Tradies have a very hands-on job. However, even they’re not immune to the march of technology, with digital tools like tablets making their way into vans along with your traditional tools.
Simply put, technology makes life easier for tradies. Processes become quicker, communication speeds up, invoicing turns from a chore to a breeze… whether you are a small-sized or medium-sized tradie business, technology changes your business.
And when it comes to tradie marketing, there’s no avoiding it!
Technology doesn’t just make the admin side of your business quicker. It’s a tool: like anything else in your toolbox, technology changes your job for the better.
Here are some of the ways being a techy tradie can grow your business.
How technology makes your job easier
While there’s no substitute for on-the-job experience, new technologies make your job easier, period.
For example, developments in camera technology have fundamentally changed many of the jobs tradies get called for:
- Drones allow roofers to perform roofing inspections without climbing up
- Drain cameras give plumbers a convenient way of diagnosing blockages
- Tablets and 3D rendering technology help visualise construction and reduce the need for physical blueprints
All of this makes your job significantly easier… not to mention, safer too!
For many tradies, the problems they’re being called to are more and more tech-centric.
Being a techy tradie helps you stay on top of these trends. Ignoring them completely makes your job harder, in more ways than just one.
Make communication fast and easy
One of the best parts of the last decade-or-so is how easily we’re able to get in-touch with each other. Thanks to smartphones, tradies can be reached by their customers no matter the time or place.
The only issue? Making sure you’re available to field job calls!
Thankfully, there are a couple of things you can do to make your communication with customers more responsive.
Redirect your phone
For starters, you could set up your landline phone to redirect to your mobile while you’re out on a job. That way, if you’re out of the office and don’t have a team member dedicated to admin, you’ll still get the message.
Another thing you can do is sync your business email and social media accounts up with your phone. This is a simple step, but many tradies seem to neglect it!
Make it easy to get in touch online
Finally, think about getting a contact form set up on your website.
It’s not enough to have your details listed at the bottom of your site. Instead, talk to a tradie marketing specialist about adding a proper contact form on your website. It’s easy to miss a phone number – a prominent contact form on the other hand gives visitors a second way to get in touch with you.
Keep your schedules and payments organised
One of the less-mentioned parts of running any business (tradie or otherwise) is organising your time and completing admin work.
Nobody likes doing paperwork. Unfortunately, it’s an essential part of any business, even one as hands-on as a trade.
Techy tradies have a much easier time of administrative tasks:
- Calendar and project management systems help you schedule jobs and plan your day
- Modern bookkeeping software automatically processes your payments and invoices
- CRM systems make keeping in touch with previous customers a piece of cake
You can even buy card readers that plug into a smartphone or tablet, meaning you can process payments on-the-spot.
All of these leads to a faster, more responsive business. And that means more time on the road completing jobs!
Be found when a client needs you
The first step to getting more jobs is letting people know that your business exists.
And to do that, you need a strong online presence.
For starters, a website communicates your competency and builds confidence in your skills. Visitors can see your reviews, experience, services and past jobs, all in the one location. This is a powerful tool when it comes to convincing customers to ring you for jobs.
More importantly, it gets you found.
Being found online isn’t that simple. For the vast majority of customers, their first port of call when looking for a tradie is Google. However, 95% of searchers never scroll beyond page 1 of Google.
A website is a form of marketing – just like any other marketing campaign, it needs to be maintained to continue promoting your business and generate leads.
The key takeaway? Simply having a website won’t cut it anymore!
Techy tradies can improve their odds by investing in a tradie digital marketing strategy. Strategies like SEO in particular are extremely effective at driving quality leads to your business’ website.
By generating a steady stream of high-quality content, SEO strategies don’t just persuade visitors to trust you, but they push your business up Google’s results pages too!
Are you a techy tradie? How’s your tradie marketing?
Call iformat for tradie marketing tactics that work
Whether you are just a new in the tradie business or have been in the industry for quite some time, keeping up with the latest trends can be a boon for your tradie business.
And tradie digital marketing strategies are an essential part of being a techy tradie.
iformat is one of Melbourne’s leading tradie marketing specialists. We’ve built our reputation simply by getting real results and real ROI for tradies just like you.
Take your trade to the next level by contacting our team today on 1300 88 64 50.