There are a lot of considerations tradies have to keep in mind when thinking about the growth and success of their business: is your service up to scratch? How much competition do you have? How are you advertising, if at all?
One of the most important considerations, however, is the connections you form with your customers and partners – professional connections, of course!
And when it comes to establishing these relationships, you can’t afford to neglect the online connections made possible by digital technology.
Gone are the days when businesses were relied solely on print, radio and TV to reach their customers. Nowadays, promoting a business means being online and connecting with customers and potential partners there.
And for tradies, it is vital that you’re in step with these changes if you want to keep up!
Why Connect Online?
In our experience, many tradies take a passive approach, wait for customers to find them.
Make no mistake, a solid reputation can go a long way towards setting yourself apart from other tradies… but the “build it and they will come” approach won’t get you noticed!
Because asides from a handful of extremely niche trades, very few tradies don’t exist in a vacuum – for instance, there are over 15,000 registered electrical contractors in Victoria! With this level of competition, a passive approach towards putting your name out will simply result in you falling behind more active tradies.
But why online specifically?
Of course, if you’re reading this blog you’re probably already aware of the importance of an active approach to marketing. You might already spend money on billboards, or radio ads or maybe even a sponsorship for your local cricket club.
What many tradies neglect however is the power of online mediums to connect you with your customers and partners.
And with active internet users representing 88% of the Australian population, it’s more important than ever that tradies who haven’t already established themselves online get on board the online train!
Reach the people you want
If you’re on the fence about putting yourself online, think about this: you gain the power to target specific customers and business partners.
Think about your Facebook profile: most of us listed interests, music and TV shows we’re fond of… all of which can be used to identify and connect with potential customers.
But it goes deeper.
What people look at online and the sites they visit are all recorded and used to build online profiles. This information is used by search engines to target specific people with ads that are relevant to them.
For instance, if Google notices you’ve started searching up plumbers out of the blue, it reasons that something must have happened to your pipes. Next time you go online, don’t be surprised if you start seeing banner ads for plumbers on every site you visit!
This is just one example of the services a digital agency can offer your tradie business. And it’s just one of the ways you can connect with your customers online – we haven’t gotten started on the rest of our toolbox yet!
First impressions matter!
Having a responsive, well-designed and optimised website can be a great time-saver when it comes to forming connections with potential customers. After all, your website will be the first point of contact that many customers have with you and your business.
The best thing about your website however is that, barring some disaster, it will be up 24/7, providing information about you and your services to everyone who stops by.
A good website is more than just an information dump. An effective website:
- Projects a good image of you and your business
- Always communicates with the visitor, whether that’s relevant information
- Presents its contents in a digestible way
- Attracts the right type of customer
- Is designed to encourage clicks and action
Build online connections with iformat
When it comes to getting people to remember you and your services, the power of connection can’t be understated… especially for tradies!
We understand if this might be a lot to take in. However, you don’t have to do it alone! as iformat helps tradies communicate and connect better online with our comprehensive range of services.
Iformat creates a website and online sales strategy that increases your business. We focus on:
- Designing effective websites that generate awareness, leads and callouts
- High-quality content that connects with potential customers
- Digital advertising strategies that get your phones ringing
- Ongoing efforts that constantly improve your website’s performance.
Do you want more than just a website? You can read about some of our previous success stories helping other tradies connect with customers. Give us a call at 1300 88 64 50 or fill use our simple form to get connected.
You can also visit us for website for tradies in Melbourne: pop into our office at 105D Carpenter Street, Brighton 3186 VIC, if you prefer a more hands-on approach.