Help Your Electrical Business Reach More Customers with Electrical Advertising

Most Common Challenges Electrical Contractors Face When It Comes to Advertising

One of the good things about being an electrical contractor is the demand for work. But, there is also competition. So how do you make sure your company is the one people think of when they have electrical problems? Advertising.

Coming up with different slogans and taglines, marketing campaign ideas and thinking outside the box on how to market your business, isn’t easy. You have likely already come up with a list of challenges your business faces when it comes to advertising. Let’s take a look at some of the challenges electrical contractors face when it comes to advertising.

Finding a budget

Whether it’s digital marketing, email marketing, flyers or any other form of print and digital promotional material, it’s going to require you putting your hand in your pocket. Finding a budget to put any strategy into action is a common problem a lot of electrical contractors face. Especially if you’re a one-man band or are in charge of a small business, as it can feel harder finding the resources. You’ll run into funding problems if your advertising efforts don’t provide enough return on investment (ROI) as well.

One of the best ways to avoid this is to ensure you’re reporting on business metrics, such as conversion rates which will tell you how effective your marketing efforts are at convincing customers to make a purchase.

Taking risks

This may not sound like a problem, but it can be hard to step outside of your comfort zone. However, if you want to stay up to date with the latest trends and electrical advertising ideas, you’ve got to take a leap of faith. Not all advertising campaigns will bring the same benefits to you or your business, so there will always be an element of risk-taking. If you’re not willing to take risks then it may be difficult to stand out from the competition.

Customer retention

Encouraging customers to choose your business over and over ties in very closely with your advertising efforts. It’s more cost-effective to keep your current customers than it is to acquire new customers, so keeping your existing customers happy is certainly something you will want to factor into your electrical contractor advertising strategy.

Think about offering existing customers loyalty offers or discounts, as well as scheduled email or SMS messages periodically. It’s a subtle way to remind customers of your services while not being too pushy.

Local competition

Being seen and implementing an effective advertising strategy can be tough, especially with the amount of competition you’re faced with in the electrical industry. There are a whole lot of other electrical businesses and contractors out there trying to do exactly the same as you. To avoid being beaten by the competition, analyze different campaigns and focus on which ones are most effective. You can then put more energy and time into refining and strategizing those areas of your electrical advertising ideas.

What Does Advertising as an Electrical Contractor Mean?

There are a lot of different types of electrical contractor advertising. Especially in the digital age we live in. More traditional methods include electrical advertising flyers and leaflets delivered in your local area. But, when you factor in digital advertising efforts, the scope of people you can potentially attract is much larger. In general, you will want to think about both physical and digital advertising to ensure you get the most bang for your buck!

What are some electrical contractor advertising ideas?

Let’s take a look at some electrical contractor advertising ideas including building a website, starting a local advertising campaign, social media and using Google Reviews.

Build a website

Whether it’s through a smartphone, tablet or laptop you’ll be hard pushed to find somebody who doesn’t use the internet in some form. Capitalize on this and make sure you have a website or landing page for your contracting business detailing your business information, contact details, phone numbers, logo and electrical services you offer as a bare minimum. Wordpress, Wix, Squarespace and many others offer plenty of low cost and user-friendly options to help you build an online presence.

Once you’ve laid the groundwork you can then look into having an online booking system, online reviews and even photos for a more personal touch. This gives existing customers a place to reach you and invites potential customers searching for a service you offer, into the business.

Start a local advertising campaign

This idea can be implemented using print advertisements or digital, or both! Offer an incentive for local and new customers to try out your services. That could be in the form of leaflets or flyers posted up around the area, in business windows (provided you’ve asked permission) and within trade publications. Alternatively you can offer first time discounts or money saving offers through your website as well.

Social media is your friend

More than half the world use social media in some form, specifically 59% of people globally. That’s a crazy statistic but one you and your business can jump on board with. Use social media to advertise and shout about your business. There’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and a heap more offering ways to share content and promote yourself. It’s one of the best marketing tools when looking at advertising for electrical contractors.

You’re able to set up scheduled posts, graphics and all manner of content. If you take the organized approach then you don’t even need to be at home. It’s a no-brainer.

You could even start doing short, snappy “How-To” videos. Whatever it is, you want try and tap into your customers problem and then show them how you or your business can help solve it.

Tailor your electrical advertising

If you’re putting content out and scheduling social posts for your audience, you want to make sure it’s going to catch their attention. And the easiest way to do that is to tailor your content.

For example, you may want to publish a blog about the top five ways on how to be more energy efficient, or a social post using an electricity themed topic and meme. You could even start doing short, snappy “How-To” videos. Whatever it is, you want try and tap into your customers problem and then show them how you or your business can help solve it.

Use Google Reviews

With 78% of online searches happening through Google, if you aren’t employing Google online reviews as part of your customer advocacy and advertising strategy, then you really need to start. Use Google to search for ‘electrician’ in your area. You will get a number of business listings. But how many of them are attached with Google reviews? And how recent are those reviews?

This is a great opportunity to get a leg up on your neighbouring competition. Getting a Google review for your electrician business can be quite simple–just ask. Ask your customers to leave you a review at the end of a completed job. You can send a text, email or hand them a card. You can even offer a discount off their next service as an incentive.

As a bonus, Google reviews help with your search engine optimization (SEO) and visibility in Google, as it favours those businesses with high and recent activity. In other words, getting regular reviews boosts your business listing towards the top of the search results. Another added bonus: this also improves click-throughs to your website.

Why Does Advertising Matter for Electrical Contractors?

We’ve touched upon a few benefits that advertising for electrical contractors can bring for you and your business. But let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits it can bring such as an increase in revenue and improved brand recognition.

Increased revenue

To grow your electrical business you’ll always need revenue. It’s vital to bring in more money than you spend so that you make a profit and see good ROI. The same goes when it comes to your electrical advertising plan. As the business saying goes, “you’ve got to spend money to make money”, and investing in advertising as a part of your strategy can help you do exactly that.

Putting money behind a good advertising strategy will help your profits soar, if it’s done right. One way is starting a pay-per-click (PPC) digital advertising strategy. Electrical PPC marketing strategies could help you find new customers at a lower cost than traditional advertising.

Improved brand recognition

Big name brands we all know such as Disney, Netflix, Apple and many others, have all done a good job of making it easy for customers to recognize and identify their products by having a strong presence both online and in the real-world. Therefore, customers naturally think of these brands first when they want to purchase a particular good or service. You want the same thing for your brand and your business; you want to be top of mind and easily identifiable.

Electrical advertising will increase word-of-mouth among the local community, looking for trade services that you offer. If no one is mentioning your business to others, then potential new customers might not even know you exist.

Focusing on digital platforms such as social media, registering through Google Business and having a company website all help you become more recognizable, plus build brand credibility and trust. In turn, you’ll attract more new customers and increase revenue.

Customers will seek repeat business

When you think about other electrical contractors advertising methods are there specific images that stick in your mind? A good way to encourage repeat business is through promotional offers or using a targeted email campaign. Aim to hit the right balance with the frequency of emails you’re sending as the last thing you want customers to be doing is looking towards that unsubscribe button. It could be tailored offers or new content being published that provides hints and tips for your customers, whatever the case, emailing regularly is the perfect way to keep your customers engaged and returning to your business.

How to Do Electrical Contractor Advertising Right

The different ways of advertising your business are vast and have their own pros and cons. Whether it’s posting electrical advertising flyers, setting up an email strategy or utilizing social media. The end goal is always the same; to drive revenue, increase your customer base and grow your electrical contractor business. Let’s take a look at a few ways which you can be sure you’re doing it the right way.

Create compelling advertising

If you’re looking at digital or print advertising, make sure you’ve done your research and understand what customers are looking for. Look into what your target audience responds to, most platforms will have analytics for you to see who you are reaching and you may need to try some different strategies before you find one that works.

For example, if you’re looking at digital advertising on Instagram or Facebook using strong imagery is vital. It can be images of previous work completed, or a common job that’s carried out regularly. Ensure you also put the important business details such as contact information, location and services offered.

Draw customers in with your advertising copy

It’s no good writing words for the sake of filling up space. With your electrical advertising any copy needs to add value. Show customers what benefit they’ll see by choosing your business and how you’ll solve the problem, that’s usually one of the top reasons a potential customer will click on your advertisement. In addition, use emotive language to draw in the reader. For example, perhaps somebody is experiencing faulty lighting due to poor wiring. By highlighting this specific issue it speaks to them directly and brings that emotion to the service. People are much more likely to click through from an advertisement when an emotional response is triggered.

Keep analyzing

Don’t become complacent with your advertising strategy. Not every campaign or idea is going to be successful, some will perform than others and some will be underwhelming. As long as you’re analyzing why they’re a success or failure, with profitability in mind, you can bounce back. For example, you can take a look at how many people converted to customers during a set period of time for a specific advertising campaign. Or you can look at how many people are clicking through and engaging with your email advertising efforts.

Summary

Electrical advertising is an on-going learning process, you’ll get out as much as you put in. Put together a solid advertising strategy and keep learning to understand your customer base. You’ll start to see growth and profitability in no time. And if you’re struggling to find the time to prioritize advertising check out our Five Tips to Find Time for Field Service Marketing.