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Video Marketing
in Home Improvement
HOW TO ESTABLISH TRUST & AUTHORITY WITH ONLINE VIDEO
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Video Marketing
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As more and more users are going online to find information
about local businesses, there is a huge opportunity for
home improvement professionals to implement powerful
video marketing tactics in order to build trust, authority and
ultimately drive sales.
For general contractors, plumbers, electricians, interior decorators, landscapers or any professional
working in the home improvement space, it’s more important than ever to create a strong online
presence, attract new clients and show existing ones that you are an industry leader. While websites,
blogs and social channels are integral, online videos help to quickly establish your company as a trusted,
expert source - which translates into more customers and a healthier bottom line.
Marketing Costs are up
& more Companies are
turning to the Webi
With all the traditional advertising consumers
are bombarded with, the Internet represents
the largest and most cost effective opportunity
for sales growth available to home improvement
companies and contractors today. It is where
your consumers look first when making a large
purchase decision. If consumers can’t find your
company or if your company isn’t finding these
homeowners, you simply aren’t in the game.
{
“Over 70% of all new product and
service inquiries now start on the
internet.” (B2B Magazine)
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Video Marketing
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YouTube
Why Use Online Video?
Using video in the home improvement industry
offers several marketing advantages. Primarily,
in the field of home improvement it can be used
to establish trust and authority with potential
new customers, as well as helping to provide
value-added services to existing customers so
they return for more ii.
In the U.S. alone, over 43 million online videos
are viewed per month, with this rate rising
each and every month. The average viewer
watches over 23 hours of video per month,
Online videos can be used to drive traffic to
primarily through sites like YouTube. This is a
a website, acquire new clients, retain current
huge market where quality videos can earn
clients, build a reputation, or to demonstrate
significant web traffic iii.
installation, care, or maintenance of a
product. Additionally, videos can add valueadded services (such as troubleshooting or
tips) in order to develop an online following,
capture industry recognition, and increase the
company’s client base.
{
“The average cost of an issued home improvement
lead is over $300 and rising every year. The rising cost
of marketing is the biggest challenge facing home
improvement retailers today.” (Dave Yoho)
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Video Marketing
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Social Media as a
Marketing Tool
Taking Advantage of Google
Blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook
show that more than 66% of searches were
pages and YouTube channels can
conducted using Google v, indicating that
In early 2012 search engine use rankings
be used for customer outreach. Although
if companies are looking to attract
setting up and maintaining these accounts
business via search engines they
takes time, these channels enable companies
should primarily focus on ensuring
to reach large and engaged audiences
that their site ranks well on Google.
and establish online presence,
which results in increased brand
Besides having their website set up
awareness, traffic to websites and
correctly using appropriate search
improved salesiv.
engine optimization techniques, companies
can leverage additional Google services
including Google Places and Google+ to
increase search engine rankings. Adding
video and photos to these sites also greatly
improves rankings. Both services are free
of charge and can help web users to find
businesses online and find out whether
or not they have good reputations. Home
improvement businesses can further
improve their reputation by encouraging
past clients to leave feedback on these sites.
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Video Marketing
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Integrate a Local
Search Strategy
“With 70% of local consumers now using
the Internet to find good local businesses,
greater visibility on search engines and local
directories could put a local business in front
Here are a few tips for getting listed on
the map and at the top of organic search
results for your important keywords.
1
Claim your listing on Google Places
2
Optimize your listing with a keyword rich
business description, videos, photos, opening
hours, contact information and even reviews
from customers. It’s important to fill out your
information 100% as identified by Google in
order to experience the full SEO benefits of a
Google Places listing.
3
Claim other listings on local directories and
point links to your website or dedicated
landing pages that engage prospects and
convert them with strong calls to action
4
Encourage online consumer reviews
from your satisfied customers. As Google
considers consumer reviews to be relevant,
this is an important factor – just make
sure you point your customers in the right
direction so they know where they can leave
the reviews. Not only does Google value
this, potential customer’s do as well; they
increase the amount of referral business
your company can potentially receive. Local
consumers prefer to read up to 10 reviews
prior to making a decision about which local
business to use, according to Search Engine
Land. Increasingly your online reviews will be
one of your best selling tools vii.
of thousands of potential customers each
month vi ,” says Myles Anderson of Search
Engine Land. Further to this, since video
results appear in about 70% of the top 100
listings and have much higher click through
rates than their plain text counterparts, video
is integral to search engine strategy.
According to Forrester, web users
predominantly click on the top four results
for any particular search, and then move on.
For this and the above reasons, local search
has become a very important consideration
for businesses that focus on a local market.
Getting listed at the top of organic search
results and on the map keeps you above the
fold, meaning your customers are much more
likely to find you.
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Video Marketing
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Incorporate Video on your Website, Blog & Social Media
Window World of Minnesota does a great job of incorporating video into their marketing mix. They focus
on Video Testimonials from happy customers, which they host on their website, blog, YouTube channel and
other social media profiles.
Letting your best customers sell for you –
not only in written reviews but also in video
testimonials, where they can explain the
relationship they’ve had with your business
is the best way to build trust and credibility.
Customers spend 10x longer on sites with
testimonial videos, according to ReelSEO.
Ron Hazelton takes more of a DIY approach,
offering tips to loyal followers on the howto’s of home improvement. Although as a
contractor your approach would be different,
you can still offer your customers little tidbits
– this will keep your site sticky and if you are
seen as a helpful resource, they will know who
to turn to when the time comes.
}
Web users predominantly click on
the top four results for any particular
search, and then move on. (Forrester)
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Video Marketing
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Engage with a
Home Improvement
YouTube Channel
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{
In the home improvement
industry the click-through
rate for online media is
around 6.6%, which is higher
than the average across all
industries of 4.3%
Create engagement with
potential customers
by offering a few tips
and tricks on home
improvement viii. Strike a
balance between offering helpful information
and not selling your services for free.
Offer just enough information so potential
customers will know who to contact when
they do require home improvement services.
Your customers will appreciate that you are
sharing some of your skills for free.
Take things a step further by directing clients
to your YouTube channel via your website,
blog, social media (Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Google Plus etc) and other online
marketing platforms – it’s one of the many
ways you can strive to keep past clients and
prospects engaged. Create practical, how-to
videos with easy-to-follow steps. Videos like
these create stickiness – a reason for visitors
to come back to your YouTube channel or
website.
Why Hire a Video
Professional?
Professional videographers can assist with
creating a polished video that resonates
with audiences and delivers a clear message
about your company and why you are the
best choice. For establishing a reputable,
professional presence it is best to get the help
of a qualified video producer.
Jessica Thorpe, Vice President of Marketing
at EXPO says “We found that consumers
perceived feature benefits as more believable
when coming directly from the brand through
professionally-produced content, while the
unbiased user videos were more believable
in verifying specific product claims.” Customer
testimonials can therefore be a very effective
type of video to build trust and ultimately
drive conversions.
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Video Marketing
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Part of the measurement of success for a video marketing campaign is ascertaining the click-through rate or what
percentage of video viewers “click-through” to your website. In the home improvement industry the click-through
rate for online media is around 6.6%, which is higher than the average across all industries of 4.3% ix .
It is important to note, however, that about 57% of home improvement companies do not currently track their
click-through rates, so they are unaware of how successful their campaigns are at bringing traffic to their websites.
Getting Started with Video
Creating a video is simply one of the steps
involved in online video marketing but getting
noticed is one of the most important steps
and can mean the difference between a
successful campaign and one that garners
only a few viewers.
Attract attention and get the word out
about your video by posting on social media
platforms.
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Video Marketing
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in Home Improvement
Here is a guideline to get started ix:
1
Try to garner media coverage and use
video as support content
2
Embed video on your website
3
Add video in eNewsletter
4
Create blog post with video
5
Post video to YouTube
6
Tweet during multiple times of day
with video and relevant hash tags
7
Create engaging Facebook post with
video
8
Add video to LinkedIn business page
9
Add video to Google Places and
Google Plus
10
Add video to targeted networks in
your industry as well as directories
The more social media platforms that carry a
link to the video, the more viewers the video
is going to get and the more successful the
campaign will be.
Additionally, you can leverage your video by
linking from other articles, directories, reports
and white papers.
The Power of Video Marketing
Online video marketing is extremely powerful
with more and more users going online to find
information about local businesses, products,
services and the like.
Home improvement companies are uniquely
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Video Marketing
WHITE PAPER
in Home Improvement
positioned to provide information and value-added
services to increase their market share. Whether
looking for new customers or hoping to retain past
ones, video marketing for home improvement
companies is an integral part of customer outreach.
Appendix
i.
Three Deep Marketing, Mobile Marketing for Home Improvement Lead Generation
ii.
Stephanie Flosi, “December 2011 Online Video Rankings”, ComScore; January 2012
iii.
Stephanie Flosi, “December 2011 Online Video Rankings”, ComScore; January 2012
iv.
Business 2 Community, How Six Hours of Social Media Marketing can increase your Sales
v.
Stephanie Flosi, “February 2012 U.S. Search Engine Rankings”, ComScore; March 2012
vi.
Mashable, Home Improvement Videos
vii. Search Engine Land: Study: 72% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations, March 12, 2012
viii. BenchMark Email, Home Improvement Business Subscriber Click-Through Rates
ix.
Construction Marketing Blog, “Content Marketing is King, May 27, 2011
SoMedia Networks –
Video Solutions for Web Service Providers
SoMedia Networks has been pioneering scalable, cloudbased online video production services since 2006. Our
proprietary video ordering, production and delivery
platform combined with a North American network of over
2,500 videographers allows us to deliver high quality video
products at extremely low costs.
We’ve designed a simple, scalable solution so that Internet
Marketing Agencies and Web Design & Development
companies can immediately profit from selling online video
products to their clients.
Toll Free: 855-943-8736
Profiles
Engaging and unscripted videos that provide
clients with the opportunity to deliver a
personal message to potential customers in
their own style and tone.
Ads
Either scripted with a professional voiceover
or interview-driven to deliver a positive first
impression and drive higher conversion.
Testimonials
Captures customer experiences through
authentic, unscripted interviews that build
trust and credibility
News
Compliments traditional PR methods with
videos that are journalistic in tone in order to
establish credibility and drive media interest.
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