Digital marketing: An overview

At the most basic level, digital marketing is simple. It starts off with a basic premise: The internet has changed the way people buy. When customers are thinking about making a purchase, whatever it is, they start by gathering information. They do this with a computer and a search engine or an AI-powered chatbot. Or, they may pose a question t🐻o social media or YouTube.

Studies show that roughly . 

Customerᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚs begin by typing in questions and looking for answers. They keep reading and they keep learning, all as they g꧑et closer and closer to making a purchase.

If they read a few articles or watch a few videos from the same source, that source becomes an information source they 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:recognize and trust. 

Right now, your potential customers are sitting down to ask a question:

• How do I finance a home improvement loan? 
• What are the benefits of burying service wires?
• Should I use fiber cement shingles for my exterior?
• How much does a radon safety system cost to install?

Answering questions like these is the first step to 澳洲幸运5🌺开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:establishing trust within your marketplac𒆙e.

Now, if you're using traditional marketing tactics like a radio spot or a mailer, you're blasting out ♍your message to everyone — most of whom are not interested.

But with digital marketing, it's a dౠifferent story. The people typing in questions related to your industry are way more qualified for your services than the general population.

Think about it: If you’re an HVAC company, wouldn’t you rather send your offe💯r to someone who just Googled “How much does a furnace cost?” tꦫhan to every single person in your town?

So, how do you know what your potential customers are going to seওarch for? Start by thinking like your buyer.

Thinking like a homeowner

When homeowners are looking to make repairs or upgrades to their property — or looking to build a new home altogether, what’s their emotional state? They may be excited about a new project — or concerned 🍒about a nagging issue.

However they’re feeling, you can be sure of one thing: They are very wary of being ripped off. 

Because homeowners have no real experience with how much a new furnace should cost, or what goes intജo the building of a retaining wall, they are at an information disadvantage, and they are wary of be💙ing taken advantage of.

T🍷herefore, if you work in the home improvement industry, you are already fighting an uphill battle to win the trust and business of your potential customers. 

And♈ if you’re spending money on traditional advertising like mailers 🥂and radio, you might not be helping. According to Inc., at all.

But there's a better way. When a homeowner is🤡 looking into a particular home service — whether that’s building a patio, putting on a new roof, or finishin🐈g their basement — where do they turn? They start out on search engines looking for answers. They want to get the lay of the land so they can be a more informed buyer. 

We believe that if your customer is asking a question, 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:you should answer it, even if it forces you to talk about something uncomfortable lik🐟e price or product shortcomings.

Here’s why: If a customer’s search leads them to your website, and they find your content to be helpful and honest, then they’re willing to trust your business. Suddenly, you're not just another home builder trying to get their money. You're the home b💝uilder that answered their questions. 

The 5 topics your buyers are asking about

Buyers everywhere are asking🌌 the same questions. Whether they’re buying a wedding cake, a trumpet, or a kitchen renovation. 

At IMPACT, we sort these questions into 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:topics we call The Big 5, and we believe they are universal.

So, what do your buyers want to know?

1. Cost: First on everyone’s mind, of course, is cost. We are all skeptical when a website won’t tell us how much a product or service costs. Does “Call for price!” actually work? I doubt it. 
   Sure, it’s hard to say exactly how much something might cost — especially something with as many variables as a construction project — but customers want to have some idea. Addressing cost openly and explaining what factors make that number go up and down will give customers what they’re looking for.
2. Problems: When we make a purchase, we want to know what might go wrong. This is why we’re so drawn to one-star reviews. Feeling informed about worst-case scenarios helps us feel prepared for whatever could be thrown our way.
3. Reviews: Connected to problems are reviews. This could be reviews of products or reviews of entire companies. As a home services business, you know how important reviews are. 
   According to Inc., as much as they trust a review from a friend. 
4. “Best of” lists: Customers frequently Google questions that help them find the best solutions. 
   According to HubSpot, have grown exponentially. Thus, you can imagine searches like “best roofer near me” and “best floor refinishers near me” being very popular. 
5. Comparisons: Paint or stain? Gas or electric? Whirlpool or GE? Consumers want to put things side by side to know how they stack up. Covering these head-to-heads can help demonstrate your expertise and make your potential customers feel informed to make the best choice possible.

If you're not sure what content yo🍸ur buyers are looking for, start with The Big 5.&nb🐷sp;

Building a digital marketing content strategy

So, there you have it. The Big 5 is not rocket science, but it's effective and universal. You can use these topics to form the basis of your ent⛦ire marketing strategy. You can address them in writing, on TikTok, on a podcast, in a YouTube video, or in any other medium your audience uses to gather information.

But you can't 🔯just do so willy-nilly. You'll need a plan, and you'll (probably) ℱneed someone to help you.

What is a content strategy?

A 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:digital marketing strategy keeps you♈ on track and focused on what brings customers to your sales team.

A good strategy includes both written and video content — a🌠nd makes good use of social media platforms. (We’ve found that video build꧃s trust even faster than writing, but text can offer more depth and specificity.)

Therefore, consider covering each of the topics in your strategy with several types of content. And, make your content easy to find, search, and cons⛄ume. 

Having the right team

If you’re serious about digital marketing, we recommend diverting money you’ve been spending on traditional outbound marketing and 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:hiring internal team members — a content writer and a videographer — to suppo𝓡rt your efforts. 

Then, when these new folks are on board, you can begin to address these key topics with c🅘ontent that custo♒mers will find, value, and share.

If you’re not in a pl💖ace to hire, that’s okay. 💞You can do a lot of this on your own, but it will take time and energy to do it well.

For a real-world example, consider California-based , which had bounced around between a few different agencies. They spent a ton of money on new websit๊es and social media ads, but once they focused on creating helpful content, their business really took off. 

Real-world examples of a marketing strategy in action

At IMPACT, we’ve worked with dozens of home improvement companies that focus on building, roofing, plumbing,꧟ foundation repair, insulation, remodeling services, and more.

Below, we’ll offer examples from businesses (some clients ⛦of ours, some not) that are bui💫lding trust and driving sales with inbound marketing that addresses the core questions their ideal customers are asking. 

1. Talking about cost

Our first example is from West Roofing Systems, an installer with locations in Ohio, Florida, and Georgia. Here, Greg Palya's run-dow🍨n of cost is straightforward and unbiಞased. 

Everyone knows that the easiest answer to give to "how much will it cost?" is it depends. But that's not helpful to the cu꧃stomer looking for a price range. So, this article breaks down the costs and 🍸considerations a potential customer needs to know. 

Then, to give a sense of their materials and process, West Roofing lets you watch a project get done start to f💝inish. 

Immediately, it feels clear that the West Roofing team knows their customers. Right out of the gate they've addressed the biggest question of them 🥀all.

2. Being honest about problems

Construction projects come with a raft of problems, and businesses should be upfront with their clients about what ma🐽y lie ahead.&nbs🎶p;

In this article, Custom Built Design and Remodeling cove🦂rs eight common problems with basement finishing.

Notice how the author is spec☂ific about problems, adding both solutions and alternatives to make customers feel fully infoꦐrmed. 

3. Reviews that are unbiased and helpful

Buyers trust online reviews almost as much as they trust word of mouth. This is why buyers go to Yelp, Angi, and other sites that host user review🔯s.&n🌃bsp;

As experts in your field, your insight matters. In the article be♏low, Florida-based RoofCrafters provides details on two common shingle choices.

4. ‘Best of’ lists that present numerous options

Feature above, Dalinhaus Construction knows its marketplace well. So well, in fact, that it lists the best competitors in its m👍arketplace.

The t🏅hinking here is this: every customer has options — and not every business is a great fit for every customer. By compiling a list of other great businesses in their market, Dalinghaus positions itself as a trustworthy brand with nothing to hide. 

 

5. Real comparisons that help buyers feel informed 

Installing a pool is a huge and expensive un𝔉dertaking that is likely a puꦅrchase a customer will make only once in their life. So, how do they know they’re getting it right?

A fundamental question about your 🌠pool is the construction material. Should you go with concrete or fiberglass? Rather than just proclaiming that fiberglass pools are superior, read how River Pools in Virginia compares concrete and fiberglass, covering pros and cons of each one in this article:

I also love how author Holly Jender addresses cost (again, 🌼it’s at the top of everyone’s mind) 🐻by breaking down 10-year ownership expenses in a handy diagram.

Now, see the same content covered in video. Again, we see high production values and a quick🐟, entertaining format. As viewers, we know we can go to the article for more information, but the video promises an overview in two minutes — something explained at the onset. 

Thinking beyond The Big 5

While The Big 5 are a wise place to start, the home improvement industry comes with its own unique questions that buyers ev🌞erywhere want to know. These include a mil🐠lion “What is…” "How to..." and “Do I…” type questions. 

As you plan your marketing strategy, pull some team members together and brainstorm some questions your buyers might tyܫp𝓀e into search engines, such as:

• What type of foundation do I need for my addition?
• What is the best time of year to replace a roof?
• How do I keep my countertop looking new?
• Do I need a general contractor to handle my renovation?
• What is an epoxy liner for plumbing repair?
• Should I upgrade to geothermal heating?
• How do I fix my gutters?
• Do I need battery backup for my solar panels?

You get the idea. 

Bundled content

Once you’ve built up a libr𓆉ary of valuable content, you can focus on creating high-value "bundl﷽es" that can help bring in more leads. 

It could be a guidebook to everything you need to know about metal roofs or a checklist for getting your window replacement project started. Site visitors could give you their contact information to download this kind of information in a free ebook. This wa𝔍y, you grow your audience and your mailing list.&𝓀nbsp;

Even better, this type🐓 of content gives your leads an easier conv𒈔ersion point. If they're not ready to schedule a sales call, they may feel comfortable downloading a free guide to kitchen remodeling. 

'But do I need a new website?'

Often, businesses hoping to get started with digital marketꦚing are wary that they’ll need a new website. In almost all cases, this is not true. You do not need a new website — you don’t even need a great website.

Unfortunately, there are many agencies out there that will gladly take your money and sell you a 🥀full site redesign that you don’t really🐲 need, telling you that it’s critical to your digital marketꦰing ambitions. 

Not so.

Even if your current website i🦂s a bit outdated, it probably has all the necessary functionality for success:

1. Can you publish a blog? 
2. Can you interlink between blog articles or use a tag system to organize content?
3. Can you use CTAs and a landing page to capture leads?

If your website can do these three things, ༒you’re probably good to get started. 

Just remember, your website is for your customers, not for you. Focus on their problems and challenges. Speak their lan♓guage. 

ꦅPotential customers will be wary of a sleek website if💃 it doesn't provide value and build trust.

Sure, ✅you may want a website upgrade down the line, but that shouldn't prevent you from producing helpful content today.

Getting started with your DIY marketing strategy

A marketing strategy is a detailed, evolving resource that will look different for each company. But you can get started with theꦐ basics provided above. If you’re ever unsure about what to cover, start with The Big 5. You know your customers are thinking about and Googling questions related to these topics right now.

Then, as a secondary source, go to your sales team. We recommend recurring meetings every two weeks between marketing and sales to find out what quest♓ions your sales reps are hearing from buyers. If certain questions keep coming up🌄, make sure you address them thoroughly inജ your content. 

Lastly, use resources availabl𓆉e online to generate topic ideas as well. , and are all great resources to help you dive into what users are looking for. 

Remember, if your customers are asking a question, 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:you should be willing to answer it — and to do so openly on youꦡr website. This sort of transparency is key for 🍒developing trust and winning customers.

If you’re serious about using content marketing to grow your🐓 business, use the examples above for inspiration, and talk to us if you'd like to learn about how our trainers and coaches can help you take ownership of your digital sales and marketing to achieve your business goals. 

Not ready to talk? . Every episode will give you real-world insigh🌺ts and tips for building trust and growing your business in the age of AI.