
Content Creation
Creating content is vital to successful marketing. Content Creation is a form of SEO, but it’s also a valuable branding strategy. Your content can take the form of writing, audio, photo, or video, but a combination of all four is powerful when used correctly. You want to create content daily in some form or fashion, whether that be updating your website, creating a new blog, or posting on social media. Keep in mind, though, that content distribution is as important as the content generated. You want to make sure you’re getting frequent views on the content you create, or it’s useless.
Leads
Garage Door Leads can cost a fortune, but they still have their place. The fact that you can choose the amount of leads you receive by pausing your budget or canceling at any time is a great way to stay busy or back off when you have enough business. We’ve found a significant amount of success with HomeAdvisor in particular. It’s easy to track your progress here as you can look on the HomeAdvisor website and get the lead count, matching the names with the people you have in your database. This step is important to ensuring that your garage door marketing ideas are working. You can’t do that unless you measure success in terms of business uptake. That’s why I like buying leads.
Paid Advertising
Paid advertising includes resources like Google Adwords, Facebook ads, Yelp ads, or sites that display ads. Further, a well-rounded paid advertising plan and a thorough SEO strategy can complement each other and make you more successful. For example, I’ve recently moved the majority of my AdWord budget to Facebook with a lot of success. This is my second favorite garage door marketing strategy behind SEO. It’s convenient, but always ensure that your ad content is unique and intriguing in a market flooded with similar businesses.
Social Media
Social Media can mean a few things when it comes to garage door marketing ideas. In this case, we will call it Social Media Management because we already addressed paid advertising above. Social Media Management is directly managing your social media account. Social Media Management includes posting, interacting, and responding to comments. Keep specific strategies in mind when doing this, however, don’t simply post a bunch of reviews or links to your website. That is not an effective tactic for drawing attention to your business. Fine-tune and plan out your Social Media Strategy for active engagement.
For example, I like to focus on the people I’m targeting rather than specifically promoting my company’s accomplishments. Customers aren’t interested in seeing your reviews every day. If you want to post an excellent review, do it once a month, not every time or every week. Instead, use polls, pictures of beautiful doors you’ve installed, and giveaways to get positive attention. Stay focused on creating good original content, and your customers will reward you.
Home Shows
Home shows are great for garage door companies because they help the community see your products and put a face to your business. As I’ve mentioned in the other categories, though, this needs to be carefully arranged to best represent your service. The biggest challenge is the toll it takes on the team getting everything together and attending the show so give yourself plenty of time to plan and execute the best show possible. However, we’ve seen a return on investment every year we’ve done a home show so it is worth the effort. Also, keep community outreach in mind in terms of local festivals which can be especially beneficial when you’re running a super-strong promotion.
Google My Business
Google My Business is your specific information section that a client finds when they do a Google search of your business. GMB shows reviews, company name, and phone number. It’s integrated into maps and will also show dealers in the area of the searcher. It’s essential to have as many reviews as possible, respond to these reviews, and complete the profile 100% including pictures, videos, etc. Frequent posting, even everyday updates to this section, are good as well because it maintains your relevance for Google and give you an edge over the competitors near you.
Google Local Services
Google Local Service is a well-known but new advertising program that my own business, Garage Door Dealers, had to go through to become relevant. Google created Local Services a few years ago, and beta tested in the Bay Area near San Fransisco for a year or so, only recently rolling out nationwide. This product, like many Google products, is very much in beta testing, so there is no telling where it will end up. However, never write off a system developed by Google, it’s crucial that you at least participate if you want to be relevant.
Direct Mail
Direct mail can be beneficial if done right. I’m a fan of relevant direct mail catered to a specific audience, not mass mail, because it creates an individual experience for your customers. Statistics have proven mass mail will yield only a 1% return. I prefer to spend my money where I can get a better return on my investment without having to lower my prices to get homeowners to call. In addition to personalized direct mail, I like to hit neighborhoods that I’ve installed doors in previously, and still have a sign in the yard. This strategy is excellent because they see your sign and get your mail piece that is personal and directed to the homeowner.
NextDoor App
NextDoor App can be great for garage door dealers. I use it religiously. They recently rolled out “Offers,” and I post to different areas based on data I receive and potential response rates. Complete your profile for your business and run offers continuously. It does cost money, but it’s well worth it! To learn more about NextDoor, check out my blog post “Are You Utilizing NextDoor For Your Garage Door Company?”
Are you searching for garage door marketing? Such n Such Media focuses on creating successful SEO strategies that will drive traffic to your website and rank you high for local garage door repair. With years of working with garage door companies, we know how to create insightful content on garage door repair and installation. Unsure of where to go next? Schedule a free consultation!
