5 Reasons Why Your Roofing Company Needs A 90 Second Commercial (Hint: It's Not For TV)

This article that you're about to read means a lot to me.

It marks the 1 year anniversary of RoofEngine®.

If you're thinking... "Ten articles in a whole year Max? Slow down there tiger... your fingers are going to fall off if you keep writing this much."

I know... I know.

Ten articles in a year isn't much by any stretch of the imagination.

But here's the thing... I don't write these just to fill up space and feel productive.

To be completely honest...

I only write when I feel like I have something of ridiculous value to share with you guys. For every 1 article that you see on here, I scrapped at least 4 ideas because I didn't feel like they would help you.

Your time is important. I try my best to not waste it.

And I don't want to waste your time by having you read filler content that I put out just because it was Article Writing Wednesday or something like that.

So if a few months go by and you don't see anything new from me, don't worry. I'm not out of the game. I'm still here.

I'm just working behind the scenes, figuring out what next value-bomb I can share with you. Cool?

With that said, I hope you'll enjoy this next installment in "How To Build A Bad-Ass Roofing Company".

Enjoy.

Why your roofing company REALLY needs a 90 second commercial

You know... I never really expected myself to be preaching from the proverbial hill tops about the power of a good commercial.

First of all, I'm not a huge fan of TV advertising or any "big media". I think it's outdated and technology lets us get our message in front of more relevant people.

In most cases, the money you spend on a TV commercial, newspaper, or direct mail can be better spent in a well targeted Facebook or Google campaign.

But I'm not asking you to make a commercial and run it on TV... you don't even have to spend a single penny promoting it once it's produced.

The #1 benefit of a well made TV commercial is its almost magical ability to make your roofing company more real, more transparent, more trustworthy, more friendly, more credible, and make you more money.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

It's literally the next best thing we've got to being able to clone you when you're giving your most polished and dead-on sales pitch. And then your digital clone gets to live forever on video - selling people on your roofing company for decades. I'm exaggerating a bit, but I hope you get the point.

Reason #1: It makes you stand out from your competitors.

I want you to imagine something...

Pretend for a minute that you don't know the first thing about roofing. You're a homeowner, and  your roof is coming up on the 15 year mark and will need to be replaced soon.

So what do you do?

If you're like most people, you'd start searching on Google for local roofing contractors. You type in "best roofing contractors near me" and begin clicking on the results.

Here's the kicker... Do you stop clicking on roofing companies after the first one you find?

Probably not. You may open up tab after tab and begin to browse their websites.

Now let's flip it around. The homeowner who needs a roofer is looking at a bunch of websites. Your website... and a few of your competitors too.

This is a critical point in the lead generation process. The first impression.

Now is the time to put your best foot forward and do what you can to make the homeowner like you and trust you just a little.

Which of the 2 websites below do you think would make a homeowner like your roofing company faster?

A) A website with pictures of roofs and text.

B) A website with pictures of roofs, text, and a 90 second video featuring you, the owner, proudly introducing your company, talking about your values and guarantees, and showing some drone footage of roofs you've done. (Maybe a video testimonial or two if you've got 'em.)

All else being equal, video has the power to engage and make people feel emotions that pictures and text just can't match. When the homeowner sees you talking about your roofing company with passion, they feel like they already know you. That makes you that much closer to getting that first phone call, that estimate, and that job signed.

Reason #2: You can DOUBLE the amount of leads you receive.

If you want to double the amount of roofing leads you get, try adding a 90 second commercial to your website.

(Remember... this is coming from a guy who doesn't sell commercials or any video services for that matter. This is just some stuff that I accidentally found to work really well in making the phone ring. ) Anyway...

I've seen it happen over a dozen times in front of my very own eyes.

I take on a roofing company as a new client, implement the Roof Engine system to get them more leads, and track the results.

Here's what I've found...

Those that have a commercial to feature at the top of a landing page - get almost twice as many leads on average as the ones that don't.

They enjoy double the amount of leads for the same money - forever. All thanks to the commercial being one of the first things a visitor sees.

How cool is that?

Reason #3: A commercial can cut your lead costs in half AND get you 2x as many leads for the same $$$.

The beautiful thing about a good commercial, is that it pays for itself pretty easily. I'll talk about what you can expect to pay towards the end, but for now I just want you to look at it as 50% off sticker for your leads.

Here's what I mean...

Let's say you're running an Adwords campaign and sending people to a page on your website.

WARNING: MATH PROBLEMS AHEAD (Don't say I didn't warn you)

Cost to get 1 click: $10

Percentage of visitors that turn into a lead: 10%

That means you need 10 visitors(clicks) to get 1 lead.

That 1 lead costs you around $100.

If you change nothing else, and just add the commercial to your landing page you should see at least 1 extra lead for every 10 visitors. That 1 extra lead for every 10 clicks now means you get 2/10 of your visitors converting into a lead. Your lead cost is now $50.

That extra lead just cut your lead cost in half. 50% off all day long.

(If I lost you there I apologize - math wasn't my best subject.)

You're now spending the same exact amount, and getting 2x as many leads.

To a marketing nerd like me... that's a thing of beauty that just makes me tear up just a little.

Reason #4: You only have to get a commercial made once, and it keeps on paying you year after year.

I'm a big fan of high-leverage activities. Anything that I can do just once, and enjoy the rewards from over and over again I will happily do.

If you're like me, you're probably used to paying for software, advertising, web hosting, etc on a regular basis. Every 30 days, quarterly, and yearly your credit card gets hit for another charge.

So when something comes along that I only have to pay for once and never worry about it again... well that just makes me happy.

A commercial is one of those things. You pay a local video production company a one time fee, and they go to work capturing you and your company in its best light and immortalizing it on video that can be shared all across the internet.

No maintenance fees, no monthly charges, you just pay for it once and it's done.

Nice and simple.

Reason #5: A commercial is the #2 best marketing investment you can make.

When you get right down to the numbers, getting a commercial produced is one of the best ways to spend your marketing dollars. I'll do some simple math and try to show you how it's the gift that just keeps on giving.

You can get a video production company to film, edit, and produce a professional commercial for $2,000 to $5,000. If you find a film student, you can get it even cheaper.

TIP: To get estimates from many different video production companies and freelancers, I like to use Thumbtack.com and search for "Video Production". You'll get estimates from multiple companies and freelancers in your area.

Let's say it costs you $3,000 to get the finished commercial.

For this example, let's say your website gets 300 visitors a month. Of those 300, 10% like what they see and call you or fill out a form.

That's 30 leads a month from 300 visitors.

Let's say you add your new commercial to your home page, and any landing pages you may have.

Now, when a new visitor comes to your website, they're greeted with a video about your company where they can see who's behind it, what you stand for, and how you're different. This makes you easier to trust, like, and you seem more credible.

You're now getting more than 30 leads from every 300 visitors. Maybe you're getting... let's say 50, to be modest. An extra 20 leads per month.

Over the course of one year, that's an extra 240 roofing leads coming your way.

Now... let's think long term here. Over 5 years of the commercial being featured on your website - that's 1,200 extra roofing leads that you wouldn't have had. That's $2.50/lead if your commercial cost you $3,000.

Not too bad right?

Oh, and the #1 marketing investment you can make? You tell me what you think. Leave a comment on the Facebook post with your take on it.

To sum it all up...  

If your roofing company has any kind of web presence right now - a good commercial can amplify that web presence and get you more leads with what you've already got. Without spending any extra money on SEO, Pay Per Click, or leads.

It's a lean & efficient way to lower your lead costs and get more of them coming in.
I hope I've done a decent job in showing you the value of getting a professionally made commercial for your roofing company.

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