May 21, 2025 • 28 mins
In this episode, Janet and Caitlyn break down how home improvement contractors can find the right digital marketing agency to support their growth. They discuss why hiring an agency is a smart move, the must-haves to look for, the red flags to avoid, and how the right fit can transform your business. With real stories, candid advice, and actionable tips, this episode is a must-listen for any contractor ready to stop wasting money and start seeing real marketing results.
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.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Caitlyn (00:01):
Welcome to Digital Marketing for Contractors.
This podcast is brought to youby Fat Cat Strategies, a
full-service digital marketingagency based in Raleigh, North
Carolina.
We specialize in helping homeimprovement contractors just
like you grow their businesses.
Janet (00:17):
Today, you're listening to a series called Build, Grow,
Dominate, marketing strategiesfor every stage of your home
improvement business.
Every Wednesday, we take a deepdive into the lessons that
we've learned from supportingsome amazing business owners in
the home improvement industry.
In
Caitlyn (00:34):
part one, we'll cover the essentials from startup to
your first five million.
In part two, we're shiftinggears to focus on what it takes
to scale your business to asuccessful exit and or how to
dominate your market.
Now let's get into it.
Janet (00:51):
Hey, I'm Janet, the founder here at Fat Cat
Strategies, and today I amjoined by my lovely and
beautiful colleague, CaitlinNoble.
Caitlyn (00:59):
Thank you so much, Janet.
Too bad y'all can't see meright now.
Janet (01:03):
Yeah, we'll post a picture of her on the website.
She is actually incrediblyattractive.
Caitlyn (01:09):
I am Caitlin, a partner here at Fat Cat Strategies and
the head of client services.
Janet, what are we diving intotoday?
Janet (01:18):
Today, we're talking about...
An important topic, a bigtopic, and listeners, prepare to
roll your eyes a little bitbecause it could be a little bit
self-serving.
And that's fine.
We're here for it.
Today we are talking about howto find the right digital
marketing agency for your homeimprovement business.
Because let's be honest, doinggreat work in the home is one
(01:41):
thing, but then getting people,but how do you get people to the
home in the first place?
You need marketing, right?
Like, you could be the bestkitchen company, bath company,
but if nobody knows about you,you don't have the opportunity
to do what you do best, and youneed marketing.
So today, we're talking abouthow to find a great digital
(02:02):
agency that's the best fit foryour company.
Caitlyn (02:04):
And I think it's fair to say that we are definitely
not the only agency in the homeimprovement market.
No.
We have had clients bounce backand forth between us, other
agencies, vice versa.
I get it, but let's talk aboutwhy you just should hire one.
We've talked to y'all aboutmarketing and what digital
(02:26):
marketing is, and we're going tokeep coaching through that, but
let's talk about just whyhiring an agency is so
important.
And honestly, that's the firstnumber one.
So just why is it a smart move?
When you're getting started,it's very tempting to try and do
it all yourself.
I totally understand that anddo that too.
(02:46):
You might want to post onsocial media.
You might want to run a fewads.
You may have your cousin buildyour website.
We've seen it all.
But if you're serious aboutgrowth, about generating quality
leads, scaling your team, andlooking for a real player in
your market, looking like a realplayer in your market let me
(03:08):
rephrase that so if you'reserious about growth and
generating quality leads scalingyour team and you want to look
like a real roofing company areal signing company in your
market then you need to hire amarketing agency and that will
be your game changer they bringa strategy the tools and the
time that you probably did nothave and won't have as an owner
(03:32):
and operator, but not allagencies are created equal.
So how do you choose the rightone, Janet?
Janet (03:39):
So, you know, we obviously have so many opinions
about this, but I think one ofthe you know, they might be
(04:15):
really great in general, butthey just don't understand the
home improvement business.
They don't get how importantleads are.
Caitlyn (04:25):
They
Janet (04:26):
don't know the language.
They don't even really knowwhat the word lead means to a
contractor.
They don't, you know, they'renot really drilling into your
sales cycle and your KPIs.
And so if you don't partnerwith an agency that has industry
experience, you could end upworking with an agency that
(04:48):
thinks that this is a graphicdesign exercise or a branding
exercise, which that has itstime and its place.
but that's not geared towardslead generation.
And so in the end, it justmight not be a good fit because
your expectations and what youneeded are out of line with what
(05:08):
that agency is prepared togive.
So when you're looking andevaluating agencies, ask for
case studies.
Ask them if they've worked withroofers.
Have they worked with a windowcompany?
Have they worked with a one-daybath company?
and because you will quicklyfigure out if they understand
(05:29):
your business and a generalist Ageneralist agency that has, you
know, other kinds of clients,maybe an insurance agent, a
financial planner, a local doggroomer, they may know Google
Ads, but a specialist whounderstands the home improvement
industry will understand how tomake them work for you to hit
(05:50):
your numbers and KPIs that youwant to hit.
So that's the first thing.
bit of advice that we have inhow to pick a digital marketing
agency.
Caitlin, what's next?
Caitlyn (06:02):
Yeah, so you've Found an agency with industry
experience, check.
So now you want to make surethat they offer services that
are actually going to move theneedle.
And if they are in the homeimprovement industry, they do
know what it means to generateleads for you.
And you're looking forcomprehensive service offerings.
A lot of small businesses dofall into the trap of hiring a
(06:24):
web guy, like we were talkingabout, your cousin, an SEO girl,
thinking that that's enough.
But honestly, digital marketingworks best when it best when
it's integrated.
If you've listened to any ofour previous episodes, we harp
on this.
Your SEO should support yourGoogle Ads.
(06:44):
Your Google Ads should supportyour remarketing.
And your email follow-upsshould support it all.
So make sure the agency thatyou hire has a full suite of
services or at least knows howto play well with the other
platforms.
If they offer SEO, PPC, social,content, email, reporting,
you're right on track.
they're gonna be generatingleads for you.
(07:06):
Make sure they offercomprehensive services.
What else do these agenciesneed to do, Janet?
Janet (07:12):
First of all, I just wanted to say I love that tip
that you gave about thecomprehensive services.
We've seen,
Caitlyn (07:19):
you
Janet (07:20):
know, when we talk about do's and don'ts, that's a don't
that we've definitely seen wherewe get, you know, home
improvement companies who cometo us who have, you know, one
agency working on their SEO,another agency working on their
PPC.
They usually have, quote,unquote, a girl.
They do.
And they call them a girlworking on their social
services.
Caitlyn (07:39):
But
Janet (07:39):
it's
Caitlyn (07:39):
probably a
Janet (07:39):
boy.
Yeah.
But what happens is thosechannels are not integrated.
And so, you know, if one handis not talking to the other, it
just makes things like running apromotional offer or making
sure that you're asking forreviews and referrals.
You really want all thosemessages to be integrated across
(08:02):
all channels so that you canreally understand that.
how your money's being spentand what you're getting back
from it and that all themessages are consistent and
really coherent.
Okay, so the next thing whenyou are looking for and
evaluating agencies, make surethey've got industry experience,
(08:23):
make sure they havecomprehensive services that
actually move the needle, andthen ask them to prove it.
I love that.
Ask for results.
Don't ask for promises ortheories.
Ask for proof.
Caitlyn (08:36):
Ask
Janet (08:37):
how many leads have they generated for a company that's
similar to yours.
If you're a window replacementcompany, do they have another
window client in another state?
Ask about ROI.
What kind of ad budget did thatother company have?
What kind of gross revenue didthat other company have?
What is the cost per lead?
What is the appointment setrate of the leads that they
(08:59):
generate?
A good agency that understandsthis business will not only be
happy to show you thisinformation, they'll probably
geek out on it and they'llreally get into talking about
it.
So if you start asking thosereally specific questions and
they start to get cagey or vagueor they try to make you feel
(09:22):
dumb by using a bunch of kind ofdigital marketing nerd speak.
That doesn't
Caitlyn (09:29):
make
Janet (09:30):
sense.
That doesn't make sense.
They're trying to avoid...
You know, you asked them toprove it and they're trying to
avoid it.
And that's just your sign towalk away.
They're going to talk to youlike
Caitlyn (09:39):
that for the rest of your partnership.
Janet (09:41):
Oh, that's such a good point.
Yeah.
If they're going to belittleyou with overly complicated
acronyms that you don'tunderstand and then, you know,
try to convince you that thereport that they're showing you
is the one and only report thatyou ever need to look at.
Yes.
It's just not a good sign.
So Caitlin, what's anotherthing that our listeners
(10:04):
could...
should look for when they'relooking for an agency to partner
with?
Caitlyn (10:08):
So not only do they need to prove it, but I think
it's spot on that they aretransparent.
Your agency, oh my gosh, thisjust hits home.
So
Janet (10:20):
you're talking about communication?
Caitlyn (10:21):
Communication for sure.
Communication is everything,but transparent communication.
I mean, your agency should besending you regular reports and
taking their time to explainthose reports.
You don't need a marketingdegree to understand what
working I cannot begin toemphasize the number of
companies who have come to workwith us and just accepted this
(10:44):
below average report and thoughtthat they knew what like that
that that was fine like I likethat they thought that these
KPIs that this other agency wastelling them like were the
end-all be-all and It's not.
It's not aligned with what youneed as an agency.
Janet (11:04):
Can I sneak in a little story?
Please sneak in and
Caitlyn (11:07):
keep talking about transparency.
Janet (11:08):
Yeah, you keep talking about transparency, but it just
reminds me.
This story is not from the homeimprovement industry, but it
goes back.
Caitlin and I had a clientyears ago, and it was a local,
private agency.
like tech school college whereyou know you get out of the
(11:29):
military you your job changingand you want a career college
you want to change jobs you wantto get some sort of
certification um that's whatthis company offered and we were
their marketing company andthey went out and I think they
started working with a local tvstation a
Caitlyn (11:46):
lot of our clients do
Janet (11:48):
anyways yeah um
Caitlyn (11:49):
they do yeah
Janet (11:50):
and This company, so we were still working with them.
They went out and hiredsomebody else, which goes back
to the comprehensive servicething where one hand wasn't
talking to the other.
And they started running allthese ads that were like
pre-roll video ads on YouTubeand through this networks, this
(12:13):
local cable networks thing.
Caitlyn (12:15):
And in our defense, we could not produce TV
commercials.
So it was good that the clientat the time went out and got
them.
But they're running thesepre-roll ads.
Oh,
Janet (12:27):
my God.
We sat in this meeting.
Me and Caitlin are in thismeeting.
And this person in this fancysuit is there with their slide
deck.
And it was just superprofessional.
And they just kept talkingabout view-throughs.
And it was thousands andthousands of view-throughs.
And we knew for a fact thatthere were zero leads that came
(12:52):
from that campaign that ourclient had spent thousands of
dollars on.
And we had the data and we werein their CRM and we had all the
tracking.
So, you know, you're talkingabout communication and you're
talking about transparency.
You know, I just wanted toshare that story that if you're
sitting in the room withsomebody and you feel like
(13:12):
they're blowing smoke, Theyprobably are.
They probably are.
And
Caitlyn (13:17):
I, you know, if we don't feel like the results that
we've produced month over monthare great, you know, we address
that on the call with ourclients.
We don't hide data points.
We say, hey, here's what we'regoing to do differently.
Here's why these results maybeweren't as great as they could
have been.
Search, like, et cetera.
(13:39):
So don't.
Settle for less.
I think your agency and yourreport should be telling you
things such as how many leadsdid you get this month?
That's huge.
That's where we start at ourreports.
That's how we open everyconversation.
Here's how many leads we sawgenerated.
How was your business?
What keywords are drivingtraffic?
(14:00):
And then which ads areconverting best?
Those are just a few thingsthat we always touch on.
If they're not sharing that orif it's just, to Janet's point,
a bunch of jargon to confuseyou, that's just not a
partnership.
It's a smokescreen.
You deserve better.
Absolutely.
So the
Janet (14:17):
next tip that we have is look for an agency that's going
to customize their services andand not like shovel you into
some cookie cutter solution,like whatever their levels are.
You're going to be the goldlevel or the blueberry level or
the silver level or whatever.
You know, these packagedofferings, your business is
(14:38):
unique, your marketing should beunique, and your marketing
strategy should match what youneed and where you are.
So if you can avoid the plugand play agencies that give you
the exact same plan they give toevery other client, like here
are the five area serve pay thatyou're going to get.
And
Caitlyn (14:57):
do you know what I mean?
Yeah.
Like that.
Janet (14:58):
Yeah.
Like it's just this very rigid,like when it comes to SEO,
they've got a formula.
Well, we write eight blog postsand we do five area serve
pages, you know, like that.
But does it work?
I know.
And did you need eight moreblog posts?
And are you reporting on theresults?
And does anybody ever go readthem?
And do they ever convert into alead?
(15:18):
So it's that kind of like rigidformulaic package offering that
we've seen it be prettypervasive and kinda popular in
this space and you know it justmight not be the best fit for
you so You know, just askquestions.
Try to figure out if the agencythat you're talking to is
(15:40):
giving you the same plan thatthey give to everybody else.
Because the right agency willactually take the time to learn
about your business, your goals,your ideal customer, your
service areas, your pain points,and then build a strategy that
fits you.
Caitlyn (15:57):
Totally agree.
And I will say, yes, we arelevelizing.
I just made up a word.
Do it.
Levelizing our listeners andour contractors.
You know, right now you'relistening to a level one series.
We will and we do have packagesthat are perfect for our level
one contractors.
(16:18):
But that does not mean thatwe're not going to ever release.
be able to be flexible
Janet (16:23):
it's more like a category exactly you know like oh you
would be a best fit for thesetypes of services at the level
your business is right now
Caitlyn (16:31):
exactly and and and that's what i wanted to make a
plug because we do have thosepackages it's different though
it's not cookie cutter it'sstill going to be so customized
to your business um and speakingof um kind of packages and
knowing what you're paying for,let's talk budget.
Hiring a marketing agency is aninvestment and it shouldn't
(16:52):
feel like a gamble.
I know when I started workingfor Fat Cat, what did we used to
say?
We're less expensive than afull-time hire.
And I think that's justsomething to note is it is an
investment, even if it is lessthan a full-time hire, you want
to know what you're paying for.
You want transparency andpricing.
(17:12):
Ask what's included Ask whatthe monthly retainer covers.
Make sure there's a clearunderstanding of what success
looks like so you can hold themaccountable.
Oh, that's so important.
I'm going to say it again.
Make sure there's a clearunderstanding of what success
looks like so you can hold themaccountable.
If they did tell you, you know,they're going to give you five
area serve pages and they'regoing to manage a $3,000 ad
(17:36):
budget and they're going to keepyour website optimized.
What does that mean?
Like, make sure you understandthat.
A good agency will explain thevalue behind the cost and they
will help you grow into a biggerbudget over time.
Like, they should.
I mean, that's a win.
These clients that we've talkedabout, these leveled up
clients.
Janet (17:55):
Yeah, their marketing budget grows as their revenue
grows because their needs arebigger.
They need more leads, sothey've got to spend more money.
That's amazing.
It's
Caitlyn (18:03):
a sign of success.
Exactly.
And we definitely aretransparent.
And any other agency thatyou're talking to should be
transparent.
transparent about what they'rewhat you're paying for as well
um Janet anything
Janet (18:14):
yeah so here's a few more things to look for when you are
evaluating um a potentialagency partner.
What are the tools and techthat they use?
Ask them.
What is their tech stack?
Are they running PPC campaignsthrough Google Ads or Microsoft
Ads?
Are they using tools likeSEMrush or CallRail or HubSpot?
(18:37):
Are they familiar with yourCRM?
Have they ever logged into yourCRM and pulled reports?
Not yours specifically, butlet's say you use MarketSharp.
Are they familiar withMarketSharp?
Are they familiar with leadperfection.
Can they find sales
Caitlyn (18:52):
in your
Janet (18:52):
CRM?
Yeah.
Can they log into Acculinksindependently and get what they
need?
Yes.
So, you know, if they have,like, for instance, you know, we
mentioned CallRail here.
We actually love one ofCallRail's competitors,
WhatConverts.
Yeah.
And so we have all of ourclients on WhatConverts.
Our clients
Caitlyn (19:12):
love it.
Janet (19:12):
And our clients love it.
We're able to capture all thesources of all the leads if they
came in from organic search,from paid search, from social,
from direct, from email.
You tell us that you want to dosome sort of yard side
campaign.
You give us a special phonenumber, and we'll make sure we
can track that phone number.
So ask about the tech.
(19:33):
Ask about lead source tracking.
An agency that totally getsthis industry will be excited to
tell you what they're doing.
Absolutely.
So you want a partner who's notstuck in 2017, but who's got
their finger on the pulse ofwhat they need now and what's
working now.
Caitlyn (19:53):
Staying on top of those algorithm changes, ad
platforms.
I mean, y'all know we havecontinued to talk about it.
The algorithm keeps changing onGoogle and more and more ad
platforms keep appearing.
Make sure your agency isbringing those ideas to you.
Janet (20:09):
So what else can people look for or think about when
they're evaluating, you know,considering partnering with a
new agency?
Caitlyn (20:17):
I think instead of what to look for, how about what
Janet (20:22):
to watch out for.
Oh, I don't.
I love a list of don'ts.
Yeah,
Caitlyn (20:26):
yeah, yeah, yeah.
So some quick red flags.
And y'all, I have seen it, seenit, seen it.
I'm just saying, and sometimesit works, but I would say it
doesn't meet the full agencystandard of what you should have
is they promise guaranteedleads or instant rankings.
You're going to, I mean, Ijust, I don't, I don't have
(20:48):
anything else to say other thanlike, that is a red flag.
You're You're going to getinstant rankings.
You're going to guaranteeleads.
How?
Janet (20:56):
Yeah.
How?
Caitlyn (20:57):
And what are you
Janet (20:58):
paying for?
And what does that look like?
So I guess you're sayinganybody that quote promises you
to be quote unquote number oneon Google, that phrase doesn't
even mean anything anymore.
Caitlyn (21:11):
That's laughable.
Yeah.
I have seen portions of thedigital marketing agency world
say, who can guarantee leads.
So I just, I don't think thatthat's your end-all be-all
though.
I mean,
Janet (21:26):
in terms of an agency.
I think in that sense, you'rereally talking to a lead
aggregator.
That's exactly right.
You're not talking to anagency.
An agency who can do all of thethings we listed.
Right.
And so there's a space for anagency and there's a space for
lead aggregators.
But a lead aggregator is, ifyou're buying leads from them,
and a lot of our clients stilluse lead aggregators, they're
(21:48):
one of many channels of leads,but once you stop paying, You
turn the faucet off.
You pay per lead.
An agency, in my opinion, agood agency, their goal is to
increase your brand so that overtime you're generating more
word of mouth referrals, moreorganic search referrals, so
(22:12):
that you're not always addictedto that brand.
pay per lead drip.
But I interrupted.
You were in the middle of agreat list of red flags.
Yeah, first
Caitlyn (22:22):
red flag.
Janet (22:22):
What are the rest of the red flags?
Caitlyn (22:23):
Like, just red flag.
Like, check out, gut check whattheir promises are.
Another red flag, they don'texplain how they're getting
their results.
Another red flag, theyoutsource everything overseas
without telling you.
I guess we could do a wholeseparate podcast on how to spot
that.
Yeah, we should.
Let's
Janet (22:43):
add
Caitlyn (22:43):
that to the list.
We're going to add that to thelist.
I guess if you started to seeother users added to your Google
Ads account that were fromunfamiliar names, et cetera,
we'll go on separately.
So outsourcing and not lettingyou know.
They try to lock you into along contract.
That bothers me.
I mean, and we could talk aboutthat.
(23:04):
We probably have talked aboutit before, about locking you
into a long contract withoutshowing you results.
And then, Janet, I'm going tolet you take this last bullet
point because...
Let's talk about they own yourwebsite and your domain.
Janet (23:17):
Yeah, a red flag.
If you've never worked with anagency before and maybe you want
to rebuild your website or, Idon't know, you could be brand
new and you don't have awebsite, make sure you
understand inside of the agencyrelationship who owns what.
Yes.
Do they own your domain name?
Do they own your Google Adaccount?
(23:38):
Yes.
Do they own the Facebookbusiness profile that they set
up for you?
Do they own your website?
So you could own your domainname, you know, bobsroofing.com,
but you hire somebody to buildyour site.
Three years later, you're notreally happy with them and you
want to go to another agency oryou've hired somebody in-house.
And that's the day you findout, three years later, that you
(24:01):
can't take that website withyou.
So, you know, the red flagis...
And maybe it's not a red flag.
It's just more like be aneducated consumer.
Caitlyn (24:13):
Ask the questions.
Janet (24:14):
Ask the right questions so that you don't end up two or
three years into a relationshipwhere you want to make a switch
and that's when you find outthat you don't have the logins
to anything and you literallydon't own some of these things
really critical accounts to makeyour business run and in your
(24:37):
online presence that are relatedto your online presence.
So ask those questions.
And if you don't understand theanswers, I would say that's a
red
Caitlyn (24:46):
flag.
Your marketing partner shouldbuild trust, not try to hide
behind anything.
Wow.
I think we could have talkedabout that for a while.
Janet (24:57):
Yeah.
Janet, any
Caitlyn (24:58):
final thoughts?
Janet (25:00):
So I guess, you know, we'll just sort of put a bow on
this and say that, you know, wehave so much respect for this
industry.
So many great, hardworkingpeople building real, you know,
the politicians like to talkabout Main Street.
You know, you guys are the MainStreet businesses, right?
you're taking kids out of highschool, you're giving them trade
(25:22):
jobs, you're providing careeropportunities.
So you do all that hard work tocreate this main street
business you need to choose adigital marketing agency that's
going to be a good partner foryou so that you can grow that
business and the right partnerwill be able to help you
(25:43):
generate leads drive revenue andtake the marketing pressure off
of your plate so you can focuson other stuff and lord knows
you've got other stuff to focuson so take your time ask the
right questions look forexperience look for transparency
ask about results ask aboutstrategy And when you find the
(26:04):
right fit, I think you'll knowit.
You will.
You'll know it when you findthe right fit.
And it can really transformyour business.
Caitlyn (26:12):
Vice versa.
I mean, if you're an agencylistening to this, I mean, when
you have a client that comes inor a prospect that comes in and
they're the right fit, it's abeautiful partnership.
Janet (26:22):
Yeah, it's actually fun.
And it's not easy.
I mean, we're all here doingwork.
Yeah, none of it's
Caitlyn (26:27):
easy, but it is fun.
Janet (26:29):
It can be a lot of fun.
I mean, I've had some of themost fun in my career watching
home improvement businesses justreally take off like a rocket
ship.
Yes.
You know, and watching theirrevenue grow and they hire
people and they create new, youknow, not only do they create
new jobs, they create new jobpositions in their company.
They're getting married.
(26:50):
They're having kids.
Yeah.
I mean, it's just, it'samazing.
And the right partnership canhelp make all that possible.
Caitlyn (26:56):
Yes.
Y'all, we are at the end of theLevel 1 series next week.
It's the last episode nextweek.
We're going to dive into atopic that can be the difference
between burning money andprinting it.
I love that we're finishing onthis one because I think it's
(27:17):
super important and we've donemany other episodes on it, but
we're going to break it downeven more.
It's just PPC advertising.
We're going to talk about the10 PPC pitfalls that replacement
contractors often fall into andmost importantly, how you can
avoid them.
Janet (27:34):
Looking forward to that one.
Okay, so thank you for joiningus on another episode of Digital
Marketing for Contractors.
As always, we hope you got somevalue from And if you found
this helpful, please subscribeand leave us a review and or
share it with a fellow businessowner.
It really helps us out.
If you can give us 30 minutes,we're going to try to give you
(27:54):
some tips that you can use.
So until next time, keepbuilding smarter and we'll catch
you on the next episode.
Welcome to Digital Marketing for Contractors.
This podcast is brought to youby Fat Cat Strategies, a
full-service digital marketingagency based in Raleigh, North
Carolina.
We specialize in helping homeimprovement contractors just
like you grow their businesses.
Janet (00:17):
Today, you're listening to a series called Build, Grow,
Dominate, marketing strategiesfor every stage of your home
improvement business.
Every Wednesday, we take a deepdive into the lessons that
we've learned from supportingsome amazing business owners in
the home improvement industry.
In
Caitlyn (00:34):
part one, we'll cover the essentials from startup to
your first five million.
In part two, we're shiftinggears to focus on what it takes
to scale your business to asuccessful exit and or how to
dominate your market.
Now let's get into it.
Janet (00:51):
Hey, I'm Janet, the founder here at Fat Cat
Strategies, and today I amjoined by my lovely and
beautiful colleague, CaitlinNoble.
Caitlyn (00:59):
Thank you so much, Janet.
Too bad y'all can't see meright now.
Janet (01:03):
Yeah, we'll post a picture of her on the website.
She is actually incrediblyattractive.
Caitlyn (01:09):
I am Caitlin, a partner here at Fat Cat Strategies and
the head of client services.
Janet, what are we diving intotoday?
Janet (01:18):
Today, we're talking about...
An important topic, a bigtopic, and listeners, prepare to
roll your eyes a little bitbecause it could be a little bit
self-serving.
And that's fine.
We're here for it.
Today we are talking about howto find the right digital
marketing agency for your homeimprovement business.
Because let's be honest, doinggreat work in the home is one
(01:41):
thing, but then getting people,but how do you get people to the
home in the first place?
You need marketing, right?
Like, you could be the bestkitchen company, bath company,
but if nobody knows about you,you don't have the opportunity
to do what you do best, and youneed marketing.
So today, we're talking abouthow to find a great digital
(02:02):
agency that's the best fit foryour company.
Caitlyn (02:04):
And I think it's fair to say that we are definitely
not the only agency in the homeimprovement market.
No.
We have had clients bounce backand forth between us, other
agencies, vice versa.
I get it, but let's talk aboutwhy you just should hire one.
We've talked to y'all aboutmarketing and what digital
(02:26):
marketing is, and we're going tokeep coaching through that, but
let's talk about just whyhiring an agency is so
important.
And honestly, that's the firstnumber one.
So just why is it a smart move?
When you're getting started,it's very tempting to try and do
it all yourself.
I totally understand that anddo that too.
(02:46):
You might want to post onsocial media.
You might want to run a fewads.
You may have your cousin buildyour website.
We've seen it all.
But if you're serious aboutgrowth, about generating quality
leads, scaling your team, andlooking for a real player in
your market, looking like a realplayer in your market let me
(03:08):
rephrase that so if you'reserious about growth and
generating quality leads scalingyour team and you want to look
like a real roofing company areal signing company in your
market then you need to hire amarketing agency and that will
be your game changer they bringa strategy the tools and the
time that you probably did nothave and won't have as an owner
(03:32):
and operator, but not allagencies are created equal.
So how do you choose the rightone, Janet?
Janet (03:39):
So, you know, we obviously have so many opinions
about this, but I think one ofthe you know, they might be
(04:15):
really great in general, butthey just don't understand the
home improvement business.
They don't get how importantleads are.
Caitlyn (04:25):
They
Janet (04:26):
don't know the language.
They don't even really knowwhat the word lead means to a
contractor.
They don't, you know, they'renot really drilling into your
sales cycle and your KPIs.
And so if you don't partnerwith an agency that has industry
experience, you could end upworking with an agency that
(04:48):
thinks that this is a graphicdesign exercise or a branding
exercise, which that has itstime and its place.
but that's not geared towardslead generation.
And so in the end, it justmight not be a good fit because
your expectations and what youneeded are out of line with what
(05:08):
that agency is prepared togive.
So when you're looking andevaluating agencies, ask for
case studies.
Ask them if they've worked withroofers.
Have they worked with a windowcompany?
Have they worked with a one-daybath company?
and because you will quicklyfigure out if they understand
(05:29):
your business and a generalist Ageneralist agency that has, you
know, other kinds of clients,maybe an insurance agent, a
financial planner, a local doggroomer, they may know Google
Ads, but a specialist whounderstands the home improvement
industry will understand how tomake them work for you to hit
(05:50):
your numbers and KPIs that youwant to hit.
So that's the first thing.
bit of advice that we have inhow to pick a digital marketing
agency.
Caitlin, what's next?
Caitlyn (06:02):
Yeah, so you've Found an agency with industry
experience, check.
So now you want to make surethat they offer services that
are actually going to move theneedle.
And if they are in the homeimprovement industry, they do
know what it means to generateleads for you.
And you're looking forcomprehensive service offerings.
A lot of small businesses dofall into the trap of hiring a
(06:24):
web guy, like we were talkingabout, your cousin, an SEO girl,
thinking that that's enough.
But honestly, digital marketingworks best when it best when
it's integrated.
If you've listened to any ofour previous episodes, we harp
on this.
Your SEO should support yourGoogle Ads.
(06:44):
Your Google Ads should supportyour remarketing.
And your email follow-upsshould support it all.
So make sure the agency thatyou hire has a full suite of
services or at least knows howto play well with the other
platforms.
If they offer SEO, PPC, social,content, email, reporting,
you're right on track.
they're gonna be generatingleads for you.
(07:06):
Make sure they offercomprehensive services.
What else do these agenciesneed to do, Janet?
Janet (07:12):
First of all, I just wanted to say I love that tip
that you gave about thecomprehensive services.
We've seen,
Caitlyn (07:19):
you
Janet (07:20):
know, when we talk about do's and don'ts, that's a don't
that we've definitely seen wherewe get, you know, home
improvement companies who cometo us who have, you know, one
agency working on their SEO,another agency working on their
PPC.
They usually have, quote,unquote, a girl.
They do.
And they call them a girlworking on their social
services.
Caitlyn (07:39):
But
Janet (07:39):
it's
Caitlyn (07:39):
probably a
Janet (07:39):
boy.
Yeah.
But what happens is thosechannels are not integrated.
And so, you know, if one handis not talking to the other, it
just makes things like running apromotional offer or making
sure that you're asking forreviews and referrals.
You really want all thosemessages to be integrated across
(08:02):
all channels so that you canreally understand that.
how your money's being spentand what you're getting back
from it and that all themessages are consistent and
really coherent.
Okay, so the next thing whenyou are looking for and
evaluating agencies, make surethey've got industry experience,
(08:23):
make sure they havecomprehensive services that
actually move the needle, andthen ask them to prove it.
I love that.
Ask for results.
Don't ask for promises ortheories.
Ask for proof.
Caitlyn (08:36):
Ask
Janet (08:37):
how many leads have they generated for a company that's
similar to yours.
If you're a window replacementcompany, do they have another
window client in another state?
Ask about ROI.
What kind of ad budget did thatother company have?
What kind of gross revenue didthat other company have?
What is the cost per lead?
What is the appointment setrate of the leads that they
(08:59):
generate?
A good agency that understandsthis business will not only be
happy to show you thisinformation, they'll probably
geek out on it and they'llreally get into talking about
it.
So if you start asking thosereally specific questions and
they start to get cagey or vagueor they try to make you feel
(09:22):
dumb by using a bunch of kind ofdigital marketing nerd speak.
That doesn't
Caitlyn (09:29):
make
Janet (09:30):
sense.
That doesn't make sense.
They're trying to avoid...
You know, you asked them toprove it and they're trying to
avoid it.
And that's just your sign towalk away.
They're going to talk to youlike
Caitlyn (09:39):
that for the rest of your partnership.
Janet (09:41):
Oh, that's such a good point.
Yeah.
If they're going to belittleyou with overly complicated
acronyms that you don'tunderstand and then, you know,
try to convince you that thereport that they're showing you
is the one and only report thatyou ever need to look at.
Yes.
It's just not a good sign.
So Caitlin, what's anotherthing that our listeners
(10:04):
could...
should look for when they'relooking for an agency to partner
with?
Caitlyn (10:08):
So not only do they need to prove it, but I think
it's spot on that they aretransparent.
Your agency, oh my gosh, thisjust hits home.
So
Janet (10:20):
you're talking about communication?
Caitlyn (10:21):
Communication for sure.
Communication is everything,but transparent communication.
I mean, your agency should besending you regular reports and
taking their time to explainthose reports.
You don't need a marketingdegree to understand what
working I cannot begin toemphasize the number of
companies who have come to workwith us and just accepted this
(10:44):
below average report and thoughtthat they knew what like that
that that was fine like I likethat they thought that these
KPIs that this other agency wastelling them like were the
end-all be-all and It's not.
It's not aligned with what youneed as an agency.
Janet (11:04):
Can I sneak in a little story?
Please sneak in and
Caitlyn (11:07):
keep talking about transparency.
Janet (11:08):
Yeah, you keep talking about transparency, but it just
reminds me.
This story is not from the homeimprovement industry, but it
goes back.
Caitlin and I had a clientyears ago, and it was a local,
private agency.
like tech school college whereyou know you get out of the
(11:29):
military you your job changingand you want a career college
you want to change jobs you wantto get some sort of
certification um that's whatthis company offered and we were
their marketing company andthey went out and I think they
started working with a local tvstation a
Caitlyn (11:46):
lot of our clients do
Janet (11:48):
anyways yeah um
Caitlyn (11:49):
they do yeah
Janet (11:50):
and This company, so we were still working with them.
They went out and hiredsomebody else, which goes back
to the comprehensive servicething where one hand wasn't
talking to the other.
And they started running allthese ads that were like
pre-roll video ads on YouTubeand through this networks, this
(12:13):
local cable networks thing.
Caitlyn (12:15):
And in our defense, we could not produce TV
commercials.
So it was good that the clientat the time went out and got
them.
But they're running thesepre-roll ads.
Oh,
Janet (12:27):
my God.
We sat in this meeting.
Me and Caitlin are in thismeeting.
And this person in this fancysuit is there with their slide
deck.
And it was just superprofessional.
And they just kept talkingabout view-throughs.
And it was thousands andthousands of view-throughs.
And we knew for a fact thatthere were zero leads that came
(12:52):
from that campaign that ourclient had spent thousands of
dollars on.
And we had the data and we werein their CRM and we had all the
tracking.
So, you know, you're talkingabout communication and you're
talking about transparency.
You know, I just wanted toshare that story that if you're
sitting in the room withsomebody and you feel like
(13:12):
they're blowing smoke, Theyprobably are.
They probably are.
And
Caitlyn (13:17):
I, you know, if we don't feel like the results that
we've produced month over monthare great, you know, we address
that on the call with ourclients.
We don't hide data points.
We say, hey, here's what we'regoing to do differently.
Here's why these results maybeweren't as great as they could
have been.
Search, like, et cetera.
(13:39):
So don't.
Settle for less.
I think your agency and yourreport should be telling you
things such as how many leadsdid you get this month?
That's huge.
That's where we start at ourreports.
That's how we open everyconversation.
Here's how many leads we sawgenerated.
How was your business?
What keywords are drivingtraffic?
(14:00):
And then which ads areconverting best?
Those are just a few thingsthat we always touch on.
If they're not sharing that orif it's just, to Janet's point,
a bunch of jargon to confuseyou, that's just not a
partnership.
It's a smokescreen.
You deserve better.
Absolutely.
So the
Janet (14:17):
next tip that we have is look for an agency that's going
to customize their services andand not like shovel you into
some cookie cutter solution,like whatever their levels are.
You're going to be the goldlevel or the blueberry level or
the silver level or whatever.
You know, these packagedofferings, your business is
(14:38):
unique, your marketing should beunique, and your marketing
strategy should match what youneed and where you are.
So if you can avoid the plugand play agencies that give you
the exact same plan they give toevery other client, like here
are the five area serve pay thatyou're going to get.
And
Caitlyn (14:57):
do you know what I mean?
Yeah.
Like that.
Janet (14:58):
Yeah.
Like it's just this very rigid,like when it comes to SEO,
they've got a formula.
Well, we write eight blog postsand we do five area serve
pages, you know, like that.
But does it work?
I know.
And did you need eight moreblog posts?
And are you reporting on theresults?
And does anybody ever go readthem?
And do they ever convert into alead?
(15:18):
So it's that kind of like rigidformulaic package offering that
we've seen it be prettypervasive and kinda popular in
this space and you know it justmight not be the best fit for
you so You know, just askquestions.
Try to figure out if the agencythat you're talking to is
(15:40):
giving you the same plan thatthey give to everybody else.
Because the right agency willactually take the time to learn
about your business, your goals,your ideal customer, your
service areas, your pain points,and then build a strategy that
fits you.
Caitlyn (15:57):
Totally agree.
And I will say, yes, we arelevelizing.
I just made up a word.
Do it.
Levelizing our listeners andour contractors.
You know, right now you'relistening to a level one series.
We will and we do have packagesthat are perfect for our level
one contractors.
(16:18):
But that does not mean thatwe're not going to ever release.
be able to be flexible
Janet (16:23):
it's more like a category exactly you know like oh you
would be a best fit for thesetypes of services at the level
your business is right now
Caitlyn (16:31):
exactly and and and that's what i wanted to make a
plug because we do have thosepackages it's different though
it's not cookie cutter it'sstill going to be so customized
to your business um and speakingof um kind of packages and
knowing what you're paying for,let's talk budget.
Hiring a marketing agency is aninvestment and it shouldn't
(16:52):
feel like a gamble.
I know when I started workingfor Fat Cat, what did we used to
say?
We're less expensive than afull-time hire.
And I think that's justsomething to note is it is an
investment, even if it is lessthan a full-time hire, you want
to know what you're paying for.
You want transparency andpricing.
(17:12):
Ask what's included Ask whatthe monthly retainer covers.
Make sure there's a clearunderstanding of what success
looks like so you can hold themaccountable.
Oh, that's so important.
I'm going to say it again.
Make sure there's a clearunderstanding of what success
looks like so you can hold themaccountable.
If they did tell you, you know,they're going to give you five
area serve pages and they'regoing to manage a $3,000 ad
(17:36):
budget and they're going to keepyour website optimized.
What does that mean?
Like, make sure you understandthat.
A good agency will explain thevalue behind the cost and they
will help you grow into a biggerbudget over time.
Like, they should.
I mean, that's a win.
These clients that we've talkedabout, these leveled up
clients.
Janet (17:55):
Yeah, their marketing budget grows as their revenue
grows because their needs arebigger.
They need more leads, sothey've got to spend more money.
That's amazing.
It's
Caitlyn (18:03):
a sign of success.
Exactly.
And we definitely aretransparent.
And any other agency thatyou're talking to should be
transparent.
transparent about what they'rewhat you're paying for as well
um Janet anything
Janet (18:14):
yeah so here's a few more things to look for when you are
evaluating um a potentialagency partner.
What are the tools and techthat they use?
Ask them.
What is their tech stack?
Are they running PPC campaignsthrough Google Ads or Microsoft
Ads?
Are they using tools likeSEMrush or CallRail or HubSpot?
(18:37):
Are they familiar with yourCRM?
Have they ever logged into yourCRM and pulled reports?
Not yours specifically, butlet's say you use MarketSharp.
Are they familiar withMarketSharp?
Are they familiar with leadperfection.
Can they find sales
Caitlyn (18:52):
in your
Janet (18:52):
CRM?
Yeah.
Can they log into Acculinksindependently and get what they
need?
Yes.
So, you know, if they have,like, for instance, you know, we
mentioned CallRail here.
We actually love one ofCallRail's competitors,
WhatConverts.
Yeah.
And so we have all of ourclients on WhatConverts.
Our clients
Caitlyn (19:12):
love it.
Janet (19:12):
And our clients love it.
We're able to capture all thesources of all the leads if they
came in from organic search,from paid search, from social,
from direct, from email.
You tell us that you want to dosome sort of yard side
campaign.
You give us a special phonenumber, and we'll make sure we
can track that phone number.
So ask about the tech.
(19:33):
Ask about lead source tracking.
An agency that totally getsthis industry will be excited to
tell you what they're doing.
Absolutely.
So you want a partner who's notstuck in 2017, but who's got
their finger on the pulse ofwhat they need now and what's
working now.
Caitlyn (19:53):
Staying on top of those algorithm changes, ad
platforms.
I mean, y'all know we havecontinued to talk about it.
The algorithm keeps changing onGoogle and more and more ad
platforms keep appearing.
Make sure your agency isbringing those ideas to you.
Janet (20:09):
So what else can people look for or think about when
they're evaluating, you know,considering partnering with a
new agency?
Caitlyn (20:17):
I think instead of what to look for, how about what
Janet (20:22):
to watch out for.
Oh, I don't.
I love a list of don'ts.
Yeah,
Caitlyn (20:26):
yeah, yeah, yeah.
So some quick red flags.
And y'all, I have seen it, seenit, seen it.
I'm just saying, and sometimesit works, but I would say it
doesn't meet the full agencystandard of what you should have
is they promise guaranteedleads or instant rankings.
You're going to, I mean, Ijust, I don't, I don't have
(20:48):
anything else to say other thanlike, that is a red flag.
You're You're going to getinstant rankings.
You're going to guaranteeleads.
How?
Janet (20:56):
Yeah.
How?
Caitlyn (20:57):
And what are you
Janet (20:58):
paying for?
And what does that look like?
So I guess you're sayinganybody that quote promises you
to be quote unquote number oneon Google, that phrase doesn't
even mean anything anymore.
Caitlyn (21:11):
That's laughable.
Yeah.
I have seen portions of thedigital marketing agency world
say, who can guarantee leads.
So I just, I don't think thatthat's your end-all be-all
though.
I mean,
Janet (21:26):
in terms of an agency.
I think in that sense, you'rereally talking to a lead
aggregator.
That's exactly right.
You're not talking to anagency.
An agency who can do all of thethings we listed.
Right.
And so there's a space for anagency and there's a space for
lead aggregators.
But a lead aggregator is, ifyou're buying leads from them,
and a lot of our clients stilluse lead aggregators, they're
(21:48):
one of many channels of leads,but once you stop paying, You
turn the faucet off.
You pay per lead.
An agency, in my opinion, agood agency, their goal is to
increase your brand so that overtime you're generating more
word of mouth referrals, moreorganic search referrals, so
(22:12):
that you're not always addictedto that brand.
pay per lead drip.
But I interrupted.
You were in the middle of agreat list of red flags.
Yeah, first
Caitlyn (22:22):
red flag.
Janet (22:22):
What are the rest of the red flags?
Caitlyn (22:23):
Like, just red flag.
Like, check out, gut check whattheir promises are.
Another red flag, they don'texplain how they're getting
their results.
Another red flag, theyoutsource everything overseas
without telling you.
I guess we could do a wholeseparate podcast on how to spot
that.
Yeah, we should.
Let's
Janet (22:43):
add
Caitlyn (22:43):
that to the list.
We're going to add that to thelist.
I guess if you started to seeother users added to your Google
Ads account that were fromunfamiliar names, et cetera,
we'll go on separately.
So outsourcing and not lettingyou know.
They try to lock you into along contract.
That bothers me.
I mean, and we could talk aboutthat.
(23:04):
We probably have talked aboutit before, about locking you
into a long contract withoutshowing you results.
And then, Janet, I'm going tolet you take this last bullet
point because...
Let's talk about they own yourwebsite and your domain.
Janet (23:17):
Yeah, a red flag.
If you've never worked with anagency before and maybe you want
to rebuild your website or, Idon't know, you could be brand
new and you don't have awebsite, make sure you
understand inside of the agencyrelationship who owns what.
Yes.
Do they own your domain name?
Do they own your Google Adaccount?
(23:38):
Yes.
Do they own the Facebookbusiness profile that they set
up for you?
Do they own your website?
So you could own your domainname, you know, bobsroofing.com,
but you hire somebody to buildyour site.
Three years later, you're notreally happy with them and you
want to go to another agency oryou've hired somebody in-house.
And that's the day you findout, three years later, that you
(24:01):
can't take that website withyou.
So, you know, the red flagis...
And maybe it's not a red flag.
It's just more like be aneducated consumer.
Caitlyn (24:13):
Ask the questions.
Janet (24:14):
Ask the right questions so that you don't end up two or
three years into a relationshipwhere you want to make a switch
and that's when you find outthat you don't have the logins
to anything and you literallydon't own some of these things
really critical accounts to makeyour business run and in your
(24:37):
online presence that are relatedto your online presence.
So ask those questions.
And if you don't understand theanswers, I would say that's a
red
Caitlyn (24:46):
flag.
Your marketing partner shouldbuild trust, not try to hide
behind anything.
Wow.
I think we could have talkedabout that for a while.
Janet (24:57):
Yeah.
Janet, any
Caitlyn (24:58):
final thoughts?
Janet (25:00):
So I guess, you know, we'll just sort of put a bow on
this and say that, you know, wehave so much respect for this
industry.
So many great, hardworkingpeople building real, you know,
the politicians like to talkabout Main Street.
You know, you guys are the MainStreet businesses, right?
you're taking kids out of highschool, you're giving them trade
(25:22):
jobs, you're providing careeropportunities.
So you do all that hard work tocreate this main street
business you need to choose adigital marketing agency that's
going to be a good partner foryou so that you can grow that
business and the right partnerwill be able to help you
(25:43):
generate leads drive revenue andtake the marketing pressure off
of your plate so you can focuson other stuff and lord knows
you've got other stuff to focuson so take your time ask the
right questions look forexperience look for transparency
ask about results ask aboutstrategy And when you find the
(26:04):
right fit, I think you'll knowit.
You will.
You'll know it when you findthe right fit.
And it can really transformyour business.
Caitlyn (26:12):
Vice versa.
I mean, if you're an agencylistening to this, I mean, when
you have a client that comes inor a prospect that comes in and
they're the right fit, it's abeautiful partnership.
Janet (26:22):
Yeah, it's actually fun.
And it's not easy.
I mean, we're all here doingwork.
Yeah, none of it's
Caitlyn (26:27):
easy, but it is fun.
Janet (26:29):
It can be a lot of fun.
I mean, I've had some of themost fun in my career watching
home improvement businesses justreally take off like a rocket
ship.
Yes.
You know, and watching theirrevenue grow and they hire
people and they create new, youknow, not only do they create
new jobs, they create new jobpositions in their company.
They're getting married.
(26:50):
They're having kids.
Yeah.
I mean, it's just, it'samazing.
And the right partnership canhelp make all that possible.
Caitlyn (26:56):
Yes.
Y'all, we are at the end of theLevel 1 series next week.
It's the last episode nextweek.
We're going to dive into atopic that can be the difference
between burning money andprinting it.
I love that we're finishing onthis one because I think it's
(27:17):
super important and we've donemany other episodes on it, but
we're going to break it downeven more.
It's just PPC advertising.
We're going to talk about the10 PPC pitfalls that replacement
contractors often fall into andmost importantly, how you can
avoid them.
Janet (27:34):
Looking forward to that one.
Okay, so thank you for joiningus on another episode of Digital
Marketing for Contractors.
As always, we hope you got somevalue from And if you found
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