Can you get all the leads you need from the internet?

In this episode of Digital Marketing for Contractors, the team at Fat Cat Strategies dives into an often-overlooked truth: online marketing alone isn’t enough to sustain and grow a successful home improvement business. While digital strategies like SEO, paid ads, and social media are crucial, the most successful contractors pair these tactics with offline marketing to maximize their reach and impact.

Janet and Caitlin, co-owners of Fat Cat Strategies, share their expertise and real-world examples of how a balanced marketing approach delivers the best results. They discuss the “marketing triangle,” which integrates online efforts, offline strategies, and in-person branding to create a cohesive customer journey.

Listeners will learn why offline tactics—like direct mail, home shows, and local sponsorships—still work, even in a digital-first world. The episode covers actionable strategies, such as targeting specific neighborhoods with postcards, leveraging branded vehicles and yard signs, and partnering with local realtors for referrals. There’s also a discussion about the power of canvassing, using techniques like the “three up, three down” rule to generate leads while building trust within the community.

The hosts emphasize that offline and online marketing aren’t competing methods—they complement each other. Whether it’s a homeowner hearing a radio ad, seeing a yard sign, or receiving a postcard, these offline touchpoints reinforce your digital presence and lead to higher conversions.

This episode is packed with insights for contractors looking to grow their businesses by embracing a well-rounded marketing approach. Tune in to learn how to combine online and offline strategies to generate more leads, increase brand recognition, and dominate your market!

Want to find out how we can create a custom digital marketing game plan for your contractor business? Schedule a call with us at fatcatstrategies.com.

Transcript

Welcome to Digital Marketing for Contractors! This podcast is brought to you by Fat Cat Strategies. We are a full-service digital marketing agency based in Raleigh, North Carolina. We specialize in working with home improvement contractors just like you to grow their businesses. My name is Janet, and I am the founder and managing partner here at Fat Cat. Today, I am joined by my co-owner and lovely business partner, Caitlin Noble. Hey, Caitlin! What's up?

Caitlin: Hey! I'm Caitlin. I am the head of client services, and I am so happy to be here with you today. I'm so happy to be here with you today. I'm so happy to be here with you today. Janet, what are we going to talk about?

Janet: We're going to be vulnerable today. That's what we're going to do. We're going to expose our soft little underbelly and we're going to say, "Hey, we're going to ask the question: Can you, as a home improvement contractor, get all of the leads and business that you need from the internet?" And I'm going to say, I'm going to go out there—drumroll? Drumroll. I'm going to risk it for the biscuit and say, even though we are a digital marketing agency, I am going to say, no.

Caitlin: No.

Janet: No. You can't get everything you need from the internet. Just like you can't get everything in your life that you need from the internet, even though Amazon delivers to my house daily.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Janet: You've got to do some offline stuff.

Caitlin: Yes.

Janet: So today's topic is about what are the things in the, what did the kids call it? IRL? In real life?

Caitlin: The kids don't call it that anymore.

Janet: I'm shaking my head because I don't even know.

Caitlin: Uh oh. Does that mean you just passed over?

Janet: I don't know. I think I've passed. I've passed over. I think I've passed over in time. But we also are going to go kind of back in time. I mean, this is, these are some old-school—

Caitlin: These are old-school, but they still work.

Janet: They still work.

00:02:12

Caitlin: Stand by them.

Janet: So you just tuned into an episode of, like, classic rock. So what we're saying—to be serious—is yes, we are a digital marketing agency. Yes, we live and breathe on the internet all day long. But we're saying to you, dear listener, dear owner or manager or sales manager of a home improvement company: if you think you can get everything you need from the internet, what we've seen—we've never actually seen it work. Have you ever seen it work?

Caitlin: That's exactly what I was about to say. Our most successful clients are running TV ads, they're running radio ads, they've got a canvassing department, they are out at home shows. We're going to talk more about all of this in detail.

00:02:59

Janet: We welcome and are excited for those people who are Level 1 contractors, who do join the journey and think that they can get all that they need from the internet, from the internet. But I'm telling you, it makes everybody's life a little bit harder, and it's honestly a lot more expensive on the digital side of things.

Caitlin: Yes. So, so yeah, I want to jump in. I want to clarify: when we say you can't get everything you need from the internet, I'm actually going to sound like I'm schizophrenic and I'm going to backtrack a little bit. I'm going to say there is a way for you to get everything you need from the internet, and that is if you just decide right now you are not going to build your own brand.

Janet: You're not going to have branded trucks. You're not going to have an actual business name that people remember. All you're ever going to do is buy leads from a lead aggregator.

Caitlin: Perfect.

Janet: And if that—if you think that you really only want to just get a lead and respond to it, skip this episode.

Caitlin: Skip this episode.

Janet: Skip naming your company. I guess just get a phone number.

Caitlin: Get a phone number and keep your business really tight. One installation crew, one sales rep, buy your leads from lead aggregators.

Janet: And that is the scenario that we are saying is that a home improvement company can be successful getting literally everything they need from the internet.

Caitlin: If you want to do more than just buy leads from a lead aggregator—

Janet: Yep.

Caitlin: This episode is for you.

Janet: And we're going to help you grow. Yes. And so, yeah, we are a digital marketing agency, but on the strategy side of things, we are working with our clients on a day-to-day basis, bringing strategy and support around these offline marketing tactics.

Caitlin: So tell me how—yeah, tell me how you've seen—well first, Caitlin, why don't you just, like, run down the list high level, and then we'll dive into each.

Janet: When we say offline, what do we mean?

Caitlin: Offline: direct mail—that old school stuff. We're putting something in the mail.

Janet: You're talking about a postcard?

Caitlin: Postcard.

Janet: Or a letter.

Caitlin: Totally. Postcard or letter. Print materials. I'm talking like yard signs, home shows, refrigerator magnets—

Janet: Yeah, refrigerator magnets!

Caitlin: Home shows and all the glorious things that happen at a home show. Let’s talk about referral programs and incentives. That’s a little bit digital, but it takes a lot of you and your team, the language, and the print materials to go through and ask for referrals.

Janet: Right.

Caitlin: Networking—this is within local businesses, real estate, and even networking with your previous customers. Classic, classic, classic door-to-door canvas marketing. A lot of our clients still do this. This is not dead. We'll talk more about that.

Janet: I love this one.

Caitlin: Local sponsorships and community events. One of the most basic, simple ways to just get your name out and about in the community.

Janet: Yep.

Caitlin: We already talked high level about print, but let’s go into local magazines, local newspapers.

Janet: Yep.

Caitlin: What are other print opportunities where you can run an ad? And then, high level, this isn’t on our list, but it’s almost a no-brainer. If you have the budget: radio and TV. I mean, that’s kind of the cherry on top of your quote-unquote offline marketing.

Janet: Perfect. Let’s dive in.

Caitlin: Yeah. Before we dive into the specifics of that list, which is a great list, I want to do a shout-out to—I guess it’s a weird shout-out because I’m not going to name his name because I’ve never gotten his permission to—but the client that taught us, really, like, we cut our teeth on home improvement. He was a fantastic individual who grew an amazing business from one location to seven locations. One location with, like, five employees to seven locations with 185 employees.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: We learned so much on that journey with that client. He ended up selling, and I think he’s traveling the world in an RV now.

Janet: On the beach.

Caitlin: Yeah, he’s somewhere fun. But he told me early on that he always pictured things like a triangle.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: There’s online, there’s offline, and there’s your showroom. Now, I know everybody listening won’t have a showroom, but the point of imagining that triangle is, you know, you’re never really going to be able to nail down every single lead to a specific source.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: Someone may have, to Janet’s point, heard your radio advertisement, then searched for you later. Maybe they clicked on a paid ad, then maybe they stopped by your showroom, and then three or four months later, you sent them an email or a postcard.

Janet: Yep.

Caitlin: You know, that’s that triangle all working together—online, offline, and your in-person presence.

Janet: Exactly.

Caitlin: And I think—go ahead.

Janet: I think it’s also important to know—again, from the digital side of things, we want to say that you’re going to get that immediate gratification off an online lead. There’s also so much to be said about the many, many, many touches that it takes to actually convert that lead.

Caitlin: Yes!

Janet: To Caitlin’s point, think about it. They maybe saw your commercial, they saw a yard sign in their neighbor’s yard—

Caitlin: Or your truck.

Janet: Or your truck. They went online, checked out your website, and saw solid photos and good reviews. Then they just disappeared, which is common.

Caitlin: Right.

Janet: How are you continuing to follow up with them? A lot of these offline tactics do help with that.

Caitlin: Absolutely.

Janet: So the online and the offline, in my mind—I know we’ve talked about a triangle, but I also see it like a Venn diagram.

Caitlin: Right.

Janet: They overlap and complement each other.

Caitlin: Exactly.

Janet: So, Caitlin, take us through the list.

Caitlin: Okay, I’m going to recap the list. What Caitlin told us we could do: TV and radio, direct mail, home shows and field marketing, yard signs and vehicles, referrals, networking, canvassing, local sponsorships, and print advertising. Pick one and let’s dive in.

Janet: Let’s go!

Caitlin: One of my personal favorites—and y’all are going to roll your eyes—it’s expensive, I know, but direct mail, postcards.

Caitlin: It is. It is expensive. It’s hard to track a conversion.

Janet: But we actually have a way to track it.

Caitlin: I know. It’s getting better and better and better. Thank you, QR codes—one positive thing that came out of the pandemic. Everybody learned how to use a QR code.

Janet: QR codes and trackable phone numbers.

Caitlin: Correct. And trackable phone numbers. Absolutely. So you kind of can see we’re pulling in a little bit of digital on this. But direct mail is an awesome way to target a neighborhood you may be working in currently. You might be in a neighborhood, and you want everybody who’s seen your yard sign and your truck out there for a couple of days to also get a piece of mail that invites them to learn more about your company, to find out about a sale you have going on.

Janet: Yes. That is really solid, consistent marketing around an existing project.

Caitlin: Exactly.

Janet: So Caitlin, like we said at the top of the podcast, you’re head of client services. So you’re like in the weeds with this stuff all day long. I tend to dive into reports after the fact. I was looking through some reports the other day, and we have a decking client in the D.C. area. We looked at one year where we had a lot of conversions we could track either through a trackable phone number or through a QR code or a specific URL.

Caitlin: Right.

Janet: And one of the things that I was frankly surprised about—when we looked at one year’s worth of leads and leads that we could track to revenue—the top two sources were paid Google ads and ValPak mailers.

Caitlin: Exactly.

Janet: So that’s a good point. Whether it’s a postcard or not, there are services like ValPak—

Caitlin: Which I would put in the direct mail category.

Janet: It is.

Caitlin: It is.

Janet: It’s mail.

Caitlin: And if it’s the right place and time and neighborhood and age of the home, and you’re getting that ValPak pack of coupons, I’m going through it. I’m going to look at it. I’m going to compare and see what my options are.

Janet: Exactly.

Caitlin: I guess I was just underlining and celebrating that you’re talking about direct mail, which triggered me to remember—oh my gosh—I just saw this report where our clients—you say you bring it up to clients, and they roll their eyes: “It’s expensive. How much is it?” And we’ve seen it work.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: And this was not a cheap product. This is a high-end deck builder.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: It’s so supportive. So I guess direct mail around projects in neighborhoods you’re currently in. And then my other favorite, and it’s a little harder—

Janet: Wait, wait, before you leave direct mail, why don’t you talk about the letter?

Caitlin: Oh, yeah. Well—so, yes—neighborhoods you’re currently working in, I think that’s a no-brainer if you can do it. But—

Janet: And then the second one would be identifying neighborhoods you want to be in.

Caitlin: Yes.

Janet: So those were the two.

Caitlin: Here’s a neighborhood we know—like, we’ll get it from our clients. “Hey, we drove through this neighborhood. It looks like there are houses that are 30 years old. Those windows need to be replaced. We’ve never done work there. Let’s drop some mail.”

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: And we can marry that with a digital ad. But mail is one of those many, many, many touches.

Janet: Totally.

Caitlin: So what was your question though?

Janet: Oh, I was just remembering when you’ve done a campaign with letters for one of our James Hardie siding contractors.

Caitlin: Yes.

Janet: And you talk a little bit about how that looked. Like the physical—what did it look like? It wasn’t a postcard.

Caitlin: Yeah, no. And I think Janet made a good point too. Based on your manufacturer, Hardie has an amazing online portal through the Hardie Zone that makes doing what I’m talking about super simple. We actually manage that platform for several of our Hardie clients right through the Hardie Zone. So ask your Hardie rep.

Janet: Ask your agency.

Caitlin: Yeah. If that’s something you haven’t done, you can use your Hardie points on that. There’s a plug for Hardie.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: So that letter looks like it’s folded up as one—you get it. It’s directed to a specific name and an address, which most platforms will allow you to build a list if you don’t already have one.

Janet: Yep.

Caitlin: It looks like it’s from the owner. It’s highlighted. It looks like there’s a special offer going on. It’s very, very specific.

Janet: So it looks personalized—like a letter to the homeowner.

Caitlin: Totally. From the owner of the local James Hardie siding installer.

Janet: That’s perfect.

Caitlin: I mean—and you guys have probably seen these too. They look like receipts. They look like an invoice that somebody may have just stuck in there and said, “Hey, here’s a special offer from the owner to your specific name.”

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: So all of that’s possible.

Janet: Okay, direct mail, let’s check that off.

Caitlin: Yep.

Janet: What's next?

Caitlin: Home shows.

Janet: Love it.

Caitlin: Oh my gosh. This is a classic, classic, classic one. Home shows. Again, roll your eyes. Expensive. You have to staff them. You have to prep for them. You have to have your booth, your materials.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: But y’all, we have seen home show success of all sizes. A table with a tablecloth—it doesn’t even have to be branded. If you have a nice polo with your logo stitched on it—

Janet: That’s it.

Caitlin: Yeah. And you get some sort of spinny wheel. Y’all have seen it—you’re out and about at any local festival and there’s a wheel you can spin to enter to win. There’s candy, brochures, just a way to interact with somebody.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: I mean, we were just out at this local fall fest, and our gutters have to be cleaned. There was a guy standing there.

Janet: With a gutter cleaning table?

Caitlin: Yeah!

Janet: What was on his table?

Caitlin: Nothing.

Janet: Nothing on the table?

Caitlin: Just a whiteboard on an easel—or something like it—and it said, “Offering free gutter cleaning estimates.”

Janet: As low-tech as it gets.

Caitlin: As low-tech as it gets. And I didn’t see any competitors out there. I looked at my husband and said, “Just go get his information.” And they came and cleaned our gutters, FYI, yesterday. And they were amazing.

Janet: So do what you can.

Caitlin: Do what you can.

Janet: So that would be the low-tech version.

Caitlin: Right.

Janet: I’ve seen some really high-tech solutions—sticking with gutters, it’s almost like a little mini mock-up of the soffit and fascia and where your roof meets your house.

Caitlin: Yes!

Janet: And you can touch it, and it’s got a little pump and water comes down the shingles—

Caitlin: Totally.

Janet: —and it hits whatever the product is, whether it’s Gutter Guard or Leaf Guard.

Caitlin: Yes.

Janet: So the low-tech version, if you’re a gutter guy, is a whiteboard.

Caitlin: And they got a lead and sale from me.

Janet: And the high-tech version is maybe your manufacturer can help you with one of those working displays.

Caitlin: Totally.

Janet: But the point is—get out in the public.

Caitlin: Get out in the public. I mean, these are home shows, but a lot of bigger companies offer things that could be used—like Costco, Home Depot, etc.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: You see when you walk into some of those big brand stores, someone offering to install gutters for you?

Janet: Yep.

Caitlin: That’s probably tied back to a local business.

Janet: Exactly.

Caitlin: I know we’re calling this part of the episode “home shows,” but I want to expand the idea of that to anywhere humans gather.

Janet: Perfect.

Caitlin: Again, I’m going to call back to the guy that taught us everything. He was a one-day bath company, expanded into three states.

Janet: Yep.

Caitlin: If there was a place where living, breathing humans gathered, he had a booth.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: We’re talking beer and bourbon festivals—

Janet: Totally.

Caitlin: —apple scrapple festivals.

Janet: Art walks.

Caitlin: Right.

Janet: County fairs.

Caitlin: If there was a hog-calling contest—

Janet: Right.

Caitlin: —he was there. They perfected their field marketing game. They had a trailer, displays, giveaways, and if there was a place where people were going to gather, they were set up.

Janet: Yep. And I think a lot of these manufacturers offer home show scripting.

Caitlin: Yes.

Janet: So let’s wrap that one up.

Caitlin: Perfect.

Janet: What’s next?

Caitlin: I want to combine a couple—local sponsorships and community events.

Janet: Good one.

Caitlin: This is where you can sponsor your local Little League team or your local church bazaar. You don’t have to staff it; you just get your logo out there.

Janet: Yes.

Caitlin: And then, what about high school football games? Those programs are gold.

Janet: Totally.

Caitlin: You could sponsor basketball, cheerleading—whatever it is, there are so many opportunities to get your brand into the local community.

Janet: Absolutely.

Caitlin: And I want to talk about networking and canvassing.

Janet: Go for it.

Caitlin: Networking, to me, is building connections with local businesses, real estate agents, or even your past customers. For instance, when we bought our home, we needed a lot of work done, and our realtor handed us a list of contractors they trusted.

Janet: Yep.

Caitlin: Connect with those local realtors.

Janet: And what can you do for them in return?

Caitlin: Exactly. A lot of our clients will host a lunch-and-learn for local agents. Bring in lunch, educate them about your services, and explain how you can help their clients.

Janet: That’s a great idea.

Caitlin: And canvassing—I love the “three up, three down” rule.

Janet: Oh, tell them about that!

Caitlin: If your crew is working on a house, go three houses up the street, three down, and across the street. Introduce yourself, leave a business card, or put a door hanger on their door.

Janet: That’s genius.

Caitlin: It’s simple and effective.

Janet: Perfect. So let’s wrap this up.

Caitlin: Yes.

Janet: Offline tactics combined with a strong digital strategy create the best results.

Caitlin: 100%.

Janet: Thank you so much for listening to Digital Marketing for Contractors! Visit fatcatstrategies.com to learn more, book a call, or check out our resources.

Caitlin: Thanks, everyone!