Digital Branding. Summary Report. In January 2018, EGIA surveyed its network of contractors on Digital Branding. This is a summary of the results.

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1 Summary Report From Data Collected January 2018 Digital Branding In January 2018, EGIA surveyed its network of contractors on Digital Branding. This is a summary of the results.

2 Digital Branding Digital branding is a crucial element of any business, but in the home services industry, where most business owners come up through a contracting background, many of the nuances online marketing, digital asset protection, online review services may seem foreign. In January 2018, we asked our members all about digital branding to determine some of the most and least effective practices currently ongoing in the industry. Learn More About Digital Branding To learn more about digital branding, visit the EGIA Contractor University Contracting Best Practices Library, where an entire section is devoted to the subject. Topics range from choosing a web provider and managing online reviews, to digital asset protection, pay-per-click advertising, and much more. Resources include templates, videos, how-to documents and more. You can learn more about the EGIA Snapshot Survey program at:

3 Does your company have its own website (separate from a Facebook page)? When it comes to digital branding, it all starts with the website. It s the place where customers can learn about your services and figure out how to contact you. It s where you can refer prospective customers reached via marketing campaigns. An overwhelming majority of contractors seem to see the value, as 87% of those surveyed said their company has its own website. The simple fact of the matter is that for a company operating in any company -- a website is no longer a recommendation; it's a requirement. By and large, contractors in this survey seemed to agree. HAVE A COMPANY WEBSITE Typically the digital media platform is going to be the approach you want to use in today s environment, and then you can drive all traditional media and those incoming leads through that website. - Gary Elekes, EGIA Contractor University Faculty Member

4 Has your company engaged in online marketing? (SEM/pay per click, for example.) Next, we wanted to know how companies are drumming up business online. A full 72% of those surveyed have engaged in some form of online marketing, while just 28% have not entered that arena. While the relative value of online marketing can be debated, Google AdWords, the global leader in pay-per-click advertising, is a proven asset for businesses when used correctly. 98% of people using Google Search click on a link on the first page, a location far easier to accomplish when using AdWords, while 70% of mobile searchers call a business directly from Google Search. Across all industries, businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 spent on AdWords. 72% OF COMPANIES HAVE ENGAGED IN ONLINE MARKETING Now you can also write a check to get to the top of the [search engine results] page, it s called pay-per-click (PPC). You only have to worry about Google; I wouldn t worry about Microsoft Bing because they have such a small market share. But if you want to pay anywhere from $5 to $15 per click, you can buy yourself a spot at the top of the list. To do that you want to create a free account called Google AdWords and then you want to start studying that. Or better yet hire someone who knows how to deal with that. - James Leichter, EGIA Contractor University Faculty Member

5 Has your company found online marketing to be a cost-effective way to increase leads? While just seventy-one percent of those surveyed said their companies had engaged in online marketing, a whopping 81% of those who had engaged in it found value in it, against 19% who did not. While it can be daunting to shell out untold amounts of money toward marketing, there s balance to be found once you ve established a proper return on investment (ROI) that will ensure the revenue you bring in from any given marketing activity exceeds the marketing costs. Once you ve established the appropriate ROI, after factoring in other expenditures and costs associated with onboarding new customers, it s much easier to simply incrementally increase those marketing costs knowing revenues will increase proportionately. 81% FIND ONLINE MARKETING COST EFFECTIVE Methodical and steady. We do many small tests to see what works. We do not rely on digital for most of our leads, instead we use it to shore up our presence and reinforce our direct mail. - HVAC Contractor in Connecticut

6 Does your company handle online marketing internally or do you outsource to an agency/other third party? Since most of those surveyed have engaged in online marketing, and the majority of that group have found value in it, next we wanted to know how they go about doing it. Just 33% said their company manages online marketing initiatives internally, versus 67% that outsource to a third party. There s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to who manages online marketing campaigns, but it s important to know limitations. Companies that have reached a size and revenue level that allow them to bring on a marketing specialist may do well to work out an internal solution. Some smaller companies, without the requisite marketing experience or personnel, may do well to outsource. It s better to pay a professional to execute online marketing correctly than to waste money by attempting to run a campaign that you simply don t understand. 67% OUTSOURCE 33% INTERNAL HOW MARKETING IS HANDLED IN COMPANIES We use a company that does our website and manages our online marketing, online access, and they are excellent. They also help us manage our reviews with excellent results. - HVAC Contractor in Alabama

7 Does your company have a policy in place regarding digital asset protection (logos, pictures, advertising files, domain names, etc.)? Finally, we wanted to know how the industry views digital asset protection. According to those surveyed, just 21% of companies have a policy in place regarding digital asset protection, while 47% do not. (32% of those surveyed were unsure of their company s stance.) While digital asset protection can seem arcane to many, or entirely unknown, it s vital to any business. Having a formal policy in place ensures companies won t lose access to things like domain names, passwords, online content and logo designs, the loss of which can cost your company untold amounts of time, money and even brand recognition and customers. If your company does not have a policy in place, there s never been a better time to start. NO UNSURE YES 21% 32% HAVE A POLICY FOR DIGITAL ASSET PROTECTION 47% For whatever reason, you may like to have a divorce with your web developer vendor partner. But they have access to your website, access to your social media accounts. They may have access to basically your entire digital footprint, from logos to promotions to your actual communication channels with your customers. So once you fire that vendor, you need to be able to control access to those assets and cut off access from that vendor the moment you decide. - Andrew Allen, EGIA Contractor University Faculty Member