Tips to market your fire sprinkler contracting business online
For contractors of all kinds, springtime is a critical time to fill your calendar with projects. While each fire sprinkler company takes a different approach, more now than ever are leveraging the Internet to reach local customers. In this article, we’ll look at three simple digital marketing tactics every fire sprinkler company can use.
Search engines are your best friend
When business to business (B2B) buyers need fire sprinkler system repair or installation, most probably begin with a search engine. 81% of business executives in a wide range of industries begin their search for solutions online. More than 50% start directly at a search engine. Getting your company to the top of search results can be the difference between booking new business or not.
While studies vary, it’s safe to estimate that the number one search engine result spot (organic results, meaning not-paid-for advertising) captures anywhere from 18-35% of all clicks for a particular keyword. Digital marketing for fire sprinkler companies begins with that organic foot traffic. What’s important is ranking well—very well, preferably—for keywords that describe your business.
By now, you should know and appreciate the importance of getting your fire sprinkler business online. Your business website should showcase your fire sprinkler company and feature an about page, a list of products and/or services, a contact page, and relevant content.
In addition, take a few minutes to create social media pages for your company. We highly recommend Facebook and LinkedIn at a minimum. These social media sites create a powerful brand presence across the web where your future customers can visit regularly. More importantly, they create pages with your name, address, and particular keywords that show up in search results.
Content is king, so start creating your own
Many decision-makers have already made substantial efforts to understand what they’re buying before they make a purchase. Before they visit your fire sprinkler business online, they’ve already formulated a rational decision by interacting with dozens of websites, white papers, and online resources.
Not all of these interactions are online. By all accounts, word of mouth is still a driving factor. However, a growing majority of their decision-making process is driven by online research. Positioning yourself as an expert in your field is key to digital marketing for your fire sprinkler company.
Consider starting a blog. While many business owners don’t feel they have the time or the expertise to write, the fact is that 70% of buyers say they review four or more pieces of content before making a purchase. With fire sprinkler contractors in Illinois, Washington State, Colorado, and elsewhere offering their own take on fire protection, the choice is often between buyers reading your competitors’ content and yours.
Here are a few simple suggestions to get your blog—and your digital marketing—started:
- Write down every question and answer you receive from a current or prospective customer. Frame the question as the title of your blog, your answer as the content, and make sure to link to your contact information. Short and sweet is key.
- Every time something goes wrong while you’re on the job site—whether it’s material shortages, challenges with your fitters, or system design considerations—write it down. Frame the challenge as your title, the solution as your content, and link to your contact information.
- Take pictures when you complete a job. Post the picture on your blog with the job name (within contractual limitations, whatever they may be) as the title, a quick blurb about your work as the content, and a link to your contact information.
Here’s why: for each question your customers ask, another potential customer is wondering the same thing. Each challenge you face on the job site, many of your potential customers have or will face. Finally, each job you complete is one more example of your quality work—and one more way to get your fire sprinkler business online.
When you’ve finished a new blog, post a link on each of your social media platforms. Now, your content is represented on platforms with over a billion users—and some subsection of that is your potential customer base. What’s more, each piece of content links to your contact information.
You’re local, so list locally
While having a solid web presence is vital to your business’ online marketing success and content will drive traffic for you, there is one more basic step every online fire sprinkler business should take: localizing. If you’re a fire sprinkler contractor in Tempe, AZ, your business gains very little by showing up in search results for a “sprinkler fitter” in Pensacola, FL.
Fortunately, local directories can help you overcome this challenge. First and foremost, create a listing in Google My Business. It’s free and easy to set up. Now, when a customer searches for a fire sprinkler contractor in Tempe, AZ, your business shows up as a local provider. Take the next step and do the same for Bing, Yahoo, and AOL Yellow Pages.
Next, post links to your Google, Bing, Yahoo, and AOL local listings in your social media platforms. You’ve just effectively created a web of local data and keywords (your business name, at a minimum) that ties your fire sprinkler business to the local economy.
A few more suggestions can help you make the most of construction season
Building up an online presence takes time—just like any other form of marketing or sales. The suggestions above are the first steps of many you can (and should) take if you want to drive business through online channels.
Don’t get overwhelmed. Whether it’s a local listing, a blog, or a social media post, one new piece of content per week will exponentially grow your presence online. A few more places to build your online presence include:
- Merchant Circle: A social media platform for business owners.
- LinkedIn Groups: By joining LinkedIn groups within the fire protection industry—like the AFSA, NFSA, and Firefighter Nation—you can join discussions, ask questions, and (most importantly) leave comments with a link to your fire sprinkler business’ presence online. You can even create your own group.
- Press releases. Share a new product or service your fire sprinkler company is offering with local newspapers, newsletters, and other publishing outlets. Click here to learn more.
- Call us at +1 (888) 361-6662 or email support@qrfs.com. I’ll personally walk you through ways to help grow your fire sprinkler business online.
Good luck and happy construction season!
This blog was originally posted at blog.qrfs.com. If this article helped you market your fire protection business, check us out at Facebook.com/QuickResponseFireSupply or on Twitter @QuickResponseFS.