Presentation given by Joe Pulizzi at Mechanical Systems week (Comfortech) on the strategy behind an effective social media program for HVAC and plumbing contractors. Focuses less on channels and more on how to leverage blogs and social for being found in search.
The Real-World Guide to Social Media for Contractors
1. @juntajoe
SOCIAL MEDIA:
A Real-World Guide
for Contractors
Joe Pulizzi (@juntajoe)
Founder, Content Marketing Institute and
Content Marketing World
Co-Author, Get Content Get Customers
and Managing Content Marketing
3. @juntajoe
TODAY’S AGENDA
• Move Fast – Over 100+ Slides!
• Brief History of Content Marketing (huh?)
• The Problem with “What?”
• Social Media Starts with Storytelling
• Steps to Get Started
• Q&A
6. @juntajoe
THINKING DIFFERENT
• Not paid – participation
• Not rending – owning
• Communicating human – not corporate
• Instantaneous
• Open Publishing
• Non-interruption – You Need to Be Interesting
7. @juntajoe
THINKING DIFFERENT
• Not paid – participation
• Not rending – owning
• Communicating human – not corporate
• Instantaneous
• Open Publishing
• Non-interruption – You Need to Be Interesting
And, for contractors, right now the play is in SEARCH
40. @juntajoe
Marcus Sheridan
CEO, River Pools & Spas
41. @juntajoe
2007
• $4.5 million in Sales
• $250,000 advertising spend
42. @juntajoe
2007
• $4.5 million in Sales
• $250,000 advertising spend
2011
• Sold more fiberglass swimming pools than any
other pool retailer in North America.
• $40,000 in advertising spend
• Won 15% more bids
• Cut sales cycle in half.
63. @juntajoe
Why?
• Great blog content makes us sound
interesting and positions us as experts
• Search engines love blogs
• Social media loves blogs
• Your customers read blogs
• Non-sales touch
• Minimal investment compared to outbound
marketing options
100. @juntajoe
Facebook Ideas
• Discounts for following on Facebook.
• After service, send customers a note
to follow you on Facebook.
• Have customers share testimonials on
Facebook.
106. @juntajoe
Get Uncomfortable:
If you don’t feel like
you are going to run off
the road, you are not
driving fast enough.
http://taylordowns.com
107. @juntajoe
• Takes Commitment!
• Do It Yourself – Or Outsource.
• Still Need Someone INSIDE the organization to
manage your brand on social media.
• Assets and Advertising – start converting your
thinking now…
108. @juntajoe
November 7-8, 2012 Cleveland, OH
November 15, 2012 4-5-6 March, 2013
New York, NY Sydney, Australia
109. @juntajoe
Joe Pulizzi
joe@contentinstitute.com • @juntajoe on Twitter
Week of Sept. 9, 2013
CLEVELAND, OH
The more you blog, the more business you get (according to a Hubspot survey)
More opportunity to be found in search engines.
Think of online content like the lottery…the more tickets you have, the more opportunity for your customers to find you.
More tickets = more opportunities.
So, the idea is simple then. Create really valuable content, syndicated in a variety of ways (found in search engines and social media) to attract and retain customers.
DIRECTION The Magnet blog then pushes out to FB, Twitter and LinkedIN. SCRIPT Next, we set up your social networking identities on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN, and connect them to your blog site. Those become your outposts – places where we can spread our great content and drive customers to your blog site.
And let’s start by discussing how we help buyers make better purchasing decisions. Because before we can truly understand what we do for vendors like you, it’s critical to understand what we do for the buyer community.
And let’s start by discussing how we help buyers make better purchasing decisions. Because before we can truly understand what we do for vendors like you, it’s critical to understand what we do for the buyer community.
And let’s start by discussing how we help buyers make better purchasing decisions. Because before we can truly understand what we do for vendors like you, it’s critical to understand what we do for the buyer community.
SocialTract is first a blogging service for HVAC dealers. We develop a custom content plan for them based on their products/services and expertise areas. We create their own custom blog based on their branding, set up their Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts, and in 30 days we begin blogging for/with them – 2 blog posts per week every week – which results in over 100 posts over a 12 month period. That’s 100 additional ways that customers can find and share their content.
And let’s start by discussing how we help buyers make better purchasing decisions. Because before we can truly understand what we do for vendors like you, it’s critical to understand what we do for the buyer community.
And let’s start by discussing how we help buyers make better purchasing decisions. Because before we can truly understand what we do for vendors like you, it’s critical to understand what we do for the buyer community.