I have loved Rand Fishkin's Whiteboard Friday series for a long time.

This week Rand takes a deep (12 minute) dive into his thinking around the topic of marketing during times of uncertainty.

As usual, Rand is able to capture what I am feeling, and somehow get it [neatly] onto his whiteboard in a way that makes perfect sense.

Marketing in Times of Uncertainty - Whiteboard Friday

Rand's 3 Crucial Points

1. Cut with a scalpel, not with a chainsaw

We've are pleased with our clients' approach to marketing budget. Most have kept their budgets status quo while diving into the details to ensure we're all making smart decisions about channels and messages.

Click here to see What Marketing is Working During the Pandemic.

2. Invest now for the second & third waves in the future

April is the beginning of air conditioner season. It's the time when contractor messaging addresses homeowners who already know they they are going to buy a new air conditioning system by the start of the summer.

Under the current circumstances, depending on where you're located in the US and Canada, homeowners have widely varying points of view on the prospect of allowing your comfort consultant and technicians into their homes.

Some will be totally cool with it while others will be on lock down for a while.

This doesn't actually shrink our Total Available Market (TAM), but it does defer a portion of this revenue to some future date.

A Foundation of Education About YOUR COVID-19 Procedures is Mandatory

If you haven't done so already, publish a blog outlining the measures your company is taking to protect your employees and customers from the COVID-19 virus.

If you ignore this critical step in your marketing strategy, you risk a very bad look. It send the message that you either don't care, don't know. or worse, you don't believe it's real. 

We understand that no contractor wants to be part of the media frenzy, but this education is part of being the Trusted Advisor to your customers. Publishing information like this demonstrates your commitment to the well-being of the people your business touches, and to your long-term future.

Transitioning to Life Online

In the interest of safety you should introduce homeowners to "virtual" service calls and estimates using video conferencing tools like FaceTime and Zoom. Everyone in the world is going to have to develop some level of competence with remote meeting options, so it's prudent in your role as Trusted Advisor that you take the lead in educating customers and prospects about their options.

You will be surprised how willing your customers are to walk you through their homes on a video call, take measurements, and send you pictures, enabling you to diagnose problems and put together estimates.

Then, if and when you need to send a tech out to the home to perform a service, appropriate safety measures will have already been agreed to, and can often be accomplished with little or no contact with the homeowner.

Make no mistake, friends, this stuff is going to change your business forever, not just for this year. When customers get a taste of this type of interaction, it will be fatal to be the company who doesn't offer it.

3. Read the Room

The world has changed. This is out of our hands. People are learning, accepting and adapting to these changes at different rates.

This differing rate of awareness depends largely on where you're located. A contractor in NYC is speaking to a very different customer base than the contractor in rural Indiana. 

Understand that no matter where you're located, people's understanding of the situation is going to evolve depending on the path the COVID-19 pandemic takes here in North America.

Some communities will be slammed while others may get lucky and dodge the bullet.

It's up to you and your marketing team to keep your finger on the pulse of the sentiment in your service area while being a beacon of truth, transparency and help along the way.

Your customers are all at home now, spending more time than ever on social networks and watching television. Take this opportunity to carve out your role in their experience.

Embrace your role as their Trusted Advisor on all things related to home comfort, plumbing and indoor air quality and be the company that kept the families in your service area educated, safe and comfortable during the most uncertain time since the Great Depression.

Some contractors will survive this.

Some will not.

Some will grow.

Take the long view with your marketing to make sure you are the contractor who grows.

Click here to see What Marketing is Working During the Pandemic.