Online lead generation can feel a little strange when talking about finding home improvement leads. With such a hands-on business, getting leads effortlessly sometimes feels like cheating. But Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest are all valuable sources of great leads - if you know how to navigate them. Each social network has its own unwritten rules for advertising, but fear not - we've been a part of the social media game for a while. If you're wondering how finding home improvement leads works online, read on:
Easily the largest social network, advertising on Facebook is a little bit counter-intuitive. While the audience is there, Facebook ads blend in with all of the updates from friends and family. This means that ads that come off as corporate are way less likely to succeed. Generating home improvement leads relies on personalization and personality - fewer hard hats, more beautiful images of homes (like the photo above). Luckily, Facebook has implemented a new advertising system that allows you to build forms directly into your ad - all the user has to do is click the ad and hit "Submit" to get their information to you. Keep things casual, and let Facebook do the work.
Because the ads are generally integrated right into the news feed, videos are very effective to catch peoples' attention. It's also worth noting that Facebook intentionally throttles post exposure to make you pay for them - the more you pay, the more views you'll get. Because of this, Facebook is the most expensive social media to promote on.
On the other hand, Twitter is all about mass exposure. No algorithms will hide your ads, so the only thing limiting your exposure is your follower count. In order to get followers, however, you can't just offer deals. Twitter is a strange mix of personal and professional, so what really reigns on this platform is good content. If you consistently help your clients with blog content or instructional videos, you won't even have to pay in order to reach people. Offering some videos on basic home repairs, like fixing a leaky sink or patching cracked drywall, is just one example of content that people would eat up. You can put this content on your own site to drive traffic to it. In order to reach people, pictures are best on Twitter. The character limitations and news feed setup means that Twitter is made for the waning attention span, so long videos won't convert well if displayed on site.
If you want to buy or sell your leads, LinkedIn should be your avenue of choice. The hundreds of groups that have popped up revolving around lead generation can all point you in the right direction, and all you have to do is request to join in. No good lead aggregator will say no to having more contacts. LinkedIn should be your focus if buying and selling, but generating is a whole 'nother beast. The people on LinkedIn are there in a professional capacity for the most part - they aren't on the site to think about what they'll do when they get home. Therefore, it's not recommended to try to generate on LinkedIn. Buy and sell and discuss the art of lead generation on there, but leave the generation for the more social of networks.
Pinterest is an interesting network that has proven itself as a valuable marketplace for lead generators. The primary market for Pinterest is women age 20-40, so these are people who spend the day at home and are looking for ideas to spice things up. Similarly, if they are at home and something breaks, they're going to look for someone to fix it right away. Pinterest is a perfect opportunity to promote your renovation and repair skills. Image ads on Pinterest should not focus on a hard CTA or more pragmatic issues - in fact, direct CTA's are forbidden. Pinterest is all about inspiration, so showing people what their home could look like with a little bit of work from your business is the way to go. Show them what the future could hold if they let you work. That will get the Pinterest business flowing.