Author: Amy Freeman | August 7, 2024

Want to connect with customers, new and old? You need to go where they are. These days, that's on social media. With a bit of dedication, your roofing company can build up a strong following online, making sure previous customers stay in the loop and potential leads get interested in what you have to offer.

Not sure where to get started with social media for contractors or how to keep it up? Follow these tips and tricks.

How to Use Social Media for Contractors

Being active on social media isn't exactly hard, but you may feel stumped over what to post and when. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. Share Your Projects

Whether it's on TikTok, Instagram, X or even Facebook, social media gives your company a chance to shine and show off its good work. Share photos of your current or most recent projects (get permission from the homeowners first, of course) on your feed. Use hashtags so people who are searching can find your work. You can also use mentions to attract the attention of the person whose home you're sharing, so they can share the post with their own followers if they wish.

2. Connect with Your Customers

Social media lets you communicate with your customers in a much more relaxed and informal way compared to phone or email communications. You can set up polls to see what your followers are most interested in or respond to comments people leave to let them know you're listening and taking their concerns or opinions to heart.

There may come a time when someone expresses an unfavorable opinion or complains about your company on your social media page. If that happens, take the chance to respond quickly to correct the problem and reestablish a positive connection with the customer.

3. Develop Your Brand Voice

Why should a customer work with your roofing company instead of another one? To answer that "why," you need to distinguish your brand in some way.

You can do exactly that on social media, developing a brand voice that you use when posting. To appeal to potential and current customers, make your brand voice approachable and reassuring. While you may not talk to your followers as casually as you would if you were addressing your best friends, keep the tone friendly and upbeat.

When developing your brand voice, think about what sets your company apart from all the rest. Think about your mission and ways to weave your mission statement into your social media posts, so everyone can clearly see where you're coming from.

4. Have Fun!

Don't be afraid to mix it up on social media a bit. To build engagement, it helps to have some fun with your posts. Instead of only sharing photos of your projects, include posts that shine a light on your company. You might share photos of a recent volunteer event your company supported or participated in. Or you may decide to share pictures and highlights from an annual celebration or employee event.

Make your posts match the platform you're using. That means having fun with short, somewhat silly videos on TikTok or getting inspirational by sharing beautiful photos on Instagram.

5. Always Include a CTA

Provide guidance for your followers or anyone who may be reading or watching your posts by including a call to action (CTA) at the end of each one. Make the CTA relevant to the post. For example, if you're sharing a recent roof replacement project using cool roofing materials, tell people to contact your company to learn more about maximizing energy efficiency.

Make Social Media for Contractors Work for Your Business

The secret to success on social is consistency. Developing a regular posting schedule, and sticking to it, will help increase your engagement with your followers by ensuring your posts appear in their feeds. It also sends a message to people who may stumble upon your page but don't follow you yet, letting them know that your business is active and engaged.

You don't have to post daily. If you don't post at all yet, aim for once a week to start. You can then increase your posting schedule to two or three times a week. Plan out your posts by week or month so you know what's in the pipeline.

Also, consider assigning someone the role of social media manager. You may hire someone part-time for the role or tap into your existing employees' talents and recruit from within.

If you haven't yet, now's the time to dip your toes into the social media pool. You may be surprised at how much it increases your connections with customers or brings in new leads.