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As a home service contractor, you are probably using all the latest marketing techniques to make the phones ring. From truck wraps to door hangers to hiring a great search engine optimization manager, you have put a lot of thought into how you present and promote your company. However, your competitors are also using these same marketing strategies to get the word out about their companies.
It takes more than a good advertising and marketing plan to stand out from the crowd. You need to be seen by the media as the home service expert in your community, or you need to be seen as the most reliable contractor out of dozens of competitors.
To achieve this goal, you need to make public relations (PR) a major part of your marketing plan in 2025.
PR builds credibility
Most small business owners understand they need marketing and advertising. In the home service industry, purchasing advertising is baked into a standard marketing budget. You must get the word out about your business, and the quickest way to do that is to purchase advertising.
While advertising is great for getting your name and services out to your market, a recent Nielson study suggests that it does come with a significant gap in the “trust factor” (https://bit.ly/4hwJ3tb). These surveys show that consumers don’t trust advertising, but they do trust information from third parties, such as their local media or online reviews.
And it’s public relations that helps you gain this type of credibility. An effective PR plan should include introducing you and your expertise to media in your local area and at trade publications. Your PR partner will employ experts in media relations who know which reporters and editors to contact and when to contact them based on their editorial calendars.
While PR does result in some immediate action, its real purpose is to build up your company’s reputation and boost your brand over time. In fact, many small-business owners are under the false impression that the only time they need PR is for crisis management.
Yes, PR can help you manage a crisis, but building a positive reputation, earning customer trust and reaching new audiences are also major features. And these are the sort of features that help endear you to your target audience.
PR boosts marketing efforts
Marketing works better with a strong public relations effort.
Consumers have more tools at their fingertips and become savvier when it comes to pegging a marketing campaign. Because the market is overly saturated with good marketing efforts and some gimmicky stunts, it can sometimes be hard to cut through the noise.
However, if you have a team of professional writers who understand the art of storytelling and media relations experts to help tout your credibility, you can break through the noise so that your marketing efforts shine.
PR can boost consumer awareness of your company while your marketing spend works to let consumers know of your services. The real symbiosis is that public relations makes your company more relatable so that when customers need your services, they are more likely to click on your ad or remember your name because of the positives they remember about you and your company.
PR tells your story
Because third-party endorsements play such a critical role in how you’re perceived in your service area, ensuring that you let consumers in on your story and your vision is crucial to your success.
You can write blogs and camp out on your social media platforms, but if you’re not consistent in your messaging, potential customers may not remember you when they need a residential contractor.
However, good content development rolled out through press releases, blogs, social media and thought-leadership pieces keeps your name and your story top of mind.
Think about what makes your business unique:
• Was your company started by your great-grandfather in the early 1900s and is still around today because of your family’s dedication to your trade and the community?
• Did you start your career as a small fish in a big company but felt your community needed a more personal touch?
• Did you start college intending to be a wolf on Wall Street, but, after working in plumbing to put yourself through school, you discovered you loved that profession more?
• Are you the only contractor in your service area that can do what you do?
Then you need to let your community in on your story. And the best way to tell them why you do what you do is to create engaging content that can be used throughout your own media and pitched to local and trade reporters.
PR helps you disseminate your crafted message in compelling ways and to the most receptive audiences.
PR is reflective of you
While your advertising and marketing efforts should be all about what you do and how to reach you, public relations should reflect your company’s culture and character. This is known as branding.
Consider this: When you think about Walmart or Coca-Cola, you not only immediately know the service and product both provide, you also think about their brand. Walmart is known as a one-stop shopping center that offers low prices, while Coke evokes feelings of having fun while enjoying a refreshing drink.
A good PR partner will help you determine your brand and how you should present your company so that you make a consistent and emotional connection with your target audience.
With more than 2.5 million home service businesses in the United States (https://bit.ly/40Jdt58), according to Angi.com’s “The Economy of Everything Home” report, standing out from the crowd can be a difficult task.
However, with a strong PR campaign to help you build relationships while creating more brand awareness and a positive image, your contracting business can rise above others in your service area. This type of investment in building your company brand is something you can’t afford to ignore when you build your 2025 marketing budget.