Kitchen and Bath Lead Generation

Are you missing out on any lead generation opportunities?

New business leads for a kitchen and bath business can come from many different sources – from referrals, digital ads, search campaigns, social media, local business ads, drive-by’s, direct mail, print ads, trade shows and more.

You may have your favorites.  You may have some lead generation sources that produce more leads.  You may have other sources that produce better leads.

The reality is that, as a small business owner, you can only do so much.  Your time is limited.  Your budget is limited.  You need to focus on what works best.

But how do you know?  Are you tracking your results and comparing them with different marketing options?  Or is it more gut instinct or general feelings?

Track your leads

Numbers don’t lie but they can be confusing.  When you look at your click-through and conversion data from a digital ad campaign, it doesn’t always translate into workable leads at your end.

Connecting your actual leads – from phone calls and online forms – to your lead generation activities (and related costs) is essential if you’re going to starting comparing activities on an apples-to-apples basis.

Before you do anything else, you need to set up a process for tracking all your leads – both online and offline – from initial inquiry through your entire sales process.

Define your leads

Not all leads are created equal.  Consider the lead who calls you to schedule an appointment or requests a quote.  By all measures, this is a good lead – a very good lead.  These leads are well into the buying process.  They have already started their research and they are now ready to dig deeper by meeting with potential service providers.

If you could fill your days and weeks with appointment and quote-request leads, you would be very happy.

But you can’t.  For your specific location, at any given time, there are only so many people who are ready to meet with you to discuss their new new kitchen plans

So how do you find more leads?

Try a lead magnet

You can continue to offer appointments and quotes, but to expand your lead volume, you can invite homeowners to download a free lead magnet.

A lead magnet is a free guide, tool or some other resource designed to help homeowners with their new kitchen planning.  You can use your lead magnet on your website, on digital ad landing pages or in your direct mail to generate more response from early kitchen planners.

Lead magnets don’t have the same urgency as appointment and quote-request leads, but they are leads nevertheless.

Explore all your lead channels

In the old days, kitchen and bath businesses were limited in how they could reach prospective customers and generate leads.  They had the Yellow Pages, print ads, direct mail and local radio or TV.

Today, digital marketing has become the choice of K&B business owners.  But what do we mean by digital marketing?  What are the specific lead generation options.

• Your website – when people visit your website, do you just wait for them to call or are you activities taking steps to generate leads?
• Google My Business & Google Maps – when people search for your type of business on Google, will your business come up on Google Maps?
• Google Search PPC Ads – are you where people can find you when they start searching for business like yours?
• Google Display Ads – are your building your brands and generating leads from ads to everyone in your market?
• Facebook Paid Ads – are you reaching your vast local audience who are on Facebook?

Of course, offline still works too.

• New Homeowner Direct Mail – are you reaching new homeowners in your market every month?
• Targeted Direct Mail – are you building your brand and generating leads from those homeowners who fit your best-customer profile
• Print Ads & Inserts – print usage is on the decline, but opportunities still exist.  But don’t forget a Call-to-Action and some way for people to respond.
• Home Shows – home shows can be a big commitment, but they can also generate leads.  Just be sure to track your results.

Finally, don’t ignore the various lead services. 

• HomeAdvisor, Angies’ List, Houzz, Thumbtack … these companies (and others) provide leads via their platforms.  Give them your consideration but don’t get lock into a long-term deal.  And always, always, track your results.  In the end, you’ll be comparing these services with everything else you do.

Compare Your Results

Comparing results of different marketing campaigns seems like a simple and logical thing to do.  But be careful in how to compare those results to ensure you are getting the right information.

First, because all marketing channels work a little differently, don’t compare campaigns with raw numbers – for example, number of leads or number of quote requests.  Instead, compare them on a cost-per-lead or cost-per-quote basis.  (Take your total costs for the campaign and divide by your total responses.)

Also, because different campaigns might have different goals, you will need to find a common denominator.

If one campaign offers an appointment to visit your store or showroom, and another campaign offers a free lead magnet, the first campaign will deliver better quality leads and and the lead magnet delivers more leads.

How do you compare these two campaigns?  You will need to wait a while to see how many lead magnet responses eventually become appointment leads.

Learn more about our Lead Generation Program.

To learn more or to find out how we might help you with your lead generation, contact Bob McCarthy at 508-473-8643 or bob@mccarthyandking.com.

Read Bob McCarthy’s article in
Kitchen + Bath Business (K+BB) Collective

Referral Marketing:  Six Steps to Building a Referral Network