Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2020 - 24

BETTER BUSINESS

The Marketing Times,
They Are a-Changin'
Three (mostly ignored) ideas to super
charge results post-COVID

each, and hire a freelancer videographer to shoot, edit and upload those for
you. Otherwise, if you're like most of us, these videos ain't ever happenin.'
ïMake your team write down what makes your products/services unique.
Make videos that SHOW these differences.
ïWrite down the dumbest mistakes you've made (or the goof-ups you've
seen from your competitors). Create videos that highlight problems and
mistakes and how NOT to repeat them.
2. YOU CAN GAIN MASSIVE TRAFFIC AND INFLUENCE THROUGH WRITING

I'm here to tell you blogging is the discipline that keeps on giving. I would
never have guessed 10 years ago when I started that our website traffic would
grow to more than 200,000 unique visitors per month, and blogging would
generate 75 percent of this traffic.
Blogging drives massive and free traffic to my site every day. It gives me and
my business influence over what prospects know about grout-free bathroom
and kitchen wall panels. I could not have grown our business with PPC
and FB ads because I'm convinced I would have 'bleed-out' before the cash
started rolling in.
Blogging is a fantastic way to brand your biz and give it personality without
spending beaucoup bucks. In addition, you can create leads where prospects
are convinced before they call you - you are THE person/company to work
with. And you can do this without expensive digital ads.
Not sure how to get started? Here are three key points:
ïAs the NIKE phrase says, Just Do It. It's OK to stink up the joint (your
blog) at first (I did and lived through it). Besides, nobody knows your blog
exists in the beginning anyway.
ïRead blogs about blogging (and yes - they do exist). You can't become an
expert without learning from people who know the craft of blogging more
than you do. Read blogging techniques and apply them. DO NOT try to
figure it out on your own.
ïKeep writing and writing and writing. The key to blogging success in one
word is...discipline.

THIRTY YEARS AGO, my niche remodeling business got 400 'sign-ups' for free estimates from a
single home show. Back in the day, we used to run
local TV ads on a low-cost independent station,
and the phone would ring off the hook. We used
to place ads in local TV books and enjoy rockin'
results, as us Clevelanders say.Well, those good old
days of marketing are dumpster trash today...and
COVID is putting the final nail in the coffins of
some of these old strategies.
And if you step back and think about it, these
old forms of marketing have one in thing in common with the new forms of traditional advertising
you see today: They all require you to spend $$$
to lure people in. It's a hard game to win if you're
not the biggest guy/gal on the advertising spending block. So, if you don't have the stomach (or
the wallet) to outspend your competitors to get
solid leads for your building, remodeling or design
business, you may be wondering if there's a way to
outsmart and outperform them.
I'm going to give you three practical ideas I've
learned through my remodeling and nationwide
shower wall panel distribution business where you
can earn your leads without having to outspend
competitors (even in the midst of COVID).
However, before you read on, I'll warn you they do
require discipline and time. Unfortunately, there's
no easy street to this strategy, but it is effective.

3. PROMOTE YOUR WORK FROM IDEAS 1 AND 2

1. VIDEO, VIDEO AND MORE VIDEO

Before people want to buy your service, they
want to learn. They want answers to their questions - even small things like how much is this
going to cost? How is it installed? How does the
process work?
Short of being 'live' on your job site or working
side by side with you in your design studio, they
want to learn from you. So, how can you cost effectively make this happen and build your 'street cred'
and leads at the same time? The best and fastestgrowing way is through showing and teaching
through video.
ïJot down the top 10 FAQs customers want to
know about your business. Create a video for

MIKE FOTI is the
president and CEO of
Innovate Building Solutions, an Ohio-based remodeler and nationwide
wholesaler of bathroom
and kitchen wall panels,
shower bases and glass
enclosures.

All the hard work you put into the previous ideas won't amount to much
unless you promote it near (to your past customers and prospects) and far (to
anyone on the Internet who is interested).
The best way to stay top of mind to those near to you without blowing
your budget is by creating an email list. With this list, you need to deliver
useful content - not puffed-up crap about how swell you are. After you've
written and shot video with information about customer problems and
questions, you need to get it out consistently to your list. Send emails weekly
or monthly.
This strategy has helped us grow an email list of 30,000 subscribers and
counting. When we started email marketing, we used to only be a regional
remodeling business. Using content and email marketing has opened up
nationwide markets for us to sell our bathroom and glass products.
The best way to grow followers who are far from you is to promote your
content on top social networks. My favorite network (believe it or not) is
Pinterest, which really rocks it for our nationwide shower wall panel wholesale
business, but for local traffic Facebook is a safe bet. And the one I feel guilty for
my lack of presence is Instagram, which I believe provides a lot of opportunity.
The question now is, has COVID started to push you so you're finally
ready to start earning your digital marketing results and stop paying bigbucks bidding on Google and Facebook ads and attempting to outspend
your competitors?
ï

/ NOV.-DEC. 2020 / KBBONLINE.COM / The official publication of NKBA (NKBA.org) and KBIS (KBIS.com)

http://www.KBBONLINE.COM http://www.NKBA.org http://www.KBIS.com

Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2020