For many home service companies (e.g., plumbing, construction, electrical, etc.), the most effective method of acquiring customers can vary. Some companies get most of their clients through referrals; others advertise through traditional means such as print ads. But one thing is for certain: a robust social media strategy should be part of that list.
Unfortunately, not many home service companies realize the importance of using social media to their advantage—and most of them do not even know where to start. To amend that, here are some of the best tips that home service businesses can use to upgrade their social media strategy:
Use the right social media platforms
Creating business accounts on all the popular social media platforms can be a great start, but keeping all of them updated is a whole other story. Most home service companies—especially small ones—do not have a marketing team to handle multiple social media accounts at the same time. In most companies, owners handle the marketing by themselves or otherwise hire only one employee to take care of everything.
That said, it is imperative to manage accounts only on the social media platforms where promoting a home service business makes sense. Facebook is the most obvious one since it has the largest active user base. Twitter and LinkedIn are other great options. But for other platforms like Instagram or Pinterest, creating accounts for a home service business may not be as fruitful.
Post results
When potential clients are in the market for a home service company, the first thing that they usually look at is the company website. Then, they check out the company’s social media accounts to find out more about the business and what other people are saying about them. And usually, what they are looking for is proof that the business can deliver the results that they need and want.
For instance, if a client is looking for someone to fix their heating and cooling systems, they will look for a company that can show proven results. Thus, home services should make it a point to showcase their best work—people want proof beyond customer testimonials, and posts with pictures that prove great results help achieve that.
Engage with the audience
Healthy engagement is one of the best ways to maintain a significant online presence. Interacting with users on social media increases engagement and lets customers know that the business puts effort into its customer service. Given the fact that people go on home service accounts to ask questions, responding regularly can also help put the business on customers’ priority lists.
Set up FAQs
Most homeowners tend to have a lot of questions about something in their home that needs fixing. After all, they don’t want to make the problem worse nor pay more than necessary for what they need. With that in mind, home service profiles need to have FAQs—either in their message box or on a pinned post—so that potential clients can get answers to their questions without having to wait for a response.
In turn, businesses won’t have to waste time answering the same questions repeatedly, which makes social media management a lot easier.
Have a regular posting schedule
Keeping social media accounts up to date is essential for any business. The main reason for this is because customers prefer businesses that can respond to them quickly, especially when it comes to pressing concerns about their home. Hence, posting regularly makes it apparent that someone is always up to respond to their concerns online.
Furthermore, posting regularly helps increase engagement, which, in turn, helps increase following. Businesses should have a regular posting schedule but avoid posting too frequently to avoid overwhelming their audience with new content. There is, however, no perfect number of posts that a company should make each week, which calls for some experimentation.
Pay attention to visuals
Customers respond more positively to visually engaging content. Home service businesses should invest in graphic design to ensure that their posts are visually pleasing and, at the same time, eye-catching. Fortunately, there are a lot of free tools that can help businesses create their own content without hiring a graphic designer such as Canva, Crello, and Adobe Spark.
Every business should take advantage of the power of social media, especially in the age where customers tend to use platforms to decide on which company to hire. With these tips, you can create a great social media strategy for your home service business and, at the same time, improve your overall marketing game.
