So, let\u2019s check out the 5 steps to notch up your digital marketing game. The first step to get digital marketing results is to focus on your T.I.P.\u2019s. At this point you\u2019re probably asking, \u201cWhat the heck is a T.I.P.?\u201d In short, your T.I.P. is your Targeted Ideal Prospect. In order to get your web site, your blog or videos to encourage people to sign up or call for a free estimate) or download your informational content (more about this later) you need to speak \u2018their language.\u2019<\/p> Not sure \u2018what their language is? Well, \u2018their language\u2019 is communicating (on your digital properties) the problems your best prospects have with their current kitchen or bathroom which motivate them to spend money on these jobs. In addition, you need to show how you\u2019re uniquely qualified (with your products, your service, your expertise) to solve these challenges.<\/p> First figure out who(m) your T<\/strong>argeted I<\/strong>deal P<\/strong>rospect. Ask questions like these:<\/p> Your web site, your blog posts and videos need to talk directly to these people. It\u2019s not about the whiz-bang features of your products or services or processes. It\u2019s all about how you solve problems for your prospects.<\/p> In reality, most remodeling web sites, and blog posts are generic. They tell you how great they are. They talk about their processes (how boring). They aren\u2019t written to anyone in particular. This is a mistake.<\/p> Get this step right. Be specific in your messages. Talk to your team and identify who(m) you serve the best (and brings you the most profitable jobs). Focus on your T.I.P. and solving their problems.<\/p> If you rented an apartment you probably wouldn\u2019t put a bunch of money into remodeling the bathroom. On the other hand, if you owned the home, and it was in a neighborhood you wanted to stay (but had a crappy \u2013 no pun intended \u2013 bathroom) you\u2019d be much more likely to invest in the job.<\/p> This same logic can (and should) apply to your digital marketing program. You should focus most of your effort (and eventually spending) on your owned vs. rented assets.<\/p> Not sure what types of digital assets you could (or do) own vs. which ones you rent? Check out the list below:<\/p> Owned \u2013<\/strong>1) your web site, 2) your blog, 3) your videos, and 4) your email list.<\/p> Rented \u2013 <\/strong>Google Pay Per Click, Facebook ads, Houzz, Angie\u2019s List, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn (and this list goes on and on, basically any platform you don\u2019t own).<\/p> The problem with spending a bunch of money on \u2018rented\u2019 assets is you don\u2019t make the rules of the game. You don\u2019t control the prices, or THEY (that would be the platform) decide to stop showing your posts for free. I bet you can relate to higher pay per click and Facebook ad costs if you\u2019re spending money on these social media sites today.<\/p> The question is what can you do to cost-effectively grow your owned assets so you don\u2019t get burdened with the runaway costs associated with \u2018rented digital assets.\u2019 Here\u2019s three ideas:<\/p> No matter if you like it or not, your prospects are going to research A LOT before they\u2019re willing to call you (or anyone else for that matter) for a Free Design Consultation.<\/p> Given this fact, your goal is to position yourself as the \u201cA #1 Teacher\u201d in your market. Think of the problems your T.I.P.\u2019s have and write articles or create videos about them. If it\u2019s hard for you to figure out what to write or shoot videos about you could do the following:<\/p> The \u2018lessons\u2019 you provide can be in the form of blog posts, videos, or podcasts. Think how your prospects like to consume information. You want to fill the information void and be the resource they look to.<\/p> If you don\u2019t feel qualified to make this content yourself, then don\u2019t. Hire someone to blog for you, or create videos showcasing your work. However, you need to remember this. Don\u2019t try to create the perfect blog post, video or podcast in the beginning.<\/p> I recommend TO NOT LISTEN to the words of Jim Rome (a pretty well-known sports personality) who says, \u201cHave a take and don\u2019t suck.\u201d In the beginning of positioning yourself as a teacher I recommend to, \u201cHave a take and give yourself permission to suck.\u201d You can only learn by doing. Don\u2019t try to be perfect. No one else is anyway. Just be useful and continue to \u2018hone your digital craft.\u2019<\/p> Most people who come to your site aren\u2019t ready to buy. It\u2019s the cold, hard truth.<\/p> They are ready to learn. But you don\u2019t want them to just \u2018learn a little\u2019 during this research phase and forget about you later. You don\u2019t want them to \u2018use you\u2019 (for your knowledge) and forget about you the morning after\u2019 (sorry for the reference, it just worked here!).<\/p> You need to build into your digital marketing a way to continue to influence your prospect through the research and buying journey. The best way to do this is with a \u2018lead magnet.\u2019 Not sure what a lead magnet is? Here\u2019s a definition:<\/p> Lead mag nets<\/strong> are content you invite someone to receive (it can be an informational download) in exchange for their email address. You can then use this email address to send them more information and insights \u2013 until they\u2019re ready to call you. You\u2019re basically \u2018buttering them up\u2019 and creating a \u2018digital relationship\u2019 so they consider doing business with you later.<\/p> If your \u2018owned assets\u2019 (web site and blog) don\u2019t have lead magnets they ARE NOT COMPLETE!<\/p> I can brag about having 110,000 unique visitors on my blogs each month and 25,000 email subscribers we send informational content to every week. Sure, my top blog post has been repined on Pinterest 22,000 times. But here\u2019s the cold, hard fact I\u2019ll tell you.<\/p> I\u2019m as anonymous as I\u2019ve ever been.<\/p> I don\u2019t need to wear sunglasses in the grocery store. NO ONE has stopped to ask for my autograph (unless you count store clerks when I\u2019m buying something). I have ZERO need to refer to myself in the 3rd<\/sup> person like a sports star or celebrity with an overinflated ego.<\/p> In reality, I\u2019m not famous, and I don\u2019t think anything me or my marketing team has written or pushed out digitally has \u2018gone viral.\u2019 However, while this \u2018viral thing\u2019 is unlikely to happen for most in the remodeling business, we can still get results to grow our businesses. It is possible to get known as the #1 resource in your local market. You may be asking what it takes. Well in four words\u2026.<\/p> Hard work, done intelligently.<\/p> You need to take the content you\u2019ve created and get it into the market in multiple ways over multiple times. To do this you need to automate. Create your blog posts and videos and send them out multiple times to social media platforms using automated services like Buffer, Hootsuite, MeetEdgar and Tailwind.<\/p> Don\u2019t wait to be famous. Do the hard work, distribute your content waaaay more times than once. Then you have a chance to get noticed by your T.I.P.\u2019s.<\/p> While you might look at these steps as things which would be \u2018nice to do,\u2019 I would argue they\u2019re things you \u2018need to do.\u2019 The reality is there\u2019s a big price to be paid by blowing off effective digital marketing. If you\u2019re like most of the rest of the world, you\u2019re searching the Internet to find places to eat, products to buy etc. The Internet is not a fad. It\u2019s not going away or becoming less popular (the same can\u2019t be said about your printed yellow pages or local newspaper). \u00a0<\/p> However, the challenge is this. Digital marketing is a contact sport. There will be winners and losers on the digital marketing playing field. There are companies and platforms willing to take your money in ad spends, whether they generate results for you or not. You need to build (effectively) on your owned assets. You need to use \u2018rented assets\u2019 thoughtfully (so they don\u2019t bleed you dry).<\/p> Can you afford to ignore developing a winning strategy to make digital marketing work for you?<\/p> I know I can\u2019t.<\/p> So, I\u2019ll continue to learn, and grow \u2013 before my competitors get all the leads and business!<\/p> If you\u2019d like to talk more about digital marketing, call 877-467-7488 and ask for Mike or my Marketing Manager, Michelle.<\/p> If you\u2019d like to improve your bathroom remodeling or new home offerings with simple to install, sharp-looking tub and shower wall surround panels<\/a> and\u00a0become a shower wall panel dealer<\/a>\u00a0(hey- I\u2019ve got to plug my business sometime \u2013 after all my kids\u2019 education bills need to be paid!) call 877-467-7488 and ask for Mike (or that wacky dude who writes those articles).<\/p> I\u2019m looking forward to getting to know you and helping in any way I can.<\/p> If you\u2019d like to connect on LinkedIn, you\u2019ll find me\u00a0https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mikefoti\/<\/a><\/p> If you\u2019re into Twitter follow me\u00a0@Mike Foti<\/a>\u00a0or my companies\u2019\u00a0@InnovateBuild<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0@InnovateHomeOrg<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To start out, I\u2019ll just put it this way.Digital marketing is a contact sport.Just like your favorite football team (I\u2019ll confess I\u2019m a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan) you need a plan. You need to know where to start. You need to build up your own team (in this case your digital properties) because in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[143,142,37,137,145,140,141,144,139,136,138],"class_list":["post-535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entrepreneurship","category-marketing","tag-blogging-for-remodeling","tag-blogs-for-remodelers","tag-digital-marketing-for-remodelers","tag-digital-marketing-for-remodeling","tag-digital-promotion-for-remodeling-leads","tag-digital-strategies-for-remodelers","tag-email-lists-for-remodelers","tag-lead-magnets","tag-owned-vs-rented-digital-assets","tag-prospects-for-remodeling","tag-targeted-ideal-prospect"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/innovatebuildingsolutions.com\/dealers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/digital-marketing-ebook.png\")
<\/a><\/p>Step #1 \u2013 Figure out who(m) you\u2019re marketing to. Identify your T.I.P and how you uniquely solve their problems? <\/strong><\/h2>
![\"Turning](\"https:\/\/innovatebuildingsolutions.com\/dealers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Targeted-ideal-prospect-remodeling-results.jpg\")
<\/p>Step #2 \u2013 Identify what digital assets you \u2018own.\u2019 Know what digital assets you rent. Focus on growing what you \u2018own\u2019 first. <\/strong><\/h2>
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/innovatebuildingsolutions.com\/dealers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Using-videos-for-remodeling-site.png\")
<\/p>![\"Blogging](\"https:\/\/innovatebuildingsolutions.com\/dealers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Blogging-remodeling-blog.png\")
<\/p>Step #3 \u2013 Start using education to set up sales \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>
![\"Educate](\"https:\/\/innovatebuildingsolutions.com\/dealers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Educate-to-set-up-remodeliing-sales.jpg\")
<\/p>Step #4 \u2013 Use your \u2018lead\u2019 magnetism <\/strong><\/h2>
![\"Lead](\"https:\/\/innovatebuildingsolutions.com\/dealers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lead-magnets-for-remodeling-lead-generation.png\")
<\/p>Step #5 \u2013 Forget about \u2018going viral\u2019 and \u2018being famous.\u2019 Put your head down, automate and do the work! <\/strong><\/h2>
![\"Not](\"https:\/\/innovatebuildingsolutions.com\/dealers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Not-famous-with-digital-marketing-results.jpg\")
<\/p>Conclusion <\/strong><\/h2>
Connecting with us <\/strong><\/h2>