10 Painter Marketing Ideas, Tips and Strategies
February 1, 2023
Need leads for your painting contractor business? Here are 10 of the best marketing ideas, tips and strategies for getting more leads both online and off.
#1. Develop a professional website
The focal point of lead generation for your business is your website. You can expect most of your leads to check it, and many will convert by calling or filling out an estimate form.
You want your website to create a professional impression by keeping it updated and clean, but it will convert more leads if the layout, navigation and content are simple. Make it easy to call and fill out an estimate form.
It’s effective to have a gallery of your work and client testimonials on your website.
Today, your website must be mobile responsive so leads can convert directly on their phones. Be sure to have a gallery of professional images of your work, not just stock photos.
Make sure your website clearly states the type of painting you do, where your service area is and how to contact you. This is the main information leads required to convert.
Remember that your website creates the first impression of your business. Make sure it’s positive and persuasive.
Pro tip: Have strong calls to action
Make sure you’re clear about what you want visitors to do when they visit your website. Use strong calls to action (CTAs) to capture their contact information.
#2. Sign up for Google Local Service Ads (LSA)
In 2017, Google began running a new paid advertising platform for home service professionals called Local Service Ads. Residential painting is one of the categories using the type of advertising.
LSA ads are actively running in many metropolitan areas and beta testing in others, but by 2018, chances are, you’ll want to advertise on this platform.
LSA is a pay per lead platform where rankings are determined by the business’s ratings and reputation. You have to apply and go through a screening process to be included.
If LSA is running in your area, get in it. It’s based on your Google My Business profile, so get signed up on that right away if you’re not on it already.
Next, start getting more reviews on Google. Ask your best clients to give you a review, and follow up with an email that takes people to Google to leave a review
LSA ads are likely to be a big source of leads from search, so get on top of this ahead of your competition.
#3. Distinguish yourself from the competition
Why should a lead choose your painting services instead of your competition?
If you can’t answer that question, they won’t be able to either.
In markets with significant competition, painting companies need a value proposition that makes an explicit case for why they are the best choice. What makes you different might be a specialty painting service, a price advantage or another aspect of your service.
Often, a value proposition is a short statement that shows how you’re better on price or offer a specialty painting service. If you have a lot of reviews and testimonials, your reputation will set you apart.
In this example, a painting contractor in Bakersfield, CA, outlines their commitment to service and quality in detail. A longer piece of content, but effective.
Take a good look at your competition — because painting leads will. Make a clear statement about why they should choose you, then back it up with your service.
#4. Create a video
Video is an excellent way to engage leads and communicate your value proposition
Embed the video on your homepage, and optimize it for search on YouTube. Few painters optimize there, so it’s an easy place to rank. You can also use this on a Facebook business page.
A small investment goes a long way with a professionally produced video.
#5. Work on your phone skills and estimate process
With lead generation and review sites, like Google Home Service Ads, HomeAdvisor, Top Rated Local, Yelp and even Facebook, becoming so popular, it’s more important than ever that you respond quickly and effectively to leads.
An HSA lead is hot, but it will go cold fast if you don’t make immediate contact with them. Answer the phone when calls come in and use some sales savvy to work the deal.
Be punctual when doing estimates.
It’s surprising how many contractors work hard to get leads but then blow the opportunity because they’re bad on the phone and do follow-up on estimates poorly. You need to do better, particularly when you’re paying for the lead.
A lead only has value when you turn them into a happy customer.
#6: Manage your reputation
Every painting contractor knows the best leads are referrals. When a friend tells a friend about your great work, it’s the hottest lead you can get.
But today, people get referrals from strangers. And they trust them.
They go on review websites, like Top Rated Local and Yelp. Google Home Service ads and HomeAdvisor content are dominated by reviews.
In short, customer reviews and your overall online reputation are a huge factor in persuading leads to give you a chance.
Far and away, the biggest factor in getting positive reviews is to earn them with quality work. Consider the lasting impact your work and customer service has in this regard.
As we stated above, you can follow up with an email that directs people towards reviews. Also, encourage happy clients to leave reviews on Facebook.
If you’re getting negative reviews, rectify the problems — use them as feedback to help you get better.
Also, use the Top Rated Local badge on your website and include some testimonials in your content. With those, many people will be satisfied that you’re reliable.
#7: Hit the streets
As an all-in-one digital marketing platform, we usually suggest online marketing solutions for our clients. They’re more effective than most print media or cold calling.
But painting, because it’s such a tangible home service, benefits from some door-to-door work.
Print up a professional ad with an introductory offer, and leave it on doorknobs in neighborhoods where many of the houses are getting to the age they need to be painted.
Be sure your website URL and phone number are on the flyer. Or, use a QR code that goes to a landing page. We don’t recommend cold calling (knocking on doors) but strike up conversations if people are around.
This is a strategy you may only employ when you’re starting out (hopefully you’re otherwise too busy), but it can be helpful when you need to drum up leads at slow times of the year as well.
#8: Build SEO landing pages
You might be a painter in Dallas, but you’d also like to show up for searches in Mesquite and Plano.
Or you might focus on residential, but on occasion, you take on commercial jobs.
One way you can earn the kind of traffic you want is to build an SEO landing page. This is a page designed to rank organically for a particular phrase, and can be used to bolster your ranking on a competitive keyword phrase.
At Marketing 360®, we call these Monster pages. They’re designed as long-form content that has a lot of design elements that tend to help ranking. Click here to see a design example.
These pages feed the content beast that is search engines and can help you get free organic traffic so you don’t have to buy all your leads.
#9: Advertise on Facebook
Facebook offers a number of good lead generation opportunities for painters.
The first is to use Facebook Lead Ads. These are ads you can target to people who’ve just bought a home, are in a certain income bracket or may have hired other home services recently (just to name a few of the many targeting options Facebook offers).
Next, set up Facebook messenger. Today, more and more leads are contacting businesses via this messenger service (you’ll need to create a Facebook page for your business)
As we mentioned, use Facebook reviews to get more positive review content.
Last, encourage clients to take some pictures of their homes after the job is done and share the work with their networks. Be sure to have them tag your business page.
This creates a kind of social media gallery that spreads across people’s networks. You can have these types of posts on your page as well, showing your latest work.
#10: Use marketing software
If you’re thinking all this digital marketing stuff sounds like a lot, you’re right. The truth is that, if you try to market across multiple search and social media channels, you’ll be overwhelmed. Facebook marketing alone can quickly turn into a full-time job.
Try using an all-in-one digital marketing platform, like Marketing 360®. We have a software solution that makes managing and tracking all these marketing channels manageable.
Plus, the service comes with consultations from a marketing exec who can guide your strategy. Add into the mix, designers, content writers and a video team, and you have everything you need to market your painting business.
Today, the need to market online is obvious. We all walk around with powerful computers in our pockets, expecting to find services and answers quickly.
Make sure your painting business is there when leads are looking. See our plans and pricing.
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Originally published 9/21/19
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