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Online marketing for tradesmen and other services

Online marketing can be difficult for a lot of businesses - you need to identify your key benefits, have clear and engaging messaging, and communicate this in an effective and persuasive manner. For tradesmen, online marketing can be crucial as the service offered is not a frequent occurrence for the customer and can involve a vast amount of money, say for a new fitted kitchen or renovated bathroom. Online marketing can be the difference between whether these tradesmen win work and make money, by being able to effectively convince a homeowner that they can be trusted to do a professional job.

Online marketing for services is often tricky as the experience can be subjective and difficult to compare, in contrast to features which can be measured for tangible products such as technical features and dimensions. Service businesses such as tradesmen need to convey trust right from the start of the business relationship, especially for tradesmen such as kitchen fitters, insulation installers and tilers who will come into the privacy of your own home for potentially a lengthy period of time.

Trust

So how do service companies convey trust to consumers, especially if the user has never heard of the company? Testimonials are often used and are a great way to achieve this - if it’s good enough for (numerous) others, then it should be good enough for you. Lengthy testimonials that go into detail about the service, judging all the intangible aspects of the service can provide great insight into how the service was delivered previously, and how it may be delivered in the future. Testimonials can offer confidence to the user that the service provider is established, legitimate and trustworthy, and reduce any perceived risk. Nowadays, testimonials can come in many forms e.g. written comments, video testimonials or social media; the latter is particularly relevant for those who seek that the service provider has been recently active, and can have greater credibility as uses a medium not controlled by the service company.

Reliability and flexibility

Testimonials from repeat users who have used the service time and time again are particularly powerful; these advocates communicate that the service has satisfied their requirements over a sustained period of time, implying reliability and consistency.

The nature of services mean that each experience can differ over time - no two meals are the same, even if similar ingredients are used; two haircuts are never going to be the same. With home improvement or repair projects, this is especially pertinent. Houses have differing structures, layouts, materials and ages, and over time have experienced varying states of wear and tear, or repairs and improvements (each of which would have used certain materials and designs).

Therefore, a routine task like the servicing of a gas boiler can be compared by different homeowners, even though each has a different make and model, and different systems in their own home. The boiler could be an unfamiliar brand or model which the tradesman has not repaired before, and in a property where the layout of pipes is not clear. Regardless of how difficult or novel the situation, the homeowner expects a professional service, and the skill of a good service provider is their flexibility, adaptability, and being able to cater for the person and situation at hand.

Effectiveness

Consequently the skill of a great tradesman, or indeed other service providers such as a doctor, is to be able correctly diagnose the situation (e.g. what needs addressing), finding an appropriate solution (are there factors that can influence the chosen approach?), carry out the strategy, and importantly review at the end and make sure all is fine.

Admittedly, it can be difficult to judge the long-lasting quality of home improvements just after they have been completed; similarly to the fact doctors may not always know if a patient’s condition has been permanently cured and will not return.

However, good tradesmen and service providers will pride themselves on the quality of their work and any online marketing activities should communicate this, both in the content and tone of voice. At the end of the day, potential clients will want to know if the person or business can provide what they need e.g. to have a new kitchen fitted, and whilst the factors mentioned previously are all important, they are likely to count for nothing if the basic service of installing the kitchen is not done well. So whilst it’s important for service providers to remember all elements of the service, the core offering should never be forgotten!

About MyBuilder

Each month, MyBuilder helps thousands of UK tradesmen market their services as small businesses or sole traders to hundreds of thousands of potential customers. MyBuilder provides online marketing for these businesses by offering a sophisticated platform in which they are able to promote their business, including reviews from previous users, creation of their own profiles (including photo galleries) and details of their qualifications and previous work.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gavin Chan .