Social media platforms like Facebook have become the inevitable part of our life and culture now. Today, the events and moments of our lives are shared with those around us through these media. But Facebook is unique in many different ways. It helps individuals and businesses in many ways and there is no surprise that it has over 1.47 billion active daily users today.
Restoration contractors can make use of the opportunities opened up by Facebook for their marketing and customer relations. Let’s go on an expedition to the virtual blue planet Facebook and see how it can help us advertise and build a strong bond with our customers for getting more jobs and providing quality services.
1. By Using Ad Type Varieties
Facebook offers a variety of ad types. And this is why Facebook has become a favorite advertising platform for businesses all over the world. If you dig deep into Facebook advertising, you can find out that there are 4 main Ad types in Facebook. They are banner ads, carousel ads, lead ads, and video/slideshow ads. Let’s take a quick look at each of them:
Banner Ads
Banner ads are the most common ad types we usually see in our newsfeed and have been there since the beginning of Facebook. This is the most standard and the simplest form of ads available in Facebook and therefore the widely used one too.
Restoration contractors can use optimized banner ads to emphasize their special features and offers. They can use photographs of technicians working onsite with state-of-the-art equipment as banners ads to showcase beautifully the professional ways and methods of your work. You must include your contact number on your banner so that people can call you right away if they are in need.
Here’s an example from a plumbing company. This ad will take the audience to a specific page on their website rather than taking them to their Facebook page:
Carousel Ads
This is an ad type you have to use when you have to convey a story by showing a series of images. If you are an interior designer, it will be difficult for you to convey the beauty of one of your works with a single photograph. By using carousel ads, you can show the intricate details of that work and this helps the viewer to have a better picture of your work.
Here’s a carousel ad of a hair iron developer company:
For restoration contractors they can use this ad type for showing their different services or for demonstrating the step-by-step process involved in any of the services.
Lead Form Ads
In this ad type, the user is asked to take an action such as “Book Now” or “Sign Up” following which a form will appear asking the users contact information. This ad type helps to collect user information without transporting them to your website. If your website is outdated or you don’t want your customers to see your site currently, then this format will be heavily useful for you. Check this example:
Video and Slideshows
Running video ads is one way by which you can outperform your competitors. Your videos need not have to be aesthetically competent. At least try to be technically perfect and produce a video that has a clear message and minimum quality. Try to talk in a personal way to your customers through your videos so that they feel connected and will take your message seriously.
You can dispel the myths concerning restoration industry, equipment, etc. through your videos. You can even show any new technology or method that you are using to restore or clean through your videos.
The videos can feature topics such as mold, HVAC system, air quality, etc. If you are presenting yourself as a solution for a very important problem that you viewer has, then they are likely to listen to you and may call out for your service.
2. By Targeting the Right Audience
Facebook has opened many new features in advertising including the settings for granular targeting. It will be useless to show your ads to audiences that are not likely seek your service.
Usually restoration companies are bound by geographical limitations. They may not be able to serve the entire nation. Most of the companies are working within a radius, so that they can provide an emergency without being too late.
Facebook offers you geographical targeting based on a combination of addresses, zip codes, and radiuses of your choice and convenience. This way, your ad budget will not be wasted on the audience outside your target area or target group. You can use your money effectively and prevent it from being wasted.
3. By Retargeting the Unconverted
Retargeting is a fancy word for the process of reaching to your unconverted audience with a different ad. When seeing a different ad of yours, your name gets registered in their minds and they might think of making a purchase this time.
Before you jump into retargeting, you need to first create a custom audience of everyone who saw your landing page. (i.e. the page you use to capture contact information of your customers in exchange for your special offer). The audience settings would look something like this (but with the URL of your actual Landing Page):
Now you need to create another custom audience of everyone who saw the page that comes immediately after submitting their contact information.
The audience settings looks exactly like the previous one but with one exception. Instead of the URL of your landing page now you need to use the URL of your actual Thank You Page. These two custom audiences are all you need to set up your retargeting campaign.
If you want to give a second chance to be a lead for your business, use the following settings while creating a new ad set:
• In the ‘Include’ section, select your custom audience made up of people that saw your landing page.
• In the ‘exclude’ section, select your custom audience made up of people that saw your thank you page.
By making the proper settings for your retargeting your money won’t be wasted for targeting customers who have converted already. Restoration contractors can retarget their audiences because many of them would rethink and make a positive action if we give them a second chance. And this is exactly what retargeting is all about.
4. By Offering Something Big
Customers will always love to get a big discount offer or a freebie. You can’t make someone loyal to you unless you get a chance to showcase your merit. If you ask your Facebook audience to get your service directly they won’t be as interested in it as they would for free trial of your service.
As a restoration contractor you won’t be able to provide an entire house cleaning service for free for your customers. So you can give an offer like a free sofa cleanup for every purchase. So people interested in that offer will call you and if they are grounded and have trust in you, they might ask you for an entire house cleaning service.
Here’s an example:
Offer acts like a bait and make sure that you are offering something worthwhile. This may seem to be less profitable initially. But as the customer becomes loyal and they call you for more and more services that loss can be compensated.
5. By Creating a Facebook Group
Make your customers feel special by creating a Facebook group exclusively for those who purchased from you. This will help you engage with them and discuss with them about the current affairs taking place in your industry. You can easily answer your customers’ questions and clarify their doubts if you have a Facebook group.
This will help you build trust and loyalty in the minds of your customers. When your customers build a personal relationship with you brand, they are going to be loyal customers and they will bring more customers to your business by word of mouth marketing.
Facebook is a social platform where we can directly interact with real people and find solutions for their day-to-day problems. As a restoration contractor, you can help people in a variety of ways.
People are always searching for companies that offer restoration, rebuilding, and cleaning services. When there are so many services and so many companies to choose, you have to stand out and easily accessible.
If your business is not visible online, especially in social media, you are likely to miss a huge multitude of potential customers just like that. But if restoration contractors are exploiting the possibilities of Facebook, they can revamp their marketing efforts and take the safe road to their success without spending big money on advertising.
