7 Ways to Generate Online Leads for Your Contractor Business

Ready to take lead generation to the next level? Traditionally, generating leads for contractors meant a lot of in-person meet-ups and a whole lot of word-of-mouth. But in today's digital world, lead gen is done online, even in the construction industry.

You want prospective customers to find you, follow you, sign up for your email list, and pay attention to what others say about you.

Here are seven ways to attract prospects who have a genuine need or desire for the specific services you offer.

Offer Something Valuable

Have you ever downloaded an e-book or guide from a website? When you offer something with perceived value for free, you initiate a psychological principle known as reciprocity. Basically, it instills goodwill with your audience and makes them more likely to give you back something -- in this case, an email or other contact information -- in return.

Create Content

Content is the foundation for your online lead generation activities. Content can be blogs, e-books, guides, and even videos. Once you have content, you can start using it to gain the attention of your potential audience by sharing it:

• On your social media channels
• As paid digital ads
• In your newsletters

Not sure what to write about? Start with the FAQs that you answer time and again for your customers.

Create a Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is a specialized piece of content that you can exchange for a potential lead's contact information. If you've ever downloaded an e-book or guide from a website, then you know how this works.

Most people are accustomed to this sort of exchange-email-for-content model, so you don't have to worry about alienating potential customers.

Put together a template, e-book, or guide that helps people solve their problems. It doesn't have to be complicated. If you're a landscaper, you could put together a lead magnet that offers 25 Landscaping Templates for Small Outdoor Spaces.

You may have different lead magnets for various services you offer, and that's ok! That can help you segment out your leads and know who's interested in small space landscaping vs. poolside or low-water landscape design.

Offer a Free Tool

Work with a web developer to create a free tool for your audience. It could be something as simple as a calculator that helps a prospect estimate material costs. It could be a color picker that allows a prospect to find the perfect paint color to match their existing sofa or a timeline that lets a prospect know how long their remodel will take based on specific project factors.

Host a Webinar

Webinars are having a moment and for a good reason.

Webinars operate on the earlier-mentioned reciprocity theory. Spend an hour teaching people how to do something for free, and they are likely to feel obligated to reciprocate.

The best part is: webinars are reusable. You only have to create it once, and then you can re-use it again and again.

Optimize Your Website

You never want to have an "if you build it, they will come" mentality about your website. If you want to use your contractor website to attract more qualified leads, you'll want to optimize it for that purpose.

• Do your website pages have strong CTAs (calls-to-action) telling visitors what you want them to do?
• Is your lead magnet offer added to blog posts, landing pages, and the home page?
• Is your website up-to-date, modern, and responsive?

Nurture Leads with Email Automation

What will you do with your leads once you've got their contact information? If someone downloads your lead magnet, that's an indication they're interested in that specific topic, but it doesn't mean they're ready for cold calls and a sales pitch.

Choose an email marketing software provider like Mailchimp or Klavio and create an automated email marketing sequence. You'll only have to set up the automation and create the emails once, and then they'll continue to deliver to your prospects at a regular cadence.

An effective sequence may look like this:

1. The download offer and a brief introduction about you and your services.
2. More helpful tips and examples-keep expanding on the topic.
3. Answers to the biggest questions you get on the subject.
4. An invitation to a webinar or to view a video on the topic.
5. A request to answer questions THEY have on the subject.
6. A free tool that can help them solve a problem.
7. An invite to book a free consultation.
8. A special offer or incentive.

Use your email sequence to demonstrate your expertise and willingness to be of assistance. By the time you get around to asking for something in return, you'll have established trust with your prospects.

Say goodbye to the days of mixers and meet-ups, because, in today's world, all of your lead gen activities can happen online. Start implementing these lead generation tips, and you'll be on your way to attracting and nurturing more of the right customers for your contracting business.

This article was originally published at ArtisanContractorWebsites.com