Category Archives: Marketing & Social Media

Video: How To Contact Old Referrals

There’s never a bad time to plan ahead and earn more customers. We must always stay hungry for business, and a great way to accumulate new leads and stay busy during the slow months ahead is by ramping up your email marketing campaigns.

We discussed the importance and how-to’s of email marketing in other articles, but we also wanted to show you how you can target your past and current referrals via the CraftJack Lead Manager.

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6 Trade Show Benefits

Have you thought about attending a trade show recently? Are you unsure of how your business can benefit from the experience? Here are a few things to ponder that can help you decide whether a trade show is right for you.

Because trade shows are geared toward a crowd of people in a specific industry, they become a great tool in addressing your target market. Trade shows also help in bringing awareness to your company and your services since they are usually open to the public.

If you’re looking for a reason to attend the next trade show near you, look no further. Here are six benefits that contractors can reap from trade shows.

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Connecting With Consumers: The Secret To Social Media Success

We have spent the last month explaining how social media can help your business and what platforms you as a contractor should take advantage of. With both in the rearview mirror, it’s time to talk about the type of content, imagery, blogs and videos you should be sharing on social media.

The key to social media success is connecting with consumers. A homeowner needs to feel as if you are talking to them and only them with every single Facebook post, Pinterest image, tweet, video and blog post. Your target audience may be broad, but each message needs to feel individualized.

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How To Use Customer Complaints To Enhance Your Brand

Dealing with an irate customer is usually not the most pleasant task. However, it’s something we all have to deal with at one point or another. It is vital for you and your business to know how to take a customer complaint and turn it into a positive experience. Complaints are great because they tell you the services your clients are not happy with and also give you the opportunity to address the issues at hand.

The CARP method, developed by author Robert Bacal, is based upon the sequence and timing of defusing angry customers. Bacal has taught many universities the importance of performance management and appraisal and how to improve business communication. The CARP acronym consist of these helpful tips to remember when trying to calm an angry client.

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6 Tips For Managing Angry Customers On The Phone

No matter what industry you’re in, whether it be home improvement, auto sales or even professional sports, you’re going to hear your fair share of complaints over the phone. When people have an issue with your brand, they are going to call to complain. Since you can’t control how other people act, you must decide how you’re going to respond.

Reacting to an irate customer over the phone is no easy task. You have to first digest all the information they are telling you, relax the customer, and then respond in a calm and professional manner. Needless to say, this process is easier said than done.

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5 Reasons Video Is Better Than Text Or Photos

Video is the future of marketing. It’s really that simple. The fact there has been an 800% increase in online video consumption over the last six years proves my point.

If you have kept up with the CraftJack blog lately, you know that I prefer visuals to text. If you need a refresher, check out These 7 Visual Stats Will Change Your Marketing Strategy.

Now that you’re convinced, I am here to show you why video, another form of visual marketing, is even better than photos and text.

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Why Funny Voicemail Greetings Are Great

As a business, you should always be looking for new and creative ways to get people talking about your business. Many companies, no matter what industry they are in, fail to take advantage of the simple, everyday opportunities they have to create a fun, remarkable and unforgettable experience for their customers. A funny voicemail greeting has the ability to meet all of those qualifications.

As we iterated in 5 Voicemail Message Myths, when you are leaving a message for your potential leads, there are certain rules everyone should follow. Those myths have been studied and show that dismissing them result in fewer callbacks. Nonetheless, few studies have been dedicated to voicemail greetings. Therefore, you should think outside of the box and do something different. A comedic voicemail like this famous greeting from George Costanza in Seinfeld is a great example.

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Document Projects Start to Finish By Photo Blogging

Our Toolbox contributors here at CraftJack have written several articles about the benefits of blogging, on topics ranging from reasons you should blog, to blogging stats, and tips on actual blogging for contractors. All of these can serve as great tools to help get you started with your own blog. But what I want to focus on here is the idea of creating a blog that specifically documents home improvement projects that you have completed and the building process from start to finish.

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5 Tips to Start a Contracting Blog

The marketing world has drastically changed over the last few years. Not only are businesses encouraging their fans to push their products via word of mouth referrals, but many businesses are making a killing by publishing daily content, or blogs to their website and social media channels. After all, 81% of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from blogs.

Evident by that statistic, blogging has quickly become one of the premier and most effective forms of marketing. Whether you are managing a company blog with 10,000 subscribers or just getting into the writing business, our five tips for any contracting blog will undoubtedly increase your online exposure and win your business new jobs.

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6 Tips To Get More Work During The Slow Season

Ah, the winter. A festive season full of holiday joy, family bonding, and gift giving. And while gift giving tends to mean the high-point for many retail stores, it also means a major dip in home improvement spending.

November through January tend to be the slowest three months for almost every home improvement trade as people save their money for holiday gifts. Add to that the fact that the winter makes it near impossible to do any exterior home work in many parts of the country and you can understand why your lead volume drops this time of year.

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