Traditional Advertising Plans and Strategies for Plumbers, HVAC Companies and Electricians
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Simply put, advertising is anything you do to promote your company or business. Advertising is part of your marketing plan. In the last 20 years, advertising options have skyrocketed. For example, it used to be you needed a solid Yellow Book presence, now you need a solid Google and social media presence. Because there are so many advertising channels, we typically divide them into traditional advertising (direct mail, radio, TV, billboards, etc.) and digital advertising (Website, Social media, SEO, PPC, etc.). However, because traditional forms of advertising can now work hand in hand with digital advertising, and because so much of traditional advertising points your customers to digital landing points (website, social media), these categories often overlap. For example, a direct mail piece with a QR code that leads customers to a landing page brings together both traditional and digital advertising in a beautiful way. The question then becomes which channel gets credit for the conversion? The direct mail piece or the landing page? The answer is, the pathway gets credit for the conversion. We refer to this pathway as the customer’s journey, and because of the diverse marketing channels, there can be many paths to their final purchase. Traditional advertising is still alive and well, it just had what we call, a “digital face lift.”
Traditional advertising’s digital facelift
Each form of traditional advertising has seen its own digital facelift. For example, direct mail has seen a “digital face lift” with the use of QR codes, USPS’ informed delivery, and with CRM software that automatically generates a mailing based on a customer’s action. Local radio stations can be streamed on your computer or phone, or people can hear your ad while listening to Pandora or Spotify. As more and more people cut the cord, television channels (like Paramount and AMC) have created their own digital channels for streaming devices like Google Chromecast, Apple TV, Google TV and Roku, creating opportunities for more targeted streaming ads. And let’s not forget about the huge targeting opportunities on YouTube and YouTube TV! These digital facelifts of traditional channels are monumental in the way we approach reaching customers, but it is important to remember that even the simple and humble thank you card is still bringing in amazing returns. Direct mail isn’t dead. Traditional advertising isn’t dead. If it was, we would stop using it. At Contractor 20/20, the advertising strategies we choose are supported by modern market research and years of experience. In today’s environment, the smart marketer knows how to get the most out a small (or large) advertising budget by using both traditional and modern channels together. At Contractor 20/20, we have worked hard to be on the cutting edge of these traditional advertising channels.
Advantages of Using an Advertising Agency
One of the advantages of using a plumbing, HVAC, and electrical advertising agency like Contractor 20/20 is that we are not interested in promoting one media (direct mail, TV, radio) over another. Obviously, a radio sales rep is going to persuade you that radio is the best option for you. The newspaper or coupon magazine sales representatives will show you all the research that indicates their form of advertisement is the best choice. But a plumbing, electrical, or HVAC advertising company like Contractor 20/20 is able to assess all the different options in your market and figure out, based on research and number crunching, the most effective way to spend your advertising budget. Because we are objective, and don’t have a stake in who you spend money with, we are able to do what is best for your company, instead of what is best for someone else’s bottom line. Because we have years of experience in each of these different channels, we can help you see the full picture and where each different marketing opportunity fits (or doesn’t fit) into your marketing plan
Why Choose Contractor 20/20
Lastly, why choose Contractor 20/20 over other advertising agencies in your area? The number one reason we think you should choose us over your local advertising agency is because the majority of what we do is marketing and advertising for contractors like you. We have a couple clients in different fields like insurance or pool installations, but over 90% of our clients are plumbing, HVAC, and electrical companies. This means we have special insight into the idiosyncrasies of your type of business and are well-equipped to determine the best advertising practices for you. Your local advertising agency may have relationships with the local radio and TV stations, but do they know what color paper is most effective for a direct mail campaign in your industry? Probably not. Contractor 20/20 is one of the only advertising agencies that specifically caters to contractors like you, and we are the only advertising agency that is a Quality Service Contractors (QSC) partner. As your industry’s advertising and marketing experts, we possess special skills and knowledge that general advertising agencies simply do not have.