Social Platforms you should have and Why

Get Social, or Get Left Behind

In today’s crowded and competitive home improvement market, lacking a strong social media presence is like trying to do your job with one hand tied behind your back, or half your work crew out sick — it may be possible, but you and your business may suffer.

Maintaining a social media presence and engaging with your followers offers your business several benefits, including getting more online eyeballs on your business, and developing a good reputation. When people can easily and directly connect with you on social, it really builds trust.

Social media is a powerful tool that has the potential to boost your business through increased leads. The question isn’t whether you should be on social, but which platforms will be most effective for you?

Facebook

One thing you’ll want to be sure to do is post pictures. Research shows that posts featuring images can have an 85% interaction rate, and the likelihood of your post being shared increases by 35% if it has a picture, making the addition of an image a fairly simple way to get your brand in front of more eyes. So, show off your work!

Facebook is often considered to be one of the most versatile of the platforms — it can support multiple kinds of content, such as videos, images, links to external sites, shares, and more. This can make it a great place for you to begin if you’re just getting started with building your brand. Facebook also allows for very specific targeting of users based on demographics when you choose to create ads.

Instagram

Speaking of images, Instagram can be an ideal platform for showcasing your portfolio of projects. The platform averages over a billion active users each month. With such broad adoption, Facebook saw the potential and bought the image app for $1 billion in 2012. You could certainly cash in on that potential by regularly posting on Instagram.

X

X (formerly Twitter) continues to be a strong source of interaction and potential leads. X is a fast-paced format, which means you can retweet or share original posts multiple times with little effort. For better success when resharing on any platform, remember to reframe the content each time you share it by altering the headline, updating the image, or giving some new information to catch a potential customer’s eye.

Tip: Keep your smartphone with you, so you can regularly post project updates to Instagram and X. Also, you can simplify your process by posting simultaneously to Facebook, Instagram, and X using a social media management platform like Hootsuite.

YouTube

You may also consider using YouTube as a social media platform, as many contractors operate channels that generate plenty of engagement. The medium of video really gives you a chance to personalize your business and become a thought leader, and you can choose whether to post longer tutorials or simply stick to shorts. It can also be handy to integrate into your broader marketing campaigns, such as including links to videos in your emails.

Bonus Platform: Houzz

Specific to the repair and renovation industry, Houzz is a very visual social media site that connects homeowners and home improvement contractors. It even has a place for homeowners to leave reviews, which can strengthen your position through social proof. The data shows that 78% of consumers trust reviews as opposed to advertising, so Houzz can be a powerful resource to help grow your business. As of 2020, Houzz had over 20 million photos of design project ideas on the platform, and by 2021, there were 2.7 million professionals in its user database.

Best Practices

As you build out your social presence, be sure to respond to comments and questions, and any direct messages you receive, as soon as you can. Customers don’t like to feel like they’re talking to a brick wall, and companies that offer fast and friendly responses through social quickly gain a great customer service reputation.

Of course, as you’re establishing your social media plan, you want to remember not to bombard your customers with too many posts. Use a calendar to spread out your posts and also to coordinate with sales initiatives, such as a seasonal sale. Proper pacing and relevant timing of your messages can help you garner a bigger and more loyal audience of potential customers.

You also don’t want to appear to be doing nothing but selling to them all the time. It’s important to give your followers valuable information, helpful tips, useful content, and interesting imagery. Try to stick to a general rule of 80% engaging content and 20% promotional messages.

Picking Your Places

The popularity of various social platforms shifts constantly, and you don’t need to be on all of them to see a return on your social media marketing efforts. Approximately 91% of brands operate just two social media channels, so quality over quantity is a good thing to keep in mind.

For the best way to decide which platforms are best to invest your time and money, consider your audience. For example, if you do high-end kitchen and bath remodels, you might struggle to find potential customers on a platform that primarily caters to a very young demographic. But Houzz may be just the place for you.

And while you’re developing your social media strategy, be sure to check out what your industry competitors are doing on their social channels, so you can get an idea of what kinds of content resonates with the audience you’re trying to reach.

Conclusion

These social media tips can help you master your social media presence and potentially increase sales in no time. Social media can be intimidating or feel time-consuming, but it’s worth taking the time to understand it and implement a plan. It’s estimated that 70% of the U.S. population is at least somewhat active on social media, so, jump in with our free digital marketing resource about social media, email, and SEO, to help you on your way!