Potential clients in your area need to know what you do, how you do it, and why they should trust you instead of other restoration companies.
Today, we’ll show you what makes restoration marketing specific, and provide tips to help you launch a memorable, practical marketing campaign.
Marketing Your Restoration Business: Understanding Your Target Audience
The first step in developing your restoration marketing strategy is to understand your target audience and what they need from you.
Each type of stakeholder in the restoration industry interacts with you for different reasons, and they all have unique needs and pain points you must consider.
Homeowners
For residential restoration services, emphasize that you’ll treat their property respectfully and empathize with their problems. Transparency is a must.
A locally-owned restoration company should highlight their community connections and that they also live in the local area.
Businesses
Commercial restoration jobs maximize profitability for the business owner by getting them up and running as fast as possible. Focus on your efficiency and the fact that you have a proven system in place that lets you work quickly but safely.
Connect with them as fellow business owners and show that you recognize their need to reduce downtime.
Insurance Companies
Insurance agents must know you’ll assist them with paperwork and provide accurate estimates. Make it easier for them to approve your work: explain your credentials and that you’re licensed and insured. Note your familiarity with their processes. Emphasize that you will communicate consistently throughout the project.
Despite their specific pain points, these stakeholders still have a lot in common, and well-written advertising material can target all of them at once.
Comprehensive Marketing Strategies for Restoration Companies
A fully integrated marketing campaign works online and offline, developing a consistent narrative that carries through every interaction with potential clients. Here are some components you’ll need to consider as you build your marketing materials.
Internet Marketing: Local SEO
Local SEO helps you rank on search engines for local keywords, such as town names and regions. Local SEO is vital for a restoration business, as you need to connect with people in your area instead of those half a continent away.
A professional website and a coherent online presence are critical. Your digital materials should emphasize where you operate, so when someone searches “water damage restoration” in your service area, you’ll be one of the first businesses to appear.
Enhancing Local SEO
Here’s how to improve your local SEO so that Google and other search engines will match location-based services to your site:
- On-page optimization: Generate landing pages for each of the major towns and cities you service. For example, if you work in the San Francisco metropolitan area, have pages for Sausalito, Alameda, Half Moon Bay, etc.
- Local keywords: Use place names liberally throughout your landing pages to better connect your content to the area.
- NAP consistency: NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. Make sure these are consistent everywhere on your site and in external listings.
For more guidance, check out our water damage SEO guide. We’re one of the top internet marketing companies in the restoration industry, and we’re happy to share our knowledge with you.
Google My Business Listing
Google My Business pops up when you click on a business name on Google Maps; it includes the company’s services, service area, contact details, and reviews.
Also, GMB is likely the first thing customers will click on when performing a quick Google search, so your listings must be comprehensive and accurate.
If you want to run Google ads, having an up-to-date GMB listing is a must. For more details, you can read about Google’s ad verification process to learn what you’ll need to submit.
Main Components of a GMB Listing:
- Contact info: Your NAP should be consistent, especially as Google verifies addresses and phone numbers.
- Services: List everything you provide, including fire damage restoration (if relevant) and mold remediation. Google makes this easy for you with its drop-down menu of services.
- Images: People love images, as they help make your business more ‘real’ to them. Include before and after photos (with the client’s permission), photos of your equipment, and pictures of your crew members working.
- Responding to customer reviews: Online reviews are an inextricable part of digital marketing. A thank you note on a positive review shows that you appreciate the feedback and are responsive to clients’ messages.
- Don’t shrink away from negative reviews: View them as an opportunity to learn and share more about your process. Always be polite and professional when responding to negative reviews, as aggressive comments about the client make you look worse than the review itself.
Content Marketing
High-quality, relevant content about your services should be a vital part of your marketing strategy. Not only does it help customers become more informed and confident about the service, but it also establishes you as an authority in your field.
There are many different topics you can write about, both on your site and through publisher sites. Here are some common restoration marketing topics that you can leverage:
- How-to guides for tackling minor water damage
- Advice on preventing water damage
- Disaster response tips (floods, storms)
- Articles on the water damage restoration process
- Articles on water damage insurance
Remember infographics and videos, too: these can condense content and help readers connect with your brand.
Online lead generation brought over $1 million in revenue for our restoration business in one year — in no small part due to our content marketing experience. We’re restoration SEO experts, and we’re ready to do wonders for your water restoration business, too.
Social Media Marketing
Your social media presence is a golden opportunity for brand visibility and customer engagement. Start by developing a consistent brand image, which includes a professional logo, imagery, and a narrative voice.
Maintain a constant social media presence on every platform you use, as this drives engagement and keeps you at the top of the algorithms.
Each platform has a different preferred format, so here are some ideas for content to share on the largest platforms. Some will overlap, so don’t hesitate to cross-post:
- X (Twitter): Short updates and tips work well here.
- Facebook: Medium-length posts with more details, such as project narratives with images.
- LinkedIn: Geared toward a more professional audience, you can discuss updates within the water damage restoration industry and information about your company.
- TikTok: This is an underutilized opportunity for restoration companies to engage with a younger demographic. Create short videos discussing the restoration business and share project details (with customer permission).
- YouTube: A walk-through of a restoration project can net you more restoration jobs if done well.
In a competitive market, social media marketing can make a huge difference for your restoration company as it helps build consumer trust and brand visibility.
National and Local Associations
Engaging with organizations builds a network of trust and leverages the halo effect: if consumers have a positive opinion of that organization, this will transfer over to your restoration company.
The US Chamber of Commerce lists eight small business organizations you can join to improve your credibility, but we also have some suggestions more specific to the restoration service industry:
- Better Business Bureau: The BBB has a highly positive reputation, especially as businesses must adhere to rigorous standards to retain their Accreditation. They also have high domain authority on Google, which helps your digital marketing efforts.
- Restoration Industry Association: Showcasing this association on your restoration website builds trust with new customers. It also gives you access to networking opportunities to gain restoration leads.
- Sponsoring local organizations: Sponsoring other organizations, whether it’s a Little League team or a radio weather station, is a great way to build goodwill with the public.
- In-person events: Meet clients and generate leads by setting up a water restoration business stand at the nearby farmer’s market, art fair, or community festival. This cements your company as a friendly and professional restoration contractor customers can trust.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is about keeping you fresh in the minds of consumers who have previously used your service or signed up for your mailing list. A regular newsletter should be informative and well-matched to the target audience rather than filled with general advice.
Email content can come in multiple forms, but here are some ideas:
- An advice column filled with seasonally appropriate information
- Company updates
- Recent major jobs you’ve completed
Key to this online marketing tool is having an excellent subject line, as users will only click if they’re curious about what you’ll be discussing.
List segmentation helps personalize the content to different groups. Form groups from your previous clients, potential customers, and local contacts, such as insurance agents or other contractors.
Networking: Build Up Reputation with Insurance Agents and Local Contractors
Building Relationships with Insurance Agents
Building strong relationships with local insurance agents doesn’t just make your job easier — it also helps generate restoration leads. They’ll be more likely to recommend you to their own clients if they know and trust you:
- Make it a priority to visit with insurance companies regularly, even if this is just a quick phone call or stop by.
- Consider hosting events with insurance companies you work with regularly, where you can share helpful advice with the public.
- Ask them to keep your promotional materials on hand to share with clients who may need your services and include backlinks to local insurance agents on your site.
Partnering with Plumbers, Roofing, and HVAC Companies
Partnerships with people in these industries have a mutual benefit: they can refer new customers to you and vice versa. Contractors are more likely to refer people to a restoration company they know and trust. At the same time, you can achieve a consistent flow of new leads by providing them with similar assistance. Here’s how to build partnerships:
- Present your services as a solution to their customer needs so whenever they get a call about roofing leaks or plumbing problems, you’ll be their first referral.
- Stay in touch: sign up for their mailing list and encourage them to sign up for yours.
- Consider co-hosting educational events to teach consumers about home maintenance and the necessity of preventative care. You could also develop a collaborative marketing strategy, such as sharing space on a printed advertisement or setting up booths next to each other at local fairs.
Reviewing and Improving Your Marketing Strategy
Your restoration marketing plan is a living entity that needs constant maintenance. However, you’ll need to rely on hard numbers to ensure you get the results you desire.
Make it a habit to review your plan quarterly, if not monthly, and dig into the statistics to see what needs to change.
Measuring Marketing Campaign Success
There are a variety of metrics you can examine to see whether your current strategy is working or not:
- Conversion rate: CR is measured by the number of people who perform a defined action. If this is low, you need conversion rate optimization.
- Website traffic: Low traffic suggests you may need a new restoration website. Break it down by traffic source to see what you need to target more.
- Cost per click: A click advertising metric defined by how much you’re spending versus how many clicks you’re getting.
- Impressions: Defined by the number of people who saw your ad, whether through a social media post, online marketing, or a billboard.
Keeping track of your digital marketing and physical marketing efforts helps you pinpoint what must change and enables you to build a constant revenue stream.
Effective Restoration Marketing: Create an Impactful and Coherent Message
Effective marketing strategies are ever-changing — as your restoration service grows, so will your restoration marketing plan. To stay relevant, focus equally on in-person and internet marketing and develop a consistent message across all communication streams.
A well-researched marketing plan can generate leads, enhance your company’s reputation, and edge competitors out of your local market.
