How to Increase Your Roofing Leads
Author: Michael Russo | July 10, 2023
Traditionally, most roofing businesses have generated roofing leads using strategies like canvassing, door-to-door sales, direct mail, storm chasing, local television and trade shows. While these strategies still work on some level, they don't always reach people who are actively looking for your services. These interruption-based marketing strategies have become less effective at spreading the word as the noise level of marketing has increased for your customers.
In addition, Business-to-Business (B2B) commercial roofing leads are infinitely more difficult to generate than remodeling contacts. Property owners have more specific needs and less time to talk than residential customers. Identifying and meeting these key decision-makers (and keeping them on through a long sales cycle) is tough when you are using telemarketing or canvassing methods.
Here's a quick look at some different ways to generate effective roofing leads.
Boost Your Referrals With Sales
When asked how they generate leads, most roofing contractors will immediately point to referrals. Referral marketing can be a powerful tool — besides collecting the names of potential customers, this process involves analyzing leads and building a marketing structure around them.
When there is sales involvement with a referral program, the conversion rate of the referral partner can be much higher than the industry standard. Referral marketing software can help you get started.
Invest in Search
For contractors, it has become much harder to rank on a search result. Costs are rising for pay-per-click or search engine marketing. However, search engine optimization (SEO) that helps you perform well in featured snippets, "Near Me" searches and voice search is worth looking into. Start with a robust, eye-catching website that includes strong crosslinks and links to relevant, authoritative outside sources.
Strategic alliances with major roofing distributors and manufacturers are another option. Larger suppliers are spending millions on piggyback marketing and educational programs for contractors. Some services are provided free, while others may be based on a variety of criteria.
Explore Content Marketing
The Content Marketing Institute defines this marketing field as the creation and distribution of "valuable, relevant and consistent content [designed] to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action."
Instead of pitching your products or services, think about creating blog posts, materials checklists or other resources for property owners that help them solve their roofing problems. If a potential customer keeps coming back for your new posts, they may one day come back for a sale.
Don't Wait to Follow Up
One thing all of these strategies have in common is the need for quick follow-up. The contractor who responds first usually wins. Research from the Harvard Business Review shows that companies that respond to web-submitted leads within an hour are 60 times more likely to land a sales conversation than companies that wait 24 hours or more.
It often takes multiple attempts to make contact with web leads. Even if you do make contact, many of these leads don't convert immediately to appointments or sales. Teach your sales team to follow a nurture marketing strategy to be sure these valuable contacts aren't lost over time.
Finding the best practices for each and every marketing channel requires an extraordinary time commitment and persistence. For roofing contractors, it is often best to hire a company that offers "umbrella" marketing coverage of the channels that work best for your business.
No matter how you choose to generate roofing leads, approach the process like a face-to-face meeting: set clear objectives, have a proven script in mind, follow up and be prepared for anything!