Marketing your trade in 2021 - SIX strategies you need this year

The year 2020 changed the way we do pretty much everything - including the way we work, socialise, and travel - but the last twelve months has also had a major impact on the way we market. 

Marketing is about foundational concepts that are always going to be true, but the way we leverage and apply them is always changing.

 As tradies, you need to keep learning, adapting, and stay ahead of the curve - especially after the craziness of 2020 drastically shifted the goalposts.

How have you pivoted your marketing to reflect the lengthened buying cycle? 

Have you optimised your Facebook ad campaign to cope with their latest algorithms and policy changes?

The last twelve months has redefined the digital marketing landscape for tradies, and most other industries too.

That’s why we’ve put together a list of SIX strategies you need to be across in 2021 in order to keep your marketing up-to-date, so those high-quality leads pour in and your business continues to grow. 

Check them out below.

1. Offer the best service on the market

This seems painfully obvious, but it’s even more relevant in 2021 because of the lengthened buying cycle. 

The buying cycle is the time from which your customer first hears about you, to when they decide to buy. Consumers are hesitating to make decisions because of market uncertainty, and you need to adjust accordingly.

Not only do you need to provide an incredible service - you need to know how to communicate your value, and your service proposition, effectively.

It doesn’t mean things are necessarily harder - it just means you have to step it up.

2. Step-up your content creation

Unfortunately, 2020 throttled consumer confidence and consumer trust.

A longer buying cycle means you have to spend more time BUILDING TRUST and ENGAGING your clients while they’re deciding what to do.

Warm people up before you go in for the kill. 

You can do this by providing great content - it might be podcasts, videos, blogs, or social media posts.  Most tradies don’t take advantage of content creation, but the ones that do set themselves apart and reap the rewards.

If you focus on brand awareness, marketing and lead generation, you’ll create a snowball effect of marketing success - since people are taking longer to buy, you need to be ready to play the long-game. 

3. Think outside the box 

Be creative. 

How can you add value to your service through a strategic partnership, or by offering unique content? 

If your social media strategy gains traction, you might get manufacturers sending products to you for free, like ESA Peak Performer Brendan Marshall. 

You can partner up with tradies from other industries to provide added value for clients and broaden your customer base.

4. Overdeliver in value with your freebie 

We talked about the lengthened buying cycle, and the importance of building trust.

When your prospect eventually decides they need a plumber, or an electrician, or a painter, you should come to mind. 

Offering serious value in a freebie is a great way to build trust and get your name out there. Inspections and assessments on the house can work wonders. 

   Make sure you overdeliver in both the value you communicate, and in the experience of your service.

5. Understand Facebook.

The game has changed - actually, it’s always changing. 

As we write this, Facebook wants you to give them MORE control of your ad campaign - this wasn’t the case 12 months ago. As of now, Facebook also favours dynamic creative which is where you load all your versions of ads, images and videos. 

Simply put, if you give Facebook control, your ads will do better for the most part when Facebook is optimising them. 

Pay really close attention to Facebook’s policies, too - there has been a massive crackdown on ad shutdowns and disapprovals, especially in the last quarter of 2020. 

Even using the word “you” too often in ad copy can hurt you - that’s a red flag for Facebook.

But don't use any of this as an excuse to scale back your ads - like all things, you just need to adjust.  

6. Use SMS

Automated e-mails are fantastic - but it’s becoming harder to reach your leads.

An open-rate of 20-30% is pretty realistic, if you can dodge the spam filters, but even this rate has dropped over the last year - With text message, you’re looking at open rates higher than 90%.

You don’t need to ditch your e-mail campaign altogether - it’s actually really, really valuable - but in 2021, you should supplement it with automated texts. 

As always, feel free to get in touch with us on Facebook, or through the website, if you have any questions.