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Social Media

Social Media Basics for Home Builders, Remodelers, and Contractors

Social Media is an ever-evolving landscape. Platforms come and go, algorithms shift daily, and the user bases continue to sky rocket. Every day on social media is a chance to meet a new lead, learn about your audience's buyer journey, engage with a client, or even research your target audience. With so many ways to use social media, how do you know what's right for you?

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Social media tactics are very similar between home builders, remodelers, and contractors. Because the industry is so visual, the same platforms, strategies, and tactics apply. When used properly, social media can be one of your best sales tools!

Let's break it down.

 

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Why Use Social Media to Grow Your Home Building and Remodeling Business?

There’s a reason more and more companies are using social media to market their products and services: it works! Social media is everywhere. Even if your business isn’t attracting the quality or quantity of leads you expected from social media, there are still plenty of reasons to keep up on social networking platforms. Social media isn’t going away anytime soon, and you need to tap into this (mostly) free opportunity as much as possible to grow your business. Social media is the digital way to do what your company has always done - get the word out. Here is some information and reasons why you need social media marketing right now.

Flipping the Marketing Funnel

Traditional marketing use the marketing funnel to describe their strategy of acquisition, conversion, and retention. The technique is as follows: at the top of the funnel are the clients they are working to find. A mid-range of time and energy is spent on converting these potential clients into loyal customers, but the clients they hope to keep are almost an afterthought.

When we invert the funnel, by using social media marketing, it creates a pyramid, focusing on retention rather than acquisition, creating a platform where clients are able to interact, with your company and spread information about your business through word of mouth.

TwitterWhat Makes Social Media Effective?

The key lies in constructing an effective social media marketing strategy. There is no way to appeal to your followers without posting content. You should be updating your accounts with engaging content that will build a relationship with your followers. Responding individually to supporters across networks will give your followers a sense that you care about them and are more likely to stick around and continue engaging.

Use Social Media to Humanize Your Brand and Engage with People

The point of social media is to showcase what you can do, how you do it, and whether you do it well enough for people to buy from you. It is a natural form of communication between your business and consumers. Relatable content is key to engaging with consumers on social media, so ensure your consumers can identify with your posts. This type of content can also help humanize your brand and shows consumers your people, your passion, and your pride.

Remember people go to social media for three things:

  • To connect with people (and if you’re lucky your business)
  • To learn about something. What can you teach your followers about your industry?
  • To be entertained. Time-lapse videos, home walkthrough videos, and gorgeous photos are great entertaining content.

Use Social Media to Generate Trust and Brand Awareness

Consumers need to know your brand exists before they can purchase your services and one way to inform people is to share on social platforms. Social media marketing also helps to establish your legitimacy as a home renovation contractor and can help consumers begin to trust your company as a qualified builder. Here are some things you can do to better serve potential clients:  

  • Build legitimacy by posting a real photo of the business owner, the contractor or the director on your profile;

  • Provide your real name and contact info

  • Develop your personal brand with regular posts and by responding directly to comments and questions

  • Occasionally publish posts that are more personal and have nothing to do with business

Use Social Media To Gain More Website Traffic and Leads

Facebook and other social media networks allow you to distribute highly targeted social media advertisements to the target audience that is right for your home building business, which can be more affordable per lead than other means of advertising. Your content will also help generate leads as you continue to share helpful information.

You can also promote your own content through social media with the hope of going viral and increasing that page’s SEO value. Announce new blog posts, a free eBook download, or advice and information about home building or remodeling in your area. Make sure these posts are teasers, with the end goal of getting users to click through to your site to read the full content.

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How to Use Facebook for Home Builders, Remodelers, and Contractors

Facebook is the most widely known and most consistently used social media platform in existence. Roughly 2 billion people use Facebook, and over 80 million of those users are on the mobile app. In fact, studies have shown that 83% of women and 75% of men use Facebook - and the age range of 18-29 is the most engaged group on the platform. When you consider that women are likely your audience's decision maker and that the age group you have already been spending money to reach is waiting to be tapped, it seems very foolish not to be where they are!

"Where Do I Start?" - Facebook Basics

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Marketing on Facebook is different than how you interact with Facebook as a user. Let's dive into the nitty gritty.

creating-company-facebook-page-1How to Create (and Optimize) a Company Facebook Page

In order to start a company Facebook page, you must already be a user yourself. The company page is tacked on to your profile so that when you login, you can access both profiles at the same time. Once you are logged in, select the drop down arrow in your menu (see image) and scroll down to "Create Page." Facebook will begin a guided process of asking you for information to fill out your company page.

Here are our tips for optimizing your Facebook business page:

  • Start your page as a "Local Business" (this helps Facebook optimize your posts towards a local audience)
  • Use your logo as the profile image
  • Use an image from your most stunning project or new home for your cover photo
  • Be sure your correct contact information is included in your profile
  • To start, use a simple Call-to-Action on your profile such as "Learn More" or "Call Now"
  • If you have a company website, include a link in your profile

Optimize Your Facebook Business Profile

What Should be Shared on Facebook?

Think of Facebook like the water cooler. Everyone is congregating, sharing stories and pictures, listening to one another, and is fully engaged. It's a break from the real world, the workday grind, and a way to feel important while in line at Starbucks.

As a home builder, remodeler, or contractor, Facebook is the perfect platform to share stories about your brand, your team, your clients, and your projects! There are dozens of posts that will be extremely popular on your company Facebook page:

  • What Home Builders and Remodelers should share on FacebookProject Albums: Build albums of your projects - whether they're completed or still underway. Your target audience is using your Facebook page as a way to do research. They're learning if they like your brand, trust your team, and want their home to look like your "after" imagery. Your "before" and "during" imagery will also tell a story of their own - and that's likely a story that is rarely shared but is the exact experience that all homeowners share. Learn how to post and optimize your Facebook albums in this blog.
  • Team Bios: Feature team members with a head shot and their bio. Or, better yet, give your team members a chance to feel a part of your brand and to buy in to your social media marketing by allowing them to build their own post about themselves and to respond to any comments that come in!
  • Work Events: Share your culture. Whether we like to admit it or not, your remodeling or contracting company can be difficult to differentiate from the competition. Sharing your culture on Facebook for your audience to see is a great way to differentiate yourself! From a coffee break team meeting to a Christmas Party festival, showcasing who you are and what you represent is a great way to engage your audience.
  • Open House Events: Do you have a new home you're trying to sell? Or a recently renovated home that you want to showcase? Create an event on Facebook! This is the perfect way to easily reach a large audience and encourage them to come to an event. This article will help explain how to optimize your Facebook event and why this step is a great way to improve your Facebook marketing strategy.
  • Your Blog Content: If you're blogging already for your remodeling, contracting, or home building business, you should be sharing every new blog on Facebook! Keep in mind that Facebook's most recent algorithm updates are to protect their users from content saturation, so be sure that the blog you are sharing is something your users want to read and that your post is also high quality and engaging!
  • Your Website Content: If you have a form on your website that generates leads for you (such as a Contact Us or Schedule an Appointment page), you should share this conversion opportunity regularly!

 


 You may also enjoy:
7 Facebook Post Ideas for Remodelers

 

 


 

How Often Should You Post on Facebook?

Facebook is constantly editing and developing its algorithm to improve the user experience. So no matter what updates occur, as long as you are always posting with your audience and their user experience in mind, then you are working with the flow of traffic. Essentially, if you are posting when you know your audience is online, then your material will be seen.

As a general rule of thumb, Facebook is most popular in the mornings (before work), in the early afternoon (on a lunch break), and in the evenings (after work and into the night). If this is when your users are checking their Newsfeeds, this is a good time to post and show up. Insert yourself into their buyer journey - post when they're online! With our years of experience in social media marketing for builders, remodelers, and contractors, Builder Funnel recommends posting once a day on Facebook - but if that's too much then 3-5x per week is a good start.

Consider your buyer personas. When are they online? When are they interacting with Facebook? If you have a client who you have a strong relationship with, you can ask them for some insights such as when they're online, what kind of content they like seeing on Facebook and any other questions that will help you post the right stuff at the right time.

You'll also want to keep in mind what you are posting and when. For example, is an interested home buyer going to make a decision on their lunch break? Don't go in for the ask at 11:54am on a Tuesday - instead, share a helpful blog about how to design the perfect entertaining space when building a new home. Go in for the ask on a Sunday afternoon when someone is doing their research and shopping for a new home in their area - share your "Tour a Model!" page from your website!

How to Interact with Facebook Users

Social media is so powerful because it allows companies to interact with leads and clients immediately. Gone are the days of leads scrubbing your website until they find the exact detail they are searching for. Now users expect to be able to find everything instantly - and that includes by asking directly.


 

You may also enjoy: 2 Social Media Tactics that Will Improve Your Engagement with Remodeling Leads


 

Facebook is the perfect platform for this engagement. It encourages people to contact a company directly by commenting on a post but also by sending them a message. In fact, one of Facebook's dozens of ranking factors for your page is your Messenger response time! The point of being on a social media platform to begin with is so that you can be social! Be sure to respond to messages you receive - and if possible, within a very timely manner.

Another ranking factor for Facebook is how engaged users are with your posts. The more comments and shares your post gets, the more Facebook recognizes it as good content. This is the kind of good content that it wants to share more prolifically, so your post's reach will increase with each comment! Friends of the commenter will be able to see the post in their newsfeed which will then open their eyes to your company as well. So a very powerful way to interact with your audience is to find new ways for them to comment on your post. But if you're successful, remember to reply to their comments! This will increase that post's reach so that even more people see it.

Plus, high engagement posts are perfect opportunities to grow your page’s following and increase the reach your organic posts have. Here’s how you could do it by mimicking the anatomy of this client’s viral boosted Facebook post.

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"What's Next?" - Advertising and Lead Generation on Facebook

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Now that you've mastered the basics of marketing on Facebook as a remodeler, contractor, or home builder, you're ready to graduate to Lead Generation! This is the part of social media marketing that spreads past brand awareness and dives into conversion. After all, when you're putting so much effort into a single social media platform, you want to see the results!

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Calls-to-Action on Facebook

You may have noticed that your Company Facebook page has a call-to-action button on the right side of its banner image. While there are several options, it's important to consider how your users are finding you. For example, if they're finding you while still doing research on remodeling, they may not be ready to call you. In that case, it's best to encourage them to "Learn More" and send them to your blog or project portfolio on their website. If most of your users are finding you on the Facebook mobile app, then including a "Call Now" button will make their research easier rather than having to search your social sites and website to find a piece of information. Mobile users are more likely to call than browser users.

If you're not sure which button to use, start simple and work your way up. Switch them up every few months to see which gets you the most leads! You're only one click away from editing your call-to-action.

lead-generation-services-tabSetting Up Services Pages

Buried in the left menu of your company Facebook page, you can build out your Services tab. Click into Services, click the button "Add a Service," and start building out all of the services you offer. And, of course, we recommend being up front about pricing. Let your leads self-qualify themselves - you don't want to waste your time on tire-kickers.

Examples of Remodeler or Contractor Services: 
  • Design consultation
  • Kitchen remodeling
  • Bathroom remodeling
  • Whole home remodeling
  • Exterior remodeling
  • Basement remodeling
  • Additions
Home Builder Service Examples: 
  • Building a New Home
  • Building a Custom Home
  • Floor Plan Designs

lead-generation-groups

Creating and Moderating Groups on Facebook

Creating a private Facebook Group is an incredibly powerful tool for your future marketing endeavors. If you have a group of clients or leads who are extremely engaged in your brand, you can leverage their excitement and honesty to influence others. You can also get priceless feedback about your content, branding, messaging, pricing, and more!

As a home builder, creating Facebook Groups for all of your home buyers who live in particular communities or neighborhoods is an incredible way erase any buyers remorse. All new homeowners will have an instant network to meet neighbors, learn about local events, and an even to discover tax breaks in their particular area. Here's a helpful blog explaining exactly how you can create Facebook groups.

....JPGTo create a group, locate the "..." next to "Liked," "Following," and "Share" below your cover photo and select "Create Group" from the drop down menu. At Builder Funnel, we're huge fans of reaching out to people personally rather than with mass marketing, so we highly recommend you attach a personal note to each and every person you carefully choose to be in your group. After all, they are representing your brand!

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Boosting Posts on Facebook to Increase Reach

One huge benefit to posting on Facebook as a company page is that you are able to turn existing posts into boosts or ads with a click of a button. One of the best ways to increase your reach, gain more clicks to links you share, or to maximize a campaign is through boosting posts on Facebook.

You can quickly and easily add a target audience, a budget you're willing to spend to target that audience for a certain amount of time, and voila! Your post has been boosted. Read this thorough article on how to boost your posts and how to track their analytics.

Developing and Implementing a Facebook Ads Strategy

Beyond boosting posts, Builder Funnel also highly recommends developing a Facebook Advertising strategy and implementing immediately! Just like pay-per-click ads on Google started at cents on the dollar as popularity increased, Facebook is still in their advertising infancy. Paying for an audience or a click is currently far less expensive on Facebook than on Google, and now is the perfect time to start maximizing your advertising budget!


 Which PPC platform is right for you?

Download our comprehensive Facebook Ads vs Google AdWords checklist.


5 Facebook Ad StrategiesFacebook Advertising is complex - you have several options of how to optimize your ads (for video views, for website clicks, for views on the post, etc.) and endless options when you are building out your audience. Here are a few of our recommendations to get you off the ground:

  • Retargeting: A quick way to send out your first Facebook Ad is to target your existing leads and clients! You can upload Excel Spreadsheets as lists to build your audience. This is beneficial if you are trying to advertise for your current clients or leads to like your Facebook page, for example. It can also be the perfect audience if you are trying to re-engage your leads with a new promotion or a new open house offer.
  • Lead Ads: This format of ads is ridiculously engaging and addictive. It is the perfect way to discover new leads and gain their email address directly from Facebook rather than asking them to leave the platform and fill out a form on your website.
  • Pay-Per-Click: Both Google and Facebook give businesses the option to purchase PPC ads, but they operate differently. Google Ads work by showing your ad when specific keywords are searched. The targeting is based on immediate user search intent. Facebook Ads, on the other hand, target users by location, demographic, and interests to gain you clicks even when the user is not directly searching on a search engine. The targeting is based on passive information gathered about users and what users could be looking for solutions for.
  • Increasing Reach: Another way you can utilize Facebook's advertising platform is to pay to show up in more Newsfeeds. Essentially, you are able to hand pick your audience (for remodelers, you could target those who like pages such as HGTV and who meet a certain income level) and then showcase specific promotions or content directly to that audience.
  • Video Views: As a home builder, one of your best methods for promoting a new home is through photography and open houses. What if you were able to create a slideshow of your new home's photography and build a virtual open house tour - then share it specifically to local home buyers in that neighborhood? That's the power of Facebook.

 

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"Facebook Doesn't Work for Me!" - Analytics and Problem Solving on Facebook

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If that's how you feel, try our Done For You Social Media Program.

Check Your Analytics

The first thing to test when it seems like Facebook just isn't the right platform for you is to check your analytics. After all, everything you do on Facebook is measurable. Check your "Insights" tab at the top of your company page to learn more about what's working and what isn't. Scroll along the entire left navigation to discover more information about your promotions, followers, likes, reach, page views, posts, events, videos, and more!

The only way to fix something that isn't working is to know what's broken - and digging into analytics will show you what's broken.

If you're curious to see how else we can help you, Learn about our Done For You Social Media Program for Remodelers and Save $80!  We've made social media as easy as copy and paste!

Check Your Reviews

Another reason you could have low engagement or reach on your Facebook page is if you have been dinged with negative reviews. It's just a fact of life - there will always be haters. And on social media, it's even easier to leave a negative review that isn't even true!

The best thing you can do when you get a negative review is to respond in a timely manner. And if you truly believe that the review is a bot or spam, then reach out to Facebook for Small Businesses immediately to dispute it. Check out this article for more help on how handle negative reviews on Facebook.

Facebook Marketing works. At Builder Funnel, we've been using Facebook as a tool for marketing since 2010. And while things are constantly changing, our tactics work. If this all seems a bit overwhelming, we get it. That's we have dedicated professionals on our team who work in Facebook every single day to make sure our clients are performing the best they possibly can be on this particular platform. If you're ready to talk to us about how we can help you, reach out!

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How to Use Instagram Marketing for Home Builders, Remodelers, and Contractors

Instagram is one of the quickest rising social media platforms ever. Most other platforms had a gradual increase to popularity, but Instagram seemed to take over almost overnight. Its simple platform makes it easy to captivate users and even easier to engage. As builders, remodelers, and contractors, this is the perfect platform to showcase your beautiful photography!

Roughly 71% of businesses are on Instagram, and 80% of Instagram users are currently following at least one business profile. In other words, if your remodeling, contracting, or home building business isn't already on Instagram then your ideal leads are following your competitots instead. There are a variety of ways you can leverage Instagram to generate home building or renovation leads. According to SproutSocial, "as of March 2017, over 120 million Instagram users visited a website, got directions, called a business, emailed or direct messaged a business."

If you already feel strong about your Instagram game, then you can skip this section and go straight on to Houzz.

"Where Do I Start?" - Instagram Marketing Basics

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Instagram is probably the most streamlined social media profile you'll ever create. It's as simple as downloading the app, logging in, and going. Of course, we have plenty of tips on how to get started off by optimizing your profile and posts. But the first step is as simple as that - downloading the app.

instagram-business-profile-818139-editedHow to Create (and Optimize) Your Instagram Profile

After downloading the Instagram app and creating your profile, you can select the Settings wheel in the top right menu in order to build your profile into a business account. Follow the steps Instagram has already laid out to continue to convert your profile in a business page.

You will also be guided to attach other social media accounts available to Instagram account. If you are still developing your full social media strategy, you can come back to attaching other accounts later. If we're being honest, at Builder Funnel we don't recommend to share the same content on Facebook and Instagram. There is a reason they are two separate platforms - they have different audiences and each audience wants to see something different.

Continue optimizing your profile by adding your logo as your profile image. This will eradicate any confusion a user has when trying to search for you.

Next, fill out your profile information. This will include a limited number of characters (roughly 240 characters) to describe yourself. When writing about yourself on Instagram, keep in mind that this isn't the time to let your sales hat shout over your marketing mind. Take this opportunity to empathize and connect with users. Once they call you, you can put your sales hat back on.

What Should be Shared on Instagram

Instagram users are there for the photography. There's little else to see, right? Wrong.

Instagram is about stories. You should be using Instagram to share content that tells a story:

  • Image from iOS-1 Your beautiful, professional photography should be shared on Instagram! If you don't have a lot of imagery yet, we recommend you share each picture one at a time over a couple of weeks span rather than posting multiple images at once. This will increase your fan base consistently over time and will continue to increase your engagement on each image.
  • Multiple Images: On Instagram, you have the option to post a single image or multiple images at a time as a single post. Consider "multiple images" as similar to Facebook Album. They work well to showcase before and after imagery in the same post. They also work well to showcase an entire project in one post rather than uploading each image as a separate post.
  • Behind the Scenes: Instagram is the perfect place to tell the story of "behind the scenes" - whether this means team meetings or client projects that are still under construction. Remember that users are trying to learn more about you. They're trying to decide if you're the right company to work with and if they see themselves in your clientele. 
  • Instagram Stories: These are quick shots that erase after 24 hours, just like SnapChat only built into the Instagram app. If you're feeling daring, edit the images and add hashtags or tag people. If not, just take a quick shot of your cuppa joe in the morning and say hi! Instagram users just want to see what you're really like. Check out this quick pro-tip video on Instagram Stories!
  • Filters: They can make anything look beautiful, but they make anything beautiful look cheesy. If you already have professional photography, you can lay off the filter editing (#nofilter). If you used your iPhone to snap a few quick pics at your last job site visit, spice up your pictures a bit when posting with a filter.
  • Videos: Instagram users are obsessed with video. This is the perfect place to upload a video (as long as it's square and under 60 seconds) to share with your followers. Some Instagram video ideas for your business can range from a professional photography slideshow of a new home for sale or even a quick interview with your Chief Designer of a new project you took on discussing design challenges and goals.
  • Hashtags: As Builder Funnel teammate Danielle Russell would say, "I'm seriously so glad you asked, because I'm sick of seeing your hashtags." (Check out her full rant on video, or read her detailed article on how to improve your hashtags.) Using hashtags properly on Instagram will help your content be found by those who are directly searching for it - such as #homeremodeler and #dallasremodeling.

How Often Should You Post on Instagram

Growing your followers on Instagram requires consistent posting. This means that it's critical to keep posting over time in order to show up in peoples' searches. If you have a ton of imagery, you can post pretty regularly. You may even want to add a few projects (as multiple images or as single images at a time) right away so that users know what kind of pictures they'll be seeing moving forward if they follow you.

If you don't have a lot of imagery, post 1-2x a week. It's fine to start small! If each image and caption tells a story, then it doesn't matter if you're not posting daily - you're posting what Instagram users look forward to discovering. Remember, quality over quantity.

Because of the nature of the Instagram algorithm, time of day doesn't matter as much for posting. Similar to Facebook, however, we recommend posting when people are online - before work, during lunch, and in the evenings after work. Instagram, actually, is extremely popular late into the night for those who have already climbed into bed but just aren't quite ready to sleep yet.

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Interacting on Insta BFHow to Interact on Instagram

Just like Facebook, Instagram is an extremely social platform. There are a few important ways to remember to interact with your followers on Instagram that will make sure they feel appreciated and engaged. And before you ask how responding an Instagram Direct Message could help someone choose to buy a house from you, let us remind you that Millennials grew up in a world where research is largely conducted on social media platforms and they are your ideal buyers now.

Here are the key ways to interact on Instagram:

  • Direct Messages: Instagram users can send your business profile a message! Sometimes, these messages are just to compliment your work (in which case you should respond), and sometimes these messages are just bots asking you read their soon-to-be NYT Bestseller.
  • Comments: If your followers comment on your posts, you should always respond! When others see that you respond to comments, they'll feel more welcome to comment on your posts as well. It's a snowball effect of goodness that increases your post's popularity and will help it reach the first page of "Search" on Instagram.
  • Instagram Stories: Clients may tag you in the pictures during and after a renovation, for example. If these are in Instagram Stories, you will receive a notification. This is the perfect time to turn a client into a raving fan by responding with how much you enjoyed working with them and that you hope they'll recommend you to friends and family as they begin their new home or remodeler search. Further, leverage your own Instagram stories by snapping a quick pic with your client’s during the stages of the project. Then, mention your clients by using the “@” symbol and typing their name, so you can also leverage their network in direct connection to your account. (If want to go above and beyond with your marketing, you can present a collage of these photos as a housewarming gift at the end.)

"What's Next?" - Advertising and Lead Generation on Instagram

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Because Facebook owns Instagram, you will have the option to optimize and share the same ads on Facebook as on Instagram without any extra work. This is a great way to increase your followers on Instagram!

Lead Generation on Instagram

Instagram prides itself on its simplicity. In an effort to maintain this, there aren't many ways to optimize your business page for lead generation. If you consider Instagram as a brand building tool, then that's just fine. For those who are truly interested in your brand, however, there a couple of ways to make sure you engage them:

  • Link in Bio: The only clickable link you can have on Instagram is a single link in your bio. That means that when you post, you can't link to a blog or website page. If you're desperate, you can write out your URL, but because Instagram is an app, the likelihood of someone copying and pasting your link into a separate browser and leaving the Instagram app entirely is very low. You can continually update the link in your Instagram bio to see what engages your fans - and typically your website home page is a great starting place.
  • Promote: Just like boosting a Facebook post, you have the opportunity to boost any of your posts that are performing well. We recommend waiting to see what post performs well organically and then putting a budget behind that to increase its reach.

instagram-analytics-109280-edited"Instagram Doesn't Work for Me!" - Analytics on Instagram

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Remember those stats from the intro to Instagram? If Instagram isn't working for you try our Done For You Social Media Program. There are several reasons why your business should be on Instagram

Check Your Analytics

When logged in as your business profile, you can check your Instagram analytics. This is helpful to see which posts are performing best, what days you tend to gain more followers, how many clicks your chosen URL receives, and what your audience demographics currently look like.

If you're looking to get started with a few of our tips, check out our Done For You Social Media Program that makes Instagram as easy as copy and paste.

If any of these analytics doesn't represent what you are hoping to achieve, then test! Try new filters on your images, try posting at a different time of day, do more in-depth hashtag research. There are plenty of methods to try and increase your Instagram engagement.

Of course, we understand that it seems overwhelming. Realistically, that's why we employ our Builder Funnel Inbound Marketing Specialists - to improve your social media engagement!

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How to Use Houzz Marketing for Builders, Contractors, and Remodelers

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Houzz has been a popular social media marketing platform since 2009. While its popularity among remodelers and contractors has been on the decline, it is still very popular for the end user - those searching for a contractor or remodeler. According to 2017 data, Houzz boasts 40 million users and over 1.5 million local professionals (such as yourselves).

As Houzz's business model has shifted to lean heavily on benefiting their Pro Plus accounts and to offer a variety to its end users, its popularity among contractors and remodelers is dwindling under cries of commoditizing the industry. For now, users enjoy being able to search for local professionals, sifting through project imagery, and researching costs and trends on the site.

Houzz is also relevant for home builders. While you will have fewer projects to share by nature of business, it is still an excellent way to share images of your completed homes (especially once they're staged), whether they're model homes or quick sales.

"Where Do I Start?" - Houzz Basics

Your Houzz profile will have 3 primarily important functions - showcasing project imagery, responding to messages and questions, and developing a system to get reviews on your profile.

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How to Create (and Optimize) Your Houzz Profile

Similarly to both Facebook and Instagram, we recommend building your professional profile using your logo as your profile picture. Your cover photo should either be a picture of your team together or a particularly impressive project. Keep in mind that this is likely someone's first impression of you if they've landed on your profile page.

In an effort to keep your profile looking active and engaging, we recommend updating your cover photo seasonally. Several studies have shown that people try to see themselves in a set of clientele before making a decision. Updating your cover photo seasonally will also aid in showcasing the type of project users are currently searching for as well (decks in the summer, three season rooms in the spring, and kitchen renovations before the holidays in the winter for example).

As you continue to fill out basic information on your profile, Houzz will highlight what information to continue providing to optimize your profile. Houzz recommends building out several Projects, collaborating with clients on Ideabooks, requesting Reviews from clients, and responding to Questions and Messages.

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What Should You Share on Houzz?

Houzz offers a few ways to share your content in front of your audience. The most common mistakes we see in sharing on Houzz are easily avoidable. Here's where you should focus your content:

  • Houzz Projects: This section of your Houzz profile requires professional photography of completed projects. This is not the time to showcase behind the scenes iPhone pics. When users are searching on Houzz, they are trying to gain information on your level of professionalism, project quality, and other business characteristics. They will do their research on your brand further on sites such as Facebook and Instagram if you have made the cut on their list from Houzz. Projects on Houzz are critical because they showcase your expertise. You can optimize each project by using SEO to build your titles, descriptions, and keywords.
  • Houzz Ideabooks: If you do not have any new imagery and are still looking for a way to keep your Houzz profile looking active, you can utilize Ideabooks. These are simply ways to collaborate or share designs that you like. Simply save an image on Houzz and create an Ideabook to include this image under. You can create multiple Ideabooks and save images under them in a structure very similar to pinning on related topic boards on Pinterest.

How Often Should You Post on Houzz?

By nature, posting on Houzz is very time-intensive. Projects can take weeks (or even months) to complete. Staging and sending professional photographers through after the project is complete also adds time to the overall timeline.

Houzz understands the needs of contractors, remodelers, and builders. Posting on Houzz doesn't need to be daily or even weekly. In fact, while we do recommend posting imagery as soon as a project is complete to better showcase your expertise in a timely manner, monthly posting seems to be the norm. If you don't have projects or photography completed yet and it's almost the end of the month, we recommend creating an Ideabook instead to share relevant content that way.

How to Interact on Houzz

Houzz offers three main ways to interact with its users:

  • Reviews: Houzz recommends continually asking for reviews. They have made the process even simpler by sending out emails to clients of yours who have Houzz profiles asking specifically if they would like to review you. Reviews are a large element to Houzz's algorithm - but on top of that, reviews are essentially word of mouth marketing and therefor carry a lot of weight.
  • Questions: Houzz users can ask questions related to your imagery. For example, if a user is searching for Seattle design build remodelers and come across your profile and start sifting through your imagery and stumble across a beautiful bathroom renovation with a stunning chandelier, that user can submit a question to you asking how they can purchase the same chandelier. Answering questions is good for your Houzz algorithm as well as building your brand as a helpful and reliable source of information.
  • Messages: Another way Houzz users can reach out to you is directly through a messaging board on Houzz. This is most used when asking a local professional if they service a specific area or if they have a question directly related to their future remodeling plans. Responding to messages in a timely manner is another ranking factor for Houzz, so be sure to keep an eye on your inbox or opt for a text or email notification when a message is received.

 

"What's Next?" - Advertising and Lead Generation on Houzz

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Advertising on Houzz can be pricey, but we have discovered a couple of options to utilize Houzz for lead generation for free.

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Project SEO

When building your projects, you are able to write a project description. With the help of some basic HTML coding provided in this helpful article, you can link a landing page with a premium content offer in this section. We recommend linking a related eBook download landing page - if the project is a newly remodeled kitchen, you should link to an eBook about kitchen design trends or a case study on a kitchen renovation. This is the easiest way to draw Houzz users directly to your website.

 

 

Pro+ Accounts

A Houzz Pro+ account costs about $350 per month per location and per service. In other words, you're looking at a $4.2k bill annually to be promoted in Houzz at a minimum.

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With a Pro Plus account, you get a few big benefits such as gaining a Houzz rep to help you maximize your profile, showing up more readily in searches based on location, and appearing as the third featured company on the Houzz home page (based on location again). These accounts specifically target a selected city rather than county or zip code break down. If you work within several cities, we would recommend you select the most lucrative city rather than targeting multiple (unless you want to see your bill increase even further).

Sponsored Articles

Houzz offers their writing team to write an article on a recent project you completed to feature in their blog and newsletter. The promotional piece would appear in their Houzz Stories section for a limited amount of time and would also go out in Houzz's newsletter for a hefty bill of over $2K.

"Houzz Doesn't Work for Me!" - Analytics and Problem Solving on Houzz

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Before you give up on Houzz entirely, be sure to check the usual suspects of why your profile isn't performing well.

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Analytics

When logged into your professional profile, you can access basic analytics from the Dashboards tab in the top menu. You can discover which images and projects are getting the most views, saves, impressions and other such information, as well as how many impressions or views your profile has gotten in the past 1-3 months. If you have a Pro+ account, this will be broken down by Promoted and Organic traffic.

Professional Photography

We can't stress this enough. In fact, a Houzz rep has once shared privately that pictures that aren't aesthetic or professional will not show up in searches. They can be detrimental to your brand on Houzz, so invest in a professional photographer. If you feel that your images aren't getting saves and your profile isn't getting views, this could likely be the culprit!

If you're curious to see how else we can help you with your Houzz strategy and implementation, learn more about our Social Media Done for You Program! We've made social media as easy as copy and paste, including a full video library of helpful training and tips!

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All Other Social Media Platforms

What about Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and the rest of them? Luckily, these platforms have proven not to be imperative lead generators for contractors, remodelers, and home builders, so it's that much more important to really focus on Facebook, Instagram, Houzz and even options like NextDoor.

Yeah - it's a lot! Do you want to ignore social media and give up on these lead generation platforms? Before you do that, remember you can hire someone to help whether that's us or another agency!

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