It’s 2020, and your business is looking for new, inventive ways to get more clients. Your first thought might be to default to the norm: printed brochures, newspaper ads, canvassing, pamphlets, and making the rounds in neighborhoods. You get some callbacks, it’s worked in the past, and it’s what you know. But that’s the problem right there: the past. Technology is more prevalent than ever, and it’s edging into every aspect of life – including how homeowners now seek home improvement support.

By 2025, millennials will make up ⅔ of the global workforce. These millennials possess buying power and represent your future target markets, but they also come with a different set of expectations. Having grown up in the digital age with smartphones, tablets, and the internet, millennials and generation Z seek out services through methods such as internet searches and reviews.

Adapting to these changes will bring long-term success for your home improvement business. Regardless of whether you provide urgent services such as plumbing, or projects with a plan, like tiling, it’s key to understand that millennials are your next market to focus on, and why adapting to changing consumer behavior should be a priority. Here’s why digital marketing will be more effective than traditional methods such as canvassing:

1.  Cater to your target and reach more qualified leads
How much do you know about the homeowner on Bend Street that you just canvassed or mailed? Absolutely nothing, other than the fact they are residents of a certain area

Instead of reaching out to everyone, narrow your efforts to qualified, interested leads. Traditionally, you can attempt to do this by only going around certain neighborhoods, but with digital efforts, you can virtually designate your ideal demographic (homeowner or renter, mid or high income household, etc.) and pay to only show your message to these prospects. Not only can you reach your target region and demographics with more efficient spend, but you can also reach people of similar online behavior, such as those who have recently sought out your services or searched for related “keywords.”

Additionally, many customers nowadays immediately turn to Google, Bing, Facebook, or asking a friend for a referral. YellowPages and directory listings are mostly a thing of the past. Instead, a customer’s first instinct is to perform their research online, meaning your presence online is their entire basis for whether they’re interested in you or not. Is your website modern and up-to-date? Do you have stellar reviews and proud displays of your best work, or customer testimonials? These are conditions that must be tip-top for a new customer to give you an email or ring and learn more about your pricing, availability, and services.

Do a quick audit and Google Search yourself, and discover what people in your area are likely seeing.

2.  ROI is measurable
Do you know where your customers are coming from? Often, with tactics like canvassing, you’ll put your money where it isn’t needed. Spending money on printing and distribution adds up quickly, and it’s difficult to measure how many customers came to your business as a result of these efforts. When you crunch the costs, the downtime, and the quality of clients coming from this tactic, are you actually profiting? Also, if you’re doing multiple efforts at once, what was actually effective?

Start spending smarter with a measurable strategy, and see your efforts go further with the same or even less spend.

3.  Customization and Instantaneity
Instead of becoming another piece of paper or fridge magnet, you can create a custom social feed, app, or strategy to reach your next customers. Discover how neighbors share referrals, and create an inspirational social media page that motivates people to come to you. Customization goes much further with digital, and can be adjusted swiftly. Imagine if you overprinted a canvassing material or had a typo, and you’re stuck with a batch until you’ve distributed everything.

With digital, you have the ability to push content at your desired frequency, edit captions, respond to customers directly and immediately, and deliver different messages to different markets. Customers like options, and they want to be able to reach you through many different social channels – maybe through email, Facebook messenger, Instagram messaging, Whatsapp, etc.

If you offer multiple types of services, you can target your different demographics with the content they want to see. Then, measure your ad performance based on data, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Finally, instant gratification is an expectation of most customers now. Say someone has an immediate need for pest control, which can be very on-demand. Having your business show up as a local business listing when those customers search “ants in house” and an online booking system is very likely to increase your leads. Not only are you a) easy to find, but you’re also b) efficient and seamless and c) modern and credible – all components that a modern customer seeks today.

Find out how you can optimize your business to be digitally compatible, and how many more qualified leads you can reach with an efficient strategy. Get an audit of your current digital footprint today, and contact Push Marketing now.