What is the Best Marketing for Contractors – and can you leverage AI to get an edge?
There is no doubt that AI is changing the world in many profound ways. But can you use AI produce the best marketing for contractors to get ahead of the curve when it comes to marketing – especially for contractors and trade businesses? Not a simple question – because there are many facets to the ways AI can help businesses – but there are also a lot of ways good old-fashioned “AI” (Actual Intelligence) prevails.
As a marketing agency that specializes in the best marketing for contractors and trade businesses, we are constantly asked things like “what’s the best marketing for my business” or “what new marketing ideas do you have for contractors?” The truth is that many of the best ROI marketing ideas for contractors aren’t new – but the key is in the execution of things that “didn’t work.”
For example, we’ve had clients tell us that we got them better results on their Google ads than every agency they’ve ever hired – PUT TOGETHER! So the problem wasn’t that they were utilizing the wrong marketing vehicles… they just had people who couldn’t drive. But what about AI’s influence now in things like Google Ads? Google ads now has their AI Beta Max campaigns as well as AI assistants. Does it work? I wish I could say it does – it would make my job a little easier if AI could get the results we do for our clients and we just set a campaign on auto pilot. But what we find over and over when we test a marketing campaign – especially for our service-industry clients such as contractors or roofing companies is the AI campaigns barely get leads. Why?
AI can and should be leveraged as much as possible – but we should also recognize its limitations – especially as it relates to coming up with the best marketing for contractors or trade businesses.
- The numbers don’t always tell the whole story. We often see campaigns loaded with SPAM or leads that don’t convert. AI sees a conversion as a conversion without the ability to see a red flag – this looks SPAMMY. AI then tunes the campaign for more conversions – but guess what? They are then targeting MORE SPAM. A human approach that knows what to look for doesn’t get caught in the bot-to-bot traps.
- AI can recognize “best practices” – but it doesn’t always understand human concepts and nuances. AI reads the content on your site and comes up with headlines and keywords that in many cases don’t actually reflect what a person who is a client would be searching for. This winds up flooding campaigns with bloated keywords and ineffective ads.
- Sometimes there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to “best practices” in marketing for contractors. What works for other industries, their markets and their marketing may not work when marketing for a contractor or roofing company, for example.
- Service industries thrive on creating an image of trust – AI can come off as impersonal and soulless – the exact opposite of what is needed to build brand trust – especially to people who often are in a personal crisis where something is broken.
- AI doesn’t necessarily understand local culture. Service businesses need to reach a local service area. What may work on a large scale doesn’t always work for local companies to reach their marketing with the right message at the right time.
When it comes to marketing for contractors and service trades, going with Actual Intelligence and local marketing expertise is still the best plan to find the right strategies to get your company the marketing results it needs. We specialize in digital marketing for contractors, SEO & geotargeting for trade businesses, Google maps optimization, lead generation, social media marketing, lead-optimized website design and development, traditional advertising, outdoor advertising and vehicle wraps and much more.
Contact Dynamic Wave Consulting for a Free Consultation Today.