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How to grow your business with digital marketing.
An interview with Marcus Clayton, Marketing Consultant
Bryan Shankman
May 02, 2024
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Workbench, a resource-rich weekly newsletter and podcast for home service business owners.
The Workbench is managed by Bryan Shankman (@bryanshankman). After spending ten years in tech sales, Bryan is now a full-time entrepreneur focused on building The Workbench and SaaS company, ToolDesk, an all-in-one marketing automation tool for Jobber.
For this week’s newsletter, I had a great conversation with Marcus Clayton, an independent marketing consultant specializing in home services businesses.
Marcus helps home services businesses grow through SEO, Google Ads, web design, and more. Marcus also offers ready-made websites for cleaning companies via Cleaning Websites Templates.
In my conversation with Marcus, we covered a framework for thinking about the full marketing funnel, what makes for a great lead form on your website, the best tools to get started marketing your business, and more.
The 9 Key Takeaways
Below are the 9 most essential insights from my conversation with Andy that you can apply to your home services business today.
1. The R-A-C-E Framework
Marcus uses a simple framework to encapsulate each stage of the marketing funnel that leads go through to become customers:
R - Reach
A - Act
C - Convert
E - Engage
Home service business owners can craft a road map to transform a new lead into a loyal customer by understanding and implementing strategies at each phase.
RACE stands for Reach, Act, Convert, and Engage. It encapsulates the whole sales and marketing pipeline. Initially, you focus on awareness—getting noticed through ads or local promotions. Next, you engage these potential customers by bringing them to your platform, often a website, where you aim to convert them into leads. Engaging customers involves turning those leads into paying customers and maintaining their interest through superior service and follow-ups.
2. Building A Marketing Funnel
Marcus highlights the importance of a well-constructed marketing funnel that guides potential customers from discovery to purchase.
Mapping this journey clearly can help identify where drop-offs happen and improvements are needed.
This detailed overview is crucial in understanding customer behaviors and optimizing strategies to increase conversion rates effectively.
The funnel starts with generating awareness using various advertisement modes, moving to engage the customer through website or profile clicks. The critical juncture is the conversion of interested audiences into leads, and subsequently, transforming those leads into paying customers—a process that needs meticulous planning and framework understanding.
3. Choosing The Right Tools
Marcus advises strategically selecting marketing tools that boost visibility and enhance engagement.
Effectively leveraging these tools can significantly increase the reach and action stages of the R-A-C-E framework, ensuring a steady flow of prospective customers.
Employing the right tools streamlines the marketing efforts and increases the chances of capturing a wider, relevant audience that is more likely to convert.
Tools like Google Ads and SEO are fundamental in reaching potential customers. Additionally, focusing on platforms where target audiences are likely to seek home services, like Angie's List or Yelp, can immensely benefit business exposure. Focusing on tools that increase visibility and customer engagement will continuously fuel the top of your marketing funnel.
4. Crafting Effective CTAs
Marcus stresses the need for a compelling call to action (CTA) to convert prospects into leads.
For home services, where the competition may offer similar services, the differentiation provided by an innovative CTA can be a game-changer.
This strategy draws potential customers in and can substantially enhance the effectiveness of ads and promotions, ensuring they deliver tangible results.
The key is to stand out. While many opt for 'free estimates', enticing potential clients with specific offers or discounts, like '$50 off spring cleaning', can significantly increase click-through and conversion rates. It's about creating an irresistible offer that captures attention immediately.
5. Lead Forms That Actually Convert
Marcus points out a common shortfall in home service websites: overly complicated lead forms.
By simplifying these forms and making them accessible earlier in the customer's journey, businesses can considerably boost their lead generation rates.
This approach streamlines the acquisition process and broadens the funnel to include customers needing more nurturing before committing.
Marcus shared an example of a high-converting lead form from his client’s website:
Milton Cleaning Lead Form
It's crucial to understand that most visitors might not commit on their first website visit. Most websites only cater to customers at the decision stage, ready to engage. However, by simplifying the lead form to capture the main contact details – perhaps through a quick offer or discount – you can engage customers earlier in their decision process, significantly increasing lead captures and conversion opportunities.
6. Why You Should Record Calls
Marcus explains how integrating call tracking and robust CRM systems can bridge the lead generation and conversion gap. Implementing these tools means every call or inquiry is recorded, tracked, and followed up systematically.
This organized approach prevents potential customer leakage and maximizes conversion potential, making it an invaluable tactic for business owners looking to convert leads efficiently and improve overall customer handling processes.
Using call tracking and CRM systems like High Level and Jobber helps accurately measure lead sources and manage follow-ups effectively. This ensures no lead goes uncultivated, which optimizes conversion rates. Establishing a systematic approach to handling incoming leads via tracking and dedicated follow-up processes significantly enhances the chances of turning inquiries into actual sales
7. Tracking The Right Metrics
Identifying and monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) is crucial for any marketing strategy
For home service businesses, understanding the following metrics can provide a clear overview of what strategies are working and which areas need improvement.
Traffic: Monitor total and source-specific website visitors.
Engagement Metrics: Track views of important pages on your site.
Conversion Rate: Measure the rate of inquiries to customer actions.
Close Rate: Analyze the percentage of leads turning into sales.
Return on Investment: Assess the profitability of different marketing channels.
Tracking metrics such as traffic acquisition, engagement on critical web pages, and lead conversion rates are vital. These metrics offer insights into the effectiveness of marketing strategies and can guide further optimization across the marketing funnel."
8. Avoiding common mistakes
Marcus emphasizes the critical nature of follow-up in marketing. Home service businesses often invest heavily in lead generation but fail in conversion due to insufficient follow-up strategies.
By recognizing and rectifying this gap, businesses can increase conversion rates and capitalize on their marketing investments more effectively.
Many businesses ignore lead nurturance and follow-up. Once a potential customer shows interest, maintaining engagement through follow-up calls or emails is critical. Failing to do so means neglecting substantial business growth opportunities from warm leads.
9. Getting Started
For new home service businesses, Marcus recommends starting with LSAs due to their lower barrier to entry and effectiveness in lead generation.
This strategy allows new companies to establish a foothold without significant upfront investments, using initial gains to fund more expansive marketing efforts.
This step-by-step build-up ensures a budget-friendly starting point while setting the foundation for more comprehensive marketing strategies.
Begin with a focus on Local Service Ads (LSA) as they do not require a website and can directly generate leads. Investing the initial profits from LSAs into expanding and enhancing marketing efforts like SEO or targeted Google Ads can progressively build a robust marketing strategy.
Wow! You made it to the end; thanks for sticking with us.
The full interview with Andy is available on YouTube below, Spotify here, and Apple Podcasts here.