Automating Your Marketing

Marketing does not have to be a labor intensive job that requires all of your efforts and attention in order to work properly. You can achieve exceptional results using automated marketing strategies. “Automated” marketing strategies are hard at work (on a full-time basis) attracting new customers to your business. They are working when you’re sleeping, they’re working evenings and weekends, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And the best part is...you can be off doing other things, completing other tasks, while your marketing is on auto-pilot.

I’m going to share with you three automated marketing strategies that all painting contractors should incorporate into their marketing mix as soon as possible.

24 Hour Free Recorded Messages: This is a strategy that has proven to be a long-time winner. Having a Consumer Hotline (a.k.a. 24 hour free recorded message) is a highly effective way to attract a steady flow of quality customers.

• Advertise your “hotline” phone number in your newspaper and yellow page ads.
• The purpose of the message is to predispose prospects toward trusting you and buying from you. You accomplish this by divulging tips and secrets the prospect should know before hiring a painter.
• In my Consumer Awareness Guide I include several articles that could be converted into message scripts, including The 7 Costly Misconceptions About House Painting Every Homeowner Should Know Before Requesting Estimates and 14 Important Questions You Should Ask Any Painting Contractor Before Hiring Them.
• These titles get the prospect’s attention. If you were thinking about hiring a painter and saw an ad with a hotline number and the words, Before Hiring A Painter, Call this number and learn the 14 Important Questions You Should Ask Any Painting Contractor Before Hiring Them. Free message, call 24 hours a day, you’d call just out of curiosity.
• The message is actually intended to warn people against making a poor choice in painting contractors, but at the same time it should clearly establish you as the smart choice for a quality job. Your message should direct them to leave a voice message if they would like you to call them to schedule an estimate. Then all you have to do is respond to those who have left messages.
• See how easy this is and how it works even when you’re not?!

Email Blasts: If you collect the email addresses of your customers, and I highly recommend that you do even if you don’t plan to email them in the near future, you have in your possession information that can be used to create automated marketing.

• Email programs allow you to store email addresses in groups that can be easily accessed with just a click of a mouse.
• Those who regularly send you referrals could be included in one group, repeat customers and those who send you the occasional referral could be in another group, etc.
• To start your email marketing campaign, all you have to do is write one single message and it can be sent to all of your customers (or just those you choose), barely costing you a dime.
• You can even set up the messages in advance and schedule their delivery so they arrive first thing in the am or late at night or one week from now. By setting up several messages in advance you can send your customers a sequence of offers to be delivered throughout the month or the year.
• This type of marketing can be set up once, yet provide results automatically over and over again allowing you the time to do other things.

Voice Broadcasts: This is a little know and little utilized strategy in the painting industry.

• A voice broadcast is a voice mail message that you have recorded in advance and is sent out to your customers.
• Due to wonderful technology, a computer can call all (100-10,000) of your customers and leave your sales message on their answering machines.
• Could you imagine calling even 50 of your customers to tell them about the great special your having? It would take up so much of your time — would it be worth it?
• When you set up a voice broadcast, you usually create a message to be delivered to an answering machine and you create a message to be used in the event a live person answers the telephone instead.
• Studies have shown that a marketing message left on an answering machine generates more sales than if left with a live person. As a result, it has been determined that the best time of day to launch a voice broadcast is between 10am and 2pm. It is during this time that it is less likely a live person will answer the telephone.
• Voice broadcasts are currently being used by dentists, carpet cleaners, pest control companies and painters with outstanding results.
• For more information on how to create your own voice broadcasts send me an email at support@paintersuccess.com.

Each one of these automated marketing tools is a great way for painting contractors to leverage their time and energy. Used together or in strategic combination with other marketing techniques, automated marketing gives you the ability to keep in touch with your customers and build lasting relationships with them.

Learn more at http://www.paintersuccess.com/