Here’s the hard but necessary truth: the roofing landscape will never be what it was two, three, or even four decades ago. With the world’s eye shifting more toward trends in technology, design, and informative content, roofing companies don’t run into just typical homeowners anymore. The average residential roofing consumer in 2023 likely knows what they want better than what their grandparents did before the internet was made. With so many options and so much information out there now on all the apps, how do you, as a roofing company, stand out and impress the roofing customer of 2023? At Roofing Marketing Pros, we specialize in providing digital marketing for roofers, and here’s what we’ve learned:
Roofing Trends in 2023
In any business, it pays to pay attention. Keeping abreast of trending topics and developments globally allows you to not only stay connected with your customers’ minds but to get ahead of your competition. In 2023, we’ve noticed increasing interest globally in technology, design, and useful content.
Technology
Companies are at a significant advantage when they choose to be tech-forward. Since the pandemic has shown us what’s possible in terms of technological convenience, it’s almost become a requirement these days. Contracting companies that make use of augmented reality (such as 3D virtual tours or AR view to “see what this roofing material looks like on your roof!”), allow their customers a unique peek into what’s possible without spending a ton on implementation or requiring their customers to leave their homes. Furthermore, photo and video standards are also increasing; heavily pixelated, poorly framed or lit amateur shots can significantly impact your customer’s beliefs about your professionalism.
Design
Digital marketing for roofers not only involves your products and services but also how you present yourself. People are currently prioritizing aesthetics and the “vibe” of a place or a business, but also its user-friendliness. Color psychology impacts how people perceive your brand in 2023, but also how they might retain your information. Companies with interactive, mobile-compatible, and user-friendly websites and marketing campaigns do well in this aspect.
Content
While SEO is still important for maintaining visibility online, there have been recent updates on how “quality” content is rated on search engines. Previously, Google’s quality guidelines for “good content” followed the acronym E.A.T. which stood for “expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.” But there has been a new addition to the acronym (now called E.E.A.T.): experience. By this, Google can now evaluate your site’s content based on your firsthand experience with the information you provide. Credentials matter still, but also interactive ways to share anecdotes, examples, tutorials, and answers to frequently asked questions.
With these topics in mind, here are nine ideas you can develop into your own digital marketing strategy for your roofing company.
1. Professional Drone Footage and Photos
Consider taking high-definition aerial shots of your roofing projects. When set to dynamic background music and engaging transitions, you can capture your customer’s attention longer. For the best results, it may be worth investing in a professional drone photographer and videographer to produce these for you. At the end of it, you’ll have updated photos and footage to share on your website, portfolio, or social media accounts. Not to mention, you’ll stand out from the rest and more likely land higher-ticket clients.
2. Adopt New CRM Software
If your current customer relationship management (CRM) relies on spreadsheets, it’s time to work smarter, not harder. More than just keeping track of sales, hours, and transactions, it’s also time to think bigger by tapping into what insights you can gain from what you already have. One great way to do this is by adopting roofing-focused CRM software for your operations. Aside from helping roofers manage their accounts and revenue, many roofing CRM programs function as a real-time, easy-to-access reporting tool for the overall state of the business. Taking advantage of new roofing CRM software allows you to have everything you need—such as production calendars, live activity feed, project management, contracts, estimates, and automated customer service—all in one place.
3. Mobile-Responsive Web Design
Websites are virtually pointless in 2023 if they are not mobile-friendly. Simply look around; people are on their phones doing just about anything, from reading and browsing to ordering and transacting. It’s highly likely that your roofing customer is going to look you up on their phone before they press “call.” If it isn’t already, make sure that your website is user-friendly and easy to navigate on a mobile device. You can usually ask your web design team to make these important tweaks for you; however, in most cases, you may want to just revamp your site and start over with a fresh, mobile-compatible new website. Trust us; your customers will appreciate you more.
4. Update Your Portfolio to Show More Context
While it helps to display examples of your roofing projects on your website, your customers will appreciate the effort you make in explaining the services you provide. High-quality before and after photos or videos of your projects help, but they will matter more to your customer if you provide descriptions or even case studies (with permission from your clients, of course). Consider uploading them in accessible formats, organizing them into categories, and providing previews if they need to be downloaded. Visualize the best way to allow your potential customer to see the bigger picture about your business.
5. TikTok-Style Video Content
If you’re not already on TikTok, you may want to reconsider. Contrary to what TikTok first started out as it’s not just for viral dances and random content anymore. In the world of interactive video for social media, anyone can be an “influencer”—including you. Establish yourself as an expert in your field by sharing roofing tips, tutorials, or trivia on TikTok or your Facebook and Instagram stories. You can also market your portfolio by sharing before and after roofing project transformations or even client-approved testimonial videos. The possibilities are endless when it comes to the type of fun content you want to create.
6. Optimizing Local Searches
When banking on keywords involved in digital marketing for roofers, it helps immensely to know your locale and make the most out of what people look for in your area. Find out where there’s a need for roofing services in your region and include that location in your keywords. Also, keep an eye out for any local events or state-specific terminology related to roofing, such as “hurricane damage” or hail “impact-resistant shingles.”
7. Producing EEAT Content
As mentioned above, your content should focus on establishing experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Using AI writing tools like ChatGPT can assist you in creating engaging topics for blogs, emails, social media taglines, and the like, but with certain caveats. While Google has released a statement confirming that it doesn’t penalize AI content, per se, it still has to fall within the guidelines of E.E.A.T. Basically, you have to make sure that more than just trying to rank based on your keywords, you are producing content that is useful, relevant, engaging, and most importantly, factual. Consider writing monthly or bi-monthly articles with your byline as a certified roofing professional in your area of expertise.
8. Make the Weather Your Best Friend
Not to sound too opportunistic, but bad weather for most people means great sales for roofing companies. But rather than capitalizing on tough times for your disaster-stricken customer base, focus instead on providing helpful guidance for any roofing concerns they may have. Offer roofing tips on storm preparedness, shed some light on the insurance claims process for roofs, or even offer discounts for roof weatherproofing services rather than just going for the jugular with pushy roof replacement sales. It might also help to keep track of weather forecasts in your area by subscribing to storm watch channels, sites, or apps.
9. Leverage GMB
Your Google My Business (GMB) account is the first thing customers will see when they look you up online. Make sure you’re always updating your status and hours during downtimes, providing updates of any new offers or promotions, and providing correct links to your social media channels. Stay on top of your reviews, whether good or bad, by responding to each customer professionally and courteously. If your service policy includes a “we get the job done right” statement, then by all means, make it right when something goes wrong that isn’t the customer’s fault.
At the end of the day, even after making all these technological improvements, successful digital marketing for roofers is centered around making your customers happy. As a roofing business owner, you provide an important resource for people in your community and should strive to maintain that trust. By combining the right tools with the right business practices, you’ll be in a great place to reign in success for your roofing company in 2023 and beyond.
Learn More About Digital Marketing for Roofers
Roofing Marketing Pros is your go-to resource for all things digital marketing for roofers. We’re a marketing agency that partners exclusively with roofing professionals nationwide, helping contractors and companies drive their ROI up to 5-10x with our proprietary strategies and systems. We’d love for you to reach out to us and learn how you can secure more residential or commercial roofing clients today.
