Social media marketing is important to building your business, and you should put the same care into it that you put into building anything else. Roofing social media can help you:
- Reach a wider audience
- Establish trust and credibility
- Drive traffic to your website
- Monitor customer sentiment
- Connect with home-repair influencers
- Deepen relationships with your current customer base
- Generate roofing leads
But it isn’t enough to create a profile and hope that people find you. You need an overarching strategy as well as some general tips regarding channels and content. Here are some of the processes and best practices that inform our own social media marketing services.
What Social Media Channels Should Roofers Be On?
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in social media marketing is trying to do everything and be everywhere. Instead, focus on a couple of platforms where you can build a community. Your choice should reflect your priorities and your customer base.
Different social media platforms lend themselves to different types of content and interactions. For example, if you want to develop a library of video tutorials in order to build credibility, you might be best served by YouTube. On the other hand, if you want to make local homeowners aware of your business, Facebook or Instagram may work better.
Your personal strengths and style should also play a role in your choice. Are you witty or artistic? Do you make great videos or know everything about the roof-related woes that members of your local community suffer? Find an arena in which you can shine.
Meta
Meta is the parent company for the platforms Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It commands the largest percentage of both social media users and social media ad spending. In fact, Facebook alone is responsible for a quarter of digital ad spending. It trails Google by less than 4%.
Whether or not you intend to post frequently, you should create a Facebook business page. That’s because Facebook now acts as a directory as well as a social channel. People often check the site for business information or reviews.
But you can do a lot more with a Facebook business page. Post updates about new products or services you offer, and share photos of completed projects so that customers can see what kind of work you do. It’s also a customer service channel where people can message you to ask questions.
Facebook has the oldest user base, making it a good fit for a roofing business. Its users are more likely to be home and building owners.
Instagram is a visual-based social media platform that allows users to share photos and videos with their followers. It’s perfect for roofers who want their work to speak for itself. You might post before-and-after photos of projects you’ve completed or screenshot customer testimonials to share.
The beauty of Instagram also lies in the centrality of hashtags. Draw attention to your posts by highlighting the subjects they cover. This allows people searching by hashtag to find you — even if they don’t already follow you. In addition to popular generic tags such as #roofer or #roofersofinstagram, try out more specific ones relating to problems solved or materials used.
WhatsApp is a messaging service that specializes in private rather than public communication options. However, Meta has announced its intention to develop its paid messaging and business applications. Keep an eye out for future developments.
Other Roofing Marketing Channels
Meta may be social media’s Goliath, but it’s not the only place you can develop a presence. Here are some other strong options for a roofing company.
YouTube
YouTube is a strange blend of a video library and a social media platform. It lends itself to longer content than other channels. That makes it a great place to showcase in-depth tutorials on topics such as how to prepare your home for winter storms or how to choose between asphalt shingles and metal roofs.
Worried that an amateurish video will undermine your professionalism as a roofer? Work with us to create exceptional videos that you can use across multiple platforms.
While you can post pictures and videos, the heart of Twitter remains short messages (tweets) and long conversations. Track trending topics and get involved in industry conversations. It’s an efficient way to show off your expertise.
Nextdoor
Nextdoor is a private online neighborhood network where members can connect with neighbors and local businesses. You can post about your services, share photos of completed projects, and offer exclusive promotions. You can also connect with other small businesses in the community.
If you’re active on the platform, take advantage of Nextdoor's "Recommendations" feature, which allows members to leave reviews of services they’ve used in the past.
LinkedIn is a professional networking site. It’s a good place to develop connections with others in the roofing industry, supply partners, or home construction influencers.
What Kind of Posts Should You Create?
Showcase the best of what your business has to offer — your expertise, work ethic, personality, etc. To do that, follow these best practices in deciding what to post.
1. Use High-Quality, Dynamic Images
People tend to scroll through their social media feeds quickly, so if you want to capture their attention, you have to harness the power of compelling visuals. For your next social media marketing campaign, pick pictures that show dramatic changes, workers in action, or a quirky personality.
2. Showcase Customer Reviews
Whether it’s through a snapshot on Instagram or a quotation on Twitter, you can get more mileage out of your reviews. Reviews establish credibility, so don’t be shy when it comes to distributing them.
3. Ask Questions
Improve your engagement rate while learning more about your followers’ needs, wants, and expectations. You can even create polls and surveys on some channels.
4. Use Facebook Ads to Expand Your Reach
Run Facebook Ad campaigns that increase brand awareness or spotlight a new roofing product or service that you're offering. You can even promote regular posts, saving you from the need to develop additional material.
5. Offer More Than Promotional Posts
Your followers don’t want to feel like they are being bombarded with sales pitches. Humanize your brand with more personal touches. Celebrate company milestones, or give viewers an inside look at your day-to-day operations.
6. Have Fun
Find ways to entertain your audience while still promoting your service. Vary up your content types, and don’t be afraid to get creative.
Need a few more ideas for the road?
- Ask followers to submit pictures of their own roofs for feedback from your team.
- Post stories about unusual jobs that have come your way.
- Give advice on how to find reliable roofing contractors in the local area.
- Challenge followers with trivia questions about different types of roofs.
- Share tips on preparing your home for different weather conditions.
- Share safety tips related to roof maintenance or working on rooftops.
- Discuss energy-efficient options available with modern rooftop designs.
- Post pictures of unusual roof designs from around the world. (Just be sure to respect copyright laws.)
Roofing Social Media Strategy
A coherent strategy ensures that the time and energy you put into social media will generate real results. While any effort should result in at least a small boost, you want to get the most you can out of your investment.
Step One: Identify Your Priorities
That brings us to the first step in the process. While specific marketing goals happen further down the road, you should define your general objectives clearly.
Social media is social. It's a digital marketing arena where you can connect with people and impact them. The best strategy for your roofing company will depend on the type of connection and impact that matters most to you.
Step Two: Know Your Capacity
Social media maintenance can be a full-time job. But you already have one of those. While marketing efforts need to be a priority, the key to success — and sanity! — is knowing what time and energy you can devote to them.
Be realistic about your limitations and crystal clear about the division of responsibilities. If your roofing business has a number of employees, who will take on the burden of creating content, posting it, and monitoring engagement?
You don’t have to do it alone. A social media management service can give you the benefit of their time as well as their expertise. Full-service companies like Scorpion also integrate your social media strategy with other digital marketing, guaranteeing a comprehensive approach.
Step Three: Set Your Goals
You can accomplish a lot with social media, but without clear-cut goals, it’s impossible to measure your success.
Turn your general priorities into specific, concrete goals within your reach. How do they translate into measurable social media goals?
A few examples:
- Develop brand awareness: Reach 100 followers on Instagram within the first six weeks.
- Deepen current customer relationships: Increase Twitter engagement by 10% for the following month.
- Drive web traffic: Increase Facebook referral traffic by 10% this quarter.
- Generate leads: Contact three community members in your area who have posted relevant questions on Nextdoor.
There are infinite possibilities, and the challenge is to set the right goals for your company. If you’re just getting started with this style of marketing, then you may need to adjust your goals as you become more familiar with it. That’s perfectly normal.
Step Four: Choose Your Tactics
Strategy is vision and overarching plan. Tactics are the means by which you execute it. Plan your social media:
- Content. What kind of material is most likely to generate the right type of interest?
- Outreach. How should you connect with other social media accounts? How can you encourage people to follow you on these networks? (Start by adding social media links to your website.)
- Advertising. What paid promotions are most likely to be effective? How much do you have to spend on Facebook or Instagram ads?
- Monitoring. How will you check in with accounts to make sure that you’re not missing potential leads or comments?
As you consider the possibilities, keep in mind that engaging with other people’s content is an important part of social media. People pay attention to those who return the favor.
Step Five: Develop a Calendar
A social media calendar provides an easy way to organize and schedule posts. It should cover both the content and when/how it will be published.
While sticking to a schedule is incredibly valuable, you don’t have to sit by your phone or computer waiting to push a post live at the right time. Roofer.AI allows you to schedule posts in advance and keep track of your engagement. As you get going, try posting at a couple of different times to see when your engagement is highest.
As for frequency, consistency trumps pure quantity in the world of social media. Your roofing marketing strategy should prioritize a steady stream of well-made content rather than periodic blasts.
Remember to take other digital marketing campaigns into consideration when sketching out your calendar. Your social channels should amplify other messages rather than compete with them. For example, you might announce a new blog article on Twitter or Facebook.
Work With Experts You Trust
We want you to feel empowered to develop a great social strategy and create high-performing content. The secret lies in concentrating your efforts, thinking through your strategy, and executing it with consistency and organization. With Roofer.AI, the power of social media is at your fingertips. Contact us today to learn more about how to take your marketing to the next level.