I've spoken to many painters.
Painters of portraits and landscapes, painters of model cars and everyday cars, painters of residential and commercial properties...
No matter the type of painting, each painter is an artist in their own right. And that's especially true for painting contractors. I mean, who else's work is in and on most people's homes?
You, your friends, your family, and your neighbours all take pride in where you live. Contractors recognize this and that's why it's so important to prioritize marketing for painters.
Because you could be a stellar painter but if your business lacks online visibility, people who need their homes painted will choose someone else and you will miss out on revenue that can grow your business.
So if you're a painting contractor who's ready to take your business to new heights, keep scrolling.
Key takeaways:
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Despite painting contractors working in an offline environment, failing to create a reputable online presence will negatively impact your business.
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Tapping into your local real estate and property management communities can lead to lucrative long-term painting contracts.
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Customer-driven growth can unlock new (and sustainable) business, all while saving you money.
3 Smart ways to win at marketing for painting contractors
1. Building a strong online presence
In today’s digital era, a strong online presence is crucial for any painting company. It allows you to:
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Showcase your work
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Engage with potential clients
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Generate leads more effectively than traditional marketing methods
Digital marketing tools are essential for creating an online presence that stands out among competitors and helps you reach customers more quickly and efficiently. And there are a few ways to help make that happen.
Website design and optimization
A well-designed, optimized, and high-converting home service website is the cornerstone of successful painting companies. It demonstrates your professionalism, showcases your past projects, and makes it easy for potential customers to find and contact you.
For a painting company website to truly stand out, it should include:
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A clear explanation of who you are (e.g., Best Residential Painting Contractor in City, State)
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A comprehensive list of services (e.g., interior and/or exterior)
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Testimonials from satisfied customers (e.g., a customer review page and quote from the owner)
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Answers to frequently asked questions (e.g., what the booking and actual painting process involves)
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An easy-to-use contact or quote request form (e.g., visible phone number or form at the top of the website)
To ensure maximum reach and visibility, your website should also be optimized for search engine performance. This involves using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques such as:
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Keyword research (including relevant words and phrases that people are already typing into search engines like Google)
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Meta tags (page titles and descriptions)
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Content optimization (including those keywords in the best places across your website)
Finest Painters out of Ontario, Canada and Ai Painting Plus in Missouri, USA (which are both NiceJob Sites clients) accomplish the points above extremely well! For example, on Finest Painters you immediately see locations they service, services they offer, and the ability to see a gallery and reviews which show off their high-quality work and online reputation!
I really love how they also have call-to-action buttons that give website visitors the choice of an in-person or virtual quote. And, of course, a phone number (not pictured) in the top right of their homepage.
By improving the search engine ranking of your website, you increase the chances of potential clients finding your painting services through a simple Google search.
Social media engagement
Engaging with potential clients on social media platforms is another essential component of a strong online presence. Social media allows you to showcase your work, share tips, and build trust with your audience, ultimately helping you secure more business.
To effectively use social media for your painting business, follow these steps:
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Post regularly to keep your followers engaged and informed about your latest projects and updates.
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Showcase stunning before-and-after photos of your projects to demonstrate your skills and attract potential clients.
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Engage with your followers by responding to comments and direct messages, showing that you value their feedback and are accessible.
On TikTok, videos related to "painting contractor business" have amassed a 41.3 million views! And the hashtags #paintingcontractor and #paintcontractor have 36.7 million and 16.1 million video views respectively (as of early August 2023).
As the home services industry continues to boom, these numbers will continue to grow! Which means implementing these social media marketing tactics for painters can result in more clients for you.
Google Business Profile and other local directories
Listing your painting company on Google Business and in local directories is another crucial aspect of building a strong online presence. Ensuring consistent information across all platforms, such as your company name, address, and phone number, can help boost visibility and credibility, giving you a great opportunity to grow your business.
Some reliable local business directories to maintain for local SEO include Yellow Pages, Angi, and Yelp. By keeping your business information up-to-date in these directories, you increase your chances of appearing in search results when potential clients are looking for painting services in your area.
You can even add multiple locations to your Google Business Profile your painting company has them. That way, you can reach more people, more effectively.
Utilizing paid advertising channels
Paid advertising channels, such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads, can help you target specific demographics and locations, increasing your chances of reaching potential clients.
For painting companies with a paid advertising budget, Google's local service ads are worth exploring, which is a pay-per-lead ad platform specifically designed for locally-based small businesses.
Most importantly, you can clearly track the performance of your ads and make adjustments to optimize their success. Or, if the ads you're running prove to be too expensive or ineffective at driving awareness or interest, you can confidently pause or stop the ad campaign entirely.
Producing informative content
You can apply this marketing tactic for painting contractors to the ones I mention above. This overlap is why it's worth giving it its own section.
Producing informative content, such as blog posts and videos, can help you establish yourself as an expert in the painting industry and provide valuable information to potential clients.
It doesn't just need to be on your painting company's website either. You can be a guest on podcasts related to painting businesses.
By sharing your knowledge and insights on various painting topics, you can demonstrate your expertise and build trust with your target audience.
After all, people who choose a specific painting company probably feel some sort of connection. The more personable your brand is, the stronger the trust grows!
2. Implementing offline marketing tactics
While having a strong online presence is essential for your painting business, implementing offline marketing tactics can also play a vital role in attracting new clients and increasing brand awareness in your local area.
Here are some great offline marketing ideas for painting business owners that will help you grow.
Door-to-door marketing
Many painting contractors like you probably hate doing it. We get it, it can be uncomfortable talking to strangers and leave you feeling defeated after hearing "no" so many times.
But business coach Lenny Gray, author of D2D Millionaire, says there are three reasons why painting companies need to have a door-to-door program:
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Your competitors are doing it and they're growing quickly
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You don't need any sales experience to put together a successful marketing campaign
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You're absolutely missing out on acquiring more customers without a door-to-door program
Door-to-door marketing is a traditional but effective marketing tactic for painters. By going door-to-door in targeted neighborhoods, you can offer free estimates, showcase your expertise, and build relationships with potential clients.
To maximize the effectiveness of door-to-door marketing, consider targeting neighborhoods with older homes that may require painting services. Realtor websites can be a valuable resource for identifying these neighborhoods.
While door-to-door marketing can be time-consuming, it can help you secure your first few paint jobs and establish meaningful connections with potential clients that last you're whole career.
Yard signs
Yard signs are an excellent way to advertise your painting business in your local area. By placing yard signs at completed projects, you can showcase your work and attract the attention of neighbors and passersby. To create an effective yard sign, include:
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Your company logo
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Your company name
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Your phone number
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A simple call-to-action
This will help potential clients easily contact you and inquire about your painting services.
Yard signs are a cost-effective way to generate more leads and grow your painting business.
Flyers and brochures
Distributing flyers and brochures at local businesses and events can help you market your painting business, reach a wider audience, and showcase your painting services.
This offline marketing tactic can be particularly effective in areas with a high concentration of potential clients, such as home improvement stores or community events.
To create an eye-catching flyer or brochure, include:
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High-resolution images of your work
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Emphasize powerful words
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Provide a clear call-to-action
Distributing these materials in strategic locations can help you generate leads, increase brand recognition, and create more potential customers for your painting business.
With free online tools like Canva, they're incredibly easy to make with existing painting company-themed flyer templates — no design experience required!
Offering promotions and discounts
Offering promotions and discounts can be an effective way to attract new clients and incentivize repeat business. By providing special offers and incentives, you can encourage potential clients to choose your painting services over your competitors.
To ensure the success of your promotions and discounts, consider:
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Offering discounts for referrals (e.g., the referee gets 10% off and the referrer gets 10% the next time they need your services)
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Creating limited-time offers (e.g., only available during a slow season like Winter or leading up to the busy Summer season)
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Rewarding repeat customers with discounts on future services (e.g., get a $25 gift card or 10% off their next painting needs)
These incentives can help you generate more leads, increase customer loyalty, and ultimately grow your painting business.
3. Leveraging networking opportunities
Networking is a powerful strategy for growing your painting business. There are three groups of people you should tap into to consistently discover new job opportunities and expand your client base, while establishing yourself as a trusted professional in the painting industry.
Collaborating with real estate agents
Partnering with real estate agents (and even home staging companies) can open up exciting opportunities for your painting business.
Real estate agents work with homebuyers who may require painting services before moving into their new homes. By collaborating with these agents, you can reach new clients and offer tailored services to meet their specific needs.
To maximize your collaboration with real estate agents, you can:
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Reach out to local real estate agencies
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Provide them with information about your painting services
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Share positive reviews from satisfied customers
You can find a long list online. But to start, you can put together a starter list of 5-10 real estate agents by driving around your service areas. And, if you're on good terms, reach real estate agents that you (or your friends and family) have worked with during the home buying and selling process.
Connecting with property managers
Property managers are responsible for maintaining and improving the properties they manage. As a result, they often require the services of reputable professional painters for various projects.
Connecting with property managers can lead to large commercial painting projects and long-term business relationships.
To establish connections with property managers, you can reach out to them through their websites, using contact forms, emails, or phone calls. By demonstrating your expertise and offering tailored painting solutions that cater to their specific needs, you can build valuable relationships and secure more painting contracts.
Websites like All Property Management are perfect for this because you can filter by state and quickly get an idea of the top property management companies along with their addresses and property types they manage.
Engaging with local contractors
Local contractors, such as builders and renovators, can be invaluable sources of referrals and collaborative projects for your painting business. Worst case, they say no because they've already got their painting needs covered. Best case, you secure new painting projects!
To connect with local contractors, hop over to an online directory like Houzz, plug in your postal or zip code, and find general contractors in your service areas. You can also attend local networking events and leverage referrals from existing clients.
BONUS: Creating a customer-driven growth engine
Painting businesses need customers. Your painting business needs customers. You wouldn’t be reading this right now if it didn’t.
But winning more new customers without investing huge amounts of money in ads is hard. Providing the best service should be enough, but it's not always the case.
Thankfully, growing your painting business doesn’t have to rely on giant ad spends.
In fact, you have one asset that can seriously drive growth... and that is your customers!
By investing in creating engaged and happy customers, they can become your biggest advocates who do your marketing for you.
But how?
That's where customer-driven growth comes in.
When done right, customer-driven growth is an incredibly powerful engine that will grow your painting business by using the voices of your customers, then amplifying those voices, so that every one customer brings you even more.
So, what does this look like in action?
Review generation software
Painting businesses should regularly be collecting and showcasing their positive reviews from satisfied customers. But manually asking clients for reviews and then waiting for their responses (which sometimes don't come) can be tiresome and frustrating.
The best review generation software will save you time and automate the entire process so that you can significantly improve your online reputation and attract new clients, while focusing on other areas of your business!
NiceJob, the reputation marketing platform for local businesses, takes the guesswork out of getting customer reviews with a tested SMS and email campaign that's been proven to get customers 4x more reviews!
Once those reviews come it, you can use NiceJob's social proof tools to automatically share your positive reviews across your painting company website and social media platforms (e.g., Instagram and Facebook).
To recap:
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Easily get 4x more reviews
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Automatically amplify those reviews online
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Sit back as your brand awareness grows and leads flow in
Customer referral software
Customer-driven growth doesn't stop at reviews. In word-of-mouth marketing, referrals play a key role in scaling business growth in the paint industry.
A customer referral program rewards existing clients, including past customers, for referring new customers to your painting business. You can offer discounts on future services or cash rewards and by doing so, you encourage your satisfied customers to spread the word about your painting services.
Just like generating customer reviews, sending out referral requests can be time-consuming and ineffective when not done correctly.
By default, NiceJob's effective customer referral software automatically enrols your customers at the moment of peak satisfaction — in other words, when they leave you a positive review! So not only does launching a review campaign require minimal effort, your referral campaign effectively requires none.
Between review generation and customer referral software, you'll be able to acquire customers and grow your business:
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More quickly
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More cheaply
Get the online reputation your painting company deserves!
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Put your favorite marketing ideas for painting business into action
Growing your painting business in 2023 requires a combination of everything I've shared above — from online and offline tactics to customer-driven growth.
I'm confident that when you start implementing these strategies in the context of your personal painting contractor business, you'll significantly expand your client base, boost your brand awareness, and increase your profits.
Remember: marketing a painting company doesn't need to happen all at once. Pick a strategy and tactic from the list above that you believe makes the most sense for your business. Try it out, refine it, double down if it works and ditch it if it doesn't, then move on to the next one.
Today is the day to take your painting business to new heights and achieve the success you know you're capable of.
